28th February By Maiken Davidson

Today we were luckily enough to film our outside scenes.
We didn't encounter mnay problems, except that it was obviously busy and kept getting interrupted by passer-bys, we also had people walk through in a middle of a shot so had to keep redoing them.

We tried at a few different camera angles to give us more variety when filming.


Here are some of the pictures that we took:

Narration Script by Maiken Davidson

Below is the narration script that Freddie (Kate) will do a voice over for.

“It takes a long time to grow an old friend”

I’m Kate and that’s Ashleigh. We do everything together. We don’t have secrets, well from each other anyway (little laugh).

We’re the best of friends. Are mums met before we were born at some Antenatal class. Born just hours apart. We were linked from the start. My best friend, my sister, a single soul in two bodies.

There she is. She’s been acting a bit…different lately. Like she’s not completely there. I’ve put it down to some guy she likes, she’s way too good for him, but she’s stubborn and won’t have any of it. We’re shopping for the perfect outfit today for our spring formal, dress to impress she says. (Afterthought of Kate) Yeah cause he says so. I’m not going to let that come between us today.

Ash is the best person to shop with, she can always spot the bargain and we always have a laugh trying on things and joking around. Getting disapproving looks from the staff. (laugh again)

The park. We always come here. Ever since we were little we’d come after a day out. It’s our little tradition. Whenever one of us was upset you’d always know were the other one would go.

Hide and seek? Why does she want to play that?? We’ve not played that in years, Ash always used to be the best hider, it would take me ages to find her. She never came out when I called for her after getting fed up. She would stay in her hiding place until I would finally find her. I hated that. I hated the fact I could never find her, I used to shout and cry until I found her. I couldn’t bear the thought of me never finding her.

14…16…..19. Right here it goes. Okay so she’s no where downstairs, that’s fine, she may be upstairs in my room or the bathroom…though I doubt you could find a hiding place in there.

Ok, ok, ok Kate calm down! She’s not in your room, surely she wouldn’t go in your sisters or parents bedrooms. She knows they would kill us if they found out we’d been in there. Ash? Ash?? ASH???

Then it hit me. She’s not here. She’s gone. She really is gone. Its like losing a part of me.

I lost my best friend 3 months ago. I tried to keep her alive. I knew she had to go one day….. but without saying goodbye to me. I don’t think is right.

But I miss you. So much, Everyday. It feels like a piece of me is missing.

Going to college without you isn’t the same. Going clubbing isn’t the same. Going shopping isn’t the same. Going to park isn’t the same…I cannot escape.

I’m no good without you. Not having you by my side kills me. I see your mum, the light behind her eyes is gone, I don’t know about mine.

"One's best friend is oneself"

Film and poster ideas - Rachael Saunders

On Thursday 25th, we came up with some ideas, to add some more mystery to our story. As we never actually mention how Ashleigh dies, we do mention that she really likes a guy, and it is clear in Kate's speech that she is not keen on this guy. Therefore, the suggestion that this man could have something to do with Ashleigh's death.

I think that if we were to use this as an idea, as to how she died, we could maybe include this on our film poster, by having Kate and Ashleigh as the main focus, but in the background, there could be a shadowy, sinister image - the guy she likes. This would then help us give the mysterious effect we want.

We have decided that we are all going to come up with a few poster ideas each over the course of the weekend, and then show each other what we have done and take ideas from each others to enable us to make a film poster we all like.

Rushes Feedback

Narration - poems and quotes. Rachael Saunders

We started to look at different poems and quotes, which we decided would be a good idea to put into the speech, said by Kate (Freddie!)

We looked at poems about friendship because although our film is about somebody dying, one of the main focuses is about how close the two girls are.

We also decided to look at quotes about life and death, as one of the girls has passed away and how the other girl can not seem to get over the fact that she is never coming back.

The reason we decided to use different quotes and poems in our film, is because it will give the speech more meaning, and it would show the audience just how close the two girls are.

These are some of the poems and quotes we looked at:

One of the them was a poem called looking for the sunrise by Albert Simpson Reitz, June 1953

I’m not looking for the sunset,

As the swift years come and go;

I am looking for the sunrise,

And the golden morning glow,
Where the light of heaven’s glory
Will break forth upon my sight,
In the land that knows no sunset,
Nor the darkness of the night.

I’m not going down the pathway
Toward the setting of the sun,
Where the shadows ever deepen
When the day at last is done;
I am walking up the hillside
Where the sunshine lights the way,
To the glory of the sunrise
Of God’s never-ending day.

I’m not going down, but upward,
And the path is never dim,
For the day grows ever brighter
As I journey on with Him.
So my eyes are on the hilltops,
Waiting for the sun to rise,
Waiting for His invitation
To the home beyond the skies.

These are some of the quotes we looked at:

'One's best friend is oneself'

'Friendship is one mind in two bodies'

'A single soul in two bodies'

'Friendship! A language the death can hear, the blind can see'

25th February by Maiken Davidson

Today we have decided to write the narration for our piece, seeing as we're reshooting it wouldn't be much point to edit.

Problems:

We've also discussed about Sunday, as weather forecasts predicted that there will be a storm, this gives us the problem with filming externally on this day, we've been trying to think of alternatives for example of filming inside The Martlets in Burgess Hill could be a way round it but then this would mean we would have to delayed the external filming another day. However, we should still be able to reshoot the scenes that we need to do indoors.

Editing 2: Priya Ahluwalia

We continued to edit the footage today, however whilst doing this we started to notice a few problems with the frames, this was that some of the frames used a little of the actor and more of the space above the actor therefore we have now decided to reshoot the entire footage again and making sure that we don't make anymore mistakes as we only have 2 weeks for the deadline.
Another thing that is our thongs to do list is the Green screen as we Anna (Ashleigh) to be filmed so we are to make her slowley disappear during the film.

Editing: Priya Ahluwalia

In todays lesson we decided to edit some of the footage that we had filmed, however due to not having all the footage we decided to work our way backwards towards the front of the film as the beginning of the film is missing.We decided to start editing the footage as it will enable us to spend time on the other deadline pieces as well as the film.
When editing the film we did come across a couple of problems through the film. Such as the lighting in some of the scenes and some of the shots not meeting our expectations.

More filming: Priya Ahluwalia

Due to the rain we were unable to film the rest of the footage, we have now decided to film tomorow (wednesday 24th feb) and on sunday, this will then allow us to finish editing and adding sound to the piece.

Problems witb lighting on our film - Rachael Saunders

After looking back at the footage we filmed on Thursday 11th February, we all noticed that the lighting seemed different in some of the seems. We weren't sure what had caused this, and we didn't notice any change in light whilst we were filming. The lighting when we were filming was the same throughout, but on the actual film, it seems darker in places. However, we have decided that with editing, we should be able to make the scenes work and still give the same effect we wanted to.

Research on The Lovely Bones by Maiken Davidson

The Lovely Bones is based on a novel by Alice Sebold, about a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family and her killer from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

This is a good source of research for our own film as it uses narration, similar to how we use it and the way people who are alive still feel her presence.



Below is the trailer.

Research on Sam Taylor-Wood By Maiken Davidson

Sam Taylor-Wood

Love You More - 2008 won a series of short film awards and film festivals here and abroad.

Nowhere Boy - 2009 has many nominations for upcoming awards, including Outstanding debut of British film writer, director or producer and Outstanding British film in the upcoming BAFTAs.

Another British female director, both her above films are heavily influenced by British music, The Buzzcocks and The Beatles.

Love You More is about 2 teenagers who are both searching for a Buzzcocks single and learn about love, whereas Nowhere Boy is about the story of John Lennon - both automatically represent Britishness.

Research by Maiken Davidson

• An interesting Article published in the 'Telegraph' discusses the forthcoming BAFTAs and how British films lack publicity - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/7271033/British-films-why-dont-we-go-to-see-them.html
• 
  At this years London Critics' Circle awards 'Fish Tank' won the most awards with Best young performer went to Katie Jarvis, best British supporting actor to Michael Fassbender and Andrea Arnold picking up Best Director.

• John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council says: "In 2009 British independent films were more popular with cinema-goers than they have been for a decade – that, together with today's news that three UK Film Council-backed films have been nominated in the BAFTA Outstanding British Film category, underlines the current strength of British filmmaking talent and the crucial importance of public investment in creative excellence."

Films nominated were:

• Nowhere Boy, Directed by Sam Taylor Wood


• In The Loop, Directed by Armando Lannucci


• Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll, Directed by Mat Whitecross


• Fish Tank, Directed by Andrea Arnold


• Bright Star, Directed by Jane Campion

Feed Back on footage: Priya Ahluwalia

Family: Ages between 15 and 19

• The lighting needs to be the same in every shot some shots appear to be darker than others.
• In some scenes there are shots of people in the corner of the screen.
• Eye contact with the camera - a bit strange.
• Liked that there are a number of shots and angles used.

Friends: Ages between 15 and 19

• Similar points to the above plus suggest that the ending could be a bit better.
• Should show some anger as well as emotions of loss.
• likes that we have used point of view shots.

The use of Technologies: Priya Ahluwalia

New Techniques: The main techniques that we are going to be trying out in this piece will be the green screen. The green screen will be one of our main aims to get right in the peice as one of our characters is not alive and will be disappearing as the peice goes on.This has enabled us to use our enitatives of where the camera would be placed as well as when the camera would move to the other character. when filming we all need to remember as Ashleigh does not reallly exist hwen and where would she be placed in the shot as in one of the shoots Kate id seen talking to Ashleigh but she is not there and there would be a shot of the public looking at Kate in a strange way.

Other techniques that we have used in this piece are point of view shots. This places the audince in Kate's shoes as well as enabling them to feel the emotions that are running through Kate when she is looking for Ashleigh.

Development of skills from Last Year: We all feel that our skills have developed since last years production, as we all now have a better understanding of what techniques to be used when and where in a shot.

Problems that occured: When filming only a couple of problems occured such as we were unable to do a shot with both characters, when they both walk through the door as one of actors was unable make it to the location due to personal factors. Another problem that occured was that we were unable to shoot whilst the camera moving as we did not have a dolly this limited us to getting diffrent shots that we wanted to.

Day 2 Filming cancelled: Priya Ahluwalia

Due to the weather conditions today we have cancelled filming as most of the scenes are outside and mainly in the town centre, as well as one of our actor not feeling very well. However we have all decided to meet up again soon to finish off where we left off and also the scenes that we were unable to do.
Therefore instead of filming today we have decided to complete all the tasks that need to be done on the blog for the next deadline.

More Poster ideas: Priya Ahluwalia

Here are a couple more poster ideas that we could use:

Avatar
I really like this poster mainly because you are able to see both the main charcters as well the location for the film.
I feel that this poster shows all the elements that attracts the audience into watching the film.another point that i like about the poster is that it shows both characters facial expressions as they have used close up images for the characters.







Agora
This poster also attracted me as it shows the character looking down at the world from sitting from what looks like a very tall building. One main reason why i like this poster is mainly due to this character reminds me of one of the characters in our film; 'Ashleigh' she's looking at the world that she once lived in and now shes only looking at the world through Kate's eyes.

Day 1 of filming: Priya Ahluwalia

We started to shoot the film on Thursday 11th Feb as we all had a free day and that meant that everyone was avaliable to film. However there was a small problem with one of the actors as they were unable to make it to the location for the film. we decided to continue filming with one of the actors and filmed all the scenes that she was in alone.
We made use of all the time that we had as well as using all the space effectivley and efficently in order for the film to be a succes. We made sure that we use a varitey of angles and shot sizes to show the variety instead of using the same over and over again.
We have also used some shots that may not be seen in the story board as it was a last minute frame and we all decided that the frames worked with in the film.

* Pictures of the filming will follow shortly.

*we are also filming during the Half Term so we have enough time to edit our frames.

10th February - Maiken Davidson

• Today we had to sort out our animatic, as it had corrupted while uploading to youtube, we have now resolved the problem and it should now work correctly.

• We also hired out our equipment today - Camera and tripod
  

• We also finished some research today, watching 'Dead Man's Shoes'
  

Plot - Richard returns home from military service to a small town in the Midlands. He has one thing on his mind: revenge. Payback for the local bullies who did some very bad things to his brother. At first his campaign employs guerrilla tactics, designed to frighten the men and put them ill at ease. But then he steps up his operation, and one by one these local tough guys are picked off by the terrifying angel of vengeance that Richard has become.

We found this film an interesting watch, even though it was a horror we liked the fact that it kept going back to the past to show the reason behind why Richard was terrorising these people and the fact that his brother was there in his conscious the whole time.

Research on Andrea Arnold by Maiken Davidson

Andrea Arnold
Wasp - 2004 - Won Academy Award for Live Action Short
Red Road- 2006 - Won BAFTA for Best Newcomer in Directing
Fish Tank - 2009 - British Independent Film Award for Best Director of a British Independent Film

Andrea is best known for making films that don't conform to the audiences expectations of escapism when going to the cinema, the lives she depicts are as grim as the surrounding landscape, giving them pure social realism.

Andrea works with small budgets as well, 'Red Road' had a budget of £1 million, whereas her latest film 'Fish Tank' had £2 million, however she believes this is what makes it work, 'it's not big budgets, there's a small crew and we work for a few months instead having a big crew and only working a few weeks'.

Abroad, herself and her films have a wide and welcomed reception, whereas here in the UK we have overlooked her talent and only screened her films like 'Fish Tank' in 50 cinemas, and only for a limited amount of time, but this was more than what she got for 'Red Road'.

Below is a trailer of her latest film 'Fish Tank'

Ways we could market our film - Rachael Saunders

There are different ways of marketing a film. There are certain ways you can market a film, depending on what audience you are aiming for. You can advertise your film online, with online adverts put onto different websites, or videos, which again are put onto different websites as an advert. You can also make posters for a film, which can be put as a billboard or in a magazine/newspaper.

Marketing a film is vital if you want people to watch your product and if you want to make a profit. If you don't tell people about the film, via adverts - nobody will know about it, meaning nobody will watch it - so therefore you would be likely to lose out on money, rather than gain anything. Although marketing is useful when promoting your product, it has to be done in the correct way. For example, if you were trying to advertise a film aimed at middle aged males, you would not promote this in a children's magazine, because the readers in this magazine are not likely to want to see a film aimed at middle aged males. If you wanted a celebrity to promote and market your film, you would have to make sure you choose the correct person, because if you chose somebody who has a bad, negative perception from the press and media - the audience would not want to see anything this person has been promoting because they will associate your film with this 'bad' person.

If you were aiming for a teenage audience, the likelihood is that you would have an advert of the film put in magazines aimed at that age group, such as ‘sugar and So! Magazine.' The same would be if you were aiming for an older female audience, the magazines in which your adverts would be most noticed would be magazines such as 'Chat and OK!'

After discussing it, we have decided that our film is going to be aimed at teenage girls, aged between 14-19. So therefore if we were to be marketing our film, we would put adverts in the magazine ‘sugar’ because this is likely to be seen by our intended audience and we would therefore have more people wanting to watch our film. We could also put adverts on sites likely to be used by this age group. Social networking sites are often useful when trying to promote and market a film, so therefore using 'Facebook or bebo' would help get your film recognised.

Problems that have occured so far: Priya Ahluwalia

Actors: We have come across a number of problems concerning the actors. During our search for the right individual to play our main characters we found two girls who fit the role of the characters perfectly, however due to one of them attending college we are unable to cast her in the film therefore we are only left with one.
We are now searching for a new actor to be casted in the film. If we are unable to find a female actor we will have to make some changes from a female to a male.

Location: Our original location for the film was in the county mall in Crawley, however after asking the security team that work there refused us filming due to the security level going to red and making it impossible to film. We will now be filming outside of the mall using the shops along the street.

Equipment: We have occurred a problem with one of the equipments that is really important to the film; the Dolly. we are unable to get hold of a dolly for the filming which is really important for the film; due to us filming the characters walking along the street we would be moving with them keeping them in the shoot.

Animatic

Here is our Animatic of our film - 'Gone For Now'

Poster Ideas By Maiken Davidson

We have done some research on films posters that in some way sort of relate to our film.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - We chose to look at these two posters as they demonstrate a close friendship. The first one we liked as it shows a set of small photos that represent their friendship, its personal. The second is big group picutre, which is not personal but you can see that they are friends.

Ghost Town - We liked the idea of this poster, as it has urban settings in the background which people can relate too and you have the two characters sitting together one that is alive and one that is a ghost, so is faded.

The Lovely Bones - We liked this poster as you had the main character who is also a ghost, in
the sky, looking down on everyone, the rest of the setting is simple and the colours used show peace and happiness but also have some dark colours to show the darker side of the story.







Harry Potter - Moaning Murtle Scene

Although not a film poster, this scene shows too characters talking, one is human and one is a ghost. As you can see the female character is faded but staring back at Harry Potter. We could use this kind of idea for our poster to show friendship

Green Screen Examples - By Priya Ahluwalia

As our film uses the element of green screen we have had a few examples given to use of how to and what green screen element would be most suited for the film. Andy Paul (Technician) showed us a website that he had created to his work that he has done in the past using green screens.
I feel that his website has given us the help that we need of how and what element of green screen to use.
below is the link that we used.
http://www.tuffhamster.co.uk

Furthermore we have looked at films that have used the element of the green screens, such films include Matrix. Matrix uses the green background when fighting in an un natural world and creating the right effects that they want from the fight scene.

Jurassic Park has also used the factors of green scene throughout the whole film. They have used the green screen to show the dinosaurs reacting to the charcters in the film as well as having the charcters being chaced by the dinosaurs'.


Popular films such as Harry Potter has also used Green Screens to create the righ effect for the whole of the film as well as making the audience believe what they see.

Not only do films use green screens, wheather channels also use it to show the wheather forecast.