Filming

Today I started my filming, I am pleased with how it went because I tried out many different angles of the same shot which will help me when it comes to editing because I will be able to have some variation.


Although I am pleased with how the filming went I am not so pleased with the footage. Unfortunately the only time I could film was this afternoon and it was quite dark. My dad parked his car in front of the house and left his headlights on so we had some more lights but it is very obvious that the light is artificial and so it doesn't look very good. I will be re filming this footage because I am not pleased however I am glad I tried because I have now had a practice and so next it should go far more smoothly. Another problem I had was that my tripod hasn't arrived yet and so I had to do all of the filming free hand. It doesn't show too much as I managed to keep a steady hand however I think it will look far better when I can use my tripod. 

The new and improved animatic!

After making some changes to my animatic I am now far more pleased with it than I was previously. I am pleased with my titles as I think they make my animatic a lot better. Also, the improvements I have made to the images have made the whole animatic a lot clearer as to what is happening. 

Further work on my animatic...

This morning I decided I would get right on with working on my animatic. I have added in proper titles and the title of my film is also how I want it to look. These are not all set in stone yet as I am just seeing what works however I think that these all work really well. 


For my opening titles I have used a black background and white writing. I have used these colours because they're simple yet effective as they stand out. The font I have used for these is 'Coolvetica'. This font stands out and is easy to read. It does not say too much about film which is what I would like as I would like lots of questions to be asked by the audience within the first 2 minutes!
These are my opening titles and the order they appear in...

This is the first title to appear and it is shown in the top left hand corner. I have put it there because I would like my titles to appear randomly until we reach the characters names. This title fades in and out because then it is less harsh on the audience and it also makes the titles flow more easily. 

This title appears in the centre at the bottom. This is to carry on my random effect. This title also fades in and out for effect. 

This title appears in the bottom left hand corner, this carry's on the random effect that I want to create which would suggest to the audience that they don't know what's to come. Again, like all of my titles, this fades in and out for effect. 

This title appears in the top left hand corner again.

This one appears in the bottom left hand corner again.

This title appears in the very centre of the screen.

This title also appears at the bottom left of the screen. 

This title appears in the centre of the screen. 

This title appears at the top left of the screen again.

And finally, this title appears at the bottom of the screen in the middle.

Next I have actors names. Each of these shots also fade in and out for effect and they are also in exactly the same font and colour and the background is the same as before. This leaves the titles flowing steadily and so doesn't confuse the audience or disrupt the pattern. These titles appear in less of a random way with the first one in the top left corner, then next in the middle, the next at the bottom right of the screen and then back to the middle and so on. This creates more order to the audience and makes the titles flow more easily. 

These are the titles in the order of which they appear...

I have this character first as she is the main character and therefore the most important to the film.

Jane is second because she is also another very important character.

Next is Bethany. She is the young girl with Cerebral Palsy and so is also very important.

Chelsea is one of the bully's and the 'leader' of the group and so she is next.

Kye is also a bully and so he appears after Chelsea

Charlie is another bully and so comes next. 

These are all of the characters names I am showing in my opening sequence because I feel if I were to make a whole film then then rest of characters would come up at the end in those credits. I feel I have included the main characters in the beginning which I think is important.

I then show my next title just a few shots before the title of my film. This title is again in the same colour writing, the same font etc. Because it's creates more rhythm to my titles and it would be unconventional to have them all different. 

This title appears in the middle at the bottom because it's not hugely important however the audience should know this. 

Last but not least comes the title of my film. It also appears on a black background which shows order. However, the font I have used is different. The font is 'apple casual' and I have used this because it is casual and therefore looks slightly likes child's handwriting which is what I have wanted all along because Gracie is only a child and the film is based around her. The font colour has also changed. I have put the word Grace in a pinkie colour because Gracie is a young girl. The word Grace stands out because it connotes beauty, elegance and it can also show some religious attributes which are all words that are connected to the young girl Gracie in the film. I have used 'Pilgi' font for the 'I' in Gracie which is in white. I have done this because it singles the 'I' out from all of the other letters, this is how Gracie feels as her sisters Cerebral Palsy has singled her out. But it also allows the word Grace to show which as I have said has great connotations for Gracie. 

Here is the title of my film...

Animatic feedback

Today I received some feedback for my animatic. I have been marked out of 10 for: Range of shot types and editing transitions; Appropriate pace and content for genre; Position and order of titles; Introduction of characters; Introduction of storyline; Clearly an opening sequence and Use of sound. I have also been given a list of targets to improve my animatic which I am going to work on in the next few days. 

The targets I received were fair and I think that once I have made these improvements my animatic will be a lot better.


My first target is that I need to actually show someone scrubbing the graffiti off the door rather than just see the door and a hand. I can see why this will improve my animatic as it will be clearer to the audience what is happening. 

Next I need to change my title shots. These shots have too much to read in one go and so I have the option of either making them completely different shots or having them flash or fade on and off.  

 From this shot I also need to remove the word 'in'. 

I also need to have in some more shots of Grace scrubbing the graffiti off the door. This will add more range to my shot types as I only have the one type of shot and angle of her scrubbing the door. 

I also need to add some ambient sound to follow my titles. I need to do this because my sound  stops after the scrubbing and doesn't continue until the very end. 

I need to remove the speech bubbles from my shot. I do not need this because Grace is saying it and these would not be seen in the shot anyway. 

Another problem with my drawing is that I haven't included bodies for some of my hands and feet. I need to add bodies to the hands and feet because otherwise this isn't a real representation of what the shots are going to look like!

I am going to try different editing transitions during the walking shots to show that this is Grace's daily routine. 

Animatic

I have finished producing my animatic. I am not completely happy with it because I feel that it was slightly rushed. 

I am not the best at drawing and so animatics have never been my favourite thing to do but I did the best I could and I am fairly pleased with the way the pictures look as I think that they represent the shots quite well. Whilst thinking of what shots to show I tried to think about different editing techniques. I have tried to use lots of continuity editing within my animatic as this is what I will be using in my opening sequence. 

The first editing technique I had used is match-on-action:

I have also used match-on-action a bit further into my animatic as Grace opens the fridge door. This enables me to show the same thing happening without it having to last too long as one shot making it boring for the viewer. 

I would also like to use jump cuts as Bethany's tablets are shown. This will make the shot of her tablets less boring and it will be changing quite quickly but it will also still be the same shot!

I have decided not to use music in my opening sequence as I think it will be more effective if I use diegetic sound. I am using the sound of Grace scrubbing the door over the titles too as I think this will be effective and I think that it adds more tension to them. The rest of the sound I have will also be diegetic sound. The sounds will be things like the toaster, the fridge door and the sound of Grace pouring the milk. These everyday sounds and shots will allow the audience to connect to the characters life and so will make the story more hard hitting.

This is the final animatic. I'm not as pleased with it as I would have liked but I know when I'm filming how I want everything to look and I know what I do and don't like about my animatic so when it comes to editing my opening sequence I can refer to this and it will still help me.

Location

I am using three locations for my opening sequence. The first location is at the front of my house. I am using this because I need a front door which can have spastic sprayed across it. Also, social realist films do not need to be shot in really nice locations. In fact, they need the opposite. The front of my house can be made to look quite grotty and so this will work for the genre. 


Another scene will show a young girls room. This room is girly and so show's that it is a girls room. The room is not run down and grubby like a conventional room for a social realist film however I have decided that because my story line can effect anyone and isn't quite so stereotypical my locations don't need to be too conventional. 


There will also be some shots in the kitchen. The kitchen also isn't too conventional however I am going to make it look more conventional by having different dirty dishes and things around. This will also show that the mother doesn't really have much time to do anything because Bethany takes up a lot of her time. 

Props

I will need various props in my opening sequence. 

The first two props that will be seen will be a scrubbing brush and a bucket. These props are simple yet very important as they are needed so that Grace can scrub spastic off of her front door. 

I will also need a board to place over the windows on my front door so they look like they have been smashed and then I can spray spastic over the board on my front door. 

I will also need lots of different tablets. I am showing these to show that Bethany has to take many tablets every day, this would also raise questions within the audiences minds as they will wonder who's tablets they are and why they have to take them.

Costume

In my opening sequence I am only showing one character. Because of this I will only need one costume. The character shown is Grace. She is a young 12 year old girl so I would like her clothes to show this. Obviously as this is a social realist film her clothes cannot be top of the range and branded as expensive. I would like Grace to be wearing dark jeans. This is a simple item of clothing and so it cannot make Grace look rich or poor. 
For her shoes I would like her to wear simple welly boots. These are also an item that cannot make her look rich or poor and they are fairly common so they will not stand out too much. She will also be wearing a sweatshirt which has stripes on. This sweatshirt is girly and quite pretty so Grace will look feminine and her clothing will not make her look rich or extremely poor. 

Back to the original idea

I went to see Mrs Young again today with a letter to give to Brendan's parents. She had spoken to Brendan and unfortunately he does not like talking about his disability. Obviously I understand and it's absolutely fine. My original idea is fine and hopefully will work well I just think that my opening sequence would be far more effective if Brendan had been able to be in my opening sequence.

A change in my idea. Again.

Yet again I have changed my idea...

After speaking to my teacher about my idea we both felt it would be far more effective if I could actually show someone in my opening sequence who has Cerebral Palsy.

Mr Gower and I discussed some possibilities and we thought that I could either study Cerebral Palsy very carefully and have someone act as Bethany or I could find someone with Cerebral Palsy who would be willing to be in my opening sequence. 

We decided that to have someone act as Bethany would be very difficult. I do not want my opening sequence to be insensitive and I don not want any confusion over what the aim of my opening is. So, I do not think that using an actor would be suitable. 

There is a young boy in year 9 who has Cerebral Palsy. This could be a possibility but obviously I will need to speak to him and his parents to ask for their permission. 

I have been into one of Brendan's lessons just so that I can see the way he behaves and I will be writing a letter to his parents tomorrow. 

Storyboarding

Finally I have decided on, what I hope is the beginning of my final idea.

Shots

Obviously the first few shots will be distribution logo's because my film is a British film and so would need lots of funding. Next I will have a medium close-up of Gracie scrubbing the front door. This shot wont last too long but it will be shown for long enough for the audience to see that the word spastic is written on the door. This shot will be cut up and in between the shot there will be the opening titles displayed on a black background. I would then like three shots to be shown of Gracie putting her brush into the bucket. Match-on-action could be used. After this the title of the film could be shown. I am unsure as to how I would like the rest of my opening sequence to look like however I am sure that as I get further into the storyboarding process I will think of new things.

Sound

The sound throughout the majority of these shots will be the scrubbing of the door and the sound of Gracie putting her hand into the bucket of water. I think I would also like to use a voice over. Although I don't want to give too much away I do want the audience to know that Bethany, Gracie's older sister, has Cerebral Palsy.

Editing

At this moment in time I haven't thought much about editing. I think that many of my edits will be straight cuts as I feel that my story needs to be clear and clean which I think will be made better by straight cuts.

Opening sequence ideas continued...

After having a big think about how I want to do my opening sequence I am still not 100% and there are a few things I need to finalise but I think I have narrowed it down to two ideas. 

This is the basic outline that both of my ideas will follow:

• Grace is the younger sister of Bethany. Bethany has Cerebral Palsy and because of this she is bullied as is Grace. The family are tormented in their own home. 

A few things I am unsure about:

• The title of the film... Originally I wanted the title of my film to be 'gracie'. I wanted this to be the title because I think it has a ring to it and also it is a sweet young girls name. I wanted this to come up in child's hand writing and I have also used a lower case 'g' on purpose. I think this also shows how young she is and so will make the audience feel emotion. After speaking with my teacher I am unsure on whether to call it 'gracie' or 'Grace'. Grace would be a suitable title because the definitions for the word grace are very appropriate. Grace can mean elegance, beauty and good will. The young girl, Grace will show these characteristics, especially good will. 
• The word on the door... My original thoughts on this were that 'retard' should be sprayed on the front door because it is a horrible word which is commonly used out of context. However after researching into Cerebral Palsy I found out that there are 3 types. One of which is Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Now I think the word could possibly be 'spastic' because it then shows that the people being nasty don't understand anything about Bethany's condition. 
• Dialogue... I had first wanted there to be a voice over explaining the situation they are in but without giving away too much detail. I am now unsure as lots of people have done it before and I don't think they worked as well as hoped. 

Idea number 1:

Initially I wanted the opening sequence to start with a note from Grace's mother telling her that she has gone out. This note would have been read aloud by the mother. I then wanted the shot to change to a shot of Bethany in bed which would be covered by Grace talking about Bethany's condition. Then a shot of all of Bethany's pills would be shown as Grace described how Bethany hates taking them. Then a shot of Grace opening the curtains from 3 angles will be shown and as she is shown head on the title of the film will appear. I am unsure from here as to what would happen next.

Idea number 2:

Today I came up with a second idea whilst talking to a classmate. We felt that it would be really effective if the first shot was a brush being dipped into a bucket of water. This would then lead onto a series of shots of Grace scrubbing either the word 'retard' or 'spastic' off of her front door. This idea isn't a thought out at this moment in time but I think at the moment this is my favourite idea as I think it will be harder hitting and far more gritty as soon as the film starts.

Character profile

Now I have my main idea I am going to start thinking about who could play the character and just generally a but more information about her. 


Annie Rose is a young girl who will be playing the character of Grace in my opening sequence. 


Annie Rose is my younger sister and so she will be very reliable and we will be able to organise things very easily. She is 12 years old and so she is old enough to understand what I am doing and she enjoys acting, whether she is very good or not we'll have to see!


Grace is 12 years old and she is the younger sister of Bethany. Bethany has a disability which has caused her family to be the target of much abuse. Although Grace is the younger sister she has to do a lot for Bethany and so she doesn't really get to be a young 12 year old girl because she has to make sure Bethany is OK. Their father is no where to be seen. Their mother, Jane, does a lot for Bethany and she does try very hard for Grace but unfortunately Bethany needs a lot more attention than Grace does. Grace finds herself bullied at school because of her sisters disability and at her the whole family suffer abuse from different people in their neighbourhood. Grace has red hair and is quite innocent looking. I think these characteristics will help to make the audience feel more emotion for the situation that Grace is in. 


I would like my narrative to focus more on Grace than Bethany or Jane because I would like to get across to the audience how Grace feels because not only has she had to grow up a lot faster and she has to do a lot more than any other 12 year old girl she also has to put up with bullying everyday. Although I do want to get across the fact that she has had to grow up a lot faster I would also like to subtly show how young she still is. Maybe she could have two cute little pig tails or something which reminds the audience that Grace still really is only a 12 year old girl.

Audience profiles

After looking at my questionnaires and the results they have given me I have produced two audience profiles. One for a female and one for a male. 

Questionnaire data

I have put the data from my questionnaire into different charts and tables which have made it a lot easier for me to read it and analyse it. 

I asked the same amount of women as I did men because I think that it gives me a wider representation of my audience. 

I have tried to balance out the age groups which has also given me a better representation of my audience.

I am pleased with the data I have collected from this question because my opening sequence is targeted at middle class women.

I am also pleased with the data I have received from this question because although British Drama films aren't peoples favourite genre of film I am hoping to get people more into this genre through my opening sequence. 

I can create a more accurate audience profile from this data which will allow me to target my audience more specifically.

This data has also helped me to create an accurate audience profile which I can refer back to to help me create an opening sequence which can be relevant to my target audience. 

From this data I can create an accurate audience profile for me to refer back to when I am creating my opening sequence in order for it to be as relevant to my target audience as possible.

I asked this question for two reasons. I wanted to learn a bit more about my audience but also, I am pleased that I now know that if I use music in my opening sequence it is best for me to use more modern music.

This question was also to find out a bit more about my audience. This has helped me to create audience profiles in more detail and with more accuracy.

Other answers that were said were theatrical music and music in the charts.

This data has also helped me to create an accurate audience profile which I can refer back to to help me create an opening sequence which can be relevant to my target audience. 

This data allows me to see which films have been most popular and so I can study these films in more detail and so making my opening sequence similar to them.

Other films that were mentioned in the question were 'Train spotting' and 'Billy Elliot'.

The data from this question is the most useful to me as it lets me know which social issue I should focus my opening sequence on. Although two answers have come up equally only one of them was part of my original idea anyway and so I will be using that.

Another answer which was said for me to focus my social issue on was drinking.