LAP Chart Update

Task List for Blog

 

Task List for HACKER

Production Diary for HACKER

Lesson	Progress
Tuesday 5thNovember	Shared our individual film pitches with the group and chose the one we would like to develop. Beth’s film pitch was chosen and Richard suggested ideas to develop it. The idea was born. The entire group pitched in, and together we started to make a brand new PowerPoint with our pitch for our film ‘Hacker.’
Wednesday 6th November	The PowerPoint continued to be developed by all, we also assigned tasks to individuals, for example Max and Richard were researching similar film openings, Beth was researching locations and Drea was researching music. The PowerPoint was finished in this lesson. All of the slides we individually made were put together in one PowerPoint, this including genre, locations, narrative etc.
Thursday 7th November	We pitched our film idea to the class. We received feedback from pupils and the teachers, suggesting ideas to make it better and also stating the ideas they liked. We then began to look into locations in more detail, choosing precisely which location we use. Drea began to draft the story board, with all of us putting in suggestions and we made a change to the very first shot, instead of Drea starting on the train, we would start in the station.
Friday 8th November	MEDIA TRIP (at the BFI)
Monday 11th November	(Richard absent due to physics trip.) Drea drew up the draft storyboard into a final version, with each shot on a4 paper so we could annotate around it with frames, angles, movements and other important notes. Max researched ‘spy jargon’ to help write our script. Beth print screened pictures of Piccadilly Circus, including bird’s eye views, to annotate on them.
Tuesday 12th November	Max finished writing the script and researched films that inspire our film. Richard researched type-writer fonts for our titles. Drea researched London buses, practiced with the head cam and documented us working. Beth typed up the shooting schedule. We all listened to Drea’s brother’s music which he has played for our sequence.
Wednesday 13th November	Richard continued to research type-writer fonts for our titles. Drea drew up more story boards as we made a change to our shot. We decided that filming on the underground might be a bit tricky, so we chose to change it to filming getting on and off a London bus. However, we are going to keep the train story board shots and film both in London, then decide what looks better when we get back to editing it. Beth researched bus routes we would need to get on. Max started devising the props list.
Thursday 14th November	Drea and Beth annotated the story board. Max wrote up the class feedback from our pitch and researched the order titles appear. Richard made a PowerPoint slide on how the opening fits the genre and conventions and also researched the order titles appear.
Friday 15th November	(Drea absent due to illness.) Max continued and finished putting our titles in order. Richard took pictures of the storyboard so we could put voiceovers on them. Beth got every piece of work we have done for this (from everyone’s computer) so we could put it all together on our blogs.
Monday 18th November	(Drea absent due to illness.) Today, Beth, Max and Richard recorded the voiceovers on audacity to go over the storyboard in a private classroom. We then came back into the media room to rename all of our clips.
Tuesday 19th November	(Max absent due to illness.) Today, Drea, Richard and Beth had to re-record all of the voiceovers as the audacity files were really fuzzy, so there was a change. We went to a private classroom and used a tripod and a camera, pinned the storyboard up on the whiteboard and spoke over them shot by shot. This was much more successful.
Wednesday 20th November	In this lesson, Beth went through all of the shots we took of the storyboard and copied the correct ones into her area, then put them all together in Adobe Premiere and uploaded it to YouTube. We then all put the storyboard video on our blogs, and spent some time updating our blogs with everything we needed to film it successfully. We decided we would film this Sunday (Sunday the 24th of November.)
Thursday 21st November	MEDIA TRIP (at the BFI)
Friday 22nd November	This lesson, we all practiced filming down a corridor in school. For this, Beth filmed and Drea, Richard and Max acted. We practiced walking, zooming and a chase. We then came back into class and uploaded the footage, and practiced editing it in Adobe Premiere.
Sunday 24th November	We all filmed in London.
Monday 25th November	This lesson, Drea began creating the titles to go over the footage we had got. Beth uploaded all the footage from the camera onto the computer and we signed back in our camera and tripod. We then all sat round the computer and watched the footage, choosing which shots were the best and organising the good from the bad into folders.
Tuesday 26th November	Drea continued making titles to go over the footage and Max, Beth and Richard edited separately different parts of the sequence.
Wednesday 27th November	Drea continued making titles to go over the footage and Max, Beth and Richard edited separately different parts of the sequence. We began downloading the music to go into the sequence and researched some music to go along with the first part of the sequence, so we made a slight change to the music plan.
Thursday 28th November	(Beth absent due to trip.) Drea continued making titles to go over the footage and Max and Richard found sound effects to go into the sequence and made final editing touches.
Friday 29th November-Thursday 5th December	During the course of this week, we have mainly all been editing. We have also found the music we would definitely be using, so we made a change to the music plan again. Also, we did a photo-shoot to make film posters to promote our film. On Tuesday, we recorded the voice-overs to put over the sound on our film.
Friday 6th December	Today, we showed our final first draft to the teacher and some peers to get feedback. From this we learnt that we might need to slow the second half of the music down, put our institution logo in and perhaps edit the colouring of the sequence to make it a bit more greeny or yellow. However, we got really positive feedback; a lot of people liked the music and were impressed with the sequence in general.
Monday 9th December	(Drea absent due to illness.) Today, Beth, Max and Richard filmed the character profiles of Max and Richard in the style of a chat show. Beth was the host and questioned Max and Richard on their characters. We then edited it by adding sound, and uploaded it to the blog.
Tuesday 10th December	Today we peer assessed everyone else’s work. We watched the 22 minute long video miss had put together of everyone’s rough cuts and gave feedback on sheets.

Wednesday 11th December

Today, Beth and Drea filmed the character profile of Drea in the style of a chat show. Beth was the host and questioned Drea on her character. We then edited it by adding sound, and uploaded it to the blog. We also uploaded pictures to the blog of evidence of us all working. Richard answered the audience questions in the style of a PowerPoint and Max re-wrote the shooting schedule in the style we needed it to be.

Thursday 12th December	Today, Beth made a change to the titles regarding the feedback we got from the class and teachers; we changed the font to look more computer-like and the colour to white. Max made a change to the institution logo and thought of a brand new one. Drea started making the film poster on Adobe, looking at the drafts for ideas and help, and Richard answered the audience questions.
Friday 13th December	Today, Beth and Max edited the music so it built up in the right place. Drea finished the film poster and Richard finished the audience questions. When he had finished, Richard helped Beth and Max with themusic also. We then exported our final version of our AS Media opening sequence and uploaded it to YouTube and put it on our own blogs.

Monday 16th December

Today, we all uploaded the film poster, re-written shooting schedule and updated production diary to our own blogs. We then spent some time thinking of some questions we could ask peers/teachers who watch our final version when we interview them for feedback.

Evaluation: Hacker

Question 1



Question 2

 

Question 3

 

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Question 4



Question 5



Question 6



Our logos:
Drea: I created my logo on www.weavesilk.com. I used blue to represent tranquility and peace, and purple to represent royalty, putting my production company above everyone else', in terms of status and presence. This was the final result:


Richard: I used Photoshop to create the logo. I wanted to make good logo for a horror company. I used the dark grey on red. I used the tools on Photoshop to edit to images the I used. I used the magic wand tool, to select all the area I wanted to be red and then painted over it to get the parts I wanted red. The Buzz saw was used because this is a horror production company. The red is the colour of blood so it will make people think of horror films. I think the red also stands out against the dark colours of the background, this will make it more memorable. This was the final result:

 

Beth: To make my logo, I found a picture from Google (by typing in cartoon film reel) then edited it on PowerPoint, by inserting text and making the text look like it wrapped around the film reel. I then came up with a comany name and also made this look like it wrapped around the film reel, this was the final result:

Max: To make this logo I used Photoshop and used many tools to make it look good. The first tool I used was then burn told. I made sure that I went round the outside of the pyramid so that the background wasn’t to over powering. I then used the dodge tool to make the pyramid shine and glow. The reason I did this was so that the pyramid was the main piece in the logo. I then added a filter that made it look like the sun was reflecting off the pyramid so make the pyramid stand out even more. This was the final result:

Screen-grabbed examples of what we did in Audacity:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Screen-grabbed examples of what we did in Premiere:

 

CLICK TO ENLARGE

 

Question 7

 

 

Feedback: Hacker

The following is the written feedback we got from peers and adults:

Is the genre clear?
It is a thriller
It is a crime thriller
It is a thriller
It is an action
It is a thriller/action

Who would you say is the main character?
Drea, the girl
The girl
The girl
Drea's character
Drea Bunce

Did the music fit the chosen genre?
Very good, well timed to the clips
Really well
Yes
Yes, it builds up as the opening scene progresses
Yes, the music built tension throughout the piece, it fitted very well

What was the most memorable part?
The penultimate bit where Max speaks
When the girl is cornered at the wall
The running scene
The final line before the screen cuts to black
The shot from across the station (the above shot) it looked very professional, also the ‘hacker’ title

What part could we potentially improve?
The boys should wear jackets
I don't know why they would just wear shirts and trousers and no jackets
The Starbucks scene should be shorter
Have the music build up more gradually before Drea breaks into a run
The beginning seemed a little weird that Richard and Max were sitting very close to Drea

If this film was to be released, would you go and see it in the cinema?
Yes
Yes
Yes
I'm not sure, it would depend on the plot of the film
Yes, it looks quite like a ‘James Bond-esque’film and who would say no that one huh?

Out of 60, what mark would you give it?
55
52
58
48
An 'excellent'

Please feel free to watch our opening sequence here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNazZQCczcQ

...and fill out the following survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JFPRGC6

Bloopers: Hacker

Title Sequence Plan: Hacker

Risk Assessment: Hacker

Risk assessment form:

Final Draft: Hacker

Audience Questions: Hacker

Audience questions from gbhsasbeth

Marketing Ideas: Hacker

First trial, unsuccessful, image found online

Second trial, successful, image is a screencap from our poduction

Third trial, successul, image taken by Drea Bunce

Evidence Of How Our Planned Opening Fits With Research Into Genre, Codes and Conventions: Hacker

Our film opening will mainly feature a chase through London, as the 'agents' are trying to catch the 'hacker.'

Other stereotypical spy action features are:
Violent action against the rival
Investigating various events on a global scale
Exciting escapism
Heavy action
Stylized fights
Technological thrills
Exotic locales
Frequent shootouts
Car chases

Films with the genre similar to ours:

The Bourne Identity: a man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and without memory, then races to elude assassins and recover from amnesia.

 

Die Hard: John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

 

Shutter Island: drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding nearby.

 

Taken: a retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.

 

Matrix: a computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.

Inception: a skilled extractor is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible.

 

Mission Impossible III: Ethan Hunt comes face to face with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer while trying to keep his identity secret in order to protect his girlfriend.

 

Salt: a CIA agent goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.

Location and Recce Shots: Hacker

 

Piccadilly Circus: This is where we will film most part of our film opening. The busy vibe adds to the tension of the chase, will they find her through the crowd or lose her again?

 

London Liverpool Street: This is where the agents will first spot the hacker and tell their boss they have 'eyes' on her. Again, the busy natural vibe of the station will add to the tension.

Starbucks: This is where the audience will see the hacker stealing the government files on her laptop. The coffee shop is iconic and is a popular place where she can fit in among the crowds.

 

 

The alleyway: This is where the final scene will be shot. The agents will corner the hacker down the alleyway and she will speak into her head piece for back up. The alleyway is effective because it is quite thin and closed in, so it makes their first face to face meet personal and helps the tension build up for the cliffhanger.

Film Pitch: Sci-Fi Title Sequences

The following post will include analysis of title sequences in Sci-fi's and Dramas to help me get ideas to produce a title opening of the final foundation coursework:

Sci-fi - Inception

T1: 0.04 seconds, capitals, font about 50, colour: red, bottom centred.

T2: 0.09 seconds, capitals, font about 40, colour: red and white, middle left and right.

T3: 0.15 seconds, capitals, font about 35, colour: red and white, middle left and right.

T4: 0.34 seconds, capitals, font about 30, colour: white, upper left.

T5: 0.41 seconds, capitals, font about 30, colour: red and white, middle left and right.

T6: 0.50 seconds, capitals, font about 40, colour: white, middle/upper left.

T7: 1.06 seconds, capitals, font about 40, colour: white, middle/upper left.

T8: 1.11 seconds, capitals, font about 20/30, colour: white, centre/right.

Mise en scene:
Positioning of objects within the frame:
The positioning of the text in the frame varies, this means that there is no set pattern, and perhaps keeps the audience 'on their toes.'
Lighting and colour:
The text is always against a black backgroud, this makes it stand out, the lighting is high so you can clearly see everything.
Camera:The animation of the building is quite cool, but was a bit of an anti-climax.
Editing:
The editing is all slick, the text appears at a good time in between each title. The animation of the building and the spinner animation at the end is really interesting.

Drama - The Notebook

T1: 0.05 seconds, capitals for first initial, font about 20, colour: white, bottom right.

T2: 0.10 seconds, capitals for first initial, font about 20, colour: white, bottom right.

T3: 0.15 seconds, capitals for first initial, font about 20, colour: white, bottom right.

T4: 0.20 seconds, capitals for first initial, font about 20, colour: white, bottom right.

T5: 0.28 seconds, capitals for first initial, font about 20, colour: white, bottom right.

Mise en scene:
Positioning of objects within the frame:
The text is always placed at the bottom right, this is to focus on the image of the boat and the sunset.
Lighting and colour:
The lighting is always very low key as it is just coming up to sunset.
Camera:
The camera makes the title sequence feel very peaceful as it is steady and slow.
Editing:
The editing is very slick and there is sometimes tilt up's of the birds flying past in the sky.

What I have learnt that I can put into my title sequence:
Sometimes simple titles can be effective but when they are centred they are much more effective, as the audiences' attention is focused on them and they are noticed. Colours that contrast the background e.g. black background and white text work really well as they stand out. The title sequence should be really slick and edited really well so that it all looks professional and is memorable, and perhaps include something interesting like animations.