Film poster research

In order to create our own poster i thought it would be a good idea to research existing posters to get ideas that could contribute towards our own one. I looked at films relating to ours aswell as a more general selection...


MATILDA - can be considered similar to our film as it has a target audience of children, it involves 'magic' and it's "fun".
The poster uses bright colours, with a main colour of yellow, which immediately establishes it as a childrens film because of the use of primary colours. The primary image consists of the main characters and their personalities are suggested through their body language and position in the frame.













THE WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE - the poster for Wizards of Waverly Place can also provide ideas for us because the film is again, similar to ours. The theme of magic is relevant within this movie and this is apparent in the poster due to their wands and the glow of them. Again, the main characters are in the poster and their body language suggests subtle characteristics, for instance the centre female, Alex, looks slightly mischevious due to her facial expression.

THE WORST WITCH - this is another film involving magic and witches, relating to our film because of the 'magical' element. This poster has a bit more colour in it with the purple background which may be something we need to include in our poster because we need it to look attractive and appeal to a young target audience. The image contains the main characters and the costumes and setting illustrate what the film is about.
















HARRY POTTER - this is another film that we can relate to, and the poster may also inspire us for our own one. The poster is a lot more crowded than the other ones and there are images all over the page but this is to show a variety of characters. This isn't relevant to our film as

we only have 3 characters so it would be hard to do this, however we can use other moments from our film for

images but this will be something we discuss when

creating the poster.

Friday 16th October 2009 - 3rd day of shooting

Well today was the third and final day of shooting that i took on by myself. Miss Bundy had lessons to teach and anyone else was busy at the start of the day so i took the first few shots without any assistance. Towards the end of the day i recieved help from one of my friends Rosie Kaur who helped me to bring the filming to an end.
I managed to finish scene 1 and refilm some of scene 2 as well as finish it off, even though it was difficult handling all 4 roles we packed up the camera by lunchtime so spent 4 hours filming on the extra day.

I am extremely grateful for everyone who helped me and very appreciative of my cast who were patient and cooperative. :)

Thursday 15th October 2009 - 2nd day of shooting!

Well, i thought yesterday was stressful, today was an even more tense and tiring day for me.
There was an issue that took place which resulted with my two crew members having to leave the shoot for the day and i was left with sound, continuity, camera and directing. It seemed impossible at first but i was determined to continue, I didn't want to pack up and dismiss cast which was suggested by my teacher. Miss Bundy came to help me and her and I took on the 4 roles between us and managed to get almost all of the shots done.

Today we managed to film all of scene 3 and all of scene 4.

We got around 30 shots from scene 1 done and the remaining shots will be completed tomorrow.

We didn't manage to get everything needed done so tomorrow will be another day of filming but we should cover all the necessary shots within 3 lessons.
The cast's teachers have been informed and so have mine so no one will recieve absent marks.

Wednesday 14th October 2009 - 1st day of shooting

Today was our first day of filming and... it was extremely stressful. There were so many problems that occured and interupted our filming, many of them were out of our control.

After we did our equipment checks and all of the cast arrived we set off to start our filming.

Intially we had a time schedule that was arranged during pre-production:

LOCATION NEEDED. TIME. CAST + YEAR GROUP. DAY

Media hallway and Start: 7.30 Dilpreet, Zahrah & Liam Wednesday
the media doors End: 12am Year 10


Maths Quad Start: 13:40 Dilpreet, Zahrah & Liam Wednesday
End: 5pm Year 10


Drama room 1 Start: 7.30 Zahrah, Extras, Dilpreet Thursday
End: 10.35 & Liam
Year 10


Green room Start: 11am Dilpreet & Liam Thursday
End: 1pm Year 10


History Hallway Start: 1.40pm Dilpreet, Zahrah, Extras Thursday
End: 4pm & Liam


Media classroom Start: 4.15pm Dilpreet & Liam Thursday
+ hallway End: 5pm Year 10




We organised our shooting in a way, we thought, would work best according to the times we booked specific rooms etc...

However things didn't go exactly according to plan and shots planned for Wednesday couldn't be done and we didn't want extra work for Thursday as there was already more than enough to do.

Problem 1 - The drama room we planned to use in the morning was locked and there were no drama teachers available to open it for us so we had to prospone quite a few shots - for later in the day.

Problem 2 - There was too much noise from music rooms and practise rooms that interfered with our film and were blatantly noticeable through the sound equipment. Therefore we chose to move to location 2, Maths quad, and come back to all the shots in the media hallway/doors later.
Also, because we hadn't printed of the Aladdin Rehearsals poster we couldn't do the shots outside the media doors and we had decided to reschedule them for Thursday, not knowing the other issues would also arise.

Problem 3 - The maths quad proved to be a very hard place to film, with many students and teachers walking through and classes making a lot of noise. The school's charity Fashion Show rehearsals were also taking place in the hall which is centered inbetween the quads and the music and noise also made it impossible to film. So now there are a few shots that still need to be filmed tomorrow.

Problem 4 - When we went back after school to start on our shots in the media hallway and drama room, there were more obstructions to our fillming. There were music groups rehearsing & drama rehearsals which made both of our planned locations unavailable. Both parties were leaving within the hour but it meant us and the cast waiting around doing nothing for an hour. We couldn't start on some of tomorrows shots because cast didn't have required costume and we didn't have access to the needed settings so we were confused and stressed deciding what to do.


Brainwave...
After a while i though we could perhaps begin on Scene 5, the scene where Genie has become a student and she comes to class where Luke is. When rehearsing the scenes through the camera we thought it didn't 'flow' and it seemed very stupid without extras to make it look like a classroom scene. So we changed our storyboard slightly and instead of the genie coming in to the class and sitting down she is simply meeting Luke from class and he is packing his things away and they leave together. We changed our closing shot to a close up of them holding hands which proved extremely effective.



Now we just hope tomorrow gives us enough time to take the rest of our shots ! Ahhh

Photo storyboard

After producing a hand drawn storyboard the next step in creating a film is to make a photo storyboard. This involves taking cast out to locations and taking still images of the shots that will be filmed, just like the original story board but this time with a digital camera.


Our photo storyboard:

Photo Storyboard Presentation!

View more presentations from yasmin92.

We used Zak in some shots as Liam Fitt (Luke) was absent from school the day we needed to do the storyboard. We also had 2 other students to play Genie & Luke as we again, weren't able to meet up with the real cast.

Our cast

We've got our cast's timetable so we are aware of where they'll be if we need to contact them about rehearsals or filming details and also so we can inform all of their subject teachers of their absence.

Zahrah Mpopo's timetable ("Olivia")

Dilpreet Taak's timetable ("Genie")

Liam Fitt's timetable ("Luke")

Directors Masterclass

Before we went off to do our filming each member of the group attended a masterclass specifically designed to the role they would be undertaking.
So for me I went to a masterclass concerning directing.
I recieved a lot of information about how cast should be handled and the best way to direct...

What to do with your cast as a director...
The director should really be the only one talking to the cast, they need to form a special relationship


Getting into character:
- Explain the character to help get them into role
- Introduce them to the character profiles - give them the background to the person they'll be playing
- Don't give them a stereotype of character such as "Your character is really bitchy" as it may affect their acting


In rehearsals:
- Clearly explain what they need to do
- Take them to locations
- And maybe explain to them how a film is made - inform them of the various steps included so they understand that it's not easy or simple and will require patience
- Rehearse in order of the shooting schedule
- Show them the storyboard and shooting schedule


During shoot:
- Remember to tell them there must be silence on set
- Let them be aware that there's a lot of standing around and waiting
- Introduce the crew
- Show them the equipment
- Look at what is happening on the camera screen NOT the live action - it's what the camera see's that will be shown to the audience
- Explain to the cast that they must do the whole sequence during every shot
- Tell cast NOT TO LOOK AT THE CAMERA AFTER FILMING A SHOT
- And that they must NOT ACT UNTIL I SAY "ACTION" OR STOP UNTIL I SHOUT "CUT"

Health & Safety

We recieved a health and safety talk from Mr Edwards, one of the deputy heads of Barking Abbey, who spoke to us about what is expected of us when we're working around the school and safety hazards we should be aware of.

- He told us that last year, the filming caused a lot of grief around the school - we have to remember to be sympathetic to other teachers and students because the rest of the school is still in action

- We have to be aware of where we leave equipment - whether it's going to be an obstruction or if there's a risk of it getting stolen - last year there were cameras left laying around

- We also have to remember that equipment needs to be packed away 10 minutes before any bells go, making sure we don't get in other students way and prevent it from getting damaged

- We have to be concious of people if we are outside the school building - there are caretakers, drivers and other various people coming through the school and we need to make sure we aren't blocking any entrances or exits. This also being a safety hazard

- After school we need to make sure there isn't anyone outside of school on the premises because we don't need distractions, there are homework clubs in action so we have to take that into consideration aswell

Shooting Schedule

A shooting schedule involves grouping particular shots together that you will film at one time. For example this can be done by location, character etc...



It's important because a film IS NOT FILMED IN THE ORDER IT WILL BE SHOWN so it is essential that the shooting schedule is done properly.

The shooting schedule is important for every member of the crew because they all need to know what is being filmed and when so they are prepared for those particular shots.

CAST!

After our previous difficulties with finding cast we asked a year 10 drama class if anyone was interested in participating in our film. There was a more sufficient number of students willing to take part and we took down all their names for auditions.


The students that will be playing our main roles are:

Olivia - Zarah Mpopo
Genie - Dilpreet Taak
Luke - Liam Fitt

Since they are all in year 10 I contacted their head of year, Mr Moloney to make sure it was okay to use them for our production as they would be required to take 2 days off timetable, meaning they will miss work etc..

This is a screen shot of the email sent to Mr Moloney and his reply, basically informing me that it was fine to use the students as long as i emphasise to them that it is their responsibilty to catch up on the work they've missed and to ensure they do it. He also said that I must email the attendance teacher to make sure the students don't recieve any absent marks, although we will be going to reception on the days of filming to let them know that we have certain students, i sent the email anyway.

Screen shot of email sent to Miss Rayment [attendance]:

12th October 2009 - Today we spoke to 2 students to play our extras, as Olivia's friends and as extra people in the rehearsals.
These students are also year 10,

Extra 1 - Kiranjeet Kasbia
Extra 2 - Hakirat Batchu

Storyboard 1

A storyboard is an essential tool for laying out a video or film project to communicate the look of a piece"

After finalising our script we were then able to move onto our storyboard. Storyboarding is extremely important within film making as it is a visual representation of the story, which we will allow the crew to picture it correctly. It must be created together as a group otherwise each member of the crew will have their own interpretation of what particular parts of the film will look like creating confusion and chaos during the shoot and even before. Storyboards must contain a variety of shots, as to prevent boredem, and a range of cutaway shots must be included.

When researching on how to create successful storyboards I found that storyboards first developed by Disney Studios back in the 1930’s for their early animated films and used in Hollywood ever since as a standard art director’s palette for visually expressing scripts or screenplays, storyboards are now employed throughout the entertainment and advertising industries



Our first draft:

Shot 1: EXT. CU of Lukes feet walking, TRACKING
Shot 2: EXT. CU of Luke playing psp, TRACKING
Shot 3: EXT. MCU of behind Luke, TRACKING
Shot 4: EXT. LS of Luke walking around the corner
Shot 5: EXT. MLS of poster alone at first and then Luke walks into shot and through door
Shot 6: INT. LS of Luke walking down corridor






Shot 7: INT. MLS of Luke walking. He walks out the shot and does a double take
Shot 8: INT. MLS into a MCU - he walks towards camera a step
Shot 9; INT. LS of Luke looking through door
Shot 10: INT. POV. LS of Olivia
Shot 11: INT. LS of Luke at door (brushes himself off)
Shot 12: INT. MS of Luke sitting on stairs playing psp









Shot 13: CU of watch
Shot 14: INT. LS of Olivia coming out of class
Shot 15: INT. MLS of Luke looking and then standing up
Shot 16: INT. MS of Olivia looking at Luke - Oblivious
Shot 17: INT. MS Luke smiles and steps forward
Shot 18: INT. MLS of Olivia turning and walking off







Shot 19: INT. CU of lamp falling on floor
Shot 20: INT. CU of Luke noticing the lamp
Shot 21: INT. CU of Luke reaching out for lamp
Shot 22: INT. MLS of Luke looking at lamp. He then looks up
Shot 23: INT. OTS of Olivia walking far away. Luke hangs his head
Shot 24: INT. MCU "I wish i wasn't such a loser". Luke sits down.
Hear someone say - "Is that an official wish?" He turns his head









Shot 25: INT. TILT of Genie coming down stairs
Shot 26: INT. SIDE. MCU of Luke looking up confused
Shot 27: INT. LS of empty stairs
Shot 28: INT. MCU. 2 SHOT. of Genie saying "Hi im Genie"
Shot 29: INT. MCU of Genie saying "and that's my lamp"
Shot 30: INT. MCU of Luke looking down at lamp and then back up confused





Shot 31: INT. MCU of Genie saying "Im your genie now Luke"
Shot 32: INT. MCU of Luke - "How do you know my name"
Shot 33: INT. LS of Genie getting up [body language shot]
Shot 34: INT. CU of Luke raising his eyebrow
Shot 35: INT. LS/OTS of Genie saying "So why do you think you're such a loser"
Shot 36: INT. MLS. Luke turns around, rolls his eyes and walks off





Shot 37: EXT. LS of Luke walking out of the door
Shot 38: EXT. LS/OTS of Genie running out "Wait wait..."
Shot 39: EXT. MCU of Luke crossing his arms
Shot 40: EXT. MS of Genie clicking fingers and chocolate bar appears
Shot 41: EXT. CU of Luke "Wow..."

SCENE 2
Shot 42: EXT. TRACKING. LS. Luke and Genie talking

Shot 43: EXT. MS. Luke-"so after you..." TRACKING
Shot 44: EXT. MS. Genie-"Yeah enough about me..." TRACKING

Shot 45: EXT. MS. Luke-"Well there's this girl..." TRACKING

Shot 46: EXT. LS. Olivia coming out classroom
Shot 47: EXT. LS. Olivia and Luke bump into each other
Shot 48: EXT. CU of books on floor







Shot 49: EXT. MS. Olivia-"urgh!"
Shot 50: EXT. MS. Genie and Luke - Luke bends down to get books
Shot 51: EXT. MS. Luke gives Olivia the books and she walks away
Shot 52: EXT. MS. Genie points at Olivia confused. Luke-"That's her! Thats Olivia..."
Shot 53: EXT. CU. Genie-"That's the girl you like?! Okay well..."
Shot 54: EXT. CU of Luke confused






SCENE 3
Shot 55: INT. PAN OF BEDROOM.
Shot 56: INT. MS of Luke and Genie
Shot 57: INT. CU of Genie using scissors
Shot 58: INT. CU of Genie shaking bottle
Shot 59: INT. CU of Genie getting out gel
Shot 60: INT. LS. Luke coming out wearing outfit #1






Shot 61: INT. CU of Genie shaking her head
Shot 62: NT. LS. Luke coming out wearing outfit #2
Shot 63: INT. MCU of Genie not sure
Shot 64: INT. MS of Genie looking up and smiling
Shot 65: INT. LS of door opening
Shot 66: INT. TILT of Luke










Shot 67: INT. MLS of Genie and Luke playing psp
Shot 68: INT. CU of psp
Shot 69: INT. MLS of Luke and Genie laughing on bed
Shot 70: INT. CU. Genie-"wow you look great"
Shot 71: INT. SIDE. LS. Luke-"really you think..."
Shot 72: INT. CU. Genie-"She'd be mad not to..."





SCENE 4
Shot 73: INT. MS of Genie brushing Luke's shoulders
Shot 74: INT. SLIGHT PAN. LS. Olivia walking past
Shot 75: INT. LS. Luke starting to walk
Shot 76: INT. CU. Genie sad
Shot 77: INT. OTS. Luke approaching Olivia. Luke-"Olivia..."
Shot 78: INT. MCU. Olivia turns around






Shot 79: INT. CU. Luke-"I erm..."
Shot 80: INT. MS. Olivia looks down - "what's that?"
Shot 81: INT. CU of psp
Shot 82: INT. MS. Luke- "it's my psp, you wanna play?"
Shot 83: INT. MS. Olivia-"erm no..."
Shot 84: INT. LS of everyone









Shot 85: INT. MS. Luke-"You know what i gotta..."
Shot 86: INT. CU. Olivia-"erm whatever"
Shot 87: INT. LS. SIDE. Luke-"Genie i'm ready to..."
Shot 88: INT. LS. Genie stands. "Oh are you sure..."
Shot 89: INT. MS. Luke-"No No..."
Shot 90: INT. MCU of Genie ready to make wish- sad

Shot 100: INT. CU of Genie's ear and Luke's mouth. "I wish you weren't a genie..."
Shot 101: INT. CU of Genie looking up at him
Shot 102: INT. CU of Luke smiling


SCENE 5.

Shot 103: INT. MLS of Luke sitting at desk
Shot 104: INT. TILT of Genie
Shot 105: INT. MS of Genie and Luke sitting together

Script 3 changes

1. LUKE

I wish you weren’t a genie!

GENIE looks up slowly [GENIE looks at him and smiles, LUKE gradually smiles back at her]

2. GENIE

So why do you think you’re such a loser?

LUKE

How do you know my name?

GENIE smiles

LUKE

[Shakes his head/rolls his eyes and walks out]

We recieved more feedback and were told that the script was quite effective and had improved. A mixture of dialogue and actions was now relevant improving it from before. There were no vast changes that needed implementing and the script stayed pretty much the same except for slight adjustments such as the changes above. This now allowed us to begin working on our storyboard and it is currently in progress

Script 3

Since creating the second script we have recieved feeback and were told that it still contained too much dialogue that wasn't necessary and that some of the actions were unclear. In order to make the most of our cast the actions needed to be more precise so that they understand exactly what it is they need to do. Therefore we re-read our script and made some adjustments, removing chunks of dialogue and replacing them with actions and adding detail to the directions.

INT. MEDIA HALLWAY DAY
LUKE is walking through the corridor and stops at a classroom, staring admiringly at OLIVIA in the room who is acting
[Sits down and plays on his psp]
OLIVIA comes out and he stands up to speak to her, she ignores him and walks away.
She drops a lamp and LUKE picks it up. He stares at the lamp for a minute and looks up to see she’s gone.

LUKE
Argh! I wish I wasn’t such a loser!
[hangs his head]

GENIE
Is that an official wish?

LUKE is confused

GENIE
Oh! Hi I’m Genie, and that’s (points at lamp) my lamp
[Goes to shake his hand]

LUKE
[looks confused and doesn’t shake her hand]

GENIE
I’m YOUR genie now Luke

LUKE
[A bit weary]
How do you know my name?

GENIE’s body language – she moves her arms from the top of her body, downwards as if to say “well i am a genie”]

LUKE raises his eyebrows and then turns to walk away

GENIE
So why do you think you’re such a loser?

LUKE turns around slightly shocked and thinking “how do you know my name?”

GENIE smiles

LUKE
[Shakes his head/rolls his eyes and walks out]

The GENIE runs out after him

GENIE
I can prove it!

LUKE crosses his arms and waits for her to do something

GENIE makes a chocolate bar appear

LUKE
[Fascinated]
Wow...
[They smile at each other]

EXT. IN SCHOOL. DAY
LUKE and GENIE are walking around together talking

LUKE
So after you grant someone a wish, you have to leave them?

GENIE
Yeah enough about me though, what are you going to wish for?

LUKE
Well... There’s this girl...
[Smiling and thinking to himself]
After a while...
I’d love to walk up to her one day and tell her that i –

[LUKE bumps into OLIVIA and knocks her books on the floor]

OLIVIA

Urgh!

She looks at LUKE and then at the books, implying she wants him to pick them up

LUKE picks up the books and hands them back to her smiling but she takes them and walks off]

GENIE points to the girl confused and looks at LUKE

LUKE
That’s her! Olivia!
GENIE looks shocked and slightly baffled

GENIE
That’s the girl you like? [LUKE nods] Erm okay... Well she looked right through you so maybe we should make you noticeable to her first! I know just the thing...

INT. IN A ROOM. DAY
GENIE gives LUKE a mini makeover, removing his glasses, cutting his hair etc.
They also laugh and joke together, playing psp,
LUKE comes out with his new look

GENIE
Wow! You look... great
[She has a slightly sad facial expression suggesting she likes him]

LUKE
Really, do you think she’ll like it? I mean... like me?

GENIE
[Her tone goes quite poignant]
She’d be mad not to
[she looks away]

INT. GEOGRAPHY BLOCK. DAY
LUKE walks towards OLIVIA, and looks back at the Genie and she gives him a thumbs up but once he looks away her facial expression saddens
A slower shot of his walk showing he is nervous

LUKE
[Clears his throat]
Olivia...

OLIVIA turns around

LUKE
I erm...

OLIVIA
[Looks at psp]
What’s that?

LUKE
Oh its my psp, you wanna play?
[He smiles]

OLIVIA
Erm, No! That’s so nerdy!

LUKE is hurt by this and notices the genie alone in the background, he looks at her for a second

LUKE
You know what... I gotta ...

[He walks away from OLIVIA and goes over to the Genie]
OLIVIA is puzzled but isn’t bothered

LUKE
Genie! I’m ready to make my wish!

GENIE
[Looks sad and is hesitant to grant the wish]
Oh. Are you sure... You don’t wanna wait and s –

LUKE
No no... i know exactly what to wish for

GENIE beckons him to make the wish, with a sad facial expression
[Looks down and gets ready to grant the wish]

LUKE
I wish you weren’t a genie!

GENIE looks up shocked
[GENIE looks at him and smiles, LUKE gradually smiles back at her]

INT. CLASSROOM. DAY
LUKE is sitting at his desk waiting for lesson to start. There is a shot of a girl’s feet as she walks into the room, the camera tilts up to reveal GENIE. She takes her seat next to LUKE.

Workshop 2 - Sound

For this workshop we focused on the use of sound and we also looked at the effect of cinematography without sound, sound without cinematography and both together - to see which was most effective and more enjoyable for an audience.

Why is sound so important?

- It creates certain atmospheres
- Can help to portray specific emotions and feelings and help the audience to emphasise with characters through the music
- Without sound the movie would be quite boring and many people would lose interest, as we found when we watched an opening sequence of The Ring without any sound.


A clip we watched was of two men describing why sound is so important and how to use it. They explained that sound "gives emotional residence to the scene" and it "adds to the realism" of the film. They also said that you can control a lot more with sound once "you're able to recognize it as a stylistic device."
The most important issue they raised was that an AUDIENCE WILL TOLERATE UNCLEAR VIDEO BUT THEY WILL NEVER TOLERATE UNCLEAR SOUND. This was proved when we experiemented with a clip that had exactly this and everyone became annoyed and lost focus of what they were watching. Pirate dvd's are also a good example of a situation where audiences will put up with unclear video but if the sound is out of sync or muffled they will turn it off.


We then did another activity where we listened to the soundtrack Memoirs of a Giesha and were asked to, just by listening to the soundtrack, come up with our own storyline.

My interpretation:
There is an establishing shot of a huge field which leads into a forest and in the field are two children, not too young but not yet reached their teenage years so about 10/11 years old. They're running around happily together, chasing each other and laughing all throughout the part where the music is calm and free, there is high key natural lighting to reflect this good mood. However, when the music goes quiet at 2.48 minutes into the soundtrack something goes wrong for the children and they are suddenly being chased by someone or perhaps a group of people. This might be the farmer who's field they are trespassing on or perhaps a villain. As the tempo increases and becomes full of tension and creates an atmosphere of suspense the children are running through the forest, in panic and fear, the camera shots are extremely jumpy and fast, switching between the girl and the boy and close ups of their frightened facial expressions. They appear to be losing each other - dark lighting and minimal colours. They finally escape from the forest and are back to safety having out run their pursuer. They continue running through the fields and then back home.


After doing this activity I realised that music creates a certain atmosphere and it's important that the music matches what is happening on the screen. For instance if the Harry Potter theme tune was the background music for Elizabeth's speech in Pirates of the Caribbean 3 it wouldn't be a good combination at the film doesn't suit the music.


.High school musical

This disney film is a perfect example of cinematoraphy that goes perfectly with the sound. The song is very upbeat and jointly and the bright colours reflect the happiness and wholesomeness of the song/film. This is another film similar to ours, regarding the cinematography as we want a quite happy/teenage look to our film which this movie portrays perfectly

Workshop 1 - Camera/cinematography

What is the importance of cinematography to a film?
As a class we discussed what we thought was the significance of cinemtography within films ;

- It's the way to convert a story into a film - turning what you see into an actual picture

- Lighting is essential as is sets a certain atmosphere, for instance - ambient lighting may perform a 'homely' and cosy mood whereas high key lighting may illustrate more of a happy tone

- It sets a specifc theme - The way a particular picture looks on the screen depicts what kind of programme/film it is. i.e. if there was a media product with very bright, primary colours and simple shots it will automatically portray that it is a children's show.

- It brings the diegsis of the film alive

- Don't have to use dialogue all the time - cinematography can help move the story along without the need of words. The angle of a shot, the type of shot, the movement of the camera, lighting - it can all be a part of telling the story.

- Everything in the frame needs to mean something




We watched a short indian film called
Colours and were asked, individually, to take notice of the effect of the cinematography within it.

At the start of the film you are able to see two silluettes who have absolutely no dialogue but you are able to see that there is an arguement or disagreement between them and the slow motion and darkness of the characters add to the sad atmosphere and help to set this gloomy mood. You then see a contrast with the first scene, there is now brighter natural lighting and the shot is in colour, with the green making it look more fresh and free creating a lighter mood and this time their body language suggests they are at a more intimate stage in comparison to the first shot of them.

For the next character, who is sitting alone in what appears to be a corridor or hallway, the camera is positioned in between two walls which create a sense of being trapped and isolated, being positioned within two boundaries. Again, the dark colours and natural lighting set a gloomy and depressing atmosphere and effectively shows the loneliness and seclusion of this person. With the camera moving closer and reaching more close ups it emphasises the troubled facial expression and immediately portrays that this person is unhappy and something is on her mind. Once again the same character is then seen in a different setting, with high key natural lighting and the shot is in colour. The close up of the girl allows the audience to see the wind slighty blowing her hair which is more uplifting and illustrates a more content atmosphere.

The film 'Colours' is a sequence consisting of flashbacks of people when they were their happiest, but are unfortunately experiencing bad times at the moment. This whole idea is portrayed through cinematography hand in hand with a soundtrack. It's a prime example of showing how important cinemaotraphy is to a film as it creates different effects and the audience will react to what atmosphere is created. The specific mood you are trying to creates is very dependant on the way the film looks and particular lighting.

Props List & Costume

Props:
- Gold lamp
- Glasses
- PSP
- Hair gel
- Scissors
-School bags
- chocolate bar
- books

Costume:
They will all need a slight change of costume to show passing of time... perhaps just the top half as there shouldn't be too many long shots


- Genie costume - belly chain, trousers, shoes, top, headband,
- Quite 'uncool' clothes for Luke at the beginning
- Very smart, unqiue clothes for Olivia
- 'Cool' costume for after Luke's makeover
- Smarter clothes for Genie when she becomes a student

Cast! - Friday 2nd October 2009

"Casting is a vital area of film making" - quoted from BBC Film network
It's important to find cast who are reliable and dedicated as if these qualities are absent, it may prove to be extremely hard to shoot a successful film. Last minutes canellations, constantly missing rehearsals and having no passion for the film are a few difficulites that may be run in to. Therefore it is vital to find cast who you trust and know you can work well with.

We chose to use year 12's as this is a more realistic age to be in a situation like the one in our story. We couldn't have Luke as a young student because it's not likely that a little kid would 'fall in love'. However we didn't want him to look too old as this would make it unbelievable that he would believe in genies.

For our cast we asked a drama teacher if she would mention to her year 12's that there are year 13's in need of cast for their A2 production however she told us that there was high demand for him as other groups were also asking for boy's and there is unfortunately only one in her class.
So we resorted to asking people who we knew personally to see if anyone was interested.
We managed to get 3 boys and 3 girls for auditions which will be held sometime next week when we have had confirmation on our script.





Tuesday 6th October - We have had a change in cast as we recieved feedback explaining that our film doesn't suit an older age range and has a younger target audience than year 12's. Therefore we have decided to collect cast from year 9's or year 10's, and are currently in the process of doing this. We have spoke to Miss Entwistle - Drama department and have asked her to mention it to her classes.
Visiting her year 9's there were 2 girls interested in taking part but unfortunately no boys wanted to do it. So we are going to revisit her while she is teaching year 10's and hopefully obtain students from there.

Script 2

After recieving our feedback from our first script we were told there was simply too much dialogue and the story could be told through actions rather than words. So we had another look at it and took out, what we thought was, the uneccessary dialogue.


Our teachers feedback;

"i only really have one which i think you need to look at and then i will look at the script again.basically your script comtains too much dialogue to tell the story. go back to what we learnt last year about how to use dialogue. use actions and visuals to tell the story and show character.this is what cinematorgraphy is for. so look at this again. ask a few others in the class. watch a few more films to get ideas. have you seen an old american sitcom called bewitched? still shown on tv sometimes and probably also on yutube. do some research yourselves and find out. then re-script and we will go from there. good luck."


Script 1
INT. MEDIA HALLWAY DAY

LUKE is walking through the corridor and stops at a classroom, staring admiringly at OLIVIA in the room who is acting
[Sits down and plays on his psp]
OLIVIA comes out and he stands up to speak to her, she ignores him and walks away.
She drops a lamp and LUKE picks it up. He stares at the lamp for a minute and looks up to see she’s gone.

LUKE
Argh! I wish I wasn’t such a loser!
[hangs his head]
GENIE
Is that an official wish?
LUKE
What... Who are you –?
GENIE
Oh! Hi I’m Genie, and that’s (points at lamp) my lamp
[Goes to shake his hand]
LUKE
[looks confused and doesn’t shake her hand]
GENIE
I’m YOUR genie now Luke
LUKE
[A bit weary]
How do you know my name?

GENIE’s body language and facial expression as if to say “Well i am a Genie”
LUKE
[raises his eyebrow and then turns to walk away]
GENIE
So why do you think you’re such a loser?
LUKE
What? How did you –

GENIE smiles
LUKE
[Shakes his head/rolls his eyes and walks out]
The GENIE runs out after him
GENIE
I can prove it!

[LUKE pulls a facial expression to say “go on then”]

GENIE makes a chocolate bar appear
LUKE
[Fascinated]
Wow...
[They smile at each other]

EXT. IN SCHOOL. DAY

LUKE and GENIE are walking around together talking
LUKE
So after you grant someone a wish, you have to leave them?

GENIE
Yeah enough about me though, what are you going to wish for?
LUKE
Well... There’s this girl...
[Smiling and thinking to himself]

As LUKE is speaking, they are in different locations, and time is moving on, fading shots with background music]

She’s really cool, and so beautiful...
And when she looks at you!...
But I don’t think she even knows i exist.
She’s so kind and gentle, and has the most stunning smile! I’d love to just walk up to her one day and tell her that I –
[LUKE bumps into OLIVIA and knocks her books on the floor]
OLIVIA
Well pick them up then!

LUKE picks up the books and hands them back to her smiling but she takes them and walks off]
GENIE points to the girl and looks at LUKE
LUKE
That’s her! Olivia!

GENIE looks shocked and slightly confused
GENIE
That’s the girl you like? Erm okay... Well she looked right through you so maybe we should make you noticeable to her first! I know just the thing...

INT. IN A ROOM. DAY

GENIE gives LUKE a mini makeover, removing his glasses, cutting his hair etc.
They also laugh and joke together, playing psp,
LUKE comes out with his new look

GENIE
Wow! You look... great
[Something in her facial expression suggests that she likes LUKE]
LUKE
Really, do you think she’ll like it? I mean... like me?
GENIE
She’d be mad not to
[Her tone goes quite poignant and she looks away]

INT. GEOGRAPHY BLOCK. DAY

LUKE walks towards OLIVIA, and looks back at the Genie and she gives him a thumbs up but once he looks away her facial expression saddens
A slower shot of his walk showing he is nervous
LUKE
[Clears his throat]
Olivia...

OLIVIA turns around

LUKE
I erm...

OLIVIA
[Looks at psp]
What’s that?

LUKE
Oh its my psp, you wanna play?
[He smiles]
OLIVIA
Erm, No! That’s so nerdy!

LUKE reacts to this and suddenly looks towards the genie who is sitting alone on a bench.
LUKE
You know what... I gotta ...
[He walks away from OLIVIA and goes over to the Genie]
LUKE
Genie! I’m ready to make my wish!
GENIE
[Looks sad and is hesitant to grant the wish]
Oh. Are you sure... You don’t wanna wait and s –
LUKE
No no... i know exactly what to wish for

GENIE beckons him to make the wish, with a sad facial expression
[Looks down and gets ready to grant the wish]

LUKE
I wish you weren’t a genie!
GENIE looks up shocked
[She looks up at him and smiles – they both realise they like each other]

INT. CLASSROOM. DAY

LUKE is sitting at his desk waiting for lesson to start. There is a shot of a girl’s feet as she walks into the room, the camera tilts up to reveal GENIE. She takes her seat next to LUKE.

Script 2 - Feedback

After recieving feedback on our first script we were told there was too much dialogue to "tell the story" and we should resort to actions rather than words.

" here are my comments on your script i only really have one which i think you need to look at and then i will look at the script again.basically your script comtains too much dialogue to tell the story. go back to what we learnt last year about how to use dialogue. use actions and visuals to tell the story and show character.this is what cinematorgraphy is for. so look at this again. ask a few others in the class. watch a few more films to get ideas. have you seen an old american sitcom called bewitched? still shown on tv sometimes and probably also on yutube. do some research yourselves and find out. then re-script and we will go from there. good luck. "
Miss Nair

Location Recce

We chose to base most of our film within school and have parts of it filmed at my house, for the makeover scenes as it will allow there to be logical causality for why she has the utensils she will be using and it would seem random for her to have these things at school. We wanted to find areas of the school which suited the cinematography of our film, high key lighting and preferably colourful settings.
In the end we chose to use the media hallway, the geography corridor and just outside the media block. These were ideal for our film as they are bright areas and the locations outside are painted blue and yellow, to help emphasise the ‘colourfulness’ of our story.

These are the doors we wish to use for the beginning of the film, where Luke is walking through a doorway and see’s the “Aladdin rehearsals” sign and walks on to discover Olivia in the classroom.

This is the rest of the corridor we plan to use and the stairs being where Luke waits for Olivia to come out of ‘rehearsals.’ The empty hallway will be ideal for the shot just before the genie appears where there is a pan of the area and Luke establishes to himself that there is no one around.


Why this location?

We chose this particular location as it suits our film and the brightness of the lighting also adds to the effect we want to create, reflecting the ‘fantasy’ and happy side of our story.
It’s a suitable location to film as during lessons these hallways are usually empty, allowing easy filming.
The door allows us to create an interesting shot to reveal the rehearsals sign, perhaps opening the door to display the sign as opposed to just taking a boring shot of the sign on the door.

Problems?

- Students walking past may be a distraction however we can control this by keeping an eye out before taking any shots and preventing any students interrupting the film.
- The music room is just above the corridor which could prove to be a problem as the sound will be noticeable within our film.
- The bell, of course, will be an interruption in any location but we will simply pack up 10 minutes before it rings, allow people to disperse and restart our filming.

The drama studio is where we plan to have the shot of Olivia acting with the gold lamp. This is because it is within the media corridor so will help with continuity. The only problem we may encounter with the room is that there may be a lesson during the time we need to film. If this is the case we may have to arrange the shot to be filmed after school hours when the room will empty or find a moment when the room is free.

For the shot when the genie follows Luke outside, and makes something appear from nowhere, we plan to use this location. It’s just outside the media blocks and suits our film again due to the colours however filming here will be dependant on the weather conditions. If it is impossible to film here we will resort to a location inside the building, most likely within the media corridor as it will continue from where he meets the genie f or the first time.

Problems?

- The weather conditions, rain, strong wind, will prevent us from using this location as it will be very difficult to film and will spoil our film.
- People walking past, will always be an issue but again we will keep an eye out and try to stop anyone getting in the way of the film.

This is a location we plan to have parts of the shots where Luke and Genie are ‘getting to know each other.’ The colour of the paint will reflect what we are trying to create, in relation to cinematography. The bright colours will emphasise the childish aspect of the film and the happiness.

This is another location we decided to use for the part where the genie and Luke are spending time together, as it continues the outside theme and is also a quiet area to film with hopefully no distractions.

These locations are also quite close to our first one, preventing us from wasting a lot of time on moving around and moving equipment.


Problems?

- the basketball court is inside the doors so if there are people training in there the noise may affect our film. However the shots of them ‘getting to know’ each other are not supposed to have dialogue in them and we were planning to play music over the top so hopefully this shouldn’t be an issue.
- People walking past.
- Weather – if the weather is too bad for us to film here, the ‘getting to know each other’ shots are most likely to be relocated to my house.
- There may be another group filming in the second location as we bumped into them while creating our recce, however this can be easily solved by scheduling who will film there first.

This part of the geography block is where we plan to have our final scenes. The scene where Luke approaches Olivia and the scene where he makes his wish.

Problems?

There are a set of chairs in the way but we will receive permission to relocate them for our filming and the location will be fine apart from the usual problems such as students walking past, the bell etc… which we already have solutions to.

Monday 5th October - There has now been a slight change in one of our locations, there rose issues with the location of my house as an adult needed to be present due to us using year 9's or 10's now. This created problems with safety therefore we had to resort to another location and are now going to use the drama rooms 'Green room.' This is ideal as it has mirrors and is spacious enough for cameras and sound equipment, but will require us to empty it out and replace things how we found them. However this helps us as it means we don't have to travel off site with expensive equipment, which may have proved risky, and it prevents us wasting any time moving locations etc...

We spoke to Mr Edwards, one of our deputy heads, in order to recieve the 'okay' for all of our locations. The drama department were more than happy to allow us to use the studio and the green room and Mr Edwards was perfectly fine with the locations we had chosen. Therefore that is one thing done and out of the way - locations are fine and there are no problems!