Communication With Actors

Communication With Main Actor 

Email asking my main character if she would be able to participate in my filming of my film opening. 

I informed her on the time and date of my Filming experience as well as the equipment and props that she is required to bring 

I also reminded her of the safety features and mentioned that she would also be needed for her lifeguarding skills in case of an emergency

Creating A Soundtrack

Creating my own soundtrack

creating my own sound track on Garage band was fairly difficult. After collecting the tracks I possibly wanted to use, I imported them all onto the software.
the first stage was deciding if I wanted to use all the tracks I found and if they sounded as good as they did on their own, together.


the tracks I originally used were ' ' but them I decided that this still was not enough an I needed another element of music that differed from the ambient sounds which would create  melody. I went back on to YouTube and found another clip that used a piano to create a melody, this was a beautiful piece of music and would fit well into the idea of people floating. After importing this into garage band and adding it to the sound track I made so far, I realised that this worked very well collectively and completed the missing piece of it.

Problem:

• after finishing the track I listened to it again and realised that the piano was too over powering and took away the spooky aspect of it by drowning out the ambient sounds. I then decided that in order to fit my genre I would switch it round and edit the sound track so that the piano was very faint in the background and the ambient sounds to be heightened. this was a much better fit for my genre and didn't takeaway from the tension.
• within one of the ambient sound tracks, there was some ringing sounds which I did not think suited my film opening so I had a problem trying to remove them. I managed to fix this problem by cutting out these sections and linking it to a bit further on in the sound track in order to cover it.

• Likewise another soundtrack had speaking over the top of it so I had to also cut these bits out in order for it work.  i selected the parts that i needed and managed to fit them together and place them over the top of the original sound track 
•  once i finalised my sound track and placed it over the top of my film, i noticed that at some points it was too loud in comparison to the diologue, meaning it was difficul to hear and understand. i decided that I should ulter this on garacge band and look up how to play around with the individual volume by following a tutorial i found on youtube.
  
  
  
    
  

Sound

Sound

My film opining requires a mixtre of features within the sound track that I would want to use. whilst looking on flet musi for a thrilling ambient mood I came across a sound track of suttle sound that created an uneasy atmosphere. inorder to get my film opening to the standard I wanted I knew that this sound track would not be enough on it own as it would run over a large section of my film. I continues looking around for sound tracks on felt music which utilised both componants but after hours of scrolling through different options, I did not find anything that was anywhere near adequate.


I found separet tracks that were good but again not adequate on its own so I decideded to create my own sound track using Garage Band. before I began, I looked on youtube for a mixture of soundscaped from the 'deep ocean' to 'underwater music'. my plan is to collect all the spate tracks and fuse them together to create a perfect sound track. The tracks I found: (ss of youtube videos) dscrime the sounds

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjQxhOXco_k
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUHqtNCK878 - best one
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idWoAkLmhLA - darkest tail

Typography Options

Typography Options

The genre of my film is a thriller/ horror meaning the Typography is going to be very distinct to the typography in a comedy. moreover, as my film is also a teen movie, I need to combine the mixture of genres to references both of them.



1. The reason I chose typography on the left as a possibility for my credits is because of the curly calligraphy style that almost mimics the idea of water and waves which is a very important feature within my film opening  
2. moreover, the middle typography is also an option as the sharp edges almost symbolise sharp objects, linking to the concept of danger.
3. The last typography is my favour out of the three above as it almost mimics drip marks of blood creating a sinister effect.



1. The typography on the left is also a possibility due to its uniqueness, the style of my opening is also unique so they would match well. In contrast the fact that all the letters would be in capitals does seem to bother me as I want to have a sinister ambient feeling font rather than a shocking loud typography.
2. the middle font is my preference from this line as its bold dark border is very striking which creates strong impact but at the same time it is subtle.  The style is also very unique which would fit nicely.
3. the last example of typography is very sophisticated and beautiful but imposingly this may not fit in with my genre of a teen horror.

This selection of typography was chosen differs from the rest as it seems more simple as apposed to extravagant which may seem over the top

1. the first font type is my least favourite as it does not have many assets to it. in addition the simplicity of the typography greatly appeals to me in order to make my film opening look professional  
2. the second font type 'Italian cursive' combine simplistic features with a twist due to the extension of some of the letters. I chose this one as an option due to the fact it relates to something elegant. I like this component of the font as although the shots of the people underwater are 'scary' it is also slightly elegant how they are floating.
3. 'pieces of Eight' is my preferred font type  from these options as it combines again a simplistic tone as well as the thrilling feature by the capital letters. Although they are all in capitals some, the real capital letter is bigger than the rest so it does not take away from this. like wise fact that its only a small feature which includes something thrilling, It almost reflect the title and how it is 'unexpected'
4. another one of my preferences of this line is 'Viking' due to have distinct it is from the rest. although it is also simplistic in a sense, the wide spread of the font is very unique which could reflect with my film opening

Creating a Letter

Creating a Letter

draft two 

Final draft 

Filming Experience 1 review

Filming: what went well 

• All the volunteers arrived on time to the filming production meaning the full time was used 
• All volunteers were full of energy and showed lots of enthusiasm on camera 
• I was able to explain my vision for the production well to ass the volunteers making them well informed of how i wanted them to act. 
• All the volunteers were very good at swimming making the process easier 
• All volunteers were able to hold their breath for a lengthy amount of time meaning i was able to capture the underwater shots with ease. 
• The quality of the camera was just as good as when it was previously tested meaning that all shots were usable. 
• By recruiting a helper to manipulate the video camera, i was able to film the activity underwater whilst they filmed above water in many occasions to save time. 
• I was able to get a variety of shots

Filming: Even better if's 

• The Huge amount of volunteers meant that the filming experience was slightly more chaotic and more of a challenge to manage. 
• The limited time frame meant that i did not have enough time to capture all the shots i wanted meaning i will have to re- film to collect them. 
• Whilst filming the dialogue between my main actress and Peal (a volunteer) meant that the rest of the volunteers were left to play as er filmed this part. 
• Some volunteers felt slightly left out as it was not possible to capture each individual child. 

Reflection of footage and filming experience: overall the full experience went well and I gathered many shots that were of a good quality. 

• Although all the volunteers were good swimmers, it was common that in the footage some of the children were moving slightly, meaning i could not use that shot. 
• Having such a big group, was difficult to manage but on camera it looked very authentic and full meaning it looked more realistic. 
• whilst reviewing the footage, my inicial reaction is that their was not enough footage to piece together my whole film opening. 
• Likewise i found that the footage looked as if it had been filmed rather than it being a reality and looking professional. 
• In order to solve this problem i will have schedule  a filming session with some of the previous volunteers, and film close ups an a variety of shot that are amongst the children so that it looks more realistic 

Filming experience 1

Filming experience

Preparations

• To insure what underwater shots I wanted, I pre-tested the camera with my main actress Aimee Paterson and experimented with what shots looked good and what shot did not necessarily work. This was done to make sure that during my real filming production, no time was wasted on shots that did not look good or work
   

•  During form time, the morning of my filming i went round to the 3 form groups that i had previously asked to participate within the past two days, to collect the reply slips, confirming parental permission, allowing them to be filmed within the school swimming pool. (reply slip)

At this point i was very nervous as i was not sure i was going to get many reply slips due to the short notice. I was pleasantly surprised with the ball of energy from the 22 volunteers who returned their reply slips! 

• Due to the unexpected huge number of volunteers, meant i had to quickly create a register of the girls who were going to participate in order to keep track of all the girls in case of an emergency. 
• During break and lunch time, i gathered all my equipment and took it to the Pe department, ready for my use for after school. 
• I also confirmed both mrs kirby (school lifeguard) and ms lawson (media teacher) if they were still able to supervise in case of any emergency and assisting me in keeping the volunteers under control. 
• before the filming began I gave the volunteers a safe word 'apples' so that if a volunteer felt uncomfortable or felt like she was in danger she could shout this safe word and we would stop the process immediately and help them. (white bord)

Location Recce

Location Recce



1. Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School's Swimming pool - Main Area for the film opening

This is my ideal Location for my film opening as it will be easily accessible to my actors as they are all familiar of the school's swimming pool. This will also allow me to Have a big cast as they are all from the school community and are already in the area to help participate. Likewise the big open space and general surrounding makes it look more realistic for the characters to be doing a fun swim lesson with teachers.


2. Sell Madosh (friend) outdoor Swimming Pool

This is my second location recce in case my fist choice cannot be made available to me. This setting Has a large open space around the swimming pool meaning it will be easy to walk around. Likewise the fact that it is my friends house means that it would be made available to me pretty much any time I needed which would be useful in case I need to re - film parts of my film. In contrast a negative would be that not all of my actors would feel comfortable going into a strangers surrounding meaning I may not get as many volunteers. Moreover if this was my location, it would be less organised as I would not be able to have any of the school staff help supervise which is essential.

3. Sophia Kipriorice (friend) indoor swimming pool

My third choice is my friends indoor swimming pool which would be used as a last resort. This location recce may not also be available to me as the resident is not that close of a friend I would be particularly comfortable asking to use her swimming pool. Likewise the fact it look very much like a Home pool also would create a confusion in my plot which would mean I would have to alter my story board as well as the overall plot.

Underwater pre- filming

Underwater pre- filming 

Before my real filming date,  i wanted to have a test run so that when my real filming date with my cast of about 15, i would know how to work the camera and have many ideas of how i wanted to direct the kids. 

For my trial run, my main actress Aimee Paterson and myself went to the swimming pool and improvised with the camera. 

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Location:
Queen Elizabeth's Girls' school
High St, Barnet, Hertfordshire EN5 5RR

Identified Risk:

1. Glass or sharp objects on the floor   
2. Drowning Children
3. Non-swimmers participating
4. Actors catching cold
5. Actors getting tires and swallowing water

ways to prevent risks:

1. Make Sure all actors have foot wear (flip flops) for when they are entering and exciting the pool area.
2. Have three life guards present.
3. Make sure that the letters Handed out to students are confident swimmers and this is expressed in the Letters of consent to their parents.
4. Each Actor will bring their towel in the Pool are for when they get out the pool.
5. All actors are only allowed to stay in the water for 40 minutes to reduce their fatigue.

Designated H&S Officer : Ms Lawson