Evaluation of Daisy, the film opening.

The experience of creating this film opening has been a successful and enjoying, yet stressful time period. Over the past four months we have been planning, analysing, filming and editing.
I studied Media Studies at GCSE so I knew that the coursework was going to be hard work and very time consuming which came as a shock to the members of the group that had not studied it before. However, none of us were prepared for all the equipment and software that was awaiting us. Everything was new to us and becoming used to it was like learning a foreign language, difficult but time worthy. There was only one solution for this problem and that was to play around with the filming equipment and use the editing software on the Macs. This is why we had to complete our Preliminary Task.
When we first began planning for our film opening we decided to start by looking at different openings. We looked at the different conventions of the different genre's. We looked at Hitch, a romantic comedy. With this opening we found that the setting is sunny and there is joyful, upbeat music playing in the background. We also watched opening of films with different genres including thriller, horror, sci-fi and comedy. When we were researching the conventions we found that as a group we could find more information on thriller/crime films and that it was be the easiest genre for us to film. We found that most opening of our genre had the credits at the beginning of a scene, with footage behind them. This is where we challenged the conventions. We decided that we wanted our credits with just a plain black screen because we wanted the full affect of the music to take place with no distractions of filming, e.g the audio that accompanies the filming.

We decided that the film would be targeted at young adults over the age of 15. This is because the storyline involves a teenage girl around that age, therefore it is reinforcing the plea for young girls to be extra careful whilst alone. Ways that the film would be advertised could be on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, in shopping centres, buses and tv advertisements. This is because the target audience would be surrounded by the advertisements.

So with that we began brainstorming idea's. We came up with two main idea. The first would begin with a scene in a police briefing room where there would be a man in a suit presenting a case to police officers of a missing girl. Then it would cut to the police officers faces as details are exposed and then it would show CCTV footage of the girl who is a prostitute.

The second was the idea we went with (but developed and changed tremendously), a girl going missing and being held in a cellar. To decide between the two idea's  we discussed the pro's and con's of each idea and the ease of how to film because of accessibility to setting's, costumes and props. After we had compared both we realised that it would be incredibly hard to find police officer outfit for about 12 people and as four young girls we would not feel comfortable at night filming with some dressed as prostitutes, whereas the second idea we would easily be able to dress a young girl and as I have a cellar at my home there would be no trouble with using that many times to film. I think if we were to do this again we would come up with more idea's and think more about which to choose and once chosen, not to make any drastic changes.

When we were filming in the cellar we found that it was extremely hard to find enough space to make it possible to film numerous different shots. We had already filmed a pan of the victim, zoomed into the eyes of the victim from different angles, how else was we going to incorporate a variety of shots in the tiny space without breaking the 180 degree rule? This was when we decided to do a point of view shot from the victim watching the person that had abducted her walk down the stairs. To make it obvious it was a point of view shot, the member of the group filming used their fingers to create the illusion of eye lids, this also showed how dazed the victim was. At the time we didn't get the man to say anything but then as we watched the footage back at school we thought he should say something. So with that we decided to film a male voice saying "look at me" and then we altered the speed of the audio so that the voice sounded deeper and slower. This added in more content for the audience to develop more emotions for the film.

We began editing in early December, we were all slightly uncertain with Final Cut Express but we had the knowledge that we used when creating our Preliminary Task. I think before we began editing all of our film together we should have made sure that we all understood the software and the basic steps for our editing. However, we now know that if we are faced with new software/programme's then we should make sure that everybody is at the same stage so that we can learn together prior to beginning the editing, this would make the whole process extremely more straight forward and less problematic.

Overall I think our film opening was successful. We all worked well as a group, we all contributed to the filming and editing, even though some members were stronger at certain aspects of the production. The one thing that the whole group would do if we were faced with a similar task again would be to make the idea as simplistic as possible and to stick to the idea. We made our task too complicated than it needed to be and we changed practically every detail that we had originally planned with the storyboard.   I think we are all much more confident with using the equipment and software so if needed, we are all quite happy to use them again. Looking back at how we struggled with the preliminary task whilst editing and coming to terms with all of the new equipment and how we were whilst creating the opening, it made me realise how much it helped us gain the foundation knowledge before the task.

Daisy - Film Opening

Filming The News Report

We chose to film the news report scene as an extra incase we became in need of extra footage, which in the end, we did. We decided it would be easiest to Film the report as if the reporter was on location, therefore, we decided to have her at 'Daisy's' school reporting about the support the school is giving. Including the news report into our film was really effective, we added a video filter on Final Cut Express called 'Bad TV' which distorted the image. To add to the effectiveness we added a white noise sound to the background of the original footage sound. Then we cut some of the footage and added in some of Grace in the park. We made this black and white and slowed it slightly to make it seem as if it was a flashback as to what the reporter was saying. We tried to film it outside the school gates with the name of the school behind the reporter, but due to weather conditions, it was not possible so we alternatively filmed in one of the buildings. It took a couple of takes because of disruption which was expected because it is a school and there is always going to be someone walking past. The reason we chose to film the reporter on location instead of in 'studio' was because we didn't have the ability to set up a scene professional enough to make it seem slightly believable, e.g. the background, desks and quality camera's.

Filming Locations

We had four different filming locations for our opening. My cellar, Gillingham Park, Rainham School For Girls and a street.
The cellar was cold and damp, and looked as if it hadn't been looked after, it was the perfect setting for someone to be keeping someone captive. The only problem we had with this setting was that it was not very well lit in respect to how it needed to fit our conventional scene. To add additional light we tied a wireless lamp to the ceiling above where the victim was seated. I think the next time I do a project similar to this, I will make sure that I assess all factors of the setting before filming so that it causes less time wasting which will ensure that the filming can be done without having to make changes or repeat the filming sessions.
We used Gillingham Park to do the scenes where Grace (Daisy) was walking the dog. As you can expect there was other people there walking their dogs or just visiting the park. This caused a little trouble for use as the dog featuring in the filming was becoming distracted by the others which disrupted the filming. Also, a couple sat on a bench that was directly in our shot, thankfully, they realised we must have been doing a project for school and carried on with walking their dogs. The only other problem that we found with filming in the park was the wind. However, this was not something that we could control but next time the group films outside, we will check the weather to try and minimalise the poor weather conditions. This problem did not effect the quality of our filming because we could decrease the volume of the audio that accompanies the footage on Final Cut Express.

We also filmed at Rainham School for Girls which was easy to do as that is the school in which we attend. The only problem that accompanied this was that occasionally someone would walk past and distract the member of the group that was acting, however, after a couple of takes we became used to the slight disruptions and was able to stop them from distracting our concentration. The only way this problem could've been resolved would have been to film in a different area of the school, perhaps a free classroom. 

We also filmed outside our school with the lamp post scene as we could easily film and then upload the footage in a lesson.

Filming sessions

Our main place for filming was in my cellar, we chose this because it was a perfect setting for a girl being abducted and because it was at my home so it was easy to get to and we did not have to ask for permission each time we wanted to film. We each took turns filming in the cellar as Grace was acting. The one thing we found with filming in the cellar was how cold it was. During cuts we had to have breaks so that Grace could warm up for a bit because she was wearing just a vest, tracksuit bottoms and she had bare feet. We took turns with filming the different shots.
We were using a tripod to keep the camera steady but one trouble we had with it was that it was quite stiff and jolted quite a lot so we had to fiddle around for about 15 minutes to adjust it so ensure the quality would be efficient.
At first the cellar was in quite a mess so our first task before we began filming was tidying it up so that there was space big enough for filming. Next we had to add additional lighting as when we uploaded our first set of footage it seemed darker than on the camera. To do this we used a solar powered lamp and taped it to the ceiling where it was needed to light the face of Grace.
We also filmed in a park by my house, however filming these scenes were always going to be weather permitted as we did not want rain or intense wind to ruin the quality of the filming. However, in December, both are more than likely. We chose a day and luckily the weather was perfect, no rain and no wind. The one problem we had with these shots were controlling my dog. There was a part where the lead is dropped, suggesting Grace had been taken, and the sound of the lead being dropped startled the dog. However, when we looked at what we had captured we realised that when it dropped, she almost looked scared, as if her owner had been taken and she was lost on her own, which of course is what we were implying had happened.

Overall I think most of our filming sessions were successful but one thing I would make sure that we do next time is film too much rather than too little because this would save us time and having to perfect the makeup, hair and costumes each time we needed more footage.

Why we chose Universal Pictures

During our research for choosing what studio to use for the opening of our film we looked at other film openings and we found that there were so many different movie production companies but we found that  Universal Pictures or 20th Century Fox were the most popular for thriller/crime films. So, we randomly chose between the two and eventually chose Universal Pictures. 

Final Missing Persons Poster

This is the final copy of the missing person's poster created. We used it in a scene where it is taped to a lamp post.
We used red font for the 'missing' as it is such a bright colour that it automatically would draw someone's attention if they were passing by the poster.
 We had to use a picture of the actress that clearly showed her eyes because we knew that we was going to zoom into the eyes of the poster which would then have the actual footage of her eyes come through the image.

Missing Person Poster

For part of our film we have a scene including a missing person's poster. We each designed our own one of how we thought it should be presented, these were the three options and we used aspects of each one to develop the one we would use.

Changes in Monologue

After members of our group watched The Wolfman in their spare time, they were inspired and proposed an idea. In the opening of The Wolfman a woman is speaking, explaining things. This is where they got the idea for the main girl in our film to be speaking. We compared this with the news report idea and we decided that as it is actually the victim narrating it, it gives it a more chilling effect and would entice the audience more as it is more personal.

Also, we thought that we could create a missing persons poster and stick it on a lampost, and then track down the lampost and then zoom into Grace's eyes (Grace is our actress) and then it would fade into a black screen and fade out of a black screen into the filming of Grace in the cellar starting with footage of her eyes. Instead of filming more footage for this, we used footage that we already have. However, it was zooming into her eyes. So we found a way of reversing the clip so it zooms out of the eyes. 

Script for the voice over: "My Grandparents always used to say, 'the older you get, the faster time passes' It certainly feels that way, it feels like a lifetime since I have seen my family. I have so much yet to experience, my first kiss, marriage, a job. The memories of my family are still so strong, however, I do not know if they will stay like that. One thing I do know is, I will get out."

Deciding on The Film Title

When deciding on the title for our film opening we thought about the contents of our opening. We came up with a whole page of possible names but the main ones were as followed; Daze, Daisy, Dais, Unknown, The Lost Abduction. Daze, Daisy and Dais were all really a play on words, we knew we would be calling the main character Daisy and we knew that she'd be in a dazed state in the cellar so we played around with the words. However, we realised that that someone is either 'in a daze' or 'dazed' so we would have to call is 'Dazed' to ensure the context was correct. I really liked the idea of calling it 'Dais' because it gives the film a more personal touch because it would've been the nickname of the girl, however, we realised that using a word that is not grammatically correct could be an issue so because on the uncertainty we ruled that idea out. We found out that Unknown was already a title to a film that was released recently so we did not want to use that incase audiences drew similarities between the two. So we were down to Daisy and The Lost Abduction and all of the group agreed that we preferred the name Daisy. We also asked other members of our class which seemed more appealing and the generalised comment we received was that 'The Lost Abduction' sounds like the film would just be an ordinary crime/thriller film so it wouldn't appeal to them whereas Daisy is quite an unusual title. Using the victims name, which is quite an innocent name, intrigued them. After considering all factors the group decided to name the film Daisy.

Production Company Logo

These were four production logo's designed by members of our group. Three were fairly similar with the same name "Cameo Productions" and the other with "Ask G". Both were extremely different because Cameo was clean and straight to the point whereas Ask G was eye catching but yet somehow distracting. We had a discussion about which we preferred, asked people in our class and we also researched into how other production companies had designed theirs. We found that major companies kept it clean and simple. For example, Pixar Pictures is black text on a white background. All of the group decided that less was more, therefore we decided to go with the last image as it stands out because of the contrast in colours and goes with the clean and simple convention. Choosing the font for the logo was difficult as there was so many to choose from but after thinking about how the conventional production companies designed their we decided to go with one that if bold yet simple so that the audience is not distracted by creative font. 

We asked members of our class to comment on which one they preferred and why. Some said they preferred the Ask G image because the colours and design is eye catching but some said that they preferred the Cameo Production logo's because they are simple and look more professional. 

When it came to deciding which to use we thought about how it would look with the rest of our credits and the appropriateness and effectiveness of each in relevance of our film. We all decided that the white text on black background for Cameo productions was the most fitting with the genre and the other credits. 

Adjusting To The New Equipment and Software

We were introduced to Mac computers, Final Cut Express and the video camera's at the beginning of the school year. We didn't have long to really figure out how to use everything so we had to learn as we went. I didn't have any trouble with using the Mac computers as I have one at home so I am already adjusted from PC to Mac, however, I think the main struggle for most people was coming to grips with using Final Cut Express as it was completely new to everyone, so learning how to use everything and find everything was a real struggle. This was gradually solved as we all became more familiar with the software. Another issue which we had was uploading the video footage from the tapes to the computer. However this was easily solved as the IT technicians gave us a step by step guide on how to do so.
So overall, the problems that faced us we overcame them by the time we began editing.

The Monologue

Our initial plan was to not have any dialogue in our film, we thought it would not be necessary and may distract the audience from the chilling scenes. However, we didn't consider that the audience may be confused as to what had happened because we knew exactly was happening but then we thought about how it would look from the audience's point of view. This is when we realised we needed a narrator of some sort to set the story straight. During conversation about how we could do this, we had a light bulb moment and suggested using the sound of a news report as a voice over during the opening credits. So we chose a member of the group to have their voice recorded. However, as we're all teenage girls, our voice's aren't really what you'd expect to hear on a news report so we edited the clip using Garage Band. The dialogue with the opening music chosen still in the background together creates an eerie, sad tone for the beginning of the film, this is so that when the scene's of the young girl begin, they feel sympathetic to her, and want to help her, intriguing them into the film.

The monologue script: 

"Breaking News - Yet again another teenage disappearance has been reported. As of yesterday this has been the 19th abduction within the past six weeks. The victim is 17 years old and is currently studying for her A-Levels. Her parents, Deborah and Martin Robinson are holding out in the hope that Daisy will once again be reunited with them so that they can live a normal life."

Target Audience

When deciding on our target audience we listed some of the things our film would contain; strong language, violence, possible sex implications. We then researched into what the actual classifications were for each rating. We were expecting it to be either a 15 or 18. We were correct. The classification for a a film to be certificated as a 15 are as follows;

Only those over 15 years are admitted. Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong language and one use of very strong language, moderate-strong violence/sex references, and undetailed sex activity.

And after comparison with the classification for an 18 certificate; 

Only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and strong violence/sex references along with strong sexual activity is also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context.

We compared both and thought about how our opening would set up the film. After considering the content of our opening we thought that we would rate it as a 15. This is because the content would not be as extreme enough to classify it as an 18. 

Changes to Costumes

Due to the changes in the film idea's we only need one costume now, that is the costume for Grace to wear in the cellar. We chose to keep the same idea of just a black vest and black trousers so that we keep the idea of her being stripped of all possessions.

Evaluation Of The Animatic Storyboard

How useful was it to the group?

I do not think it was significantly useful to us as we had already spoke in depth about how we was going to film this but I understand how it would it be helpful as it shows exactly what will happen and an idea of how it will look together and what angles we would need for our shots. If we were to do a similar project to this I think a more in depth storyboard may be useful to us.

I think the process of editing the clips together helped us most as it gave us an idea of how many different transitions there were available to use for our opening. It counted as more preparation for our real opening so that when it comes to editing that we will not be wondering what to do and how we do it like we was at first. 

December Filming Dates

This is an image of the dates where we have planned to film and edit in December. We had some difficulty arranging everyones availability as each of us have a job so we do not know our forthcoming work commitments, however this is a rough idea of when we are all available.

Change in Idea

Change in Ideas

In our old idea we chose to have a child in the park, however, we have struggled to find a young child that would be able to act in our film. So, we have decided that instead of using a child as the person being kidnapped, we will use a teenage girl whom is walking through a park on her own.

Costume Ideas

  Costumes:

• ·     For the young girl, she will need to wear any casual clothes that a young child of that age would wear so for the child we use, she can just turn up in her own clothes. We’ll need to get a pink butterfly clip to put in her hair, which the parents will find when she has gone missing.
• ·     For the parents they will just need to wear casual wintery clothes.
• ·     The young girl 10 years later will be wearing tatty dirty clothes which we can get and just make them look scruffy.
• ·     The kidnapper will just be wearing all black, possible use of a balaclava.

            Settings:

• ·     A park, we will be using our local park.
• ·     For the scene 10 years later we’ll be using my cellar.

     Props:

• ·     Wooden chair for the girl in the cellar
• ·     Rope to tie her up
• ·     Hand held camera for the father in the park

Storyboard