Anna Gifford AS Media Studies Blog
This week we have been divided up into our coursework groups and have begun to explore possible themes, narratives and ideas for our film opening. So far, we are considering creating a film within the thriller genre about a jealous ex girlfriend murdering her exes new lover. During our brainstorming process it was hard to all collectively come up with one idea we could all agree on, as we each had different ideas and takes on the storyline and general plot.
Brainstorm:
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Initial Rough Storyline:
-Cody is seen always watching and driving.
– Walking on the beach holding hands (lea and josh)
– Cody seen driving past in car- long shot
– Montage of beach moments- with Cody’s car in the back occasionally (foreshadowing/easter egg for 2nd time viewers)
– Lea and josh having normal conversation laughing and giggling when they decide to go home – Cody follows and kills lea to get back with joshIdea:
“IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU, NO ONE CAN”
Planning for production – Mood Board
Planning for Production – roles and responsibilities
Today in class within our groups we discussed and delegated some key roles and responsibilities as we prepare to produce our film opening. It was decided that I would be in charge of creating the Mood Board for our film opening and choosing the location of where we would film(location scout for our movies setting). I was delegated this role as the rest of the group and I agreed that I have an eye for detail when it comes to the visual and general aesthetics which correlate with themes and overall ‘moods’. My first step towards these jobs is to begin finding and concidering potenital filming locations and reflect off the tone of the images from my mood board that would reflect the same atmosphere for our film.To be successful I will need to communicate with the team to ensure my choices match all our visions of what we want the film to look like, and be flexible if changes need to be made.
possible locations: Narrow Neck Beach
Production Process – Storyboard
Here is my group’s production preparation to date. The highlights of our project so far have been developing deep connections within our team and also planning our day of filming, while organising the aesthetics for the day of shooting. However, some aspects have been challenging, particularly the realisation that our storyline lacked clarity, as well as the fact that our plot had no representation of marginalised communities. As we get closer and closer to our planned filming date, we are continuing to work on our story boards, brainstorm new ways to make up for our lack of representation, and make sure that we have all equipment ready and accessible for our day of filming. We have completed our Mood Board, Script and are nearing the end of the creation of our story boards which have taken longer than expected. We have decided that our first filming session will be on 12/06. Our biggest challenge so far has been trying to find new ways to incorporate elements of representation while staying true to our genre.
FILMING PROCESS:
Over the course of our filming process, there were many different successes and challenges which became apparent throughout…
Behind the scenes photos from our shoot:
reviewing footage and learning lines:
B staying the night for filming
Rough cuts review
In class this week we were given the opportunity to perform some market research on our class as an audience. We showed key scenes from the film as separate clips/in a rough edit and also explained our general plot/theme/characters to the audience. As a group we decided we wanted feedback on whether the storyline was clear, and if the atmosphere matched our intended genre, because we wanted to check if the audience could understand our intentions and we created a Microsoft form to gather this information on.
The audience said that due to the rough cut edit, we didn’t understand the edit at first. The audience did point out how some bits of our clips were louder than others. Based on the feedback, I think our next steps are to retake some shots so we can adjust the sound and make it so the plot is clearer.
Edits
Based on our feedback and our own reflections, we have made the following adjustments, refining the sound and clarifying the plot.
Josh’s finale edit ->