Film Progress

 This is our production logo. It is 3D and animated. I did this in a 3D graphics software called Cinema 4D. It allowed to me to model the gears and make animate them. The Text at the bottom is also animated. Our production company is called SDK Productions. I found this easy because I use this software quite a lot so i know how to use it.

I then imported the video into After Effects and added a background and a lens flare. The Background is animated and is a space theme and the lens flare is just above the 'P' of Production. I found After Effects quite difficult to use because I don't use the software that often and I had to look at YouTube Tutorials to learn how to use it.





This is what the Production Company logo looked like after i had used After Effects to add a background in it. The whole group liked the way it looked and how I animated it.






The editing of the Intro to our film is going well as well. The Videos are all edited and the effect had been added. We need to sort out the audio of the video clips and add the sound effects in.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

First Cut feedback - Miss Spencer

There is a clear narrative to this opening, good use of a variety of camera shots and angles, as well as a great use of a dolly shot. This is clearly a film opening, but needs some more work to polish and finish it. Here are my suggestions. I would also like you to ask some contemporaries/parents for feedback and embed the first cut into this post.

Suggested changes/improvements:

Add Institutional Logo

Add titles

I would like to see a c/u of the main protagonist at the beginning so that the audience can start identifying/ understanding her a little.

Tighten the shot on the letter - it is a little too slow.

Possibly shorten the walk up the stairs.
Tighten the letter exchange - make it a more natural pace.

Add SFX to create an atmosphere (ensure you create your own or use royalty free sound effects)

Tighten the end of the dolly shot

Are you going to add any music?

Do a colour correction to add the neo noir feel.

The Storyline

Story:

A woman's (Roseanne) family was taken from her at a young age (her parents are killed by order of a corrupt, jealous business man) so she goes to live with her grandparents. There she develops skills and her need for vengeance grows. She receives a tip off from an anonymous source about another person involved with her parents' deaths. She tracks down this person and tortures them for information which leads to another target involved with the deaths. Each target brings her closer to the corrupt business man and each target forces her to remember things from her past (both happy and horrific memories), Eventually, many targets later, she ends up face to face with the man who killed her parents. She fights off henchmen but ends up pinned against a window by the business man. She demands that he tells her why he had her parents killed and it turns out the parents and himself were all friends in the past and had fallen in love with Roseann's mother but she was with her father at the time.

The businessman went behind their backs and stole their idea for their business and became rich and powerful. With his new found power, he hired a hitman to kill the father so the mother would go with him, but something went wrong and the hitman ended up killed both of them.

After he tells this story, Roseann manages to take control of him as she is up against a window and he is now in the position she was in. She pushes him out of the window, turns and walks away.

We hope the audience would be able to feel sorry for Roseann but at the same time question what she's doing - is it right? The memories shown are supposed to give the audience some back story to what happened to Roseann and her parents. The plot twist at the end, about the business man liking her mother, was supposed to make the audience maybe feel bad for him and sympathize with his thoughts instead of hating him like the film was leading up to happening.

The Script

The Script

EXT.A WALL/STREET- DAY 

A MYSTERIOUS MAN dressed in a black coat and with a gloved hand, holds a white letter as he walks past the wall. 


INT.OFFICE-DAY

ROSEANNE(18)sits at her desk, looking at her laptop and typing. She sits upright with her hair swept to one side to show her face.


EXT.STEPS-DAY

The MYSTERIOUS MAN walks around the corner and GRADUALLY walks up the steps. 


EXT/INT.FRONT DOOR/LETTER BOX-DAY

The MYSTERIOUS MAN QUICKLY walks up to the door and posts the letter through the letterbox. The letter falls to the ground below the letterbox. 

                          ROSEANNE (V.O)  
                  It was 6 years ago today that my parents died... 
                                  (Sadly) 
                   I was only 12 at the time. 
                   

INT.HALL-DAY

FOOTSTEPS are heard as ROSEANNE'S GRANDMOTHER (75), a KIND, FORMAL woman who looks after her granddaughter in her Manor, picks up the letter. 

She looks at the letter then turns SLOWLY to head upstairs to give the letter to ROSEANNE. 


HARD CUT TO

INT.OFFICE DESK/CLOCK-2:10 PM 


JAZZ MUSIC is heard and the sound of typing from Roseanne's laptop 


INT.STAIRS-DAY

ROSEANNE'S GRANDMOTHER SLOWLY walks up the STEEP stairs with the letter in her hand, she holds the handrail for balance. 


INT.OFFICE-DAY

ROSEANNE sits at her desk as INCENSE SMOKE swirls around her face. A LOUD KNOCK is heard against her office door. 

                         

                          ROSEANNE 

                          (loudly) 

                              Come in!

The GRANDMOTHER walks towards ROSEANNE and stops at the edge of her desk. ROSEANNE turns down the stereo she had playing to focus on what her GRANDMOTHER has to say. 

                        GRANDMOTHER 

                      (handing the letter to Roseanne)

                This was just posted through the door. 

                        

                         ROSEANNE 

                      (to Grandmother) 

                              Thank you

                  

ROSEANNE takes the letter from her GRANDMOTHER, looks QUICKLY at it then places it besides her on the desk. 

                        GRANDMOTHER

                        (formally)

                I'll be downstairs if you need me

As the GRANDMOTHER turns to leave, she picks up the PHOTO FRAME on the desk and steps to the side. A SAD look is on her face as she looks at the photograph. Then she TURNS and places the PHOTO FRAME QUICKLY as ROSEANNE watches. The GRANDMOTHER then TURNS QUICKLY without even looking at ROSEANNE before she HURRIEDLY walks off.

INT.OFFICE/DESK-DAY 

The PHOTO FRAME contains a photograph of a YOUNGER ROSEANNE with her PARENTS. 

                          ROSEANNE (V.O)

                                (solemnly) 

 Today is a very difficult day for my grandmother. Due to there being no conclusive  cause of death, no real evidence ; the investigation of my parents death was as fleeting as a footstep in a snow storm.

ROSEANNE looks at the letter she had originally ignored when her GRANDMOTHER had first given it to her. Her hair falls over half of her face and HIDES her right eye. The look on her face suggests she is wondering who could have sent her a letter. 

                            ROSEANNE (V.O) 

                            (desperately) 

                We need to know what happened to them. 

The PHOTO FRAME is shown again but this time much CLOSER so details such as how everyone is SMILING shows the HAPPY atmosphere in the photograph.  

ROSEANNE faces the stereo and reaches with her hand to turn it back up again. The ORIGINAL JAZZ music has now changed to a more TENSE track. She OPENS the letter CALMLY but STRUGGLES a little as the letter is not easily taken out of the envelope, which suggests that the letter was pushed deep into the envelope by the sender. She SMILES quickly at the thought of not being able to take out the letter but hastily goes back to having a STRAIGHT FACE. She folds open the letter and begins to read. An INCREASING HEARTBEAT sound is heard throughout as she reads.  

                             ROSEANNE (V.O) 

                                    (eagerly) 

                    And I'm determined to find closure. 

Her EYES are shown as she reads the letter.

The letter starts with her name (ROSEANNE) in LARGE.  

Her EYES are again shown but with more SPEED as she continues reading the letter. 

The letter then contains the word: PARENTS,in LARGE.

Her EYES do NOT BLINK as she continues to read. 

The letter then contains the word: MURDERED,in LARGE.

Her EYES are again shown as she shown as they move across with a FAST PACE. 

The FINAL words in the letter that is focused on is the words: CORRUPT BUSINESS MAN. 

INT.OFFICE-DAY 

ROSEANNE stares at the letter for less then a second then places it back down onto the desk,she  RISES from her chair and turns to grab her coat, which was on the back of her chair, she STEPS away from the desk and she GRACEFULLY puts on her coat and walks away. 

                       ROSEANNE (V.O) 

                             (forcefully) 

                  By any means necessary.

She STRIDES towards the DOOR,PUSHES it open and walks out and begins to go down the STAIRS. 

                      ROSEANNE (V.O) 

                      (conclusively)

              Who ever you are... I will find you.

INT.OFFICE/DESK-DAY 

The PHOTO FRAME is again shown but the photograph is shown much CLOSER so that it is clear that the YOUNGER ROSEANNE and her PARENTS are much happier and that obviously the death of them CHANGED ROSEANNE to what she is now. 

Production Schedule

Date	Task	Complete Y/N
W/C: 3/11/14	Creating/sourcing sound and music
W/C: 10/11/14	Editing and creating graphics and titles
W/C: 17/11/14	Editing and creating graphics and titles
W/C: 24/11/14	Editing
W/C: 01/12/14	Uploading all elements from foundation portfolio onto your blog
W/C: 08/12/14	Blogging all stages of the filming/editing process
W/C: 15/12/14	Film to be handed in to be marked over the Christmas Break.

Storyboard

Storyboard

0. Production Logo - 10 seconds 

1. Rose sat at desk

Fade in from black

First shot- Establishing

Camera movement- none

Sound- Jazz in background

No dialogue

Duration-2-3 seconds

2.  Feet walking

Quick cut from shot 1

Camera close up of feet walking

Movement- tracking

Sounds- footsteps and jazz

N.D

Duration- 4 seconds

3.Cut back to Roseanne

Quick cut from shot 2

 Shot-Close up

Movement- Tilt

Sounds- Jazz

N.D

Duration- 4 seconds

4. Cuts back to a gloved hand posting an envelope through the letter box

Shot- Close up of the hand.

Movement- None

Sounds- Jazz and letter box shutting

N.D

Duration- 2/3 seconds

5. Letter falling in a hallway

Shot- Medium

Movement- none

Effects- Slow motion

Sounds- Jazz

Duration-5 seconds

(Dialogue starts- It was 6 years ago today that my parents died… I was only 12 at the time)

6. Grandperson’s hand picking up letter

Shot- Close up

Movement- None

Sounds- Faint jazz, door opening and jazz is louder, footsteps.

Duration- 5 seconds ( just letter with all the background sounds) 3 seconds- hand in shot      

27 seconds

7. Grandparent looking at letter

Shot- Over the shoulder

Movement- none

Sounds- Jazz

Duration- 2 seconds

8. Starting to walk up stairs

Shot- High angle establishing shot

Movement- none

Sounds- jazz

Duration-3 seconds

9. Walking upstairs with letter

Shot- Close up of letter

Movement- Tracking

Sounds- Jazz getting slowly louder and footsteps

Duration- 3 seconds

10. Rose at desk when a knock at the door happens

Shot- Long shot

Movement- none

Sounds- jazz turned down, knock at door

Dialogue- “ Come in”

Duration- 7 seconds

11.  Grandparent walking through door towards Rose

Shot- Long shot

Movement- Pan as grandparent walks towards rose

Sounds- quiet jazz

N.D

Duration- 4 seconds

12, 13, 15 . Conversation between Rose and Grandparent

Shot- Shot reverse shot ( gp, rose, gp)

Movement- none

Sounds- Jazz in background

Dialogue: GP: This was just posted through the door

 Rose: Thanks

GP: I’ll be downstairs if you need me…

Duration: 12- 5, 13- 3 15- 5 seconds

(14.) Handing the letter

Shot- Match on action (close up) 

Movement- none

Sounds- jazz

Dialogue- none

Duration- 6 seconds  

1 min 12 seconds

16.  GM picks up photograph and looks at it

Shot- Low angle medium shot

Movement- none

Sounds – jazz

N.D

Duration- 4 seconds

17. GM puts photograph back onto desk and walks away.
Shot- Medium shot

Movement- none

Sounds- jazz and footsteps walking away and door shutting

N.D

Duration- 2 seconds

18.  Camera focuses on photograph

Shot- close up

Movement-none

Sounds- jazz

Dialogue- Today is a very difficult for my grandmother. Due to there being no conclusive cause of death, no real evidence; the investigation on my parents death was as fleeting as a footstep in a snow storm.

Duration-10 seconds

19. Roseanne

Shot-close up

Movement-

Sounds- jazz

Dialogue- We need know what happened to them

Duration-4 seconds

1 minute 32 second

20.  Music gets turned up and the opening of the letter

Shot- Over the shoulder

Movement- none

Sounds-jazz getting louder

Dialogue- and I’m determined to find closure.

Duration- 7 seconds

21. Clock

Shot-Close up

Movement-none

Sounds-jazz

N.D

Duration-2 seconds

22.Focus on eyes

Shot- Extreme close up

Movement- None

Sounds-Jazz

N.D

Duration- 2 seconds

23.Focus on words in letter

Shot-Extreme close up

Movement- none

Sounds-Jazz

N.D

Duration- 2 seconds per word ( Overall 8 seconds)

(Words: Parents, murdered, corrupt business man, E.I) 

1 minute 51 seconds

24. Putting down letter and standing up

Shot-long shot

Movement- none

Sounds-Jazz

Dialogue - By any means necessary.

Duration- 4 seconds

25. Putting on jacket

Shot- long shot (low angle)

Movement- none

Sounds- jazz

N.D

Duration- 8 seconds

26.Walking across the room

Shot- Long shot

Movement- Pan

Sounds- Door shutting

Dialogue- I need to know the truth

Duration- 6 seconds

27. Opening the door and walking out

Shot – Long

Movement – none

Sounds – jazz music

Dialogue – whoever you are… I will find you

Duration – 7 seconds

28. Title Scene
The Truth

Duration - 5 seconds

2 minutes 19 seconds

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule - Truth

Filming date: Wednesday 22nd October

Meeting Time: 9:45

Address for cast and crew to meet at:

Amington Rd, Tamworth, Staffordshire B77 3LH

List of crew and cast contacts:

David Cuff: 07********* 

Katie Limm: 07*********

Sam Hollis: 07*********

Maisie Goodman: 07***********

Lillian Limm: 07***********

Props

Laptop

Vase/Flowers

Letter

Photograph

Clock

Desk decorations (books, pens, paper)

Envelope

Radio/stereo

Candle/Incense stick

Equipment

Camera

Dolly

Tri-pod

Laptop

Opening Title Sequence Analysis

I liked this opening sequence because it looked old fashioned because of the style of black and white it was in and it was also 3D as well the camera moved through the lines that you can see in the picture to get to the next title. There was also little video that were related to the title that was being shown.

  I liked this opening sequence because it was a space themed sequence and the colours were very good. I thought the font that the text was in fitted with the space theme of the background.

I liked this opening sequence as well because the background was very dark and the contrast from the text being in yellow i thought was very good. This makes the text stand out and makes the text look more important.

The background for this Title sequence is the shield from Captain america, this shows that the film is Captain America and that is a good thing because you know what the film is about. The text in this title sequence stands out because all of the text is on the red part of the shield and that contrasts with the white text and that makes the text look important.

 I like this title sequence because it looks like it would be for a horror film because of the red text. It also is over lit meaning that it makes the text stand out. This stands out to me because of the general look of it made me like it instantly.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

Representation Feedback -
You have discussed the meaning of representation and gender in your genre, you have also looked at the main character types in relation to your genre. However in order to improve you need examples from specific films (many examples, at least one for each character type)
and in order to take this to a very high level look up Todorov - he was the person who came up with the idea of character types. Add this research to this post.

This post also needs many images to illustrate your points.

(Task 3.3) Genre Research

Representation Research

Representation is the way that something is presented. Most of the time this is done though stereotyping, but there is sometimes new representations are made. There are different representations for the different genres but the ones that come up in all are gender and colour. Gender is usually a stereotyped one because it is easier for the audience to get what is going on if the characters in the piece of media are stereotyped.  

Todorvo's Theory of the equilibrium with in characters is that at the start of the film there is an equilibrium and then an even happens in the film that disturbs that equilibrium and then towards the end of the film a new equilibrium will be there and this can sometimes be the same as the start but most of the time it is different to what it was at the start of the film.

In films these are some of the stereotypes that are used for gender;

Protagonist – The protagonist is the hero in the film. They are usually male in most film genres and they are represented as strong, smart and brave. They will most of the type always come out on top in fights because stereotypically good always triumphs over evil. In the film Iron man, Tony Stark is the protagonist because he is the hero from the film.

Antagonist – The antagonist is the evil character and plots against the Protagonist to try and win but ultimately ends up losing or being killed. The Antagonist is always a male as well because they have to be strong and evil, but sometimes it can be female. In the film Transformers, Megatron is the Antagonist because he wants to take over the universe.

Femme Fatal – The femme fatal or otherwise known as the fatal woman is usually the female that gets the protagonist either injured or captured by the antagonist. This is a key role because it give the protagonist the opportunity to show that he can be strong and get out of a sticky situation. 

Damsel in distress – The damsel in distress is usually the character that needs saving. This is usually played by a female because stereotypically females are portrayed as the weaker character and the always get captured. This also gives the protagonist the chance to show that he is a strong and smart character by saving her. In most Disney films there is a Damsel in distress that the prince or the protagonist will save and they will live happily ever after. 

The Sexy Female – This character is only used for the male gaze aspect of the film, this character doesn’t have a significant role in the film they are just there to look sexy and to attract the attention of the male audience watching the film. In the film Drive Angry, Amber Heard's role in the film is to look good for the male gaze aspect of the film.

In the film the Hunger Games, Katniss is represented as a strong but mother like character because she has the strength to go through the Hunger games and win it but she also cares for her sister and at the beginning of the film you think she is her mother. She is the protagonist in the film because she is the hero and wins the hunger games. This is not the stereotypical hero because she is female but in this film it works and she plays the role of the protagonist really well.

In my film opening you are introduced to the protagonist called Rosanne and her grandmother. In our film the protagonist is a female and this isn’t stereotypically the case in the genre Neo Nior but in our film, we wanted to have the protagonist a female because we thought that it would be good to have her as the hero of the film. Her grandmother does have a specific role in the opening scene but if we made the whole film she would become a much more important character. There are some positives and negatives to having the character a female and that is that it might be confusing to have a female protagonist but it might be a unique selling point to the film.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

You are catching up with your research into similar products David, and your work shows some attention to detail and considering of the key concepts. However you still need to address the issues mentioned in my first feedback about your research.

Your target audience research is much to vague and broad, in order to take this into a level 3 you must:
Discuss similar products, what makes them similar, their age rating (mention who awards the ratings and why) and give specific examples of WHY your target audience is this. We will be looking at some audience theories that you can add to this post as well.