Evaluation activity 8 - What targets will you set yourself for G324 next year - when you will make a trailer?

A target which I will set myself for next year's course (G324) would be to use a tripod when filming. This will help me to stabilize the footage, therefore making the film look more professional and the quality to improve. I think that by using a tripod would allow use to edit the film better as the footage would be still and clear meaning that we could try and eliminate the amount of jump cuts which we have. Also, by using a tripod we would be able to move it better without the footage becoming shaky and look out of focus the whole time.

I would also set the target of making sure to complete before it all gets to much as I found that we were rushing to get the film made this year and that we could have made it better having given ourselves more time. However, we had a limit because we wanted to film at our sixth form and the week which we were filming was the last week of school and so we did have to rush to finish it. We could have filmed more before this week but our characters in the film took different subjects and so during free's meant that filming was limited. This could also be another target of using actors who both have time on their hands to make sure that the filming could have been done over a longer period of time. This would allow us to actually have the time to sit and plan each and every shot we were using before going out and filming the part of the film. 

Also, I would set the target of making sure the lighting was correct in the camera before recording because it would allow us to not have to re-film other parts to fit in with other clips. If we had checked the lighting on the camera, we would have saved time in the filming process because we would not have to re-film any parts. We could also make sure the sound was correct in the camera before recording because we assumed that it was okay but when it came to editing, we found that the sound was much to loud and that it was hard to hear what the characters are saying. Having said this, the common room was quite busy and so we wanted the background noise to make it seem like it was a collage setting therefore suggesting why we left it in. We had to make sure that the soundtrack music was lower than the dialogue but in order to successfully do this, we had to lower the volume so it could barely be heard and then increase the volume of the characters speaking which made it seem like they were shouting and also the background noise in the common room was too loud. Next year we would make sure that the setting would be quieter and if we needed the added background noise we would add this as a voice over as it would mean we could control the volume of it. 

I would personally set the target of making sure I fully understand the editing software so it does not take as long to edit our film. We found that both of us were trying to figure out how to use certain tools in the first few hours of editing that we actually lost those hours of editing. As we have used Adobe Premiere Elements 10 this year, I think that when it comes to editing next year, I would know where tools are and the best layout for the editing process. I would also know how to fade sound in and out and also the best transitions to use so that our product looks theatrical and the best quality it can be. 

The final target which I would set myself for next year is to not over-complicate things. I think that some shots which we included was to complicated for the genre of a romance film. We could have eliminated some clips so that it suited better for the genre and also add in some different clips that conform to the conventions of a romance film. We confused ourselves a lot throughout the editing process and so by not making things complicated would mean that we would have an easier task when it came to editing. We would be able to make the film run smoothly without any jump cuts in the film. 

Evaluation activity 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Having watched our preliminary task

I think that we have progressed as in this clip, it seems quite jumpy and also the sound isn't all that clear. Once we learnt how to increase the volume of the dialogue in our two minutes we found that it was easier to hear. Unfortunately, we also made the sound a little too loud in the opening two minutes so it also sounded quite fuzzy. We also didn't include a range of shots in this footage which I think we successfully done in our opening two minutes.

However, in this footage, I think the camera was a lot more stable because we made sure we held the camera completely still whereas in the opening two minutes, our clip contained moments where the footage was really shaky. This can be resolved next year by using a tripod.

The lighting in this footage is quite dull whereas in our film it was much brighter which also conforms to the conventions of a romance film. We found that by having a brighter light meant that it was clearer to see the characters. However, in some areas the light was too bright and made the footage look blurry. This can be resolved next year by making sure that the lighting is suitable before recording as if we done this we would not have the harsh lights in the background. It would also mean that we would not have to re-film any points of our film, potentially creating more jump cuts. These would become more obvious because the lighting between two shots would change. 

I feel that we have both progressed far from what we were first producing. I think that what we were producing at the start of this course was more jumpy and not as stable as some of the shots which we have in our film. There is only one particular part in our film that is very shaky. We decided that by walking with the character the audience would understand more about the character, however we did not think of the consequences of the shaky footage. If we had used a tripod it would have improved the footage from the start. Also, the camera which we used in our preliminary task was a better quality as the one which we used for our actual film was an older version. We thought that because we already had a camera that going to buy another one would be not be necessary but in actual fact, it would have made the quality of our film better. We would have also made sure that the characters were not shouting to be heard as this made the sound become harsh and in the preliminary task, the sound was much better. However, the overall two minute footage which we created is something that we think we have achieved from progressing over the period of the course. 

We have also included some of the different types of editing techniques in our film which we also used in our preliminary task. We used shot reverse shot, match on action and also tried to conform to the 180 degree rule but in our actual film we ended up breaking this in one part. As the characters were leaving the common room we were one side of them and as they were outside the common room, the camera was on the other side. We did not notice this until we watched it back after editing the film. I think that because we successfully completed the preliminary task we were able to use the range of techniques in our film to make it more professional and also to make it look a better quality

 ty.

Evaluation activity 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Adobe Premiere Elements 10
This is the software where we edited our footage. This was quite hard to start off with because we didn't know our way around the software meaning that editing our film took a while. We found that once we got used to it, editing became a lot easier as we started to become quicker and more confident in cutting certain parts and also adding in music. As we both had never used an editing software, we were both unsure of how this was going to go, but to our surprise the outcome turned out to be good. We do have a few jump cuts in the film due to not fully understanding how to move clips over. We found that lowering the volume was difficult and also making sure that the dialogue could still be heard over background noise. This did not really work because in our film, sound is probably the biggest issue which we faced. Once we found out how to lower volume and fade in music to make it seem more romantic, we found that it was easier to edit our film. We also had to apply different transitions to the film where we made the film look more theatrical. An example of this would be in our titles by using additive dissolve. We also had to use a fade to black shot as this helped to make it seem more like an opening rather than a trailer.

Photoshop

We used photoshop to create the black backgrounds for our titles. We found that this would be the easiest software to use for this particular task because we just had to select the paint bucket and the colour black and apply it to the background. We then saved this photo so we could add the titles in when we were in Adobe Premiere Elements 10. We also used photoshop to create the main titles 'The Lost Locket' because we thought that this way we could change the colour and the font more easily than we could in Adobe Premiere Elements 10. We added in the colours red and white as this was a common feature of the titles in romance films.



YouTube
We used the website YouTube to upload our clip and also some of the extra clips such as the diary of filming and the 'behind the scenes' type of films. These were only short but we created them so that we could explain what we were doing on the days which we were filming. We have both experienced YouTube and so uploading our film on there was not a hard task. It took some time in the process because beforehand we had to render the film on Adobe Premiere Elements 10 and make sure that the file we were saving the film in was compatible with YouTube. We did get confused at times because it took us a while to know what the file had to be saved in, but once we knew we uploaded it straight away.

 

Evaluation activity 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

We added annotations to our opening to show the reasons behind each of our shots and to also highlight the key elements that were shown. This includes the sound, costume, camera composition and also some of the editing behind it. We highlighted the strengths and some weaknesses of the film such as the jump cut towards the end. This provides an overview of our film and also picks out key features which we thought worked well.

We decide to highlight a bad point as we thought that this was one area which we needed to improve. We think that by doing this we can look back at it next year to see the elements which could be improved. For example, editing the footage so there isn't as many jump cuts and also making sure the sound is not too harsh.

Evaluation 3 - Directors Commentry

We based our directors commentary on the reading of our film. Below is the reading:

We introduce the opening to the lost locket by the production credit, which was called 'Cloud Productions'. It was then complimented by G321 FILMS as the secondary title, which was the image of an old camera from black and white, faded into colour. We used the transitions additive dissolve as we thought that this would be the most theatrical transition to use. We then added paired titles to introduce the films, which shows production credits and also who was behind the film in terms of editing and directing. We then had our main title introduced. This was just a black background and white and red writing. 'The Lost' was written in white to connote innocence and purity and 'Locket' was written in red to connote love and passion. We then had the soundtrack playing in the background at this point with the acoustic guitar. We faded the music in so it did not seem harsh or abrupt. Our next shot was of the female protagonist entering the shot. This started out as a medium shot but as she walked closer it turned into a close up shot. We thought that this way the audience gains a sense of what she is like by the way she dresses and the emotions she is showing through facial expressions. We then used a tracking shot of the female protagonist as she is walking down the road to school. We followed her from behind so that the audience could see where she was heading and the setting we would then later introduce. We then moved to the front of the female protagonist as she continued to walk. We thought that this would be effective because the audience would then also see or gain a sense of where she is going. At this point we started the voice over so that it seemed like the female protagonist was talking directly to the audience. We started it off with personal pronoun 'You' so that we related to the audience on a personal level. This would engage the audience more as they would feel connected to that character. Whilst the voice over was playing, we included a clip of where the female protagonist looks across the road to see the male protagonist. We then carried the footage to following the female protagonist using a medium shot. We cut to the female protagonist entering the school where she signs herself in. We used a close up shot so that the audience could clearly see what was going on. At this point the voice over is still playing explaining her situation. The camera then cuts to a scene of the female protagonist walking down the hallway of the school as she is taking in her surroundings. The voice over stops with the line 'trying to find my way around' which is what the female protagonist is showing in the footage. The female protagonist then enters the common room where the camera follows, using a tracking shot, her walking over to a table where she sits down by herself. The music is introduced immediately after the voice over stops, again being faded in. We then had to lower the volume of the music so that the when the friend of the female protagonist began talking it became clearer to hear. We used a tracking shot following the friend, Miranda, over to the female protagonist, Leola. The then used an over the shoulder shot to get Miranda in the shot as she began talking. We then used shot reverse shot to succeed the conversation. We then used a long shot to show both Leola and Miranda walking off to their lessons together. The camera tracks them as they walk from the table then cuts to as they are walking through the doors. We then used a low angle shot showing them walking upstairs and cut to a high angle shot as they were turning the corner. This proved very effective although we thought we should have used a different shot in between the two so that it didn't jump as much. We then used match on action to show Miranda opening the door to their classroom. We had some people in the background to make it seem more like a classroom. The camera then used a medium shot and tracked Miranda walking over to her seat and asking Leola to sit with her. The camera then shows Leola walking towards Miranda in a medium shot. The camera then cuts to the door again where, in a medium long shot, the male protagonist, Alex, walks in. The camera focuses on him looking over his shoulder. We then used a close up to show Leola looking over at him smiling. This shows her emotion through her facial expressions. We used this to create an enigma code for the audience as they will want to know if they enter a relationship or if they just remain friends. To end the opening, we used a close up of Miranda telling Leola his name and how everyone in the school admires him. We used this to suggest that Miranda may of had a past with Alex without telling anyone. The last line in the opening is 'Oh, you know him?' suggesting that Leola wants to know more about him and also leaves an enigma code for the audience. The music then fades out alongside the footage.


Here we have briefly explained what is happening throughout the film with a narrative over the top of the footage:

We have talked about the parts which we included and why and also talked about parts which we thought did not work as well. We cover all four technical areas by saying about sound, mise en scene, camera composition and also editing. 

Reading of our opening two minutes

We introduce the opening to the lost locket by the production credit, which was called 'Cloud Productions'. It was then complimented by G321 FILMS as the secondary title, which was the image of an old camera from black and white, faded into colour. We used the transitions additive dissolve as we thought that this would be the most theatrical transition to use. We then added paired titles to introduce the films, which shows production credits and also who was behind the film in terms of editing and directing. We then had our main title introduced. This was just a black background and white and red writing. 'The Lost' was written in white to connote innocence and purity and 'Locket' was written in red to connote love and passion. We then had the soundtrack playing in the background at this point with the acoustic guitar. We faded the music in so it did not seem harsh or abrupt. Our next shot was of the female protagonist entering the shot. This started out as a medium shot but as she walked closer it turned into a close up shot. We thought that this way the audience gains a sense of what she is like by the way she dresses and the emotions she is showing through facial expressions. We then used a tracking shot of the female protagonist as she is walking down the road to school. We followed her from behind so that the audience could see where she was heading and the setting we would then later introduce. We then moved to the front of the female protagonist as she continued to walk. We thought that this would be effective because the audience would then also see or gain a sense of where she is going. At this point we started the voice over so that it seemed like the female protagonist was talking directly to the audience. We started it off with personal pronoun 'You' so that we related to the audience on a personal level. This would engage the audience more as they would feel connected to that character. Whilst the voice over was playing, we included a clip of where the female protagonist looks across the road to see the male protagonist. We then carried the footage to following the female protagonist using a medium shot. We cut to the female protagonist entering the school where she signs herself in. We used a close up shot so that the audience could clearly see what was going on. At this point the voice over is still playing explaining her situation. The camera then cuts to a scene of the female protagonist walking down the hallway of the school as she is taking in her surroundings. The voice over stops with the line 'trying to find my way around' which is what the female protagonist is showing in the footage. The female protagonist then enters the common room where the camera follows, using a tracking shot, her walking over to a table where she sits down by herself. The music is introduced immediately after the voice over stops, again being faded in. We then had to lower the volume of the music so that the when the friend of the female protagonist began talking it became clearer to hear. We used a tracking shot following the friend, Miranda, over to the female protagonist, Leola. The then used an over the shoulder shot to get Miranda in the shot as she began talking. We then used shot reverse shot to succeed the conversation. We then used a long shot to show both Leola and Miranda walking off to their lessons together. The camera tracks them as they walk from the table then cuts to as they are walking through the doors. We then used a low angle shot showing them walking upstairs and cut to a high angle shot as they were turning the corner. This proved very effective although we thought we should have used a different shot in between the two so that it didn't jump as much. We then used match on action to show Miranda opening the door to their classroom. We had some people in the background to make it seem more like a classroom. The camera then used a medium shot and tracked Miranda walking over to her seat and asking Leola to sit with her. The camera then shows Leola walking towards Miranda in a medium shot. The camera then cuts to the door again where, in a medium long shot, the male protagonist, Alex, walks in. The camera focuses on him looking over his shoulder. We then used a close up to show Leola looking over at him smiling. This shows her emotion through her facial expressions. We used this to create an enigma code for the audience as they will want to know if they enter a relationship or if they just remain friends. To end the opening, we used a close up of Miranda telling Leola his name and how everyone in the school admires him. We used this to suggest that Miranda may of had a past with Alex without telling anyone. The last line in the opening is 'Oh, you know him?' suggesting that Leola wants to know more about him and also leaves an enigma code for the audience. The music then fades out alongside the footage.

Peer assessment of our film

Within this footage, our peers gave us feedback of what they thought was a good element of our film and also what one thing they would change.
We had a lot of positive feedback saying how we used a wide range of shots but the common feature that came up was the fact how we needed to stabilize the footage so that it was not shaky.

Some strengths which we received were:

• It was easily identified as a romantic film due to the looks over the shoulder.
• Camera work was very professional as there wasn't much jump cutting.
• The use of the cut when walking upstairs was good.
• Following the protagonist so the audience felt like they were there with her.
• The setting suited the film.
• The use of match-on-action was good. 
• The way we introduced the female character made it seem like she was lonely showing that the audience can relate when starting a new school.

Some areas which needed improving were:

• A conversation so that the audience can clearly see the protagonist.
• If we used a tripod to stop the shakiness of the footage.
• Used more close ups and establishing shots.
• The background noise was very loud so it was very difficult to hear the conversations.

These are all points which can be improved next year as it will mean that we know what the weaknesses of this particular film were when it comes to what we are making next year. 

Talking about our film

This is our presentation which we talked about what happened in our film and the setting which was used. We then went on and talked about the strengths and weaknesses of our film and was asked the question about the favourite part of the film. We thought that by adding in how we followed the conventions of a romance, would suit this question because it shows we know what is included within the genre.

Evaluation activity 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our film is mainly aimed at a young teenage audience with the majority of them being female. As this being a collage setting, the audience of around 15-24 years old will probably relate to this film more with it being around the changes of new places. However, younger audiences such as 12 year old's may want to watch this film because they like to think of themselves being more grown up and wanting to go and watch something which they would consider being a mature film. As this picture clearly shows, most of these teenage girls are dressed like how we have shown our female protagonist. This shows that they can also relate to our film because of the similar way they are dressed.
Our target audience would probably like to go shopping in all the high end shops such as Topshop, New look and H&M. This is why we have put the female protagonist in clothes similar to what they sell in these shops. They like to keep up with trends and also like to be fashionable so that they feel confident and also comfortable. They may also like to go out with friends to watch a film or go shopping or even listen to music. Once our female protagonist has a friend at the new school, she already is more confident. This shows that once a group of friends get together they are much more comfortable and confident in themselves, again relating to the film.

Teenagers use social media everyday. Statistics have proven that 13% of teenagers and young adults are addicted to their phones suggesting that most of these use social media. This means that if our film was marketed, it would probably be promoted through social media because our target audience use it the most. Twitter is an example of a social media page which our target audience mostly use due to the interaction with celebrities.

Teenagers also have the change from secondary school to either a sixth form or collage. This means that our target audience will be able to relate to the film because they have experienced what our female protagonist is at the beginning of the film. This means that they possibly will enjoy the film better as they would have experienced everything that happens in the film before such as, finding love and starting a new school. This means that our film will appeal to this audience type.

Evaluation activity 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Production Company:
If a production company is funded they will usually be able to work with bigger companies allowing films to become well known.
The money from our film would be funded from a pitch we will produce trying to gain a company to distribute our film.

Our production company would be big in producing romance films. It would also be well known with a younger audience due to the target audience for the films produced. It may also be known for the similarity of Warner Brothers because of the representations of romance films. The name 'Cloud Productions' was created because of the way the white mark looked on the black background. We decided that this would suit the audience and the conventions of a romance film because of the colour white used to portray purity and innocence.



Warner Brothers are mostly famous for distributing some romance films. Some titles include; 'If I Stay' and 'The Lucky One'. They are a vertically integrated company as the own television shows, films and also musical entertainment. Warner Brothers also owns:

• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Warner Bros. Television
• Warner Bros. Animation
• Warner Home Video
• New Line Cinema
• Castle Rock Entertainment
• DC Entertainment
• The WB Television Network
• And half of The CW Television Network

If our film was being distributed, we would probably pick Warner Brothers to distribute the film due to their very successful history. They would be able to distribute our film because they usually distribute romance films alongside cartoons and some actions. 

Evaluation activity 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are some similarities between these two shots. The one on the left is from our film 'The Lost Locket' showing our female protagonist, Leola. The shot on the right is the female protagonist called Mia Hall from the film 'If I Stay'. Leola is in the middle of walking down the school hallway and Mia is standing by the lockers, again in the school hallway. This shows that in typical romance films aimed at teenage and young adult audiences, using a school hallway is a convention of the genre. We have made Leola's shot a close up so that the audience can relate to her character. She has also just finished the voice over and so by her looking into the camera the audience can still relate to her. Mia is also shown in a close up to show her emotions. She is talking to the male protagonist, Adam, at this point and as this is their first conversation together the close up shot allows the audience to see the shyness and also the fearful emotion she is portraying. Another similarity between these two shots is that they are both wearing smart casual clothes. This suggests that most teenagers who attend a collage wear casual clothing. However, as Leola is wearing a thick coat and Mia is only wearing a cardigan, it could connote that Leola has a hidden personality which the audience is yet to fully see. Mia has a cardigan on suggesting that she is more relaxed and shows her personality more. Another difference between these two shots is that behind Mia there is a crowd of people and behind Leola there is only one person. This could suggest that Leola is shy and she also prefers to be on her own and Mia is more confident with a crowd around her. The lighting in the shot with Leola is quite harsh meaning that it is harder to recognize the setting which she is in due to the light highlighting her and not what is also around her. The shot with Mia shows that the lighting is gentle and subtle suggesting that she is an innocent character. It is also clearer to see the setting behind her. Another similarity which occur between these is that they both look around the same age of 17. This conforms to our target audience because they will be able to relate to the film better because the events happening throughout these films could happen to them. The events which we have placed in the opening is Leola trying to find her way around the new school as we thought this is an effective way for the audience to also gain a sense of where the film is set. I know from having previously watched 'If I Stay' this happens in the opening also suggesting that if a film is set in a school or collage setting, it will usually show the character walking around so that the audience knows the setting and sees at familiar if it appears at a later stage.

Evaluation activity 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The first frame which is shown is our title of the film. We decided that we would use a bold white font to show the innocence of the female protagonist but also use italics and the colour red to highlight 'locket' to show that this would be the main focus of the film and to have the red to represent romance and love. Whilst we were planning the titles, we looked at some titles within the romance genre and this was a common way in which the titles where written throughout. This shows that we are conforming to the conventions of the romance genre. We chose to use a black background so that the titles would stand out.
The next frame which is shown is the back of our female protagonist as she is walking down the road. This is because the audience can relate to her journey to school and also see where she is heading. The location which we chose to use was the road leading up to the school because it is a familiar setting. We also used our sixth form common room and a study room so that the opening would have a collage type feeling to the audience allowing them to relate and understand the film better. The camera composition used for this is a over the shoulder shot but also a close up which allows the audience to feel connected to the protagonist. We also used this shot so that the audience can see the props used, mainly a school bag, so that they understand what the setting is and what the protagonist is doing.
The frame after is of the female protagonist walking down the road but from a side angle. This is because the audience will be able to see the protagonists outfit and the props used yet gaining an idea of where the character is heading. We have also conformed to the 180 rule whilst filming this particular scene because we filmed the female protagonist walking on one side of the street and only slightly turned to film the male protagonist who looks across at her. At this point the sound is a voice over so the audience can connect to the character more, gaining knowledge about her past.
The next frame is the titles of the film. We have used the same font as the main title of our film so that it still fits the romance conventions. We have kept the black background so that there is no jump cuts in the opening. The colour remains white to show the naivety of the female protagonist. This still conforms with the conventions however, we think that we should have used red for one of the titles so that it still shows the romance genre through the titles
The frame after is the production credits which were made by ourselves using Photoshop. We did this by adding a black background with a white line through the center. We then used the blending tool to make it look like a cloud. This is why we called our production line 'Cloud Productions'. We thought that by using white it still adheres to the expectations yet being creative. The production line was one of the first things which we created leading up to the making of our film. We found that having previously looked at production credits, we had to create something different in order to make it interesting.
We then chose a frame from when the female protagonist enters the school. We thought that this would make it seem more of a collage feel because of the close up shot of the protagonist signing herself into the school. The close up was effective because the audience can clearly see what the protagonist is doing whilst relating to her when they are having to sign in. By putting this frame near the beginning of the film, we thought that the audience would definitely gain a sense of the setting if they had not already known. You can still clearly see that this is at the entrance of the school building because of the desk in the background and certain items on the desk.
The next frame is of the male protagonist looking over his shoulder. This is when he notices the female protagonist is in the room. This made it more effective from being a medium shot because of how he walks in and places his things down and then looks over at her. This is effective because it conforms to the conventions of a romance with the male having to look for the female. The medium shot also enables the audience to gain a sense of what the stereotypical teenage boy is like from the clothes which he is wearing. Although we have already shown the male protagonist, the costume is still hard to see whereas when he walks into the room he is clearly presented laid back and also scruffy looking. As he looks over his shoulder the camera cuts to the female protagonist as she also looks over her shoulder but in a close up angle because this shows her emotions and also the way her hair is positioned suggesting that she might be hiding herself in shyness from the male protagonist.
The frame after is of the female protagonist right at the start of the opening showing her walking around the corner. This is the first time we are introduced a character. We chose to do this because the audience immediately meets the main character and also gains knowledge of what she might be like from the outfit which she is wearing. We still have happy music in the background mainly played by an acoustic guitar. This could also conform to the conventions of a romance with the non-diegetic happy yet relaxing music. The medium shot into a close up shows the character in different shot suggesting that this is the character the film will be following. The audience will relate to the main character because of the similar clothes which the typical collage girl would wear.
Finally, the last frame shown is where the female protagonist and her newly formed friend are walking to their lesson. This is one of our favorite parts because of the way the camera shot goes from behind them to above them in a high angle shot. This was really effective because of the way it goes together. The camera follows the up the stairs and around the corner. This suggests that the protagonist might have been befriended in the sense that the friend could be the antagonist. The shot can also clearly identify the outfits which each of the characters are wearing, again conforming to the conventions of a romance film. The audience will be able to relate to both character with what they are wearing because teenage girls usually like to put effort in what they are wearing.

Day 9 of editing

During day 9 of editing we re-filmed the voice over but with another persons voice, so that it wouldn't clash with another characters voice. whilst filming the voice over again, we had to film it a few time as some of  pauses were either too quick or too long, so we had to film it a few times, so that it would fit well with the opening. We filmed the voice over on a voice recorder, then uploaded the footage onto our email and downloaded it onto the computer then onto the film. After we uploaded the footage, we then had to decide where to put the voice over, in which will fit with action shown in the film. we decided to put the voice over when Bronte is on her way into school and stops just before the closeup shot of her walking down the corridor. However putting the voice over  does making the timing out of place, because as Bronte introduces herself, she walks along out of the shot too quickly, losing focus on the interaction between the female character and the audience. Also the timing in which Oliver enters into the shot, the voice over doesn't really connect with the male protagonist as shown, and this will make the audience bit confused on what to focus on. However the voice suited as the she started to talk about starting her new school, and this is complimented by her signing in, by writing her name in the book, and as she explores the displays shown on the wall, showing her interest. Also we had to put our non diegetic soundtrack in as well so that it wouldn't overpower the voice over, by this we kept the soundtrack playing, all throughout the opening and just adjusted the volume so that the voice over and the dialogue could be heard at the same time. To adjust the volume of both soundtrack and voiceover, we had to go on the side with icon where next to the where the soundtrack and the voice over was place in order a yellow line to appear which helps to control the volume levels of the soundtrack and the voiceover. so in this we made the voice over really loud, so that it would be the main focus could be on the introduction on the female protagonist, and the non diegetic sountrack would be complimenting it at the same time.

Opening 2 minutes: The Lost Locket

Make up

Here we have practiced trailing some of the make up that could be used on the protagonist during filming. In this picture we have focused on the eyes as we have shown an extreme close up of them to show the detail of the makeup. To achieve this look look researched into different makeup tutorials that could be used we followed some of the steps and altered some of them as well as we were changing some of the colour to suit the skin tone of the person that we used to trail on. We have shown shown that we have used a winged eye liner to make the eyes look fuller, and this will enhance the make on camera as it will stand out more. in this eye make we have also used fake lashes, as we thought that it would look better on camera, we want to make sure that make is able to show up and and should be able to make it obvious towards the audience who the protagonist is. we also put few layered of mascara to take out the separation within the lash line. Also the makeup will be something to focus on as the voice over will talk about how she has made an effort on her first day, and the audience can relate to her makeup. For the eye shadow based we have decided to go for suttle colors, so we used creams, beiges and a light brown, do come out with this effect we blended them out showing tone, so darker in the inner corner and coming out light. Finishing off this make up  look we have put on some eye liner on the bottom lash line, However this could make it look too much for the story line, as it will make it look too bold, which will make this look more occasional. The aim of this was to create a school makeup look, so we could possibly take out the eyeliner on the bottom, so it wont't look too bold.

 

We decide to focus on the eyes and lip makeup, as we thought it would be one of the most important features to focus on whilst filming. The base of the face we have decided upon using the foundation called Revelon Photoready, this foundation will be use on both the protagonist and the rest of there cast but using the right shade, which will match there skin and will look good on camera.  But we have decided to just focus on the protagonists makeup, as the audience will be able to focus on her throughout the opening scene to our film.

During the makeup we looked at what we should put on the protagonist lips, which will be suitable for our theme of having a school makeup look. here we have gone for a light pink on this skin tone, which suit well, as it doesn't look too much as we have the eyeliner we didn't want anything else to be overpowering the overall makeup. This color of lips tones the overall makeup down as there is already a lot going on with eyes. However we want the lips to be present, so adding a bit of colour to the natural lip color will make the lip present during filming.

This overall makeup for this trail, will suit the protagonist, because we though that we need to put the makeup in as its one of the key aspect in which the protagonist talks about how she will be making an effort on her first day at college and so the make should have reflection on what the protagonist says.  

Hairstyles

TIGHT FISHTAIL

Here we have been practicing some  hairstyles for possibilities for the protagonists hair during filming. Here we have practiced doing a fishtail braid on two different colored hair. The first type of coloured hair, which we trailed the fishtail braid, is on light brown hair. The lighting which compliments the braid well, as it shows the pattern of the braid. This braid is quite tightly done, and is done on the side of the face. This would be suitable for the protagonist to be  wearing during filming, as it keeps the hair out of the face whilst filming. Also the fishtail braid creates a clear, and sophisticated look on the person wearing this, so would suit the protagonist on the first day of her were wearing this look, as it will show that she is making an effort on her appearance as spoken through the voiceover.   However we could possibly make the braid a bit loser to create a more casual look, and would appeal more to a school/college look.

                                                       

LOOSE FISHTAIL

The loose fishtail braid has been created on a more mixed colored of brown and blond dyed hair. The loose fishtail braid creates a more casual look on the protagonist wearing this, with added part of a fringe or extra hair. Pulling out extra hair helps to creates a flowy, loose look,  So this could be used for our protagonists hair during filming, as it shows up in good lighting. so this will taken into consideration when using it during filming. However depending on the weather during the day of the filming it could cause the hairstyle to come out of place, make it it look messy, which can have an effect on the appearance of the protagonist.

STRAIGHT HAIR

Here we have gone for the simple hair straightening technique. This is a very simple, and easy hairstyle, which would be suitable for both protagonist and her friend, as this hairstyle would be a casual hairstyle to wear to school. however due to the weather conditions, straightened hair can get frizzy, so during filming we could possible be using hairspray to keep the hair in place. This will would our final hairstyle the we will use on both the protagonist and the friend as the protagonist will have brown hair and her friend has a blond/brown hair, so theses will show different outcomes in terms of personality wise, as the friend will have a bubbly personality which will be shown as she takes the protagonist round school.

Voice over for our film

We recorded the voice over on our phone using the voice recorder and uploaded it on to the computer, we recorded the voice over two/ three times, some with the non diegetic sound and some without so that we were able to get the timing right with the opening scene. However whilst recording, there were times when the voice over went too fast, and so it didn't fit the 2 minutes opening, so we had to slow down what we we saying, and so that it would work well with the non diegetic music. Also during this found out that the script didn't fit within 2 minutes, so we improvised some more information for the opening scene. This would allow the audience to find out more about the protagonist as she talk through her journey to school/college and talks about her life. During the voice over the female protagonist will be introducing herself to the audience and she will also be talking about her past, and introduces her family. The audience will find out a lot about the female protagonist personality and gives an insight into her life. This will allow the audience to feel apart of the film as the voice over will seem as if they are having a conversation with them. 

Day 8 of editing

During day 8 of editing, we filmed the voice over first hand by Hayley, and we put it into our opening scene, when putting it with the opening, we had to adjust the volume of the other footage in order to make sure we could hear the voice overtaking place. we also decided to place the voice over near where the protagonist started walking towards the camera with a closeup shot. we decided to put the voiceover there because it will allow the audience to engage with female protagonist and it will let them in on personal level on her life and what has happened in the past. This will also let the audience be involved in the film. The voice over lasted for about 30 seconds, so we faded them in and out in order to let some of the dialogue to be include when the non diegetic sound will be playing quietly in the background. We then render the footage to see how the it looked overall in the film. However we had to re-film the voice-over because we thought that it sound too similar to another characters voice, so filming it again but with another voice so it doesn't clash with another characters voice during the opening.  

Day 7 of editing

During the seventh day, we decided that we had to add in the soundtrack to make sure we had picked the right one. Once placing it into adobe premiere elements 10 we had to find the best place to put it. We decided that we were not going to start the music straight away but as the female protagonist starts walking to school. We had to fade in the music so it wasn't abrupt. The difficulty which we experienced through this was trying to get the background noise to not be as loud. We spent around 10 minutes trying to find away to lower the volume. Once we eventually found the way to do this, we made sure that the volume of the background noise could still be heard but also so the music was still the main feature. We then had to stop the soundtrack in a certain place so that when the characters begin talking they could be heard. We done this by fading out the music in time for when the first character begins to talk. This proved quite effective but was also a difficult task at the time. We then had to place the soundtrack back into the film once the dialogue was finished. Seeing as we had previously done this it wasn't as difficult this time. Once we had added in the soundtrack and thought that it was in a suitable place we had to create production credits. We found a picture on Google of an old camera. We saved this image and put it into two frames. We then added the effect of black and white onto the first frame and added the transition additive dissolve where it changed the black and white image to colour. We then had to add in a title underneath the picture so we had our own production credit. We were pleased with the outcome and finally rendered the footage to make sure it went well with each other without any jumps.

Day 5 of editing

During day 5 of editing we continued to experimenting with displaying the titles in our opening 2 minutes. We had decided to create some black blank shots so that we could display some of the titles for example introducing the director and editor, then introduce the character. The font that we used for the titles was adobe casalon pro, using size 54 as the font as this look most appropriate for the display in the shot. We decide to use this font because it would suit the conventions of a romance film,by having this italic bold font. It would also make the appearance of the titles easier for the audience to read and identify the production behind the film. We then looked at different colours which we could add to the titles. The first colour choice was black for the titles because we thought it would show up well for some of the titles which will show up on the location of where we have filmed, However it would suit the convention of a romance film as the black would present as more sharp and so we changed it white as it represent innocence and purity, so this would link to the storyline as it will show the atmosphere of what the audience should be expecting. We then decide to add a hint of pink to represent the the couple who will be shown in the film, it represent more of blossom of love will occur between the couple which the audience will expect to see.       

Day 6 of editing

During the sixth day of editing we continued with adding titles into our footage on top of the black shot. This meant that the titles would be clearly seen. We adapted the titles into different font and different sizes to make sure we felt that the titles were suitable. We also changed the colour of the font back to white because we felt like white could be more effective in fitting the conventions of a romance film. White could represent innocence and purity which is what we are trying to portray in our female protagonist. We moved the titles around on the black shot to see if they were placed in the right place. We then had to faded them in and out, each time making sure we were rendering the footage so it was not jumpy. We then had to add in transitions to the story of the film to make sure each clip flowed into the next with no jump cuts. We found that adding in the black shots made the film run over the allocated time and so had to crop some of the footage down. This involved making sure that the film still made sense with some footage being cropped. We found this part quite difficult because we had to still make sure that the film would make sense but also so that it was in the time limit. We ended up having to crop some bits out but also adding them back in and cropping another section out because we thought that it seemed better with the original clip.

Update on costumes and props

Costumes

Our female protagonist is going to be wearing a grey coat which will be done up. She will also be wearing tights and a skirt so that it looks casual but also smart. She will also wear black boots to go along with the black in her coat. This look will look smart but also casual for a school/collage setting. The costume will help the audience to gain knowledge of what she is like as a character and personality. From this look, we try to achieve a grown up, sophisticated look.









The male protagonist will be wearing black jeans which loose fitting and a grey hoodie. He will also wear trainers. This will show that the male protagonist is casual but also laid back. This will make the character seem like a stereotypical male teenager who does not want to go to school.













Props

Here are some of our props which we are planning to use to help us to get the collage feel to the film.

 The bag will be used as the school bag for the protagonist. This is just a simple bag which the protagonist will wear so that the audience knows that this is a bag used for school.

This is a folder which the protagonist will have but this will not necessarily get out. This will remain in her bag unless when we come to film, we decide that it is better for her to use the book. This will allow the audience to know where the setting is and also what her life is like.

Day 4 of editing

During the fourth day of editing, we had to swap the layout of the titles so they could fit in with the genre. We chose to use the font Adobe Caslon Pro with the effect of bold italics. This was an effective way to show the titles whilst the film is playing. We changed the colour of the titles to white because we thought that this was the best colour to represent innocence and the characteristics of the protagonist being naive. We added more titles into the film to show the cast and also the points of who directed it and edited the footage. After we done this, we decided that adding a plain black shot would be effective to get the titles to stand out. We created the black shot using photoshop. We then placed the black shot into our film to the place where we thought it was suitable. We also used the black shot for the main title of our film because we thought that if we done it this way, we could fade the text 'The Lost Locket' in and out of the film. Once we had faded the text we rendered the clip to prevent it becoming jumpy.

Day 3 of editing

During day 3 of editing we continued to trim/crop our footage, so that it fit within the time of 2 minutes. so we cropped our small parts of common room and some of the stairs scene so that we get a cut, so as the protagonist walked up the stairs and the cut to when they they enter the second set of stairs. After we went onto adding titles, so at the beginning when the protagonist enters to start the opening we added the title ' Directed by Fahmida and Hayley' at the beginning, so when we were positioning the text, we decide to have the 'directed' part of the text in the middle, and the name on a separate line directly below the first line. The font style that we used was italic bold we use this font style because we thought it would complement well with the opening as it will help inform the audience on more information about the opening. the size of the font that we used was 53, as we thought it would be the most appropriate font to use, but we did trial different fonts to see which would fit and would look more appealing to our opening. The colour of the font that we used was black as we though it would show up well when the opening begins. using the colour black connotes a mysterious, which would link to what happens in the opening as the is an unknown relationship, which will show the introduction of the male and female, so during the opening its will leave an enigma for the audience to find out about there relationship, and the colour of font contribute it. Also we made the smaller titles to introduce the cast in our opening and we placed, where there was empty space in the shot, so in this case, when Bronte was walking one side, then we put the smaller titles on the right hand corner, on the other side of her. so we decided to fill up the shot, but not make it too crowd in the shot. When making the titles we had problems with adding the animation to the title, we wanted to have a fade for a duration of 5 seconds, so we went onto you tube and looked for a video, which will show us what how to add the animation. (Youtube clip start from 2:07) from this we tried to apply this to our opening. However when doing this found out that we could  edit the animation on the timeline and apply through it as well by right clicking on the fade out button. We then rendered the the whole opening so that it would play more smoothly.

Day 2 of editing

Day 2 of editing we continued to crop our footage and separate them from the behind scenes and the consent parts of the footage. By this we had to render the footage so that it play back more smoothly. during this the opening was still over the time limit of being within 2 minutes. So we had to cut some of the footage out so that it fit the timing requirements. We decided to take out some of the journey scenes, as it took a lot of the time, and there was a lot of it. So we took out some of the beginning where Bronte was walking into school. We also cropped the distance of how far Bronte was walking, so instead we had to cut from the street, to when she entered into the school building. We also put a transition of a dip into black to show her entering and when she sign in. We also cropped parts of of her walking, as she looks at the display, so we made that shorter and show a cut into her close up shot of her walking. In that scene we shorten this scene and then we we get a cut into when Bronte comes out of the green doors. The common room room scenes were shorten and trimmed, we had to crop the parts where we just started filming, as the Hayley (protagonist's friend), because at first she was stood alone waiting to be filmed, so cutting this out,and showing her directly going to the protagonist. During the dialogue between the Bronte and Hayley, the lighting was a problem as Hayley face was very dark during this scene, so we added some enhance to the background, in order to fix this. However this still had an impact on lighting in the opening.​

Day 1 of editing

After filming out opening scene we had to put our film together. We had to finalize the footage on the camera, then connect the a USB to the computer, then change the format to put it on a disk (CD). Afterwards we used the adobe premier elements 10, to edit our footage that we had filmed. When we opened the software, we had to change the setting so we had to change to the format to Pal - HDV - 720p and then made a new folder for a our film and gave it a title of our film, "The lost locket". When we opened the software we uploaded the footage and we found out that the footage that was filmed in two clips or parts, so we had to separate all the footage and the behind the scene main them separate, so that they would be easier to put all the relevant section together to make our opening. So in order to do this we used the same footage a few times to get each shot out, and repeated that process again to get all the footage. Afterwards we added the dip to black transition on our opening, we added them at the beginning of the opening and at the opening and one at the end. This would allow to show a start of the film and where the opening end, with out showing a harsh cut.

What went well was that we were able to upload the footage and start to crop the footage, so it was relevant to our opening. We also trailed some of the transitions as well to see which one which one would fit well with our opening so we trailed dip into white, black. so we decided to use the dip into black as it looks better and fades well as it introduces the opening and closes the scene.

To improve we could crop more of the footage so that it fits the 2 minutes that we have been given. Also add the front title and the production title in, and add the transitions which will help fade the into the opening. So also adding these titles would fit to convention of how a opening should start.

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Storyboard - Animatic

Here we have created our storyboard animation, which shows what we plan to happen in our film. In order to create this animation we made a story board on a storyboard sheet, which we had to draw each shot of what is going to happen in our film. After drawing out each shot. We then took individual pictures of each shot that we had drawn and and put them into the adobe photo shop to crop out the picture so they look more clean and tidy.

   When we were were using Photoshop we took each photo that we took and used the crop tool, to cut the photos to the size of our choice, taking out any boarders that showed up on the photo. After we cropped all the photos we saved them as a JPEG image in our own area onto the computer. To put together the animatic we used adobe to put it together. We started selecting the quality of our footage, so we chose to put it at 720p, which will give us the standard quality of our animatic. We then saved a new folder for this task, before we started. We then uploaded all the photos from the computer into adobe and on the right hand side was each shot that we took, in total we had taken 40 shots. With these shots we drag them all on to the timeline, putting them in shot order of how our opening should go. Then we started to crop the each shot, which would represent the duration of each shot that we intend to have in our film. Each shot was around between 3-4 seconds long. Afterwards we started to put in transitions which would show the change in scene and shot within our opening scene. We used the black fade into next shot for the first two shots at the beginning of film, which were the titles which compliments the film. We also had some of shot which directly cut from one shot to another, to show the journey of the protagonist during the day. This will allow the audience to follow through each scene and follow the protagonist through her journey to school, and this will make them feel involved.  After adding the transitions to our footage,  we played the footage back and we decide to add the the non diegetic sound over the background of the opening scene that we had story boarded. After adding the non diegetic sound, we played it back and we though we needed to put the volume down in order for the audience to hear the voice over (which we have not included in the animatic). But whilst editing our opening we will include the voice over in. After we started to fade out some of the music at certain points within the shots to represent awkward moment between the male and female protagonist, which is shown when they first see each other on the streets. This will allow the audience to a part of what is going on between the protagonist, leaving an enigma code for them knowing that there will be some sort of connection between them. After the introduction of the tow main protagonist the music is faded back into the shot and continuous through the rest of the opening scene. The non diegetic music stops as the protagonist meets the friend and the dialogue begins, after the music comes back as they travel together to next lesson and the opening scene closes along with the music as well

What went well about our storyboard animatic is that we were able to fade the music to where we wanted the music to stop to show the awkwardness between the two protagonist, and being able to crop the photo successfully through photoshop, giving a cleaner image.

To improve we could make the clearer image of the shot, this could be done by hold the camera still whilst taking the photo. We could also have the voice over included in the storyboard animatic to make that there was an outcome to see how the voice over would fit in.

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Representations and stereotypes in our film

The female protagonist will be shown in a stereo typical way, because the female protagonist will come across as very shy and will talk about her feeling and experiences that she has gone through in past. so the voice over will talk about how she has been moving schools, so she has never experience having close friends, as she keeps on moving around a lot. This shows the audience to feel sympathetic for her as she may not fit in as this has not been the first time of moving schools. The female protagonist will come across as vulnerable and innocent. Stereo typically women are presented as innocent and this case linking to the codes and convention of a romance film, we would expect the protagonist to be attractive looking, in which the audience will follow throughout the film.  The personality of the protagonist will be shown as they will come across usually as hard to get with as the male protagonist would usually be doing a lot, just by getting the female protagonist's attention. The costumes which the protagonist as show will be wearing a coat, this will show the audience that the female protagonist will have a hidden personality and its something that may be revealed through. from the audience analysis we found out the they would expect the female protagonist to be shy, cute and friendly, which in the opening we will be able to see a friendly side of the protagonist as she will talk to the friend and will show that they will get along in the film, So these expectations will be met in the opening as the protagonist will show this through the voice over as she interacts with audience telling them about her life.

The male protagonist will be shown in a stereo typically way, because we have represented him as confident and outgoing. This will be shown in the opening scene because the male protagonist will notice the female protagonist show that he makes the first move, which shows his confidence, which allows the audience to find out more about his personality. From the questionnaire analysis the public would expect the male protagonist to be flirtatious and friendly. This shows that audience's expectation of what the male protagonist's personality should be like. we will show small part of this in our opening scene, as this will create an enigma code for the audience, as they would expect a set personality for the protagonists, but would be revealed during the film. Stereo typically, the male protagonist would be represented for the audience to shown as attractive and strong, this will be shown from the appearance of him. The codes and convention of what the male protagonist should be like, is that they should come across as strong, usually quite dominant as they will come across as confident which the audience will expect to see within a romance film.      

Day 2 of filming

During day two of filming we filmed the scene where the protagonist meets the friend and  journey towards their next lesson. before starting to film, we started by getting consent from people in the common room as there were a lot of people in the common room and needed permission to film them.

We started to start where we finished off from the last filming which was when Bronte entered into the sixth form block. To film this we took a medium shot of the sixth form block title. We decided to shoot this because it would allow the audience to recognize where the protagonist is going, and the audience can also relate to the experience of the protagonist, as the opening shows the protagonist first day at college. We then filmed the female protagonist entering into the common room, we used a medium shot, and using a tracking shot of Bronte, as we followed her until she goes sits down. In this scene the voice over will stop and will focus more on the common room crowd, so the non diegetic sound of the voice over and the soundtrack will change to diegetic sound of the crowd in the common and the start dialogue between the characters. After following Bronte, as she goes to sit on a table on her own, the camera cuts to introduce the friend, with some other group of people. We introduce the friend with medium shot of her talking to her other friends, and starts to see the protagonist on her own, then we cut see a the friends perspective of of the protagonist. we then filmed the meeting of the protagonist and the friend starts the dialogue which then after we film a shot reverse shot of there dialogue. We then filmed them walking out the common room and towards there next lesson, and we filmed a medium shot of them coming out and going up the stairs and the we cut to when they are coming towards the second set of stairs and we filmed a high angle shot of them coming up the stairs.

What went well is that we were able to to get the dialogue in this filming scene, so we thought that the shot reverse shot went well as we were able to see the characters clearly and so the audience will know what is going on and who is talking. Also the the high angle shot that we had filmed came out clearly as the lighting was good within this scene as the footage was clear or the characters showed up well in the lighting. However to improve we could make sure that we get the dialogue bit clearer, so that the audience find out what is been spoken about, so that they can feel apart of the film as well.

Day 1 of filming

During this day of filming, we managed to get the consent from the actors which we did not interview so that we could film them. This included the groups in the classroom and also the male protagonist.

We then began to film the classroom footage. This included Bronte, our female protagonist, walking into the classroom. We showed this through match on action and also a medium shot, keeping into the 180 degree rule. However, we needed the footage of the meet up between the female protagonist and her friend, so that we could get an idea if they were walking in together. This will be done in the second day of filming. We have also filmed the conversation between the female protagonist and her friend. We used a shot reverse shot and also the rule of thirds. We have done this so that it show the two characters talking to each other but in an effective way. The lighting for this scene was good because you could clearly see each character due to the natural classroom lighting. We also put extra concealer to hide the imperfections on Bronte's skin so that the camera would pick up on the flawless skin. We also filmed Oliver, our male protagonist, entering the wrong classroom and this is the first time they realise that they are in the same school.

We then went outside school where we filmed Bronte walking down the road which proved to be difficult because we kept on getting other people behind. We then called Oliver so that he could come and do his footage. We made them stand on the opposite side of the road where we got the to look at each other. We filmed Oliver first where he looked at Bronte across the road. We the filmed Bronte doing the same. It was difficult to work out the 180 degree rule and so this took us a few tries. We had to also make sure we left enough time so that the voice over will fit in with the time of her walking.

We then walked back into school where we asked the lady on reception if it was okay to use the sign in book and to film at the front desk. She agreed and so we filmed Bronte walking into school. We then decided to use a close up where we filmed Bronte signing in. She then suggested that she looked at some posters on the wall so she is taking the new surrounding in. We liked this idea and so decided to use it. We then filmed Bronte walking down the hallway. This took multiple times because children kept walking past and getting into shot. We then filmed a high angle shot of Bronte walking up some stairs to make her look vulnerable. This is where we stopped because we ran out of time as it was lunch and so we kept on getting other school children which we did not want.