BBFC

To find the appropriate rating for my film i needed to complete some research on how the BBFC ( British Board of Film Classification) rates productions.

Suitable for an audience of four and above, set with a positive nature and should counterbalance violent, threatening or horrific issues.

Suitable for pre school children and tend not to address the main nine issues.



PG (Parental Guidance), viewing of this certificate may be unsuitable for unaccompanied children. This rating shouldn't disturb and audience of around eight or older.

Suitable for children 12 and over, needing to be accompanied by an adult. Which replaced the normal 12 certificate in 2002.

12 certificates , are specific for an audience of 12 and over.

15 certificates are specific for an audience below 15. And no one below 15 is able to view on buy any of this material.

18 is a rating which is strictly for adults only as it contains some form or explicit of the nine major categories.

R18 is classed for adults only and can only be sold at adult shop or viewed at a licenced cinema.

From research i found that there are nine major aspects which the BBFC takes into account when classifying a film.
These being as followed.....

• theme


• language


• nudity


• sex


• violence


• sexual violence


• criminal or harmful actions


• horror


• drugs

Taking these points on board helped to anchor the film into a certain age certificate.From studying the clip i found that the film would most probably fit into the 15 certificate due to the use of explicit language and perhaps due to mild nudity. Therefore i would opt to select the 15 and not a 12 to avoid under rating.

Final Synopsis and Method Of Distribution

Final Synopsis/Distribution Method
To summarise this film in a sentence its….
Four Weddings And A Funeral Meets 40 Year Old Virgin















If this were to produced on a large scale then it would most probably be distributed via one of the British film companies. To make its way onto the big screen I would first preview the screening for free at a local film festival. Most probably opting for the Leeds film festival where I would be able to gain feedback from a vast audience for a next to nothing cost. Then I would analyse the feedback and use it in a way to improve my overall production. If the film were to be momentous at the festival and I were to receive some form of recognition I would use this to publicise my project further.
I would then advertise my project towards a low budget film company such as Warp X who would perhaps allow me to produce my film for regional screenings. More or less following in the footsteps of low budget movies such as Billy Elliot, which was
produced, on a very low budget yet turned over an enormous grouse profit.

Evaluation

Evaluation

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Essays & Theses School Work

Final piece and idea

Just Another Day
The overall final idea is as followed:

The establishing shot of the scene is a hand hitting down firmly on an alarm clock. This has a polysemic meaning, representing the both the time of day and time period due to the technology. Also the alarm clock sounding represents the start of the film. After the diegetic alarm clock sound a not diegetic upbeat soundtrack kicks in, and the character sits up to the side of the bed and then stands stretching.

He then strolls across the room, towards the door, in his pyjamas using a reverse shot to accomplish this effect. Then we would have a shot of him walking across the corridor and into the bathroom. Narrative enigma can then be applied as the question arises - why is the character up so early and why is he acting so leisurely. The character, who is named Jake, turns on the shower - this will be taken using a close up shot of his arm, then quick cut to the shower head turning on. After this the character will have his back facing the camera while in the act of brushing his teeth. At a certain point he will bend to spit into the sink and the actors name will be revealed written on the mirror in toothpaste. Jake will then look at watch and express his emotion to the time by cursing signifying that he is late, which is backed up by the time on the alarm clock at the beginning.

Throughout the whole of this sequence the non diegetic music will be used to build up the tempo of the scene denoting that the character is in a rush, by using short guitar rifts and a steady drum beat. After looking at his watch Jake realises that he is late and he runs out of the bathroom and back across the hallway, back into the bedroom in his towel. He then emerges from his bedroom door half dressed in his work suit, stepping into his trousers whilst moving. There will be constant cursing throughout the whole of this sequence which has a inter textual reference to Four Weddings.... Jake then runs down the stairs, whilst tying his tie, this is one continuous shot of him running down the stairs and into the kitchen where he will open the fridge to get some breakfast and when he closes the fridge door another title will be included on a piece of paper attached to the fridge with a fridge magnet.

To enable continuity Jake will be wearing the same attire throughout the breakfast scene and for the rest of the production. Another title intervention outcrops when he is eating his breakfast at the table and accidentally knocks over the box of cereal which creates the titles in the cereal pieces (product placement could be used at this time, with the brand of the cereal on show). The next shot is a cut to the letterbox as the post is delivered, Jake bends to pick up the letter and using an over the shoulder shot another production title is revealed on the front of the letter Jake is holding. The next shot consists of Jake, fully dressed in his work suit, collecting his bag from the side of the front door and leaving the house. Using a gradual zoom out it is revealed that an item has been left behind - his notepad. The front door is opened to partially reveal Jake's return to collect the forgotten notepad, which has an inter textual reference to Suburban Girl. The introduction of the female character occurs - Claire, as she leaves her home adjacent to Jake's home. She catches Jake's eye, causing him to stumble and fall in a heap in the road. They then just exchange greetings, but from this you are able to feel the emotions between the two characters. He then regains his composure, running out of shot to end the sequence.

Production Logo

This is the final solution to our companies logo, after deciding on several variations we settled on this concept as it is the more mature and sophisticated and most similar to many in the film world, as the logo ties in with the name of the up and coming Lighthouse international film festival held in Long Beach California, and is also meant to have a very down to earth feel perhaps reflecting on the style of the movie as its not not made for profit, but for the art of film.
The initial logo design was of a cloud with cartoonised raindrops produced using macro media flash, and the name being rainy days yet after researching the net there was already and existing company with the name. As well this for a film which is based on normal day to day events you would expect everything to be down to earth.
This logo located in the top left was produced on adobe photo shop elements 6 which is a piece of soft ware which allows you to manipulate images and apply effects with ease and creates a fairly professional finish. Baring in mind if this were a project on a large scale budget money would be invested into this area to produce something along the lines of this to the highest standard yet this i feel is a good achievement with the abilities at hand.
The L.C.E is a build up of the names of those involved in the film comprising of Laura, Chris and Ellis, this has no alternate meaning behind it, its purely just an order of initials.
As with the majority of films production logos appear before hand so this image will be incorporated into the film using Imovie. How to place images and titles is explained in the software section of the blog.

.

Target Audience and BBFC

Age Range
The age range for this A level text is based around a youth audience from 15 ranging to 34. This is reflected in the film by the age range of the characters being in the late teen age range. As well as this the narrative of the sequence is about a morning routine where a male character is preparing for a days work, which expands the audience appeal further as more will be able to relate to this issue. Also the relationship between the male ad female characters has the widest appeal as most people are able to relate to some sort of romantic situation.

Another method to link with the target audience is the soundtrack which we opted to add over the movie. The genre of the song is indie which is a current popular genre and describes itself as a new york garage rock, this being a song with an upbeat tempo and an aspirational mood.

The editing is fast paced , to keep an audience enticed and make the scenes appear more exciting. These being factors which will want the audience to continue to watch the clip after the opening two minutes sequence. On top of this the language used in the clip is the dialect suited to portray a more younger audience and the fact that the setting is in a modern day scene adds to the youth appeal.

Taking the BBFC rating into account from consolidating the website this film would fall into the category of a 15 rating due to its frequent use of expletive language, it borders the 12A rating. Yet due to the language issue it would be seen as more reasonable to rte the film higher rather than lower, as those under the age of viewing recommendation would be able to access the media after the DVD release.


Ethnicity
The casting of the movie is built up predominately of Caucasian characters. However the film will still have multi ethnic audience appeal. Yet the media does not specifically narrow towards a Caucasian audience, due to the issues tackled in the film it will still have a vast audience appeal due to its hybrid genre of being both a romantic and a comedy, the romantic side drawing in mostly the female audience and pink pound and the comedy side stereotypically the male appeal. Also if film watchers are interested in the actual narrative of the film they wont find it offensive if there is a lack in ethnic groups, and this is backed up as many main stream productions opt to sideline non-Caucasian actors and this hasn't caused them to commercially suffer.


Gender
The opening sequence in our production tends to go against the stereotype role of having a female as the central protagonist (this is also present in the Rom com Forgetting Sarah Marshall where the same rule is applied.), there is a female included yet the majority of the clip is focused around the male. Which will help draw in appeal of a male audience as well as females as it will provide female gaze.
The female character will not be the stereotypical busty blond, instead we will opt for a brunette which has the reputation in the film world of being more intelligent, as well as being slightly original avoiding the norm of a blond bimbo.


Socio Economic Status
The film has a wide appeal to various groups of socio economic status, the setting which the character is involved in and his dress sense gives off an upper/middle class vibe so the AB and C1 of the socio economic formula. Where as the characters choice of dialect is that more of a lower class situation more C2 DE form of stereotype.The overall situation of being late for work can be related to the whole way across the social scale.
So the film will have a wide spread appeal to various groupings ,on the surface it appears to be aimed towards the upper class however at its roots its very relatable.So unlike companies such as the BBC who have been criticised for aiming more towards the higher scales even though its supposedly appeals to everyone due to its terrestrial nature. Therefore our film fits the type of audience most rom coms do that being the less wealthy however as i have reiterated it will vast appeal.

Nationality
To retain a hegonomic status of the British stereotype the male character Jake is portrayed from being from the South end of England, and if this production were to be released into the box office or into the world wide market it wouldn't have difficulty in attracting a foreign audience as they will be able to pick up on the stereotypical posh southern accent. This i present in such companies such as Working Titles who have produced numerous rom coms using the face of Hugh Grant to Portray the face of stereotypical Britain in such productions as Bridget Jones and Notting Hill, which has led to this small independent company stamping its mark on the global film market.
To tap into the U.K market we can use factors within the film which tend to be mainly relatable to a U.K audience for example the weather outside or the products used with in the scene such as Cheerios a the cereal which is knocked over to spell out the titles.
Seen as the film was on an extremely low budget with it only being a two minute opening for an AS course there are regional factors which could be improved on if funds were provided. For example for could be invested in anchoring stereotypes for example the use of high profile actors/actress's from the region required. Also a setting could actually be made specifically for the scenario, due to the setting at which the filming was undergone didn't directly denote the U.K as the portrayed area.

Fans Of...
The fans which this film would tend to attract would be the fans of the rom com gnere and the two genres which combine to make this hybrid. Also those who have seen the films which this one takes inter textual references may be appealed towards our production, as they will be able to pick up these references for example the forgetting of the notebook links with the film Suburban Girl, The constant use of exploit language refers to a scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral and the use of products to make the titles is present in the TV series named teachers.
To gain more appeal for this film advertising methods such as trailers and posters would be produced. The poster would need to contain the the images of Jake and Claire with pleasant expressions placed perhaps into the setting where the majority of the film would take place ( may be a concept would be to have a skyline as the background to emphasize the city.) or just on a plain white back ground like that in Four Weddings... and Notting Hill. This effect signifies that the film is centered around these characters. Also you would record any awards that the film has received or been nominated for to show its class and mention the actors whether they are discovered talent or large A Lister's.



Sexuality
All of the characters in the opening clip are portrayed as heterosexual, this is denoted by the affection in he character Claire's voice toward Jake , as well as the fact that Jake becomes transfixed on Claire and as a result falls to the ground.
However this film would not be predominately for a heterosexual market to view.The romantic aspects have a some what appeal towards a female audience where as comedy is aimed towards mostly males depending on the type of humour depicted. Therefore a romcom combines the two and widens the appeal. This genre will also have an appeal towards the pink pound market due to the romantic side and couples in general and perhaps the attractiveness of the characters.

Psycho graphic profile

This is reflected more towards a middle class type C1 and 2. The sort of person would have the media habits more toward the tabloid format rather than the broadsheet, they would most probably be a SKY watcher opting toward the soaps and reality drama aspects rather than period dramas and the history channel.

Sound And Music

This is the sound clip which is used in the final piece,
and was taken from the source audio.lgfl.org.uk which is part of the research on royalty and copy wright free music tracks which i located.
'Music in romcoms may often be superficial in its specific connection to the narrative- but a romcom without music is unthinkable. Music is an integral part of Western society's construction of romance.'- quoted by Robyn J Stilwell from the book 'Falling in love again-romantic comedy in contemporary cinema which was purchased from amazon.co.uk.Therefore from this quote we instantly knew that a perfect soundtrack would be necessary, and due to the genre of Indie music is emerging in many of today's productions this seemed a suitable genre. We then searched the site which i have described and located the track which is playable in the video box above. The track name is called Touch me and is composed by Harry Nilsson and is described on the link as New York garage band effect with an uplifting effect. After listening to various tracks of a similar description the group narrowed it down to this one due to its speedy tempo which will link nicely with the pace of the editing and the mood enhancing vibe which it emits.


This was the option we decided with however there was an option available to have a custom made soundtrack to fit with the piece made by a fellow peer who is undertaking the A level music course and is able to program two types of music generating software. Garage band which is an apple application which allows music to be made from scratch and is already implemented on the schools mac system, or Cu Base a more advanced professional system with a higher range of features allowing the ability to create, mix edit and record your own soundtrack. However the soundtrack which we found on the online source proved to fit well enough into the sequence.

Analysis of a genre related film

Genre Research Into Romantic Comedies

To get a feel for the genre, which I am about to delve into, I decided to analyse two films from the specified genre theses being Four Weddings And A Funeral and Love Actually.

I have already analysed the Opening of Dark Blue World, which is a world war two romantic drama that has slight comedic aspects towards the start, which is located under the section analysis of film opening.

Four Weddings And a Funeral
The title sequence in this film are used in the same method as dark blue world using a black screen with white text written up on it, this is a technique which tends to be used for more low budget productions due to its lack in effects. However it also is a method to make things stand out so the text of the titles will be the focal point on screen.
It then progresses into the establishing shot, which may be chosen to be used in our production, which various inter textual references will be taken from. A hand appears into the scene to attempt to turn off an alarm clock, the same shot type is repeated however the person in bed is revealed wakes up and shits of the alarm.
(Already having slight hints of realist comedy.)

Then throughout the remainder of this sequence the characters are getting ready using numerous jump cuts to create a very visual aid to show a time change of the characters gradually changing attire.

The way that the titles link in with the wedding invitation aspect of the film is another method, which may be used, perhaps linking the titles concept we have to reflect on the characters personality.

The final two inter textual references from this film are the over use of swear words during a problem, however in our production we have opted to dub down the cursing to secure a lower BBFC rating. And the name and description of the female character being named Claire and having brown hair as well as the fact that this character causes Jake in our production to become almost transfixed on her are clear links between the original text and the group idea.
Love Actually

Not as many key aspects can be taken from this film in comparison to those, which are aimed to be used from four weddings in out final cut.
However they both tend to portray the stereotypical British male in the same way using Hugh Grant as the actor in both cases, perhaps due to his accent and upper class appearance.
As well as this they choose to use the setting of London as not many foreign countries are likely to be aware of cities outside of London, they have also made sure that in the scene they include famous landmarks such as the London Eye and Heathrow Airport. For our production this may be difficult due to the fact we live far form the London district however other methods such as the weather could be used to portray the UK.
The final point to be taken from Love Actually is the non-diegetic soundtrack that is used through out the film montage. Its designed to have the opposite effect to that of a horror or thriller, using a relaxed tempo to set the mood and calm the heart beat. However in the narrative behind our idea the concept is that he is in a rush so the music will need to have a light sense about it however create an upbeat feel to the sequence.

Feedback etc

For the clips we have taken we decided to record feedback from several people and get their opinions on factors which they liked and what they thought could be improved upon.

We decided to focus the feedback on the target audience to get an idea of what they thought as well as widening the spectrum slightly and asked someone over the youth audience to broaden the comments.

To start with we compiled comments from a male and female aged 16 and 17.
Their comments are as followed..
Joe Shrimpton thought

• the choice of song fit the genre perfectly and thought it reflected the genre of a Rom com quite easily.
• He found the sequence to be clear to follow and found the characters disorientated approach to be funny.
• He also could easily establish the target audience due to the fast paced editing, the ages of the characters involved and the situation which the character is in.
• Also the use of cerialin the titles was thought to be a good idea, however to improve on this he commented that more time needs to be allocated to that the audience are able to establish and read what is on screen.

Harley Marshall was the second person of the similar age range who we consulted on the clip.

• She commented on the comedy aspects saying that she thought that it was funny.(This occurring from both males and females proves vital as it means that the film has crossover appeal.)
• She also picked up on Joe's point about the time period of the cereal clip to be longer and clearer so that it really stands out.
• Also she said that it was easily noticed that the genre was a rom com
• Like Joe she thought the narrative was easy to follow and that the non-diegetic music fit the pace and mood of the clip perfect.
• However to improve the stumble needs a little work upon it to make it look a little false
  

Lynn Benisek was the person queried about the clip from the older age of the spectrum.

• Her comments where very similar to those that the others made. Making similar points around the issue of music, the ease of genre recognition and its comedic properties. As well as the improvements toward the titles.
• She also had a point to say about the logo making a comment on the logo mentioning that its of a high standard saying that it is impressive to say its not a professional job.
• Also due to the fact she enjoyed the clip shows that the clip has appeal to an audience wider than expected.
  

Rough Cuts

This clip is the rough cut which shows the full extent of the clip which is un-edited and with out sound. It contains the whole shooting process at the various times we filmed the sequence and the mistakes which were made. This block clip is mostly in order for the final cut and is at the stage now where vast amounts of editing need to be undergone including adding a suitable soundtrack,placing in the titles via i movie and cutting down unwanted seconds to make the clip fit into the two minute boundary.

The Group

The group which i am in consists of myself we each had a separate ideas mine and Ellis following the stalker horror genre where as Laura opted for a romantic comedy.


Laura Smith, this idea is the initial group idea based around a male protagonist getting ready in the morning yet is in some form of a rush and as a result of this becomes injured then narrative continues by following another character who then leads on to be the central protagonist.This was then altered to the character just falling then running off and not leading to another protagonist.


Ellis Clark,who ideas were mainly horror, based around the stalker concept also but in a in closed house scenario.

And Marian who will only be joining the group for a short period of time as she is an exchange student

The tasks will be shared in responsibility to achieve the best production possible under the set time period and circumstances.

Editing

This Blogg Entry Complies of Various Sites

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Essays & Theses School Work

Cinematography

To achieve a finished copy, to which the whole group were happy with, many decisions had to be taken. The main hurdle which needed to be overcome was the titles, and in what method they would be incorporated into the opening sequence. We then, as a group, had an open discussion and settled on some ideas:

• a name written in condensation
• the name burnt onto toast
• composed using cereal

• made using fridge magnet letters

These were then discussed further to find out which of these methods would be achievable. Straight away the toast concept was eradicated, due to its vast complexity, as it seemed to hard to a) fit the desired text onto a slice of bread and b) how were we going to format the text upon the bread.

This then left the group with three concepts which were tested in the filming process. The condensation effect was created by holding a mirror next to a hot shower for several minutes. then writing in the desired text. However, this was not visible looking through the lens and the amount of steam in the room would cause the lens to blur. So this idea was modified as the steam couldn't be extracted because the condensation would have vanished. So toothpaste was used as a substitute, which was easily visible, could be applied under normal circumstances and was easily removed after use. (Also links with scene as character is brushing his teeth.) So this was kept and captured as part of an over shoulder shot, so as character leans to spit in sink the text is revealed.

Cereal was next on the agenda:

• took several takes to get the correct distribution of cereal knocked onto the table.
• then used a close up on the cereal which was arranged to form another title construction words from cereal and randomly placing pieces around text to make it appear less staged

There was an alternate shot for the cereal being disposed of, this being with vacuum cleaner rather than a sweep of an arm, this was originally an out-take, yet added to comedic feel. However, we opted to avoid the idea due to background noise.

Next came a concept which was thought of on set which was to write a name on a letter and have it come though the letterbox. We created this to go along side the scene where he received the post.

The issue which made this scene susceptible to several retakes was the speed at which the letters were posted.

The other scene shot at the doorway also had timing issues. We needed a suitable time for the character to leave with his bag, closing the door behind him having enough time to zoom out then move him to return and pick up an item he had forgotten, without causing an awkward pause. This issue was corrected fairly quickly after watching the footage back.

Final title inclusion was the fridge magnet lettering:

• due to availability of product wanted we opted for a piece of paper with name on attached to the fridge with a fridge magnet.

Finally due to the lack of filming time my name was not included into the title sequence.

Software

The editing process will be undergone on the macs available using i movie 06 a piece of editing software which is distributed by Apple.

There are numerous features which can be utilised and the attached link provides

 an instructional video, giving a step by step guide to the editing process which will be helpful .

http://www.apple.com/support/ilife/tutorials/imovie/

Adding a Sound Track

An easy way to change an ordinary clip into something with a bit more excitement is to include a so

undtrack. The pr

ogram included on the macs i movie enables us to do so either via an alternate program named garage band which allows you to create your own original piece, as well as the option to import sounds from a CD, from the i tunes library or from i movie itself as it is preset with a default 

soundboard.

How To Add A Soundtrack

1. Select the timeline view button
2. Place the play head to where you want the sound clip to begin
3. Click the media icon then select the audio icon. Once in this area, in the top right corner of the program several drop boxes are available from where music can be imported from
4. From these various options select a song , And click o the file to import it. I will then be added to the timeline at the bottom of the program.
5. Volume can be controlled using the clips volume controls under the audio track. You are also able to adjust the length of the track by dragging the end of the song toward the middle of the timeline(or from the start).
6. To place a soft fade at the end of the song, select 'show clip volume levels' via the view menu. A separate line through the middle of the track will appear, to create the fade effect drag the line down below the middle.
7. And to preview and clips before use select the icon to the left of the file name

These are the basic principals to include a soundtrack.

Adding Titles
Imovie is inter grated with many title styles, of which are customisable in font, size, and the colour of the text. There are effects which can be put into place such as setting the titles to fly in from off the screen. Captions and credits can also be used as well as a picture or solid backgrounds.

How to place titles into an imovie project

1. Open up the clip viewer and click on the return button, this will set the location for the title to be at the start of the production.
2. Select editing function and then click on the titles button.
3. Select centered title (or any of the other options) from the list of available styles. There will be a preview window showing the sample.
4. Then enter the titles wanted into the space required.
5. Your able to edit the size of the text and the font as well as the speed and duration of the titles. Then select an effect for the background and click on 'Add' to incorporate the title. This clip will then be added to the start of the movie and a small red line should appear beneath the clip representing the update.
6. After the update more customization can be undergone using the drop arrow will reveal more options.
7. Your also able to choose the direction of where the text will enter the screen using the arrow button to the left of the written text.
8. To remove the titles from a separate slide, then deselect over black and select update. This will then play the titles over the opening scene of the video clip.

Using Video Effects

Imovie has effects which can be used to enhance the movie. Effects can be applied to both video clips ad still image, and these effects can be applied to one or all of your clips.

To apply video effects to a clip

1. Start by selecting the editing button and then clicking the video effects button.
2. Select a clip which has no transition added to it, then choose form the option either fast/slow/reverse.
3. Using the speed slider to change the speed of the clip, a preview of this change will be shown in the movie monitor.
4. Click apply after selecting an option and a small icon should appear in the top left of the clip viewer. And after the clip has been fully rendered you will be able to play the clip back fully.
5. A second effect can be laid upon this and will be shown by s number 2 icon.
6. To remove this second appliance choose undo from the edit menu. The icon showing 2 will then disappear.
7. The save the finished project.

The pros to this software is what has been described in that there are a vast array of editing features which will spruce up even the dullest of clips.Yet there are also vast amounts of negatives to go along side this. To start with for someone who has never used the program before its rather difficult to use things which have some form of large effect on the production, also its a very time consuming process however when it works it improves the standard of the clip vastly yet some of the features can look rather amature for a sequence which is serposadely the opeing of a film. As well as this it has several options for everything which can be confusing for first time users.


How to upload pictures onto blogger

• To upload a picture is an extremely rapid and simple process.

1. Firstly select the image required and right click on it
2. Then select the option save image as from the list of avialable options.
3. A seperate window should appear which asks where would you like to save the image to.
4. Then select an area to save the file, change the name to something appropriate then click in save in the bottom right of the window.
5. To upload this image click on the add image function which is the icon thrid from the right on the icon list when entering a blog.
6. Select browse and tpye in the file name.
7. After selecting the image click import and choose a where on the page the image will go.

Equipment

The camera we will be using wont be the cameras

provided by school but instead, a camera owned by one of the group.

The camera model is a Sony Handy cam and the features are as follows

• Standard definition video recording on affordable mini DV tape.
  
• There is a 40x optical zoom and a super steady technology built in to provide a higher quality during shaky circumstances. Yet if this is not an effective measure then a tri-pod can be used to achieve the shot needed.
• There is a 800k pixel ccd sensor with a Carl Zeiss lens showing that the camera we are using is of a high quality.
• The focus adjustment is both automatic and manual which allows the group to have control over what is in focus in the scene.
• The microphone is inter grated into the camera with stereo sound, however to improve on this a boom mike could be purchased to have a higher quality of sound and would avoid such disadvantages as excluding background noise and being able to block out more ambient noise when the subject is a distance away from the camera.
• There are several shooting modes which are available on the camcorder including the various shooting modes -spotlight, landscape, portrait, sports mode which is used to eradicate blur when filming fast moving objects and various others which are modes for different lighting so little manual tampering needs to be undergone such as a twilight and sunrise setting.
• Another set of effects which is custom to this model is under the category of special effects and includes such visual effects as solarisation, sepia (which gives the impression that the sequence is aged yet original), mosaic ( which almost pixelates the frame), pastel ( which washes out the colours), monotone aka black and white and finally negative art.

• In terms of the white balance feature on this camera there is the option to have a custom white balance which can be manually adjusted or use and automatic white balance. Then extending into indoor and outdoor modes.
• 

To take the stills of the location a simple camera phone was used with a reasonably decent camera function. The model of this phone was a was the LG viewty.
The camera phone has a five mega pixel camera which has a 2592-1944 pixels resolution so it will still retain its quality so when sent to a computer it wont pixelate.
It also has an auto focus feature which enables stills to be taken even with a shaky hand. There are other features around the camera such as a sepia, black and white and negative aesthetic. This would be useful if the film would be edited in these ways as it would portray the picture.
The phone also has a USB port enabling the pictures to be easily imported on to the PC which can then be uploaded onto blogger, as well as blue tooth which enables the files to be sent directly to the macs.

Locations

filming will need to be undergone in several locations to have the desired effect of which the group wants to achieve.

For the establishing shots, the sequence will be shot in Eilis's house using his bedroom for the waking up sequence and the bathroom for the brushing his teeth, which is where the editing style will be used incorporating the bathroom mirror to have a name of the production cast written on it in the condensation.
Also as we have already tested the waking up scene this seems an excellent location to shoot this part of the task using the alarm clock which is readily available for the hand slamming down on the alarm clock scene.However the position of Eilis's bed is near to two walls so the actor must get out from the end therefore the camera will be needed to placed further back into the room, this was a problem which occurred during testing. For someone to hold the camera and get the whole of the camera in is a tight issue so to improve this slight adjustments to the furniture will need to be made or a tripod put into use. As the scene would be pointless if part of the character weren't included in the frame.

So far as a group these are the only locations which have been verified.


Now that the majority of the filming has been completed i am able to clarify the locations.
The setting of the opening sequence will be set in a modern household with stereotypical furnishings of a regular housing template.Using Ellis one of the group members houses for the setting it will allow easy access in a regular basis for filming and wont restrict time.
The costume used for the male character in the opening sequence will be typical male pyjama wear consisting of boxer shorts and a plain t shirt the out fit which was used included blue plaid boxer shorts and a plain blue tee shirt, representing the stereotypical male attire. Then he changes into a formal suit representing that he is preparing to go to a day at work and that the character is mature and of a representable nature.
And the female character will be wearing smart casual attire to emphasize her assets which will help create an appeal for the males gaze as well as signify that the male protagonist is attracted towards her. Both of the characters out fits need to represent that they are in a modern day setting and in the middle class area of socio economic status.

The location where we set the film was in a nice neighbour hood in a reasonably large modern estate house, this seemed a good setting however adjustments had to be made to create the effect that this was a male character who had just recently begun employment in some form of important job, this is anchored by the suit attire which he sports in the scene, as well as the brief case.Also we want the audience to get the preferred reading that this scene is filmed in a small house and that he lives alone so the settings will need to no be immaculate when it comes to the filming process to avoid a oppositional reading.


This image is the setting for the bathroom scene where shots will be taken for when he turns on the shower, brushes his teeth and then realises the time and rushes out of the bathroom. Also the room is rather spacious and will allow us to place the camera in several areas avoiding cropping issues. The photograph on the wall will be replaced by a mirror which will be used to have certain aspects of the titles written upon it.

The kitchen is an area where certain complex shots will occur and enough space will be needed to create the cereal effect which will also have title aspects incorporated into it.The table will need to be long enough for a large amount of cereal to be spilt upon and the writing(which will be constructed using the cereal) to be large enough for the audience to read.

This setting is where the character will leave the house and the letter box needed for when the letters will come through. There is also and adequate amount of space next to the door on the left for the characters items to be stored which will stay in frame as he leaves the house.So when he forgets something it will be noticeable to the audience.

The stair setting is where the character will come down from whilst getting dressed and will run into the kitchen to the left which nicely will link into the next scene as the camera could do a reverse shot.

Finally the bedroom, this setting needs to have stereotypical aspects of a late working teens room, this is represented due to the mature colour scheme the computer, TV and computer games system and the state of which the room is kept. This will need to be emphasized.

Casting

There was no actual casting session for the main character in the production as the character was of a very wide spread description, they needed to be of an age range of between 16 to 18, male and Caucasian as well as having a mature appearance about them.


The male actor Stephen Smith
Playing the role of the character Jake
The male actor we originally opted to use in our sequence is named Ash Caton and was chosen due to his acting ability.Filming began using this actor however due to issues around continuity and availability he was no longer available to play the part therefore we opted to use someone else for the male role in the sequence, choosing Stephen Smith in his place.

Due to the idea of the film being based on Laura's concept, she had he majority of the vision over the personality traits and aesthetics of the characters.

For the male protagonist, named Jake, the ideal character would be someone to be who is stereotypically British to enable crossover appeal to foreign markets(such as the characters which Hugh Grant tends to portray). Personality wise he needed to be looking for love (which will be reflected in his stumble due to him gazing a female character.)

The actor is named Stephen Smith and is the same age as the character, at 19, and suits the description - lesser posture, doesn't hold himself well to reflect upon his disorientation.

The female actress Livia Walsh
Playing the role of Claire
The female character, Claire, is an attractive character who lives across the road from Jake, and is of a similar age. The name Claire has a deliberate inter textual reference to Four Weddings... She is self confident in her traits and this would be shown in how she holds her posture. So the two characters are binary opposites in their social awareness.

Livia Walsh will portray this character as she ticks the boxes required, and as well as Stephen they will both be regularly available.

Production Schedule

so far

shot: waking up sequence

shot type: there will be various shot types used throughout this sequence including high angle mid shot as the character is waking to represent there vulnerability. Also a tracking shot to represent the aspects of social realism in this clip.

location: Ellis Clark's house and the residential area surrounding.


Tuesday 17th
Shot: where the character is getting ready in the morning including the brushing of the characters teeth sequence.

the information above was just a brief idea to see if the setting was suitable.


Week beginning march 23rd
Wednesday 25th march
On this date the majority of the footage will be filmed and it will under go from 4pm onwards till around 6:30pm, however this finish time will be dependent on the availability of natural light.

4:10 at this time we need to have the scene ready and the male character played by Stephen Smith in costume of male pyjama wear, we will start by taking the shot of his hand hitting the alarm clock using a close up upon the alarm clock with a slight high angle to show the characters vulnerability.(the time in the alarm clock will signify that its late in the morning presuming that it is a work/school day.)
Moving from this shot it will develop out to him getting out of bed so the camera will be placed around a metre from the foot of the bed placed on a tripod to enable clear picture the shot type will be a long shot and catch the character from the side sitting on the side of the bed.
Then leading from this the next shot will take place from where the character has got out of bed and will show him walking out of the door from the right hand side of the screen. Using and over the shoulder approach to start the transition to give variety to the sequence.
Then we will shoot the scene of him walking out from the bedroom across the hallway and into the bathroom making sure the doors are closed to allow continuity later on in the scene. Placing the camera on the tripod and taking a long shot we will be able to anchor the setting and time period with out the use of overall exposition.This scene will be taken several times to see what speed would be ideal for him to cross the hallway to prevent blur.
(aiming for a finish time at this point of 4:30 pm)

Then the bathroom scene will need to take place. For this scene 20 minutes or so at the maximum will be needed to assemble the scene. As the mirror for the titles will need to be moved to a more appropriate situation above the sink (initially we intended to write the titles in condensation on the mirror however on film this was not as clear as we would have wanted so tooth paste was chosen as a substitute.)
Yet during the condensation scene we decided to use the shower as part of the characters morning routine which will be created using a shot along the characters arm to follow into the next scene which will lead onto the next shot.
Then shot will move directly to the character brushing his teeth this shot will be taken from behind the male character then he will lean down to spit into the scene and as he does so the writing on the mirror will be visible on screen, this will be and over the shoulder shot which will be at a mid shot zoom.
Then the character turns and looks to his watch and realises the time, a mid shot will be used and the character will then move out from the scene moving towards the left of the screen, allowing the continuity of the scene to flow.
We will then move back to the hallway spot using the long shot approach with the camera still on the tripod which it will be throughout out most of the filming however this time the long shot will have an increased tempo as the character will be in a rush. Using the mid shot angle as well. Using the continuity i already mentioned the character will close the doors behind it.
(These scenes should lead into around 5 where there will still be sufficient light available due to the season.)

Stephen then needs to change into his suit to signify that he is preparing for work and when he emerges from the bedroom he will be half dressed and stepping into his trousers to give the exposition that he is in a rush. Camera will be placed closer down the hall way nearer the door just to slightly emphasize the characters emotion. He will then move toward the camera.
(Then around 5 minutes will be needed after this to set the camera up downstairs ready for the scene when t he character runs down the stairs.)

After moving downstairs the camera will need to be positioned so that no part of the character is cropped as he runs down the stairs continuing to get dressed. After testing this we opted not to use the tripod as it wasn't able to be lowered enough to avoid cropping issues.
This will need to be shot several times using a steadied shot which is zoomed out enough that your able to see the character turn round the corner after coming down the stairs and move into the kitchen which links to the next setting.
(Then 10 minutes will need to be allocated to preparing the kitchen scene.)

The scene will involve a mid shot of the character sitting down at the kitchen table at a slight high angle to represent vulnerability, then we will stage the knocking over off the cereal to see which method would create the best effect.
We will then film the sequence of him knocking the cereal packet and pause the scene after the product has just been knocked over (perhaps opting for some form of product placement using the cereal brand) Then we will take five minutes to create another name included in the production using the cereal to spell out the name then using a high shot to enable the full image is in screen.
(At the end of this process the time should be around 6 so yet due to the rest of the sequence will be filmed inside lighting wont really be that crucial.)

After this the time will be around 6:15 and at this point we will move filming back upstairs, filming the letter box where the letters come through with another persons name written up on one of the letters using a long shot with a high angle.Then we will use a over the shoulder shot to create the impression that we can see what the character sees. This will be recorded as both two separate shots and one continuous to see which is more effective.
(this should conclude what was aimed to be completed in this time period.)


Friday 27th March
After getting the majority of the footage completed on the 23rd this date is seen as an opportunity to film the outdoor sequences in daylight, using the lesson time to do so.
To start with we will set up the scene when the character leaves the house then forgets an item and has to return inside using the tripod we will focus the camera directly on the bag then when he grabs the bag and leaves the house a gradual zoom outwards will be used to show that hes left the front door and still allow the forgotten object to remain in the frame.
This will need to be shot several times to get the perfect timing for when he exits the house then reenters, so not to create such a large pause.
We will then move the camera outside to film the female enter the sequence and use a long tracking shot to follow her movement. This may take time due to environmental factors.
We then will move on to tracking the actor Stephen who runs down the road and stumbles after looking at the female character.When he stumbles we will shoot the shot from the back to give the impression that he has fallen out of shot.
Use a mid close up on the female who shows affectionate expression towards the male and exchanges some slight dialect.
The male then gets up from a stationary position on the floor and runs out of shot with his things (making sure the items are the same as previously used to create the impression of continuity.)Using a high angled long shot which is the most occurring type through out the sequence.
(This filming should be adequate enough to fit into an hour long filming block.)


Tuesday 31st March
This will be the last filming block and in this section, it will be the sequence when the names of cast and crew are placed upon the fridge using alphabetical fridge magnets to create the effect. Mostly mid shots will be used to show the actions of what the character is doing and to make the text able to read,( This block will be filmed else where to the majority due to the suitability of the fridge).
This period of time will also be crucial to re shoot after receiving feed back or if anything after looking good through the lens doesn't appear as good on the screen.