Tuesday 15th December was our fifth day of filming which took place back at my house. As well as filming new scenes we also had to re-shoot previous scenes from the fourth day of filming which included shots of lily brushing her teeth, brushing her hair and taking clothes from her wardrobe. The reason we had to re-shoot these scenes was because when we previously shot them it was late afternoon and there was no sunlight left which was no good to us as the scene is set in the morning when Lily is rushing about getting ready for college.
We also managed to film all the scenes involving Lily and Michelle who plays her mother in the film. For every shot we did we made sure that we filmed it more than once and also changed the camera angle to add more variety for us to choose from when we are deciding what to include in our final product.
All in all I am happy with the amount of filming we managed to get done, we worked well as a team which will hopefully show when our film is complete.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Research on Flashbacks By Matthew Helliwell
I have decided to do some research on flashbacks to give our group some inspiration or ideas on how to do our penultimate flashback scene.
I have found that flashback scenes need to be noticably different so the audience can understand that it is different like shot in black and white for example.
In this clip from the film [Out Cold]
The man is driving and while he is talking the scene cuts to a different location, the audience know that this is a flashback because he is describing it in the script and because the lighting changes dramaticly. In his car the lighting is just natural for a night, but in the flashback scene the lighting is very high, enhancing colour and making the audience notice a difference which is important. It also gives the impression that maybe he is remembering happier times.
There we saw a good example of bright lighting used in a flashback.
In this clip from the film [Twilight]
A flashback is used as he is telling Bella the story of his family. The scene changes and his story continues over the top of the flashback again but this time the lighting is dimmed creating an orange glow. The actors faces are lit but nothing else is, making the audience look at what the director wanted them to look at. The shots also seam to fade out around the edges of the camera. I thought i would use this example as it differs from the first example that i used.
In the film [Citizen Kane]
Flashbacks are used excessively, as news reporter Jerry Thompson delves into Charles Foster Kanes private life and tries to figure out the meaning of Kanes dieing word "Rosebud." The flashbacks occur as Jerry Thompson interrogates the people who were close to him, and they tell him their account of events throughout Kanes life. The flashbacks have no effects to change the appearence of the scenes, so the only way the viewer can tell it is a flashback is that previously the man who was being interrogated started a story and then the flashback starts. Another way which defines the flashbacks (as they are not allways chronological) is the age of Kane as in some stories he is young and in others he is considerably older, this gives us some indication to what time range this story is being told. Nevertheless flashbacks have a very important role in telling this story.
In this clip from [The Shawshank Redemption]
There is a flashback as Tommy is telling a story. At 07:16 the scene goes into the flashback and into Tommy's recolation of the story. The change is made distinguishable by the contrasting change of lighting, Tommy was telling the story in a well lit library, where as when the scene changes to the flashback it seams to be set in a dark cell. The mans face is half hidden by darkness. The flashback is effective i think because of the continuous dialogue between the scenes.
In our film I think we have to indicate some kind of effect which will distinguish the change between real time and flashback in Lucy's mind, although I dont want to change the image to black and white. I liked how Catherine Hardwicke did the Twilight flasback as it was a similar situation to what we want to do, a short scene that reveals something. I particulary liked the effect on the film as it created the feeling of dark, and sadness. which is what we would like to produce.
I have found that flashback scenes need to be noticably different so the audience can understand that it is different like shot in black and white for example.
In this clip from the film [Out Cold]
The man is driving and while he is talking the scene cuts to a different location, the audience know that this is a flashback because he is describing it in the script and because the lighting changes dramaticly. In his car the lighting is just natural for a night, but in the flashback scene the lighting is very high, enhancing colour and making the audience notice a difference which is important. It also gives the impression that maybe he is remembering happier times.
There we saw a good example of bright lighting used in a flashback.
In this clip from the film [Twilight]
A flashback is used as he is telling Bella the story of his family. The scene changes and his story continues over the top of the flashback again but this time the lighting is dimmed creating an orange glow. The actors faces are lit but nothing else is, making the audience look at what the director wanted them to look at. The shots also seam to fade out around the edges of the camera. I thought i would use this example as it differs from the first example that i used.
In the film [Citizen Kane]
Flashbacks are used excessively, as news reporter Jerry Thompson delves into Charles Foster Kanes private life and tries to figure out the meaning of Kanes dieing word "Rosebud." The flashbacks occur as Jerry Thompson interrogates the people who were close to him, and they tell him their account of events throughout Kanes life. The flashbacks have no effects to change the appearence of the scenes, so the only way the viewer can tell it is a flashback is that previously the man who was being interrogated started a story and then the flashback starts. Another way which defines the flashbacks (as they are not allways chronological) is the age of Kane as in some stories he is young and in others he is considerably older, this gives us some indication to what time range this story is being told. Nevertheless flashbacks have a very important role in telling this story.
In this clip from [The Shawshank Redemption]
There is a flashback as Tommy is telling a story. At 07:16 the scene goes into the flashback and into Tommy's recolation of the story. The change is made distinguishable by the contrasting change of lighting, Tommy was telling the story in a well lit library, where as when the scene changes to the flashback it seams to be set in a dark cell. The mans face is half hidden by darkness. The flashback is effective i think because of the continuous dialogue between the scenes.
In our film I think we have to indicate some kind of effect which will distinguish the change between real time and flashback in Lucy's mind, although I dont want to change the image to black and white. I liked how Catherine Hardwicke did the Twilight flasback as it was a similar situation to what we want to do, a short scene that reveals something. I particulary liked the effect on the film as it created the feeling of dark, and sadness. which is what we would like to produce.
Information On the Film By Matthew Helliwell
I think the film has to focus on Lucy's state of mind. And trying to put that across to the audience, but i would also like to focus on whether when she stopped taking her medicine i would like to think whether it made her a happier person or not. I think that with the introduction of Emily-Jayne which is through her not taking her tablets, I think Lucy is a happier person with emily than without her, so i am going to try and put the feeling of misery across by using low lighting as she takes her medicine and in all the shots after as Emily-Jayne starts to fade.
The most important scene in my opinion is the one where she is sat in front of the mirror looking at herself, the sense of misery can be clear here by the expression on her face and the low lighting in the room, maybe even have non diagetic subtle music in a minor key in the background.
The most important scene in my opinion is the one where she is sat in front of the mirror looking at herself, the sense of misery can be clear here by the expression on her face and the low lighting in the room, maybe even have non diagetic subtle music in a minor key in the background.
Scenes By Matthew Helliwell
As director of the movie I feel like there is a lack of organisation within the group which leads to us being confused so I've decided to organise the shot list into scenes. This should contain all the information we/I need.
Scene 1.
Undecided.
Scene 2.
Interior. Lucy's House.
Lucy wakes up and realises she is late for college. She rushes around brushing her teeth and her hair. We are going to use jump cuts to emphasise the haste of her morning. She grabs some toast off the side. Slides on her shoes and goes out the door.
Scene 3.
Title sequence.
Scene 4.
Interior. Corridors
Lucy arrives at college and gets lost. Could use jump shots and very quick shots of different places to create the effect of confusion. She eventually gives up and settles for sitting in the library.
Scene 5.
Interior. Library
Lucy is sat in the library, we could have a shot of emily putting some books back on the shelf and then noticing Lucy sat down. Emily-Jayne goes over to Lucy and helps her out. I was thinking of putting a series of extreme close ups together as she pulls the piece of paper out of her pocket to show Emily-Jayne where she is supposed to be.
Scene 6.
Interior. Corridors, Classroom
Lucy walking up to the door of her classroom. The teacher acknolages her and then tells her to take a seat, she does so.
Scene 7.
Interior. Lucy's house.
Lucy arrives home from first day has little conversation with her mum and goes upstairs.
Scene 8.
Interior. Library
Lucy is sat at a computer while a group of girls from across the room shout abuse at Lucy.
Scene 9.
Exterior. Pavement.
Lucy and Emily-Jayne walk on the pavement by the side of the road. The group of girls go by in a car and throw soemthing out of the window at them, it hits lucy.
Scene 10.
Interior. Cafe
They walk into a cafe order coffee and sit down. Lucy's mum rings her and tells her about her forgetting to take her medicine.
Scene 11.
Interior. Lucy's Bedroom
Lucy's mum finds the pills scatterd under her bed.
Scene 12.
Interior Cafe/Lucy's bedroom
Scene follows the conversation on the phone more directly.
She sets off to go home.
Scene 13.
Interior Lucy's house.
She goes home takes her medicine and goes upstairs.
Scene 14.
Interior Lucys bedroom.
I'm going to put alot of emphasis on this scene, there is going to be no dialogue and i want this to be the point where Lucy sort of realises herself as she stares at herself in the mirror. Her expression is to be blank. The room should be low lit.
Scene 15.
Interior. Corridor.
Lucy and Emily-Jayne are talking to one another on the phone, then she meets up with her.
I thought we could add signal problems to the call, which is to show that her medication is starting to work and Emily-Jayne is slowly leaving her mind.
Scene 16.
Simons Classroom
Lucy walks into Simons empty classroom looking to sort out the bullying. She finds out alot more when she realises that Emily-Jayne suddenly starts to fade away. The lighting should be dimly lit.
As Lucy is pacing around the room in confusion i would like to have Emily-Jayne appear for a split second. I got this idea from the film Fight Club where he uses flashes of Tyler Durden whilst the Narrator is speaking. Like in the dieing seconds of this link.
[Tyler Durden Flash]
I hope to make Emily-Jayne stand out alot more than this but hopefuilly this will create an exciting effect that may help the audience understand Lucy's confusion.
Scene 17.
No set location.
In this scene i would like for everything to unwind in Lucy's mind through a series of flashbacks and expressions of shock on Lucy's face. I want her to realise that she has been on her own all that time, that Emily-Jayne never existed. I want her to visualise her self walking down corridors speaking to herself. Sat in the cafe alone. Maybe it would be a good idea to film the flashbacks in slow mode. to make it look a little bit different. Or maybe have the flashbacks in really low lighting. I am going to research flashbacks in other films to get more ideas.
The film ends on a close up which could also do a quick zoom upto her face, as she screams. Then the credits can roll.
Scene 1.
Undecided.
Scene 2.
Interior. Lucy's House.
Lucy wakes up and realises she is late for college. She rushes around brushing her teeth and her hair. We are going to use jump cuts to emphasise the haste of her morning. She grabs some toast off the side. Slides on her shoes and goes out the door.
Scene 3.
Title sequence.
Scene 4.
Interior. Corridors
Lucy arrives at college and gets lost. Could use jump shots and very quick shots of different places to create the effect of confusion. She eventually gives up and settles for sitting in the library.
Scene 5.
Interior. Library
Lucy is sat in the library, we could have a shot of emily putting some books back on the shelf and then noticing Lucy sat down. Emily-Jayne goes over to Lucy and helps her out. I was thinking of putting a series of extreme close ups together as she pulls the piece of paper out of her pocket to show Emily-Jayne where she is supposed to be.
Scene 6.
Interior. Corridors, Classroom
Lucy walking up to the door of her classroom. The teacher acknolages her and then tells her to take a seat, she does so.
Scene 7.
Interior. Lucy's house.
Lucy arrives home from first day has little conversation with her mum and goes upstairs.
Scene 8.
Interior. Library
Lucy is sat at a computer while a group of girls from across the room shout abuse at Lucy.
Scene 9.
Exterior. Pavement.
Lucy and Emily-Jayne walk on the pavement by the side of the road. The group of girls go by in a car and throw soemthing out of the window at them, it hits lucy.
Scene 10.
Interior. Cafe
They walk into a cafe order coffee and sit down. Lucy's mum rings her and tells her about her forgetting to take her medicine.
Scene 11.
Interior. Lucy's Bedroom
Lucy's mum finds the pills scatterd under her bed.
Scene 12.
Interior Cafe/Lucy's bedroom
Scene follows the conversation on the phone more directly.
She sets off to go home.
Scene 13.
Interior Lucy's house.
She goes home takes her medicine and goes upstairs.
Scene 14.
Interior Lucys bedroom.
I'm going to put alot of emphasis on this scene, there is going to be no dialogue and i want this to be the point where Lucy sort of realises herself as she stares at herself in the mirror. Her expression is to be blank. The room should be low lit.
Scene 15.
Interior. Corridor.
Lucy and Emily-Jayne are talking to one another on the phone, then she meets up with her.
I thought we could add signal problems to the call, which is to show that her medication is starting to work and Emily-Jayne is slowly leaving her mind.
Scene 16.
Simons Classroom
Lucy walks into Simons empty classroom looking to sort out the bullying. She finds out alot more when she realises that Emily-Jayne suddenly starts to fade away. The lighting should be dimly lit.
As Lucy is pacing around the room in confusion i would like to have Emily-Jayne appear for a split second. I got this idea from the film Fight Club where he uses flashes of Tyler Durden whilst the Narrator is speaking. Like in the dieing seconds of this link.
[Tyler Durden Flash]
I hope to make Emily-Jayne stand out alot more than this but hopefuilly this will create an exciting effect that may help the audience understand Lucy's confusion.
Scene 17.
No set location.
In this scene i would like for everything to unwind in Lucy's mind through a series of flashbacks and expressions of shock on Lucy's face. I want her to realise that she has been on her own all that time, that Emily-Jayne never existed. I want her to visualise her self walking down corridors speaking to herself. Sat in the cafe alone. Maybe it would be a good idea to film the flashbacks in slow mode. to make it look a little bit different. Or maybe have the flashbacks in really low lighting. I am going to research flashbacks in other films to get more ideas.
The film ends on a close up which could also do a quick zoom upto her face, as she screams. Then the credits can roll.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Jump Cut Research By Lucy Davies
As a group, we thought it would be a good idea to use jump cuts for the opening sequence when Lily is getting ready for her first day at college. I went onto 'Youtube' to find an example of jump cuts and I thought this link was the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EuBZHEmRE4&feature=related
We decided to shoot several shots of Lily doing the same thing but with different expressions and body language use. We wanted to give the implication that she was in a rush. We thought we would create this effect by using jump shots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EuBZHEmRE4&feature=related
We decided to shoot several shots of Lily doing the same thing but with different expressions and body language use. We wanted to give the implication that she was in a rush. We thought we would create this effect by using jump shots.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
4th Day of Filming By Lucy Davies
For our fourth day of shooting, we went back to Hayley's house and decided to film the rest of the morning scenes including Lily that we were unable to shoot from previous inconveniences. As a group, we were able to film all the morning shots when Lily is getting ready. We wanted to get plenty of shots of Lily doing the same scene, so that we would be able to create jump shots, e.g of her brushing her teeth in the bathroom in a hurry. However, after filming all the shots we weren't satisfied with the results, so we are arranging to film the shots again. The main problem was that the scene were set in the morning and we had to film at night, which made it difficult to look convincing. We need to re-film all our shots because we want the lighting to be the same for each shot and also for Lily to look the same so that we can use Continuity Editing.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
3rd Day of Filming By Lucy Davies
We were able to film the scenes including Lily and Laura-Jayne when they first meet in the Library. We tried using the shooting script, however, we wanted to have a choice of different shots in case we thought another shot looked better than the one on the shooting script. We did have difficulties, being that the noise level in the Library was fairly loud, which could be a problem when editing if the background noise doesn't sound continuous. Also, we thought there could be a problem with hearing the actresses, but we checked after to make sure the shots we took were suitable for our film.
Title Sequence Extra Research By Matthew Helliwell
I have done more research on opening title sequences of films. Searching youtube I found title sequences like the title sequence from Seven or Se7en. There is a link here.
This is probably one of the best title sequences i have seen it begins in a very dark room with a metronome clicking at a very slow tempo we have the camera switching from the metronome to the man who is laid in bed, the room is very dimly lit. There is a thunderclap and the shots go to the actors names one by one between pictures of what appears to be a person cutting their fingertips off. Nothing is definite in the title sequence and it causes the viewer to think, the confusion intrigues them. The title sequence is very long and the score seams to speed up as well as the speed of each shot. It is also very detailed, it even mentions the composer of the score, casting and costume.
The film is directed by David Fincher who also directed Fight Club.
This is probably one of the best title sequences i have seen it begins in a very dark room with a metronome clicking at a very slow tempo we have the camera switching from the metronome to the man who is laid in bed, the room is very dimly lit. There is a thunderclap and the shots go to the actors names one by one between pictures of what appears to be a person cutting their fingertips off. Nothing is definite in the title sequence and it causes the viewer to think, the confusion intrigues them. The title sequence is very long and the score seams to speed up as well as the speed of each shot. It is also very detailed, it even mentions the composer of the score, casting and costume.
A factor which is very interesting is that the title sequence does not mention the serial killer and main character John Doe played by Kevin Spacey. This seams to heighten the mystery of the murders of the film, this shows us that it could be a good idea to leave main characters out of the title sequence to create the effect of mystery.
Seven uses quite complicated title sequen
ces.
Simpler sequences have been used by movies such as Pulp Fiction. The opening scene stops at a freeze or snapshot and then the titles come on over black. First it mentions the production companies and director. Then the title of the film "Pulp Fiction," rises slowly in large letters from the bottom of the screen.
It halts as it takes
up the middle and starts to decrease in size as the actors names come one by one in whit
e over the decreasing title. What is most important about these titles is the music, the title song
Dick Dales version of Misirlou is played through the opening titles and helped make the film iconic.
Here is a link to the titles of Pulp Fiction, shown on youtube.
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