I've had some difficulty with the blog recently, e.g. when I try going backwards through the posts by clicking 'Older Posts' things seem to be missing and the layout is skewed. I've tried my best to remedy the problem. However, if you experience difficulty accessing or finding any elements on the blog, clicking individually on the post's titles under the 'labels' coloumn will bring you directly to it. Thank you :)

This is my evaluation for Hunting Innocence, I created a powerpoint and uploaded it to Slideshare.net



Here is the link - http://www.slideshare.net/mocha17/charlotte-grays-media-product-evaultion

This is the feedback that we received for Hunting Innocence. We received predominantly positive comments and constructive criticism that we agreed with,and so are very happy with the outcome of our piece.

Rooting around in my media notes I found the feedback slips that we were given for 'Fluffly,' our preliminary task. We recieved a lot of positive feedback and I think we matched that quality in our final product also.

Whilst looking for sound for our film Marina found some company idents and logo's to go at the beginning of our film. We think that these will really add to the authenticity of our opening sequence and make it look much more professional. The company ident/logo's we will be using are Focus Features and Pathe.

On Thursday 11th March we conducted our third filming session. We began shooting the scenes at Beckenham Hill Station at about 5 and in the few daylight hours we had left we were able to get a lot done! 

To give the titles of our opening sequence the right feel, Marina sought out the perfect font; entitled '28 Days Later'. 

On Wednesday 24th February we conducted our 2nd filming session after school.

We returned to Catford to shoot the remaining scenes that were located there and re-film some of the ones that we weren't happy with from the first session. We didn't have any big difficulties except for some of the ones we had last time, there a lot more people and cars around as it was the beginning of rush hour, which delayed the shooting of some scenes such as Abby (Katie) crossing the road. It also rained during the shoot which made things a bit difficult but we still had a great time and are happy to say we have now finished shooting the end of the film!

Now all that is left to do is hoot the scenes set at Beckenham Hill Station. Time is of the essence so until we are able to set a time when we are all free to do this, we will be compiling a rough cut of the opening sequence ending with the footage we have.

On Monday 15th February we had our first filming session. We decided to film first at Catford and get all the scenes that needed to be filmed there first. We went to the station at 10 and although it was a week morning and half term the station wasn't as busy as we thought it would be. There were only about ten people there at any one given time but this was still enough people to be a hinderance.

Marina was able to register at freesounds.org and acquired loads of sounds that we wanted for our film, including train sounds, a telephone ringing, copyright free melancholy music and the sound of a clock ticking.

Now we are in the process of incorporating all of these things in to the film.

These are the schedules that we will use to help organise and guide us when it comes to filming.

Finding out that music in the opening sequence had to be copyright free was a real hindrance. We had loads of ideas for song choices including, 'For Blue skies' by Strays Don't Sleep, 'Broken' by Lifehouse, and 'Unstoppable' by The Calling. However as this is not possible we decided to take what we like from these songs and recreate it using copyright free music and sounds.

We wanted the sound of a clock ticking playing continuously throughout the piece - a sound like this is present in the song 'For Blue Skies.' The clock is to symbolise how time is of the essence for both Abby and her Mum. Hopefully we can get a clock sound off of free sounds.org.

To add to the tone of the film we hope we can find some melancholy sounding music to play also throughout the piece. This should enhance the chilling atmosphere of the film and really make the audience pay attention to what is happening on screen.

We intend to play the sound of the trains which will act as synchronous sound as it should match up with the images on screens. Adding to the feeling of urgency of the events going on so that it feels like a realistic portrayal of an event that happened rather than an event played back with the addition of a melancholy soundtrack.

The voice over conversation between Abby and her Mum is undoubtedly the most important sound that will be played throughout the piece. An example of the conversation can be heard on the animated storyboard. The actual conversation will be constructed much better than this one as we should have a better microphone and telephone sound effects e.g. dial tone, at our disposal. Additionally for the sake of the piece the part of Abby should probably not be read by me, therefore guaranteeing a better chance of it sounding authentic!

This is a casting shot that we took of our actress Katie, who will be playing the lead part -the only part! - of Abby.

This is our script, excellently written and presented by Marina in its final stage!

During our opening sequence our protagonist spends a lot of time in train stations so it was imperative for us to choose a good location. The contributing factors to making the decisions where; the availability of the train station as we wanted the station to be deserted when we filmed there; its accessibility, how easily Marina, Katie and I could get there; and ultimately what the station looked like.

Recently we watched the documentary ‘Bass on Titles’ by Saul Bass, who was an American graphic designer and Academy Award Winning filmmaker that is best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences.

During the documentary Bass spoke about his work on several titles including West Side Story, Seconds, and Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Below we will be talking a little about what we were able to take from the documentary and how we will apply it to the titles in our own film. Bass believed the experience of the film should start with the very first frame and thought the opening title should be considered as a part of the film, a prologue to the film even. Not just time for popcorn runs and quiet pre-film chatter.

Returning to the idea of the opeing titles of a film acting as a prologue, Bass spoke about Seconds (1966) which I have to say are some of the creepiest titles I've ever seen. In these opening titles Bass foreshadows the events of the film whilst also setting the tone. The film is about a man who starts a new life, and the altercations that follow, after having extensive plastic surgery to his face. The titles show different facial features like the eyes, nose, ears and mouth, surreally distorted and amalgamating into each other in black and white with the accompaniment of the eerie church organ. However, this, in terms of an opening title really works as we found ourselves engrossed in them even though they were scary and we really wanted to look away.
Overall the titles in our opinion are incredibly sinister and sets a very apparent tone for the film to come, chilling and maybe a bit disturbing.

The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World titles were different to the rest as they were animated. It had a very comic feel as the drawings were simple and punctuated with bold colours. The titles featured loads of little jokes centered around a drawing of a globe/ world thus relating to the title. They were quite humorous and reminded us of the opening titles to Rat Race. Fun and happy and accompanied by uptempo music, creating a light tone for the film ahead.

Bass, during the documentary, emphasized the importance of accomodating the audience; for example, in this case West Side Story (1961). In order to allow the audience the opportunity to compose themselves after the tragic ending to the film, Bass created visually attractive titles accompanied by musical scores from the film in order to elongate the viewing experience. Giving the audience time to sit in their seats, compose themselves and reflect on the events of the film. This was, more recently, also the case with a film we saw called My Bloody Valentine (2009) the credits of the film were interesting to watch so you didn't feel rushed to leave by the blandness of the credits or from the attitudes of other cinema goers. Almost everybody remained in their seats quietly, almost as if the film was still on. Whereas with the most recent Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009) the second the film finished - even a bit before actually - everybody was getting out of their seats and preparing to leave, as the ending credits were unimaginative leaving the audience less than compelled to reamain after the ending of the film to watch. We were surprised that so much thought for the audience went into the designing the ending titles for a film and this is definately something that we will keep in mind when designing our titles. Although spoken in a monotonous voice we find a lot of what Bass said to be very interesting.

In conclusion when it comes to creating our film titles we are really going to think about the impact it will have on the audience and what the presentational devices we use say and mean about the film.

This the storyboard of the opening sequence of our film. It depicts protagonist Abby at the train station where she deliberates whether or not to go home after the disturbing phone call she'd previously recieved from her mother telling her not to come home. Eventually she decides to go home and is shocked at what she finds.

This is the script for our film. It documents the conversation between protaganist, Abigail (Abby) and her mother Ellen, prior to the events that occur during the opening scene. The conversation will be recorded and put into the opening sequence as a voice-over.

So, after many hours of discussions and analysis, we have decided on the plot of our gripping thriller. Having looked at different types of thrillers and the various sub-categories, we concluded that:

The synopsis

A teenage girl's life is completely derailed after the murder of her mother, this sets in motion a snowball chain of events which unhinges the protagonist leaving her alone and unable to trust her own family. After prodding into the family's dangerous affairs, she finds the truth behind her mother's death. The family is involved in a history of drug trafficking and she has found out more than she bargained for, leading her to run for her life as her mum's past catches-up with her. As the story reaches its climax, she realizes it is too late and she cannot escape her fate. The film ends with the girl making the decision to either accept the life of crime that her mother accepted and being subsequently sucked into the darkness, living a life of danger or to end it all by killing herself. Realizing that she will never be able to have a normal life, education or even raise a family, she chooses to be deliberately mess-up a deal and let's herself be killed by rival drug lords.

This is a scan of the initial ideas my partner and I came up with for our thriller's opening scene!
We decided to go with idea three. Now we're working out a overall summary of the film so we'll know exactly what needs to be, and what could be added to the opening sequence.