The Dramas!

The deadline for our final cut of our film opening was on the 16th of December, I was unable to attend the last two media lessons as I was unwell. This left it all down to Paige and Millie to complete our film opening but I later found out Millie wasn’t in either! I Felt really bad leaving it all down to Paige but I knew she was capable to do it so I wasn’t that worried. We needed to add in titles and some special effects. Although this may not sound like a lot it was very time consuming and without mine and Millie's help took longer then we anticipated therefore Paige was given the next lesson as well to make sure it was finished. She was able to create the heart animation using flash which was placed over the still image of Brooke (Gabby) and Nicole (Millie). We are all extremely happy with our end result.

First Screening + Feedback

Well today was all a bit embarrassing! It was the first time anyone had seen our production all the way through including our teachers although it was a great way to get feedback and different ideas of how to make our production better. There were two main areas that were emphasised on today which we need to sort out;
Time of production– we thought it had to be at least 2 minutes but now we know it can be under we can get rid of some unnecessary shots and edit tighter.
Titles – We need to come out with a producer and production company!
Some ideas were put forward to us of how to get more marks for our production, we could add various effects to make our production look more professional and also use some sound effects. Also we may benefit from re-filming some shots to create some more scenes and even considering using slow motion.
Also it was present that when we screened our production the sound was all over the place and this needs to be sorted out as some parts are extremely loud where as others you can hardly hear us. This all needs to be finished by our deadline which is closer than we thought!

Editing!

I don’t think we realised how time consuming editing is after starting it in class we realised that there was no way in which we would have it finished enough to show our first cut to the class. As Millie and Paige both attend different school I stayed behind one night to make sure we would be able to show it to the class, during editing I realised that we hadn’t completed our voice over’s therefore I had to do this as well. I made sure everything was in order and adding in effects to make it flow better this was confusing as there wasn’t any input from the other girls and I didn’t want to do it wrong although I managed to put it in the right order and it flowed efficiently.
We just before we showed our first cut to the class we had an hour to finish any last bits of editing, we attempted what we considered as difficult editing as we have chosen to use a spit screen and also reversed some of our shots our teacher showed us how to do this, we think it help to make our production look more professional and was interesting to learn.

Filming Filming Filming!

Ware Town!
In our media lesson on the 25th of November we decided to film shots 11,14,15,16 and 17 in Ware town. Which were the scene of where Stacey (Paige) and Nicole (Millie) approach Brooke (Gabby) to tell her about the date they have organised for her, these were some of the last shots in out film opening. But when we transferred our footage onto the computer we decided we didn't want to use it. As not all the shots looked how we wanted them to so in a our lesson on the 30th of November we changed location and re-filmed these shots in the school playground. We were unable to use any of the shots we had previously filmed in Ware due to continuity reasons.

Millie's House!
We decided to take the pictures for our "page turn" effect at Millie's house we also filmed one of these to make it a bit more interesting to watch. We also felt that it would help to reflect the girl's friendship. As well as this we also filmed the confession scene at Millie's house where Brooke (Gabby) imagines telling her friends the truth, we chose Millie's room as this location as we believe her room reflects the mood we want to create as it is very girly. Although filming this was very time consuming as it was hard to get the shots in frame with the right characters we wanted in them and film as in some of the shots all three characters were needed.

30th Of November!
Well as of the continuity reasons we couldn't film where we had originally started filming as the weather had changed and guess what, it was snowing! we decided to change location and film in the Chauncy School playground. We decided we couldn't miss any filming time so we filmed in the snow. We filmed all the shots numerous of times and also filmed with Will Turner to make sure there were no problems. Although it was extremely cold we managed to get it all done.

Film name ideas!

Deciding on the name of our film opening was hard, we came up with many different ideas some of these were;
The Lesbian
Three's a crowd
Inside girl
Girl's Girl's Girl's
Although we all decided to go with "The Trouble with girls" as this was the one that related to our film idea and also leaves you wondering what is wrong.

Props!

We decided we only wanted to use props which reflect the mood of the film and help to add to the "Girly" image, as the following should be within reach for any girl at any time!
Props;
Blusher
Lipgloss
Bags
Blackberry

Filming

We started filming on the 23rd of November. We decided to film in my bedroom as i have a dressing table as we wanted to create an interesting shot using it (shot 4). Although when we came to film this we realised it was rather difficult but we managed to do it as Millie filmed and i acted. We also filmed shots 7,8 and 9 which are all extreme close up's of different areas of Brooke's face this was also tricky to film as we had to make sure the shots were steady and in focus which proved more difficult then we imagined.

Rough Cut Feedback

Feedback Millie, Gabby, and Paige

Strong aspects

·      You have a range of creative ideas for what you want to do with your film opening by using split screen and still images.

·      The music is appropriate

·      There is nice use of images and graphics

·      The effect of the page turn works well, possibly consider using an effect of having the photos dropping one on top of the other?

Things to improve

Editing

·      The timing of the shots needs to be tightened up.

·      Cut down on the shots – with the girls walking and talking

·      The titles need to be completed and need to be tighter.

·       You also need to have a production company at the start with the directors.

·      You could add a ‘ripple effect’ when the main subject is daydreaming

·      You need to go back to an establishing shot of the subject in the mirror once you have the close up of the lips otherwise this disorientates the viewer

·      You could ‘hold the frame’ on the last shot of the girls together and then have is continue in motion.

Filming

·      You need to consider re-shooting the hair brushing scene and using the voiceover.

Sound

·      The audio levels are not clear where they are talking

·      You cant here the voice over – you need to adjust these levels

·      The music needs to be cut at beginning where the titles are.

·      Use quick shots of the photo sequence, using flashes of white and sound effects of a photo camera.

·      Consider having music and slow motion when the boy arrives and different sound effects to accentuate – look at Romeo & Juliet by Sam Mendes.

Character's

In our two minute film opening you will be introduced to three friends, they all play important roles in order to make the story flow. I volunteered to play Brooke (the lesbian) while Millie and Paige agreed to play her friends. We decided to stick to using our group as it would be easier rather than getting too many people involved in our production. Although we have decided to bring a boy into the mix, as Brooke's friends try and set her up on a date with him. We have chosen to use a boy from the year above who also does Media Studies, Will Turner.

As i have previously stated we were inspired by the film "Mean Girls" therefore the costume, make-up and hair all need to symbolize a girly character. We have chosen not to make it obvious that Brooke is a lesbian due to the way she looks, as her friends in the film do not know she is a lesbian, so therefore we want her to be shown in the same way as her two friends, referring to the way they look.

Production Schedule

Animatic of storyboard

Summary of film idea

I am in a group with Millie Hicks, Paige Weir and Fern Howe-Shepherd as a group we have decided to produce a girly chick flick as this is the genre we have the most knowledge on and enjoy watching. Our girly chick flick will have a twist in order to make it different and therefore allow it to grab the audience's attention. Our inspiration is from the well known film "Mean Girls" therefore the girls in our production will be highly interested in; Make-Up, Fashion, Hair, Friends and of course Boys!

But the main girl in out film opening will be a lesbian which is the twist as she fancy's her Best Friend. This adds a whole new complication to the story line, our film opening will reveal this and take you into her mind and some of her deepest thoughts and desires. It will become present that the girl feels trapped as she doesn't see a way out she wants her best friend to be her lover but this isn't possible, or is it?

Production Process

Pre-Production

• Storyboard
• Script
• Idea
• Shot List
• Pitch
• Synopsis
• Production Schedule

Production

• Crew
• Shooting
• Lighting
• Camera
• Tape Logging
• Location
• Sound
• Capturing

Post-Production

• Editing
• Special Effects
• Mastering
• Music
• Titles
• Sound
• Capturing

Watching (BBC)

During class we watched the documentary "Watching" which was produced by the BBC. This helped explain film openings and what they generally consist of and why. It became present that any good film opening needs to grab the audience's attention immediately as Ken Loach said this is "the most precious moment of the film" as this is what hooks the audience as it sets the mood and also reveals what you should expect from the rest of the film.

A good film opening should include enigma codes which leave the audience to question what is going to happen next. Although not all film directors agree about how much should be revealed in the opening scene as JJ Beneix believes you need to make them wait and "do not give them instant gratification" while Danny Boyle believes you have "an obligation to announce as much as possible" therefore as directors have different views on what the opening scene should contain and as there are no set rules, it allows all film openings to be drastically different as it could be said that it is down to the directors personal opinion of what they want to include. But the one thing they all agree on is that it must hook the audience and make them want to continue watching.

Thomas Sutclidd stated that "a good beginning must make the audience feel they don't know nearly as much yet but at the same time, doesn't know too little" this is generally what a good film opening should consist of as you do not want to reveal too much but you need to build up the drama so the audience are interested so consequently continue watching. As peter Bogdanovitch said you need to "get the audience on your wave length".

All in all the documentary gave me an insight into what you should expect from a good film opening with personal opinions from a number of directors. Some of the most memorable film openings are those that shock the audience for example the film "Psycho" is considered to be one of the best film openings die to its shocking opening.