Week 7 Action Plan

Our main focuses of this week are:

• To continue filming our scenes
• To upload the images of the final cast members we have picked
• To look more into the sound effects that we need for our scenes, and as we are filming, make notes of what sound effects we need for each one
• Create an animatic of our storyboard to practice our use of this technology

We will both complete these action plans together because at this stage of the coursework it's more about working as a group, as we are into our filming stages and need to complete this together. 

Filming Day 1 - 14/11/11

On Saturday 12th, we began to film the first few scenes of Necrophobia. The first location that we needed was in one of our friends back gardens, where we created a fire and filmed our main character Steven Turner (also known as Conor Willis) ripping up some pieces of paper and setting them alight.

There was lots of things to consider before we began this day of shooting:

• Health and Safety - we were making a fire in someone's back garden, using flammable and hazardous equipment. We had our risk assessment with us so we were able to look back and make sure we were doing everything we needed to stay safe, and we had already discussed previously that we needed a plan if anything went wrong (which thankfully, it didnt!).
• The weather - we were filming outside with a fire, meaning that if it rained, the whole film shoot for the day would be ruined and we would have to re-schedule. Amazingly, this didn't happen, but we did come up with the plan of changing it to Sunday 13th to film the same shots if we needed.
• Our call list - we have made our own call list which we will use at every single film shoot to make sure we have all the equipment and materials we need for that day. Our call list was: Equipment - Camera, Tripod, Charger, Tape. Notes - Risk assessments, Script, Storyboard. Crew - Actors, Directors, First Aider, Costume, Refreshments. Health and Safety - First Aider, Risk Assessment. We adapted our call list to suit what we needed for the day, for example- our first aider (which was myself) was important for this day because we were filming a difficult scene which required us to create a fire, and we knew that in case anything we went wrong, we needed someone like that.

The Filming
(Scene 2, Shot 1), (Scene 2, Shot 2) and (Scene 9, Shot 1) was all that we filmed on this day, and we planned to only do this because we only had 1 hour spare, due to prior engagements, so we decided to get all the fire scenes out of the way first, so that we didn't have to re-make another fire next week as this would waste time. We created this fire in a medium sized metal barrell filled with paper, wood and other flammable materials. At first only smoke was created and our fire kept going out, but eventually we got some high flames and were able to start filming. Overall, I think the whole day was very successful and we managed to get the shots that we wanted in the space of time that we had. Here are some pictures that I took of us filming:

Our location before we set up

Our fire just getting started



Laura setting up the camera and tripod



Laura filming Conor acting



The next day that we are shooting is on Monday 14th, as we were unable to stick to our schedule and film on Sunday 13th because of other committments to directors/actors, and we will be filming (Scene 1, Shot 1), (Scene 3, Shot 1, 2) (Scene 4, Shot 1) and (Scene 5, Shot 2, 3, 4)!

Our Cast - 14/11/11

As we have all cast our actors already, I thought it would be a good idea to upload images of everyone that will be starring in our film opening. Before we asked these people, we had to think of which people best fitted our roles, if they were flexible enough and available at the times that we needed them, and whether they would be willing to put in effort every weekend to complete our coursework.

We ended up casting our fellow Media Studies student Conor Willis - http://thatone-conorwastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/ - as our main character 'Steven Turner'. He best suited our description of being tall, he was willing to put in the time to help us complete our work and we have known him for a long time so we both knew we could trust him to do what we wanted. We originally asked Conor at school whether he'd be interested, and he agreed straight away. Here is a picture of our main character:

Conor Willis a.k.a Steven Turner

Even though the other characters in our film opening are just victims, there is one main victim role that we required a young, teenage girl, who would be willing to act some scenes and deliver some dialogue as well. From this description, we decided on our close friend Kiran Saghir, and when asked she was more than happy to help us. This actor also offered us her house and back garden to film other scenes of our film, so we knew she was trustworthy as a main part. Here is a picture of our first main victim:

Kiran Saghir a.k.a Victim No.1



Further on in our film opening, there is another scene which requires 3 more young, teenage girls as victims, running through a house, into a wardrobe and eventually being found and killed by our main character. The requirements for these cast members were that they needed to look innocent, be of a somewhat small height and be willing to deliver brief dialogue between them. The first three people that came into mind was our close friends again, and fellow Media students, Tayla Powell - http://taylaastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/ - Nicola Ho - http://nicolaastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/ - and Chloe King - http://chloeastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/. This decision of using close friends again to act the main parts was made simply because we knew we could trust them, as Media students themselves, to know how important it is to have actors that are committed and flexible when it comes to filming. Here are pictures of them all:

Tayla Powell a.k.a Victim No.2



Chloe King a.k.a Victim No.3




Nicola Ho a.k.a Victim No.4



All 4 victims (Kiran Saghir, Chloe King, Nicola Ho and Tayla Powell) will feature as the rest of the victims in our film opening too, but their faces won't be shown again so it wouldn't matter. We think as a group we have come up with a good cast and are happy to go ahead and begin filming with them.

WHY HAVE WE DONE THIS?
We both took the time to come up with ideas of the requirements we wanted from each character, and therefore, it made it easier for us to choose people to cast. We were lucky enough that all of our actors are close friends and suit the parts perfectly, so we know we can depend on them and get the best result out of this coursework that we can.

Camera Technique's and Lighting Practicing - 9/11/11

In our Media lesson today, we all got a chance to learn some more about the  settings the camera's we're going to use have, and what techniques we could use to improve focussing, lighting and colours. We also looked at an example of a previous film opening of the same brief, and analysed their strengths, weaknesses, and any room for improvement.


What did I learn from the lesson?

• Red and Blue lighting - I learnt that if we are filming in a location that is mainly showing RED/ORANGE lighting and is quite warm in colouring, if we wanted to cool the tone down, we would have to put something BLUE in front of the camera before we start, so that it evens out and we get the white lighting which we want. On the other hand, if the location was mainly showing BLUE lighting, and we wanted to make it warmer and brighter, we would have to do the opposite and place something of the colour RED/ORANGE in front of the camera before filming, to even it out back to white again. This is useful to know before we begin shooting so that we can achieve the right lighting and colouring that we want, and it allows us to practice before hand too.
• Focussing - I learnt that if we are filming a scene and we want a FULL DEPTH type of focussing, then that means all of the shot will be in focus and everything will be clear to the audience. However, if you use the opposite, you can adapt where the main focus is, and blur out the background or unimportant parts of it. This is important to know if we want to draw attention to specific characters or settings, or if we have background scenes that aren't relevant, we can blur them out so the audience is just looking at what we want. Knowing this about focussing was helpful so that we could have a quick practice in lesson, and then we now know how we can use techniques for a certain reason and for a certain effect.

From learning this, we have decided that we are going to use DARK LIGHTING, even though it's going to be editted into Black and White, but this is to reflect the tense, dramatic and mysterious atmosphere that would be created because of our scary plot. We have also decided that we are going to use some full depth focussing, but vary them to create different effects and purposes.

We also went through a list of things that are needed to prepare in order for you to have a successful film shoot - called our 'call list' or 'shooting checklist'. We all came together as a class to decide that these are the most important requirements: 

• Equipment - Camera, Tripod, Props, Portable Lights, Charger, Tape, Protective Equipment
• Notes - Script, Storyboard, Map of Location
• Crew - Actors, Director, Make-up Artists, First Aider, Camera Man, Costume, Refreshments
• Health and Safety -  First Aid Kit, Gaffotape 
• Other - Make-up 

Not all of these things will be vital for our own filming shoot, but most of them will be, so we will be using this 'call list' when we start on Saturday (12th) to ensure we have all the the right equipment and requirements we need for us to be successful. 

After the lesson, we all had to decide on 1 Individual Target and 1 Group Target:

Individual Target: To use different types of 'focussing' and 'lighting' effects in our scenes, to change the attention and mood of the audience

Group Target: To organise the 'call list' we're going to use and use the settings on the camera to our benefit. 

Music - 8/11/11

Thinking about the music and sound effects that we're going to play in the background of our scenes, me and Laura Jeffreson have come up with some ideas from Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/ - that we like at the moment and are considering using when we edit. We have decided to leave music and sound effects as one of our last things to research into as it's not needed for the actual filming, and can be considered when we get to the editting stages in about 3 weeks time.


Here is a picture of us talking about our music ideas via Facebook:

This shows that we have both completed the task, and gone away individually and found some different pieces of music we like, and then came back together to talk about them and choose as a group decision.



And these are the possible ones that we like and are looking to use:



And some songs that we might use the backing tracks or clips out of:






We thought that all of these pieces of music were appropriate to our genre of horror/thriller, which the music is extremely important to, so we need to focus on what music will produce the right image and effect on the audience that we want. As we are going to be using youtube for our sound effects and music, when we come to a final decision of what we are using, we are going to have to contact the people who's videos and sounds they're and make sure we are able to use them with the respect of the people.

WHY HAVE WE DONE THIS?
Musics one of the most important conventions within a horror/thriller film, so we need to pick just the right background track or sound effects in order to send out the right message and create the right effect on our target audience. We have both completed it individually, and as a group, so that we can share our own views on music and both come to a mutual decision together.

Props - 8/11/11

There are a few different types of props that we need to use in order to forfill we want to create in our film. These include: the first shown letters that our main character is going to rip up in the first scene (these must clearly show the date 2001 and be relevant to the storyline) and the weapons that is going to be shown before the main character begins murdering everyone (this includes a hammer, a broom, several knives and sharp knife-like items, and a screw driver). Of course, with the weapon props we will have to take Health and Safety procautions which I will talk about when I discuss each one, to make sure none of our actors, ourselves or the public are in danger.

THE LETTERS
These are actually very important to the storyline and the main characters background, and are going to be shown in the first shot that we actually make. These letters are going to be from 2 health organisations that we have made up, and the letters are going to include information regarding Steven Turner's (our main character) health. As him turning insane and brutally killing everyone is basically what the entire film is about, his mental health was an important issue to raise and we needed to make sure that the audience was aware of how mentally ill he is, and how much of in-denial his is about it. We have done this to make the background of this character easier to understand and emotionally connect with for the audience.
Another point that is going to be on the letters, which is also important to the opening of the film, is the date which is going to be slightly bigger and bolder than the rest of the writing, and have more focus on, so that the audience understands this is in the past and know it's a back story.
Here are the letter props we are going to be filming in our first few scenes:

The basic idea of both of the letters are that they're from (made up) health organisations - St Charles Hospice and Tulip Health Group, and are letters explaining the need for Steven Turner (our main character) to attend their sessions, and for him to re-book another appointment for a health class, after missing his last one. The audience won't be able to read these letters, but the main information they'll be able to interpret from them is the title (the background of what the letter might be about) and the date (which is vital to the  whole setting in the past). We tried to make the props as realistic as we could and fit well with our plot and character.



As well as the letters, we are also going to be using some pieces of gardening and DIY equipment that we found in our sheds, and would be good as weapons for our main character.

Here are the pictures I have taken of some of them:

A screwdriver

A sharp item

A set of knives

A hammer

A broom

These are all some of the props we will be using in our scenes, and due to the fact some of them are quite heavy, sharp and dangerous (as I managed to even cut myself just taking a picture of the knives!), we will obviously have to make sure we prepare and set up the sharp items first and plan what we are going to do carefully and safely making sure no-one is hurt. As well as the knife set, we're going to be using Laura's knife sharpener set which is at her house, and is going to be key for the sound effect of it. It's important that we use sharp, dangerous types of equipment for our weapons, because we want it to reflect the real horror and gore aspects of our film, to scare the audience and to show the madness of the main character.

WHY HAVE WE DONE THIS?It was important for us to take pictures and work out what individual prop we are going to need for filming, so that we are organised and have thought about everything.

Online Audience Survey - 8/11/11

In previous posts, I have shown my mass audience questionnaire to people aged 12+, as just a general analysis of what people look for in the genre of Horror/Thriller, as at that stage, the genre was the basic thing that we were most certain on. However, it's been a few weeks since then and we have finished most of our planning and preparation for the entire product, so I decided that making another survey, but this time for our niche audience, which is people aged 15-25, to answer, and via the popular social networking site of Facebook.

I chose Facebook because that's one of the most popular sites our niche audience uses to communicate on, and I knew that I would get the right answers that I am looking for on there. I created a 10 question survey, some questions similar to the ones asked previously, but this one focussing more on the actual aspects we're using in our opening. For example, I asked them questions about our own Institution we created, about our own film title 'Necrophobia', about our whole idea of having a 'back story' and their opinion on film openings altogether. I thought this was a good idea because my other questionnaire was just an average look on the genre, whereas now this one is much more detailed and can give me more precise answers as to what my target audience is looking for.

Here is the picture showing me first asking the survey to a group of 5 friends:

1. I asked this question because I wanted to know the popularity of the genre's within this selected audience, and see whether it varied from my other questionnaire.

2. This is the same question from before, but again I wanted to see if it made a difference with a specific audience.

3 & 4. The purpose of this was to find out what type of horror and thriller films our target audience are most interested in and are watching at the moment, so we can find out what conventions that use to engage the same audience, and use it to improve ours.

5. This was a personal question, added specifically to find out the effect of our title we have decided on, and whether the audience found it appealing.

6. This again was another personal question to find out if our own Institution would be successful within our audience, and what impressions the name gave off to see whether they matched the reasons for us calling it that.

7. I included this same question in this as before because I wanted to see if the results varied again.

8. This question was to see whether our target audience's decision was affected by the actors that star in it, so that if we felt we needed to, we could change or adapt which famous actors we're including in our credits.

9. Our own film opening is going to be a backstory to the entire rest of the film, so finding out whether this would be effective to our audience was definitely important to determine our success.

10. This final question was just to see how powerful the opening of a film is towards an audience, and so that the results can determine how important our opening would be.

After the people I contacted had all answered my small survey, I managed to gather the results and come to another conclusion. Here is a picture of the results that I got:

In basic terms, you can tell that they all have extremely similar responses, so analysing them and picking out differences would be quite difficult. However, we did recieve the results that we were looking for with this survey about our title and our institution. I recieved all exactly the same results for question no. 5 which was about the name of our title, 'Necrophobia', and it was that 'Yes' it would appeal to them and attract them to watching or buying our movie. One person also commented that it was very 'catchy' which is just what we were hoping for from our niche audience, because it shows this was a good decision and it would pay off with our audience. For the question about our institution, responses would be different as it was an open question, but most of the answers we got were positive and that it was 'friendly' 'creates high quality movies' 'unique' and is 'important'. These answers are again exactly what we were hoping when asking this question, and they are all the reasons why we called our institution this name. This shows that this decision of 'Legend Productions' was also another good one and will hopefully boost our film reputation.

Some other points that I picked up on from asking this questionnaire were:

• the actors are important and judge whether the audience watches the film
• the opening is vital to be engaging as this forms their decision whether to watch the rest of the film
• the idea of having a backstory is good
• the horror/thriller genre is popular amongst our audience, and we must try our best to create a film that stands out against the best in this genre already

Taking all of these points into consideration, we are going to try and use every single answer and response from our niche audience to the best that we can, and eventually create exactly the opening of a film they would all be willing to watch.

My other group member Laura Jeffreson - http://laurajeffreson.blogspot.com/ - also created an online survey for friends to answer, and she got some interesting and well worthwhile answers too.

WHY HAVE I DONE THIS?

At first, asking my mass audience was important for a general overview on the genre, but then it was also key for me to ask my niche audience (15-25) similar but more specific questions so that I can create a film that will be popular and successful in the market that we are selling to.