Tuesday 22 February 2011
Sunday 20 February 2011
Soundtrack
For my film opening I will need a original piece of music, royalty free. Therefore I have chosen to work in tandem with my brother, Sam Baker, who's an undergraduate Music Technology student, to create a track to go with my film.
I'm looking for something upbeat, and that goes from a quiet to loud, sort of piece. I think this would be affective as I'm not planning on having any music until the realisation that the 2 robbers are at a party sets in. It would then build up until they're running down the street, away from the house.
Saturday 19 February 2011
Location
I was thinking about possible locations for my film opening. What I am initially looking for is your standard family home, with a relatively large lounge, that would be big enough to host some sort of surprise party. I also would need a lounge with at least 2 entrances to it, one for the burglars to come in through, and the other for the victim of the suprise party to come in through.
It could however work if there was only one entrance, but the positions of the characters would have to be slightly different and i would generally prefer there to be 2 entrances.
I have gone around some possible locations for my film opening. Below are some of the images I took for location research. The 3 locations I researched are all photographed below and they were; My house, a friend in the same village, and a friend living in Wymondham.
This picture on the left is of my lounge. It is too small for what I was looking for, with only one usable entrance. There is also no central light, only lamps so I wouldn't have been able to switch all of the lights on at once. It also has a wooden floor and I would prefer a carpeted floor for my film opening.
The roads leading away from my house are not lit, and so would be hard to film, and I was also looking for a street with street lamps.
This picture is of my friend Amy's house. She lives at the other end of the village. I think her lounge would have been ideal as it is large, carpeted with 2 entrances to it that would've worked well with the entrances of the characters.
I do however feel that the outside setting wouldn't be too great as, like my house, the road is not lit by street lamps. However, there is an alley at the end of the road which would have been a good location for them to run down.
My third and final location was my friend Frankie's house in Wymondham.
On the left are a series of photographs I took.
Her living room has 2 entrances and is rather how I envisioned it. It's a proper family home, carpeted and with a bright central light, unlike my house.
The 2 entrances available are far enough apart to create decent spacing of the characters.
I really like how the entrance through which Tilly's character (the birthday girl) will come through is in between the burglars' entrance and where the surprise party-goers will be standing.
This will help to enhance the confusion of Tilly's character, with her looking back and forth between the two groups of people.
This is the outside of Frankie's house.
It is a typical looking family home which helps to set the scene.
This is the road which Frankie's house is on.
As you can see, the street is lit by street lamps which is exactly what I was looking for.
This is the back garden to Frankie's house.
This is where Kat and Sam will be breaking in through, giving them plenty of indoor space for them to enter through as the living room is pretty much on the other side of the house, not that the viewers would know.
After looking through my research, it is pretty clear that Frankie's house is the best location for my film opening to be filmed at. This is because the general vibe of the house is a family home. The lighting is exactly how I want it, with a central light in the lounge and street lamps lighting up the road.
It could however work if there was only one entrance, but the positions of the characters would have to be slightly different and i would generally prefer there to be 2 entrances.
I have gone around some possible locations for my film opening. Below are some of the images I took for location research. The 3 locations I researched are all photographed below and they were; My house, a friend in the same village, and a friend living in Wymondham.
This picture on the left is of my lounge. It is too small for what I was looking for, with only one usable entrance. There is also no central light, only lamps so I wouldn't have been able to switch all of the lights on at once. It also has a wooden floor and I would prefer a carpeted floor for my film opening. The roads leading away from my house are not lit, and so would be hard to film, and I was also looking for a street with street lamps.
This picture is of my friend Amy's house. She lives at the other end of the village. I think her lounge would have been ideal as it is large, carpeted with 2 entrances to it that would've worked well with the entrances of the characters.
I do however feel that the outside setting wouldn't be too great as, like my house, the road is not lit by street lamps. However, there is an alley at the end of the road which would have been a good location for them to run down.
My third and final location was my friend Frankie's house in Wymondham.
On the left are a series of photographs I took.
Her living room has 2 entrances and is rather how I envisioned it. It's a proper family home, carpeted and with a bright central light, unlike my house.
The 2 entrances available are far enough apart to create decent spacing of the characters.
I really like how the entrance through which Tilly's character (the birthday girl) will come through is in between the burglars' entrance and where the surprise party-goers will be standing.
This will help to enhance the confusion of Tilly's character, with her looking back and forth between the two groups of people.
This is the outside of Frankie's house.
It is a typical looking family home which helps to set the scene.
This is the road which Frankie's house is on. As you can see, the street is lit by street lamps which is exactly what I was looking for.
This is the back garden to Frankie's house.
This is where Kat and Sam will be breaking in through, giving them plenty of indoor space for them to enter through as the living room is pretty much on the other side of the house, not that the viewers would know.
After looking through my research, it is pretty clear that Frankie's house is the best location for my film opening to be filmed at. This is because the general vibe of the house is a family home. The lighting is exactly how I want it, with a central light in the lounge and street lamps lighting up the road.
Saturday 12 February 2011
Audience Research
Today we went around and interviewed a number of people on their opinions of films and openings. We asked a range of people from 16 to 58, both male and female. The majority of people that we interviewed didn't want to be videoed, so we settled on just a voice recording of their responses.
The video of the audience research is below.
Audience Research from Jessica Baker on Vimeo.
The video of the audience research is below.
Audience Research from Jessica Baker on Vimeo.
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Genre
Genre is the French word for "type/kind" and can be used across a wide range of media to categorise types of forms. In film, there are a large number of different varieties genres that certain stories being portrayed in a film can be categorised under.
I definitely feel that my film is a comedy. In particular, a British comedy with particularly quirky characters and plot. Influences for the genre include films like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, but without all of the blood and gore.
Saturday 5 February 2011
Actors
For my film opening, I have considered who I would have as my actors, if I could.
For one of the 2 main characters; Sam, I'd have an actor the likes of Jack O'Connell. He became most famous for his portrayal of James Cook in the TV series Skins. I feel that he'd fit the part of Sam quite well, as he is of the right age, British and could fit the part of a burglar very well. I however feel that maybe he might be a big too "thug-looking" to portray the sweeter side of Sam.
I therefore feel that an actor like Elliott Tittensor, from Shameless, would be more suiting to the role. Whilst being the same age and British (like Jack O'Connell) he seems a bit softer and less rugged. So if I was casting whoever I wanted for the role of Sam, I would chose Elliott Tittensor.
For the role of Kat, I'd pick an actress like Kathryn Prescott, also from Skins. This is because she is of the correct age range and nationality. I feel that she'd be able to portray the role of a rather controlling burglar, things always having to go her way.
I like the fact that if I was to use Kathryn, the contrast between her seemingly sweet and adorable face and quite spiteful personality makes her character more likeable than if she was nasty and not-so-adorable.
For the character of Joel, I'd cast an actor like John Malkovich. He has this look about him that just says "I'm in charge".
He is only a few years over my character's age, so would fit the bill.
For the character of Bridget, I'd cast Emma Watson. She is of the correct age, British and someone that many guys seem to fancy and so would fit the role of Bridget very well.
She is someone that I feel would be Sam's desirable woman, and someone that he's been in love with for a while, but he's too intimidated by her to tell her. She has something quite mysterious about her which I think would be perfect for Bridget.
For the role of Rosie, I would cast Anna Popplewell. She played the role of Susan in the Chronicles of Narnia and I feel that she'd portray the innocence of Rosie really well. She fits the age range and is also British.
I like the fact that if I was to use Kathryn, the contrast between her seemingly sweet and adorable face and quite spiteful personality makes her character more likeable than if she was nasty and not-so-adorable.
He is only a few years over my character's age, so would fit the bill.
She is someone that I feel would be Sam's desirable woman, and someone that he's been in love with for a while, but he's too intimidated by her to tell her. She has something quite mysterious about her which I think would be perfect for Bridget.
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Fourth Wall
The Fourth Wall is an imaginary wall, defined as "the screen in front of you".
It's the line between you and the story.
If someone was to break the fourth wall, it would be them stepping out of their fictional world and talk directly at the audience.
There are a number of films that break the fourth wall, including; Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Alfie and Mary Poppins.
It's the line between you and the story.
If someone was to break the fourth wall, it would be them stepping out of their fictional world and talk directly at the audience.
There are a number of films that break the fourth wall, including; Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Alfie and Mary Poppins. Tuesday 1 February 2011
Narrative
Narrative is the art of storytelling.
When you sit down to watch a film, the narrative structure helps to define the story. It needs to be structured to help the viewer understand the message contained within, giving the film meaning throughout.
However you need to keep in mind that the narrative structure only applies to the way in which the story is told and not the story itself... meaning the structure is the chronological stages or steps that progress from one to the other throughout the story.
Using Spiderman and Memento as examples of differences in film narrative, Spiderman is told chronologically, from A to Z - straight through.
However in a film like Memento, the narrative is all jumbled up and irregular. Instead of going from A to Z, it chops and changes how far through the story it is, creating an effect that leaves the audience in as much of the dark as the main character of the film, about what's going on.
I have decided to use chronological narrative in my film as I have chosen to do a comedy, which is light-hearted and I feel that if I jumped the story all over the shot, then it could take away the humour of the film, if the audience had to concentrate too much on what time they were in.
When you sit down to watch a film, the narrative structure helps to define the story. It needs to be structured to help the viewer understand the message contained within, giving the film meaning throughout.
However you need to keep in mind that the narrative structure only applies to the way in which the story is told and not the story itself... meaning the structure is the chronological stages or steps that progress from one to the other throughout the story.
Using Spiderman and Memento as examples of differences in film narrative, Spiderman is told chronologically, from A to Z - straight through. However in a film like Memento, the narrative is all jumbled up and irregular. Instead of going from A to Z, it chops and changes how far through the story it is, creating an effect that leaves the audience in as much of the dark as the main character of the film, about what's going on.
I have decided to use chronological narrative in my film as I have chosen to do a comedy, which is light-hearted and I feel that if I jumped the story all over the shot, then it could take away the humour of the film, if the audience had to concentrate too much on what time they were in.
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