Production Meeting 3

Date: 13th Decemeber
Present: Bethany Huston, Camille Pierrart, Ellie Bunce, Katie Bannock
Focus: Begin to create production pitch (everyone gets started on their individual tasks)
Action point: Finish production pitch

In our third production meeting we were told to make a production pitch. The production pitch had to include, a synopsis/breif, mood board, locations, cast/characters, treatment, soundtrack and a stroyboard. This was Mr Buckmaster's example for us: http://marlboroughmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/production-pitch.html
We all had different tasks to do to create our production pitch. I did the breif, Bethany did the storyboard and treatment, Kate looked for a soundtrack and Ellie did the mood board, locations, cast/characters and made the powerpoint presentation.

Production Meeting 2

Date: 12th December 2012
Present: Bethany Hutson, Camille Pierrart, Ellie Bunce, Katie Bannock
Focus: Brainstorm ideas, and discuss anysequences we had watched

In our second meeting we started thinking about ideas for our opening sequences. Here are some of them:

1. Two people (boy and girl) waking up
2. Sister and brother on a dog walk, stranger watching them
3. Missing child (posters, then we see the child)
4. Home videos of a boy growing up, then we see him now

We then boted on ideas we wanted for our opening sequence and decided to do the two people waking up, we discussed this idea and expanded on it thinking about them crossing in the street but not acknowledging one another to set up an enigma and foreshadowing the rest of the film.

Our film/opening sequence will be a romantic comedy.

Production Meeting 1

Date: 6th December 2012
Present: Bethany Hutson, Camjille Pierrart, Ellie Bunce and Katie Bannock.

In our first production meeting we looked at different genes and sub genres in films in oder to help us come up with ideas for our opening sequence.

We eliminated genres we wanted to stay away from or didnt think we were able to do such as:

• Fantasy
• Melodramas
• Crime
• Epics/historical
• Magical
• Science fiction
• Westerns

This was because we thought they would be hard to portray realistucally and we wanted our opening sequence to be believeable. We also thought it would be hard to make these types of films with our low budget, experience and knowledge.

We also thought about genres we could consider for our opening scene:

• Romance
• Horror
• Crime
• Action
• Drama

Our action point was to look at opening sequences and bring some ideas for our next meeting.

BBFC - British Board Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification is an independant, non-govermental body which has bclassified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/DVDs since the Video Recording Act was passed in 1984.

In class we watched a vudei ib BBFC (www.bbfc.co.uk) and we learnt that every film that is shown has to be classified with a certificate. We learnt what they look at and why.

We learnt that films are rated on::

• Violence and bad language
• Sex and nudity
• Taste and decency

The board says that it often reflects its rating on what the public say.

Example of violence - 'Casino Royale' is a James Bond film directed by Martin Campbell which is rated a 12a. However, this is because in the torture scene, we never see the actual whipping (we just see Le Chiffre swinging the rope and James Bonds reactions, we dont actually see it touch him).

Example of bad language - 'Four Wedding and  a Funeral' is a British romantic comedy directed by Mike Newell. Its rated at 15 because it contains bad language, and although their is no nudity, a bride and a groom have sex whilst fully dressed in their wedding clothes, the actions and noises of passion are very graphic. There is also a lot of smoking and  alcohol consumption during the weddings, with minor characters acting slightly drunk.

Example of taste and decency - 'Borat' is a mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat was rated at a 18 in cinemas but a 15 on DVD. This is because of the irony of the film and ocntect which could be taken as racism but is so extreme to create comedy value.

Preliminary Task

Shot duration/pace

The duration of a hot will usually reflect the narrative context
Generally speaking, short shot duration conveys action and urgency (say in a shot sequence)

Whilst long duration conveys intensity and intimacy within the narrative, it allows us to focus upon facial expression and other aspects of mise en scene which would otherwise be missed.

Some extra editing devices:

• Parallel editing - cross cutting between different locations can convey the impression that two or more events are occuring simutaneously
• Split-screen - where the frame is split into sections so that we can see different events occuring at the same time.

Editing controls what we see and when, when analysing a clip you also need to consider how editing techniques are used to control what information is revealed to/hidden from:
a) the audience
b) the characters

Transitions

The process of cutting from one shot to another usually involves a simple straight cut. However there are other means of transitions available to a film editor:

• Fade to black
• Dissolve/cross fade
• Wipe

etc...

A pattern of fade out followed by fade in suggests a conclusion to the previous scene and the beginning of a new one, or could seperate a flashback sequence.

Dissolve or cross fade - the preceding shot merges into the following shot, resulting in the two shots being superimposed. The longer the dissolve the more noticeable the superimposition becomes.