Draft Storyboard, Timelines, Shooting Script & Research

This is my initial storyboard.

I included rough sketches of the shots as well as notes on camera angles & shots, time duration, and sound effects.
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These are my second-by-second timelines.

Seeing as though I did not go into enough detail on my storyboard, I produced two timelines.

The 'Vision' timeline stated what I had envisioned to happen in my film, in finer detail. I made notes on things such as the position of the character and the camera angles & shots I wanted to use.

The 'Sound' timeline stated what I wanted to accompany the visual film. I made notes on the music I was going to use, and where it would be placed in the film. I also made notes on the sound effects. This helped me get a better image in my head of what the film would hopefully look like and sound like once I had finished the editing process. This spurred me on to be as creative as possible when filming because the image of the finalised film with the music seemed to me like it would convey the codes and conventions of a Romantic Tragedy really well and I hoped it would give a very atmospheric effect.

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This is my shooting script.

My shooting script was the final document that I had to produce before I could go out and film.

I made notes on:

Shot description. the location, time/date, shot requirements, actors and props.

This helped a great deal as it made me consider logistic issues such as the weather (my artefact was filmed outside). And due to the fact that it got dark earlier than usual, I had to organise the shots I wanted to film in an appropriate order to ensure I got all the filming done in one day as I was up against a deadline.

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In order for me to gain maximum insight into what I needed to include in my film, I did some extensive research into the genre of my film (romantic tragedy) and produced the book that you can see above. This was a great help as I gained the knowledge of the typical conventions of existing romance films, which I later went on to use and develop in my own film. I made notes on important things such as Mise en Scene, costumes and locations. My research played a vital part in the production of my film.

Further planning and filming

Before I could begin to film, I had to complete the planning process by producing a shooting script as well as a second-by-second timeline which states the sound and vision I want in detail. I finished both of these and took a video camera and tripod home over the half-term holiday.

One day during the holiday I took myself, my equipment and my actress (and fellow media student!), Rachel to the location which was Heacham Beach.

I found myself up against a few difficulites including the fact that it got dark so fast, it was me against the clock! Not to mention the tide coming in. So I had to make sure I filmed it properly first time round. I also faced other problems such as having to change things that were on my storyboard due to inappropriate weather conditions. However I will go into further detail about this in my evaluation.

Despite all the problems, the filming went rather smoothly, the weather and setting really portrayed the mood that I wanted to portray. My actress did a really good job and even made herself cry!

I was very pleased with the end result. All that is left to do now is upload my footage onto one of the iMacs and begin to edit!

Initial Planning of Coursework Artefact

I have just started planning my coursework artefact intensively for the past week or so, which has to be a 2 minute opening to a feature film.

I quite liked the idea of being able to choose the genre ourselves. Although the task of getting the genre across to the audience in those crucial 120 seconds is not as easy at it first seemed.

To help myself and the rest of my class with this issue; we sat and watched the beginning 2 minutes of a number of blockbuster films. We made notes on Mise en Scene, camera work, editing and sound. It soon became clear that these films used countless methods including: a particular colour pallette to set the mood, different camera techniques, credits that also fitted the genre and certain music to accompany the mood of the film. I knew that these were things I would have to take on board with my artefact.

The storyboarding process proved to be quite difficult for me. I storyboarded some sketches for a Rom-Com opening. However when I thought further into it, I did not think it would be much of a challenge, so I decided to scrap that idea. From there on I found it hard to think of what else I could do. So to help me, I listened to a few pieces of original copyright-free music, already having a vague idea of the genre and mood I wanted to portray in my head (sad romance, tragedy) to help put a vision in my mind of what I could do. And it worked! I managed to storyboard the entire thing over two lessons.

There will most certainly be various things I will need to consider when I begin filming. The main one being getting to my location (beach) in time for the sunset; as this is rather significant for my establishing shot. However I will go into more detail about things such as this in my evaluation.

I have a couple of other things I need to complete before I can film, to complete the planning process: a shooting script, and a second-by-second timeline to describe what I am doing in finer detail.

Some time at the end of this week I will visit the location to take stills for a finalised and detailed storyboard, and begin filming next week if possible.

Evaluation

My group and I have been watching our first artefact numerous amounts of times to help us evaluate what we have done.

Although we are pleased with it (taking into consideration that it is our first real attempt at filming and editing), we feel that there are a few things we would change if we were to do it again.

For instance, there is a certain part of the artefact where we have cut between shots; and due to the camera being repositioned, the lighting looks noticably different - going from well lit to rather dark. I think this effects the continuity a considerable amount. In the same shot, it becomes apparent that the camera was knocked whilst panning from Alex across to Rachel. This makes it look somewhat amateur.

Additionally, in the end shot, I chose to film Rachel and Alex using a long-shot, which was then proceeded by me zooming in on the money in the middle of the table while Rachel takes her winnings. In hindsight, I can see that it looks rather unproffesional, and given another opportunity, I would not have zoomed, instead I would have began the shot with a close-up on the winnings.

Having said all this, I think these mistakes were a positive thing. Not only has it given us something to evaluate; but it has also shown us where we need to improve with our next artefact, and given us ideas of what to incorporate and what not to incorporate.

Finished Storyboard

This is the finalised story board for our first ever artefact.

Editing

After uploading our slightly more successful film to the iMac, we began editing.

This included cutting certain bits between shots, and incorporating transitions such as fading in and out.

We also added credits at the beginning and end of our film, along with audio imports to make it more interesting.

The editing took a lot less time than anticipated and we were all really pleased with the end result.

It wasn't until we watched the finalised film that we really looked at the shots we used, and they were actually all very effective. Especially the over the shoulder shots, which added intensity to the scenario as this was the part which had the speech. Other effective shots included the pan shot of Alex walking through the door and over to the table, and the zoom shot at the end when Rachel takes the winnings from the middle of the table.

All in all, my group and I are extremely happy with what we have done.

Action!

The stills we took last week have been uploaded and made into a storyboard. However, we had to take additional stills as there were some things we had missed out that were vital to the filming (e.g. shots of alex walking through the door).

After producing the final storyboard my group and I thought we were on task and began filming. I was behind the camera and Rachel and Alex were in front of it. I thought we had all done rather well for our first time until we discovered that I hadn't recorded any of it...

I like to see it as a learning curve...

Today's lesson went a lot smoother. We were more prepared with our props and found a location in the school where there were no interruptions, therefore allowing the filming process to run a lot faster.

We got as far as uploading our footage onto the iMac and we shall begin editing next lesson :-)

Storyboard

In this lesson, we were set the task of filming a scene for 30 seconds, using the 180◦ rule.

We have not yet filmed with the video camera.
However, we made a mock storyboard outlining what we intended to do.

The scenario we chose was a game of poker, with two people, one at either end of the table. We thought this would be particularly good to use the 180◦ rule.

After making the mock storyboard we then proceeded to take stills to make an actual storyboard. We will not be able to upload these stills until next lesson but my group and I have already started on this.

Bye!

First blog

my first blog ever!

Yesterday was my first ever media lesson. We practised some basic shots with the cameras around the school - a really fun way to start the course! Looking forward to filming some more.

Throughout the course of filming I will be blogging what I have done.

Enjoy!