15/3/2012 - Final Evaluation of With Child

This our final evaluation of our With Child production however throughout the video there are a few seconds that show only a black screen with no image. This wasn't intended and was caused by exporting such a large file from Final Cut Pro X to YouTube. The screens are usually only where there would be an image, however nearer the end where we begin to talk about using Microsoft Word as a technology throughout our production whilst working on our magazine review there should be a video of us changing the font and showing the techniques that we used to create our ancillary task. These black screen only occur 2, 3 times throughout the video.

8/2/2012 - Update

Last month we presented our Short film again to a small audience in class along with our magazine review and poster. After feedback we have now edited and redrafted our magazine review and short film. The short film will be posted within the next 1-2 days whilst our media teacher has taken our magazine review to give constructive feedback so we can finalise it.

We evaluated how we subverted, reproduced, created and developed the forms and conventions of our research to create our ancillary tasks which include the magazine review on With Child and the With Child poster - both are now on the blog.

We are also half way through creating our evaluation that includes a voice over almost like a directors commentary. After this we will incorporate the voice over across footage of our film and print screened tasks that relate to our project.

The blog has a new layout to make navigation easier by adding tabs at the top of the page so you can direct yourself to specific areas of the production e.g. research or planning.

We have made a list of things to do in the next few days that will finish off our advanced portfolio:

• Upload the final draft of our short film: With Child
• Upload the final draft of our magazine review
• Upload a document of the progress taken to edit our short film
• Upload the voice over evaluation

23/11/2011 - Update

Recently we have been focusing on our ancillary task; the short film review. We have gone through several drafts after receiving plenty of feedback. In the next week we are improving and finalizing the final draft - which will be posted on to the blog shortly.

We have also yet to export our final draft of the short film, after completing the production in Final Cut Pro X - we will export the short film on to a DVD where the resolution and quality is supported by most computers.

We have yet to, record and evaluate the production using a microphone on the software; Audacity. We will then import the sound recording on to Premiere Pro and add images, videos and text that correspond with the recording.

This week we have also redesigned the blog, representing media whilst giving off a more sophisticated layout. You are able to click on images that appear with a new black display behind them, looking sleek and professional, this also allows you to navigate between each image on the post.

Designing the new layout of the blog.

Example of the new image viewer on our blog.

11/10/2011 - Filming

After receiving feedback from our first draft short film we were suggested to perhaps add a dip to black and have the shouts of the offender and the cries of Lily still playing to add emotion.

We carried out this process by sound recording Chris and Charlotte in a quiet empty field. To get in to character, Charlotte and Chris had a fake argument, where Charlotte began punching Chris in the chest; once Chris became slightly angry he got in character and started shouting at Charlotte. The two moved each other round whilst sound recording, pushing and shoving until Charlotte collapsed on Chris crying. After the sound recording, both made up and were smiling after successfully knowing we had completed the filming and production of the short film.

The host file of the mp3 that includes the original audio sound of Chris and Charlotte getting in to character and acting can be found here.

6/10/2011 - Update

We are currently finishing off our project overall whilst considering our new deadline, which we have agreed as a group that a reasonable deadline would be by 12/10/2011. Our original deadline which was set at 5/10/2011 has over run and has been extended for another week because we felt it was necessary to research more in to the conventions of a magazine review before starting. I also want to receive more feedback before completing our final cut of With Child.
We have recently researched and compared the conventions of a magazine review between formal film enthusiastic magazines and more informal bigger magazines such as EMPIRE. We will be starting the magazine review on the 7/10/2011 with a first draft done by the 10/10/2011. By our deadline we should have the final draft of our film magazine review complete after receiving possible feedback on our blog.
We have already begun completing the final cut of our With Child short story, and we will show it in front of a small audience to receive a bit more feedback one last time.
There is still a few things we need to upload to the blog that should be uploaded in the next couple of days. Overall however i feel we will be onset for our 12/10/2011 deadline if we continue to work on each area of our project steadily.

5/10/2011 - Filming

Last month we found ourselves filming the final part to our short film, where Lily Rhode's reveals her pregnancy 2 months after the assault.

Our first shot was to feature Charlotte (playing Lily) coming out of the bathroom and in to the bedroom where she shows her stomach in front of the mirror.

After looking at her new image in the reflection, Lily breaks down. At this point where you can see from the video we were able to make an effective shot from using our planned storyboard. We asked Charlotte to fall to the ground holding a pillow; the camera then zoomed in capturing her body language and facial expression. We found this shot quite interesting as we wanted viewers to see the new image of Lily and her reaction; it wasn't as complicated as the previous shot featuring the assault and we were able to get the filming done quite quickly.

We are currently editing our final draft of the short film which should be uploaded to the blog by the end of the week as we approach the end of our production.

26/9/2011 - Chris

After receiving feedback from the first draft of the poster, it's apparent that it doesn't convey the sense of drama that we need to, so a second draft of the poster is currently being worked on and should be finished soon.

I have analysed current posters including Twilight: New Moon and The Unborn, of which will hopefully help our understanding of what our poster needs to include to carry on the theme throughout both the film, poster and the review.

Final touches are being made with the story boards and should also be finished soon, hopefully by mid next week.

I have written up the equipment list, risk assessment and currently working on the callsheet, all have either been uploaded to the blog or will be within the week.

26/9/2011 - Mark

Since we have came back from the summer holidays our group has been concentrating on the production of our short film and the marketing aspects such as the poster and magazine review.

I have written up the short film research that we have been concentrating on and at the moment I am in the progress of creating the poster which should be achieved by the deadline on the 28/9/2011.

Our group will be focusing on the magazine review shortly since I have recently been looking at online Internet independent film reviews; that I feel will relate to the review of our film with a low budget magazine as well as the language used.

I have finished off and completed the Textual Analysis which was recently posted as well as the Audience Research that has allowed us to target on a certain audience for our short film.

After creating the draft of our short film and showing it to a small audience we were able to gather feedback that was uploaded to the blog and will help with the completion of our final product. The short film will be uploaded to our blog shortly.

We are currently on track to complete each task as you can see from the previously posted Action Plan I created with Chris that outlines the events and tasks that we have done and what still needs to be done. This will be updated weekly from now on so we keep on target.

26/9/2011 - Action Plan

	Main Task (Short film)	Poster	Magazine Review
Research and Planning (Completed)	·         Create, summarise and pitch our idea. ·         Research in to similar films and the techniques used in short films. ·         Research similar audience in relation to our short film. ·         Organisation of actors, equipment use, script, layout. ·         Constantly receive feedback for drafting. ·         Time management.	Researching the poster: ·         Research in to similar products, small low budget film posters. ·         Research and target similar audience. ·         Location for images to be taken. ·         Constantly receive feedback for drafting.	Researching the magazine review: ·         Research in to similar products, reviews online. ·         Research and target similar audience. ·         Constantly receive feedback for drafting.
Construction (Completed)	·         Completed filming however still sound recording that need to be done. ·         Use tripod when available to keep shots steady. ·         Carry out mise-en-scene whist trying to keep continuity. ·         Editing that include transitions, effects, captions and clear sound. ·         Carry out the roles of the production whilst keeping to the planned time management.	Creating the poster: ·         Use of computers and internet technology. ·         Conventions of layout and design.	Creating the magazine review: ·         Use of computers and internet technology.
Action (What Needs to be Done)	Organisation of: o   Shotlist (28/9/11) o    location schedule (28/9/11) o   story boards (5/10/11) ·         Add finishing touches to the production, including; sound recording Chris and Charlotte whilst adding a dip to black transition. (28/9/11) ·         Complete evaluation (10/11)	Creating the poster: ·         Variety of fonts and text size. ·         Accurate use of language aiming at a certain age group. ·         Integration of illustrations. Complete poster and receive feedback. (28/9/11)	Researching the magazine review : ·         Research in to small magazines that review independent films. ·         Target similar audience to your film when creating the magazine. (28/9/11) Creating the magazine review: ·         Conventions of layout and design. ·         Variety of fonts and text size. ·         Accurate use of language, aiming at a certain age group. ·         Integration of illustrations Complete first draft with received feedback. (30/9/11) Complete magazine review and receive feedback. (3/10/11)

*the dates in bold are the deadlines set for each task in action.

click here for closer view
- page 1
- page 2

14/9/2011 - Update

Summer Holidays
Throughout the summer holidays we have been working on tasks concerning the planning of our film. Chris is still creating the animated story boards which should be done by October. We managed to complete and put together the Textual Analysis research showing the films that have influenced us. Chris has also evaluated the Twilight: New Moon film poster. These were all added on to the blog when we got back to school.

Losing a Member of the Group
Luke has dropped Media Studies as a subject and therefore is not part of our group anymore; occasionally he was still helping us with filming and planning locations till the end of last week.

Filming
We have completed filming our project and we should be finished with editing by Monday 19th September. The filming was very successful; we managed to build on our skills from last year and capture effective shots with the help of Charlotte.

In Progress
Mark is now currently completing the Audience research before the editing and the poster is complete, so we are able to target a certain age range. Another analysis of a teaser poster is being done by Chris and collecting all other documents such as the callsheet and equipment list from before we started filming will be posted on the blog soon.

6/7/2011 - Update

Today, Chris has been working on the poster analysis. He is using a Twlight poster as there is good emotions being protrade from the characters. Mark has been working on the textual analysis for our research films while I have been uploading our second short film research as well as updating other posts with information or pictures. Soon the textual analysis will also be uploaded.

29/6/2011 - Luke

Over the past few media lessons, I have been  viewing short films for our reseach. I found a few but in the end i chose two that have good editing techniques and camera angles used. I will upload the information about the short films as well as how they relate as research for our short film.

27/6/2011 - Mark

Recently i have been rewriting the Textual Analysis, covering our research films making it better with quotes to agree or disagree with, which parts of the scenes we will be using as inspiration as well as the techniques we will use in our short film. I have found it challenging with the amount of information i wish to put in to it and where to find the information because some sources aren't reliable and at the moment their is trouble with the school's Internet. However i feel the layout i have created is very well structure and well built.

27/6/2011 - Chris

I've finished the first scene for the animatic at home and now working to finish the last two scenes in my own time. I've been editing a picture for our film's poster in lesson and have come up with maybe a final version. To create an effective poster I researched existing posters to see how they are presented. By analysing existing ones I have been able to come up with my own using the same conventions as others.

17/6/2011 - Filming

We began filming yesterday afternoon between 3:30 - 5:00. We filmed the 2nd scene of three which involved Lily (the woman being assaulted) coming home, ignoring her fiancé and going up stairs, in to the bathroom and crawling up in the shower after wrecking the room.

Firstly we took a short take of the shower being turned on for later in the scene.

We then began by taking a practise shot of the scene with James (Chris) and Lily (Charlotte) walking in ignoring her fiancé. At first we found this quite difficult because their was limited space for the camera sitting on the tripod. Chris had to walk over it which was seen as a safety hazard. Charlotte couldn't hear Mark (Director) shout action from outside so Luke had to knock on the door.

When it came to the actual shooting with both characters dressed up, everyone had an understanding of what was happening and the scene went very well. We took about 4 shots of film to get it right and by doing this we were able to compare which footage was the best. We feel Chris and Charlotte played their part well and at one point you are able to see the true emotion on James' face. The lighting was difficult to get right in this scene as first it was quite dim and after opening a few door and using artificial light we were able to make it light enough for the camera.

We then filmed Chris running after Charlotte up the stairs, after going through it twice, we were able to get the footage as the camera rotate following the two characters. As the camera came round to the bathroom door where Lily enters, the door is slammed with Chris on the other side. We felt this was effective as it showed the urgency and fear from James.

The next shot was Chris speaking from outside the door, this took a few shots and Chris explored his emotion as he put on a sympathetic voice. He then collapses to the ground as the camera remains in it's place showing Chris has become more vulnerable and worrying for Lily. We then do a separate low angle eye line shot of him running his hands through his hair to show his frustration.

The next part we filmed was in the bathroom and this took a few separate shots to get it right. The lighting was just right as it was dark suggesting the sorrow with a bit of light from the window. Chris suggested that Charlotte began by turning from the window and Mark followed that idea with her throwing toiletries around. We got some old toiletries and removed any thing that could break e.g. glass to make the set safe. This was done well however for the first shooting Charlotte backed in to the camera unaware where it was. After going through what was happening again, Charlotte was able to carry out the scene playing her part fantastically showing anger and frustration.

We allowed Charlotte to take the camera for the next shot of her stepping in the shower so the audience were able to see what she is seeing from her view, giving them a sense of how she is behaving and what she feels. We allowed her to take up this role so we got the right height and movement. The shower scene was difficult because we were only able to do it once otherwise Charlotte would already be soaked and unable to play her part again from the start. We ran the footage for about a minute with Charlotte really exaggerating her role showing signs of her fear as she cries and screams. We directed Charlotte throughout the footage of what to do and we will cut our voices out during editing. We felt Charlotte was the best choice for this part and played it extremely well because she has had experience in plays that are quite Psychological.

We recorded a seperate shot of the shower with the background noise included. We will take the sound from this footage to overaply it with the shower scene. This is to make the shower more clear as it plays with the cresendo of the soundtrack.

We finally filmed the take of James noticing that Lily has arived home in the early hours of the morning and as he gets up he jokes about her appearance.

Overall the filming was very successful and all the actors played their part well. Luke took pictures of the locations and the charaters all dressed up for our poster. He also took pictures of setting up, reading through the script and during action. This will be used to show evidence of our post production. We all enjoyed filming and feel we have got all the footage for the second scene a part from one shot of Lily outside approaching the house. However this can be done at a later date.

15/6/11 - Chris

I'm continuing the story boards at home on a larger scale and have finished the script for our film in lesson. The script will be posted on here later after the group and I have read through it together.

15/6/2011 - Luke

Today I decided to research more into our research films, this meant gathering information about them films and saying how they would relate to what we are trying to create.

15/6/2011 - Mark

I have researched how to make an effective short film and found that the storyline must be effective and have a story line which doesn't carry on however the audience should be able to have an idea of what they think will happen next. Our storyline of the woman getting rape fills this criteria and at the end we here puking from the bathroom, and the audience are able to create what they feel will happen such as her being pregnant.

During the 5 minutes of a short film we should explore each character's life and this should be done with a good actor. Charlotte is a drama student currently taking her Aslevel and we feel she will play Lily's character well. We have also explored the character's life when we feature her enjoying life with her husband, returning from her hen party and when she returns home she ignores her fiance from being so distort.

We will also feature short takes of each scene allowing us to fit in the story without it being rushed. We will also have a time laps to fill the story line in from the late night she is sexually assaulted to the morning she returns home.

13/6/2011 - Luke

Recently I have been writing up the initial ideas and then given them to mark, where he has then made the document look a lot more presentable, as well as adding his own ideas that he had discussed.
I have also been going onto other groups blogs and adding comments, but this has become a slow process at the current time, due to a problem with posting comments. Once this is sorted however I will get round to posting comments, as for now I have been writing a draft of what to post on the other groups blogs.

Example of a comment we posted on B.R.O.M.A's media blog giving them feedback.

10/5/2011 - Mark

Recently i have regularly updated the blog taking the main involvement for writing down what has happened during lesson and during the week. I gathered feedback from the group, what their thoughts are and what they want me to write down then i have electronically put the events as a post.
I worked with Luke making an electronic version of our brainstormed ideas. It explores three ideas and how they cross over creating the main bulk of our film.