Original Verisimedia Logo

This is the original logo which was designed for our production company. As our company is named in a way to focus on real life and our film is social realism, I wanted to use something to relate to both of these concepts. Therefore I have used the idea of a cityscape with flats involved, typically portraying social housing, a key focus of social realism. I have combined this with a hand drawn design as this relates more to people and has a more 'real life' feel to it as well as being original in the logo of a production company. I am very pleased with how it has turned out.

Research: Certificates and ratings

We have decided our film will be a 15 for the following reasons:

• Our target audience are aged 16-17 therefore it could not be anything higher than a 15 because they would not be able to watch it
• It will contain frequent strong language, as the opening shows as the girl says "for f*** sake Mum"
• The theme of alcoholism is explored throughout the film, which may not be suitable for younger viewers



Editing schedule

This is the schedule that we followed after filming with me for our final cut

Scripting

Script One (Voice over)

Have you ever felt so mad you just got numb,
feel blank,
lose focus,
drown your sorrows...in whatever way you can.

That was the night it all started,
The night I broke in, to get out.

Script Two (Flashback argument)

Mum: Why are you doing this to yourself
Girl: For fuck sake stop trying to protect me
Mum: I don't even know who you are anymore
Girl: Will you just listen to me please for once mum
Mum: You're just like Dad
Girl: I am nothing like him
Mum: Get out!

In our first cut of the film we did try a Ken loach approach and got them to improvise the argument, so that it appeared more natural. However, it took longer than expected to shoot because the actresses were embarrassed and kept laughing. Therefore when we re-filmed with the new mother and daughter, we had the set lines above to use.

Bits to Re-film for our New & Improved version of our Film Opening

When editing our new footage for our new and improved version of our opening, we discovered a few issues with some of the videos, which means that we shall have to re-film them once again. Below are a list of the shots we want to re-film and the reasons why we have to:

• POV shot = we need to film closer to Grace's house as her house was not in shot
• Grace walking= film closer to house again grace's house was not in shot, make the turn into her drive more clear
• Hand on bush = needs to be much more lighter
• Grace walking through the door = too dark
• Turning on light= switched on wrong light which meant it was too dark
• Close-up of gin bottle being put down = more light too see label
• Looking up at the window = hands need to be on face
• Photos dropping = photos need to be more spread

 

Explanation of props: Photographs

These are a few of the photos which we have chosen to use as props. They have been chosen as Grace (our girl) looks particularly feminine which represents further that a change has occurred in her life. In addition to this they all reveal Grace with her mum, this closeness seen in the pictures helps to illustrate that they were at some point a close unit, revealing that something has occurred to destroy their relationship. The powerful family image these photographs display should add a stronger emotional impact on the audience.

Our finalised idea

We are sticking with the idea that we previously blogged, except we have made some changes. This is the film idea that our opening is based on.

A teenage girl has argument with her mum (it is unclear what the argument is about, but there is a sense that the girl has changed and the mother is worried about her) who kicks her out of the house. She turns to alcohol and one drunken night she breaks into her house and is arrested. She's sent to a youth rehabilitation centre where she see's other teenagers in worse situations than she is. Reluctantly she begin to let the youth workers in, one women in particular and as the film progresses we find out about the girl's life in detail and exactly why she was arrested.

The opening of the film will start with her walking, drunkardly, down a road at night, with POV shots to demonstrate the blurry world that she can see through intoxicated eyes. She reaches a house and shoulders the door, breaking into it. On the floor of the hall she is now in there is a framed photograph on the floor. A flashback is then seen of the girl and a women arguing, ending with the women shouting "Get out!". It then cuts back to the girl at night. She walks up the stairs, then seeing another picture which she picks up and begins to get sad. She walks into her bedroom, which looks very feminine, contrasting with her hooded figure, implying she has changed a lot, and looks absently out of the window, she then feels nauseous and falls back onto her bed, hearing the sound of her mother shouting over and over again. This then causes her to stumble and knock over a pile of photographs. Time has passed and the girl is seen sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking at all the pictures; it is obvious she has been crying. Suddenly a police siren is heard, and in a series of jump cuts she is put into a police car which drives away. The titles "Revive" are then seen.

Risk Assessment

Health and Safety is one of the most important aspects we need to consider when filming. Before filming we sat down and discussed the possible dangers we could face and how we would overcome these below is what we discussed:

Possible risks:

-When filming by the roadside on the pavement, there is a possible danger of falling into the road or a car could come up onto the pavement and damage one of us
-It could be really cold and our actress will only have her tracksuit on and no coat, so may possibly get ill from the temperature
-When filming low angled shots onto the protagonist we will have to stand on chairs or wardrobes which creates a possible risk of one of us falling off and hurting ourselves
-In the argument (flashback) when pushing the parent into the door, it may be too forceful and possibly hurt one of our actress
-When throwing the picture onto the floor it may accidently break, and glass may be broken and possibly damage one of the crew or actresses

How we will overcome them:

-To have full concentration at all times, and be aware of the surroundings and what is going on
-Do not stand on the curb or on the edge of the pavement as that would increase chances of falling into the roadside
-Do not film in road, or do not walk in road when moving locations (use pavement where possible)
-When crossing the road look left and right and be absolutely sure it is safe to cross
-Bring a coat and hot water bottle with us to film and in between shots give to actress to keep her warm
-When standing on wardrobe or chair, make sure it is absolutely sturdy and that you have someone helping up there and helping them down
-Do not mess about when standing on furniture and make sure you have full concentration
-Do not push too hard, and make sure that in the area where the actress is pushed into, that all sharp objects or possible objects that could hurt are removed
-Replace the glass in the frame with plastic
-When throwing the frame, throw it onto a cushion

SUMMARY= 
If all of the above are considered then we should practice good health and safety.

Music Inspiration

In order to create the desired music that we wanted we searched already existent tracks which would fit our opening. By doing this we could create a similar piece and be inspired. Below is my analysis of three tracks we looked at:



I like this track because it is emotional and moody and I think this will fit our opening well as it reflects what she is feeling. From this, we have decided to capture an emotional feel to our own opening like this track.



I like this track too as captures a similar feeling.




We loved this track as it captured an emotional and moody feel, this fits the best out of the three tracks and we are inspired by this very much!

Filming Schedule

This is our plan for when we film on Sunday

2:00- camera crew arrive
2:30- actors arrive and are briefed
2:40-3:00 -filming flashback scene
3:00- checking footage, Gill (mother) leaves
3:00-4:30 -wait until it gets dark
4:30-5:00 -brief actress and do her makeup
5:00-5:30 -outside filming
5:30-6:30- inside filming
6:45- actress leaves
6:45-7:00 - eat dinner whilst checking footage
7:00 -leave

Test shots

Last Saturday I had the actress round to take some test shots for our opening

The pictures were taken on my iPod, so the quality will not be as good as the camera we will use for the actual filming, but these test shots will give us a good idea of the composition of the shot and where the actor should stand. It also allowed me to brief the actress in detail at what she would be doing when we do film.

Test shot storyboard from gingermulley

Storyboard: First draft

Makeup experimenting

The girl in our opening, needs to look as though she has been living rough for a couple of days, and so we want her makeup to reflect this and look neglected. I experimented to find the best way to do this makeup.

The left picture is the before shot. I am just wearing eyeliner and mascara. In the photo on the right I rubbed my eye and this is the effect. It isn't really the thing we were looking for as we'd like there to be more black under the eye and its quite weak and faded in the picture meaning it may not show up on the camera.

I then tried using water, and found it was much more effective and it looked as though I had been crying. However, if we do use this method, we'd need to make sure that the tear is coming out of the tear duct, so that it looks more realistic.

Here I was experimenting with lip stick, I basically just wiped my month with my hand. I think it looks really effective and will leave the audience wondering why her lipstick is smudged. I will discuss with the others, and see what they think.

 

Grace :)

External locations

This is the first location we are using. The first shot of our opening is a main road. To establish the suburban setting, as there will be cars and noise. This is Shipbourne road, which is a couple of minutes from my house. We have chosen to film here because there are street lamps which will help light the shot as we are filming at night time, and the rule of thirds will look nice, with the trees in the first, the bus stop in the second, and the girl in the third. The bus stop also helps with the urban feel.

The second location is this smaller road. We chose this road as it allows us to get the frame we had imagined, with the road getting bigger in perspective. It will as be a wide shot, which is a convention of a Social Realism film.

We've chosen my house to film in, as it was the most appropriate being semi-detached, it will help establish the idea that the girl is not lower class but she acts as though she is. Also it is on the road we are using so it will fit in with those shots as the houses will look similar.

Internal Locations

 

 

My room is also quite girly, and this will show she has changed as she is not dressed in this way. It will also appeal to our target audience as they will be middle class and feminine.

Filming checklist

what do we need in order to film?
Locations

• House
• Busy main road
• Long street

Actors

• Teenage girl
• Mother
• Policeman

Costume

• Oversized grey hoodie
• Leggings
• Dirty Trainers
• High-vis jacket

Props

• Bottle of alcohol
• Photographs of the mother and daughter
• Photoframes

Casting

On 13th December 2013, we were invited to an AS drama performance, were each Theatre Studies student performed a one minute monologue. This was a great change for us to make some casting decisions for our film opening, as we need a teenage girl to play the lead role.

Tamsin Keeley- Tamsin played a girl who had started a fire which killed her room mates, her performance was compelling and shocking, and she was able to engage the audience successfully. She's had acting experience before, being part of Stag Youth Theatre, NT and performed in a production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' at Tonbridge School. We feel she would be appropriate for our film because she is the correct age and her hair color, red, will give connotations of anger and fiestiness, which our character needs, she's also had filming experience, being a part of a Wild Wing Arts production.We also took note of her very expressive face. As the character does not talk for the
majority of the opening this will be key to portraying her depressed and drunken state.
However, she has been cast in a number of Media Studies pieces, we have taken the decision not to use her as A, our piece may look unoriginal, with the same girl appearing in several other films, and B, we don't want to put her under any more pressure, as filming can be time consuming.


Liv Chadbon- We have decided to cast Liv as our lead for the following reasons:

• Liv has had experience acting with her previously and is confident that she will be able to portray our character
• We also need someone to play her mother, and her mum is available, so we have the advantage of them looking similar and having picture of Liv with her when she was younger.
• She has had experience in front of a camera, and has had several main cast roles in Tonbridge School productions

Gill Chadbon- will play the girls mother for the following reasons:

• She is Liv's mother therefore she will be able to interact with Liv with ease and they will look alike
• Gaining pictures of the two together from a variety of ages will be easy
• She is a confident and bubbly person who will be able to act upon our instruction

Early ideas

Our first idea

A teenage girl an argument with her mum who kicks her out of the house. She turns to alcohol and one drunken night she breaks into her house and is arrested. She's sent to a youth rehabilitation centre where she see's other teenagers in worse situations than she is. Reluctantly she begin to let the youth workers in, one women in particular and as the film progresses we find out about the girl's life in detail and exactly why she was arrested.

The opening of the film would start with her travelling on a bus to her house, walking down the road and breaking in. Now in the house she would look at family photos and items which would remind her of the argument (shown through flash backs). Sirens are heard and we would like to end the scene with her being put into a police car by a policemen.

 Whilst discussing this idea, we started imagining some of the shots we'd like to use in our film opening, as shown in the picture on the left.

This is a CU shot of some leaves with water droplets on them. We'd really like to have the opening set in the rain, or just after rain for pathetic fallacy uses. Her sadness is shown through the rain. This CU will be a nice was of showing this.

Once we've found our actors, we'll need to get some pictures of them to use for shots such as this one. We'll have shots of our actress looking at the pictures in frames, to show that she used to have a good relationship with her mother.



When she is on the bus, we'd like to have some shots of the street life outside, maybe even some rain on the window if that is possible.

Although its hard to tell from this rough drawing, this is a Mid-shot of the mother and daughter during their argument. We liked the idea of the girl having flashbacks of the argument when she's in the house. If the flashback shots appear different to the regular shots in some way, like a filter or a change in focus, it will make it more obvious that there has been a time shift.

A close up of a bottle held loosely in her hand, with give the impression that she is under the influence of alcohol.

We want to use a series of POV shots, to show her intoxication. Changes in focus, and shaky filming will help demonstrate this