1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
I worked with Josh as the director and Cat, Wes and I were the actors. Josh and I took control of the editing during our free time whilst Cat and Wes brought in some props we could use and contributed ideas towards the editing process.
2. How did you plan your short filmed piece? Did you use any other films for your inspiration?
We planned our piece with a storyboard; we wrote down every idea we had and drew a picture to accompany them but we didn't use inspiration from any other films.
3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
For our task we used a video camera, a triod and a tape to film and a firewire lead and an apple mac to edit.
4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning we had to take into account what our storyline was going be and how it was going to work. When shooting we had to take into account what camera angles to ues and to include mise - en- scene. When editing we took into account what we needed to get rid of and what to add to make the film more effective.
5. Which film conventions does the piece follow? e.g. music, match on action, 180 degree rule, camera work etc
We used music that we made on garage band, and made use of match on action and the 180 degree rule. We didn't break any conventions.
7. How did you consider mise en scene? e.g. lighting, camera work, setting, costume, props etc
When considering mise-en-scene we made a storyboard of the various camera shots we planned to use. We also got mugs and muffins to make it look like we were in a cafe.
8. How did you consider narrative? Is there a sense of a storyline? Can any theorists be applied e.g. Barthes, Todorov, Propp, Levi Strauss
There is a storyline to our piece as I am Wez's girlfriend and I dump him after which Cat laughs at him. If we apply narrative code we can see that I am the antagonist disrupting the equilibrium of our happy relationship; his newly single life is the new equilibrium.
9. How successful was your filmed piece? Identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
I thought our piece worked okay but as it had to be rushed some of the continuity and shots didn't work as well as they could have done. If I had a chance to do it again I would spend more time on it and make sure we spoke louder so it picked up on camera.
10. What have you learnt about producing a short piece of film? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework?
I have learnt many different camera angles and how to use a video camera. I have also learnt how to edit a short film and this will be useful if I choose to make a film for my final piece.
Making our Magazine Cover!
In this lesson, Cat and I began to create our front cover. As I have used photoshop before - and a lot of it is common sense - I taught Cat the basics and we started to create the cover. We used Georgie as the model and set her in the right hand side of the cover. We then cut around her and made her bigger. The background was a very light green and this worked well with the neutral gender font colours of turquoise, blue and black.
We added the headlines and made them different sizes to grab attention; the magazine was called LUTTO MAG as it is short and simple. We then had a price of £1 (which would help with sales!) and a barcode to make it look more realistic.
I think that in reality the magazine would sell quite well as it concentrated on popular teen issues and interests that both genders enjoy such as fashion, sport, music, films, a levels and stress. It also had an element of comedy in the titles of the articles for example - "McLutto - whatever happened to Jamie Oliver?" This also means that contemporary issues in the school are included which draws attention to the magazine.
Whilst I worked on the front page Cat's area to focus on was the contents; she added the coverlines and more article titles with page numbers and three pictures: one of me playing the double bass, one of Cat on an exercise bike and one of our friends Hannah and Luke performing for English Lit.
I believe these pictures showed a good range of the lessons available at school and gave Lutterworth a better, 'cooler' image to the teenage reader. The pictures are also relevant to the fact that the magazine is a school one.
We also included the school slogan "dare to be different!" as a bit of a joke but also to include some realism in the magazine. Overall I enjoyed working with Cat (again!) as we had similar ideas on colour schemes etc and didn't talk over one another.
I also enjoyed having a go with photoshop and teaching the general skills to Cat.
We added the headlines and made them different sizes to grab attention; the magazine was called LUTTO MAG as it is short and simple. We then had a price of £1 (which would help with sales!) and a barcode to make it look more realistic.
I think that in reality the magazine would sell quite well as it concentrated on popular teen issues and interests that both genders enjoy such as fashion, sport, music, films, a levels and stress. It also had an element of comedy in the titles of the articles for example - "McLutto - whatever happened to Jamie Oliver?" This also means that contemporary issues in the school are included which draws attention to the magazine.
Whilst I worked on the front page Cat's area to focus on was the contents; she added the coverlines and more article titles with page numbers and three pictures: one of me playing the double bass, one of Cat on an exercise bike and one of our friends Hannah and Luke performing for English Lit.
I believe these pictures showed a good range of the lessons available at school and gave Lutterworth a better, 'cooler' image to the teenage reader. The pictures are also relevant to the fact that the magazine is a school one.
We also included the school slogan "dare to be different!" as a bit of a joke but also to include some realism in the magazine. Overall I enjoyed working with Cat (again!) as we had similar ideas on colour schemes etc and didn't talk over one another.
I also enjoyed having a go with photoshop and teaching the general skills to Cat.
Planning Magazine Cover
On the 9th of October Cat and I began to plan our other preliminary - a magazine cover composed on DTP and photoshop.
We made a mock up of the cover with headlines and named it simply LC Mag; it would cover issues around the school including careers, fashion, food and even advice. We even made up a few school-related coverlines such as 'McLutto - whatever happened to Jamie Oliver?' 'coping with A-Level stress' and 'what to wear in the winter months.'
We also decided that the model would be to the right of the cover with headlines around, over and to the left of her.
We went around the school with my camera during the lesson and got a few shots from different classes around school but over the weekend I got various people to pose for me; here is a slideshow of the prospective photos for the front cover or contents.
We made a mock up of the cover with headlines and named it simply LC Mag; it would cover issues around the school including careers, fashion, food and even advice. We even made up a few school-related coverlines such as 'McLutto - whatever happened to Jamie Oliver?' 'coping with A-Level stress' and 'what to wear in the winter months.'
We also decided that the model would be to the right of the cover with headlines around, over and to the left of her.
We went around the school with my camera during the lesson and got a few shots from different classes around school but over the weekend I got various people to pose for me; here is a slideshow of the prospective photos for the front cover or contents.
Editing Our Prelim
After filming our preliminary for the second time Josh and I went to the mac room to edit our film on imovie and add music to it; however it wasn't until after we added a song we discovered there was a copyright issue. We cut out the blurry scenes, added titles, and ensured everything was slick by cutting down long scenes. There were a few things that were filmed accidentally that we kept as outtakes at the end as we couldn't bear to just delete them because they were just too funny.
Filming
On Friday the 2nd of October Wes Cat Josh and I began to film our preliminary using the storyboard we drew up last lesson. We were told it had to include a character opening a door, walking across a room and exchanging dialogue with another character.
When our original set of the coffee shop was unavailable we found a graphics room to use for filming and the technician Rob kindly provided us with props to make it look like a cafe; mugs, milk, etc.
We opened on a tilt shot of me walking up to the door of the room; then went onto an extreme close up of my hand opening the door. Josh then took the camera into the room and had a long/mid shot of me walking in and sitting down opposite Wez; Josh then filmed a point of view shot of Wez speaking, shot/reverse shot of us talking and a pan shot of our conversation. We achieved this shot by using a dolly that we found in the graphics room.
We included little dialogue in our preliminary; it was a closed narrative of me walking in, 'breaking up' with Wez, walking out, and Cat saying a line which was "so you got dumped then?!" in a manly voice. This added humour to the piece as she was in the background all along seemingly just drinking coffee although she was really eavesdropping.
The only problems with this exercise were that it was a little rushed and we missed a shot; meaning that we had to refilm next lesson in different clothes but it was still the same. I enjoyed working with this group as we all listened to each other and had a laugh; it was the most enjoyable thing I've done in media so far because it was just so fun!
When our original set of the coffee shop was unavailable we found a graphics room to use for filming and the technician Rob kindly provided us with props to make it look like a cafe; mugs, milk, etc.
We opened on a tilt shot of me walking up to the door of the room; then went onto an extreme close up of my hand opening the door. Josh then took the camera into the room and had a long/mid shot of me walking in and sitting down opposite Wez; Josh then filmed a point of view shot of Wez speaking, shot/reverse shot of us talking and a pan shot of our conversation. We achieved this shot by using a dolly that we found in the graphics room.
We included little dialogue in our preliminary; it was a closed narrative of me walking in, 'breaking up' with Wez, walking out, and Cat saying a line which was "so you got dumped then?!" in a manly voice. This added humour to the piece as she was in the background all along seemingly just drinking coffee although she was really eavesdropping.
The only problems with this exercise were that it was a little rushed and we missed a shot; meaning that we had to refilm next lesson in different clothes but it was still the same. I enjoyed working with this group as we all listened to each other and had a laugh; it was the most enjoyable thing I've done in media so far because it was just so fun!
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