We have completed all the research and planning elements involved with creating our media product, it is now time to construct the product. It is essential to plan each filming session prior to going out to film, so that as much footage can be filmed as much as possible, below I will document the decisions we will need to consider when constructing our product, the equipment that we will need and each members responsibility within the group.
The Roles and Responsibilities
As each member has their individual part to play within the film for it to be successful, we decided to elect members to complete specific roles whilst out on location.
- Holly will be responsible for costume and camera work. Holly will need to ensure that the actors are wearing the correct costume with the correct props for each shoot. Holly (along with myself) will make decisions in regards to the camera work, whether a re-shoot is required or if different angles or shot types are required.
- Adele will be responsible for watching for continuity, she will need to watch back every single take to ensure that costume, props, acting, script and location are all the same. This will be key when completing the match on action shots with Samantha walking into the lounge and also the flashback footage with Samantha and Ray.
- Rob will be responsible for distributing the scripts to the actors. As each actor will require a script to learn prior to the shoot and also whilst on the shoot, as they can learn lines whilst we are setting up to film.
- I will be the director and in charge of camera work. I will oversee the whole process of filming and acting, by ensuring that all of the decisions in terms of the camera work that are made are made in which to benefit the film and all of the acting is in the direction of what we are trying to achieve whilst also giving acting tips. I will also be in charge of camera work (along with Holly). Holly and I, will make decisions to whether we believe that we need to re-do the shot after Adele watches back the footage.
The Equipment
We will be using the equipment provided by school to shoot our footage, as the equipment is reliable and we know that the cameras and the iMac are compatible.
The Camera
We will be using a Sony HD camera which we will record onto high definition mini DV tapes, the camera has a built on external microphone for extra audio pick up this means that we will not need to use a boom microphone.
Lighting
We will be using a three point lighting system to correctly light the actors in our film. The lighting is going to be required mostly during the indoor scenes at the table and in the lounge. To effectively light an individual, I decided to watch the following video;
Other equipment
The other equipment that we will be using is a Sony tripod and adapter. We have also got a crane system and tracking dolly equipment available, if we needed to use them.
Creating the Tiles
From the research into film titles that I had done last year for my AS Media Studies product, I had learnt alot in the creation of titles and the symbolism that can be created by the titles at the start of the film and the impact that they can have on the rest of the film, if they are not created properly as they set the tone and establish the rhythm and pacing of what is too come. Just from the titles, the audience are already 'judging the book by its cover' so to speak.
Below, I have embedded film title sequences from professional
The titles of our film, were created using Livetype a piece of specialist animated title sequence software, created by apple. We decided to use Livetype due to its compatibility with Final Cut, the software boasted a wide range of effects which we could use. First of all we selected the text font that we wanted and then the effect that we wanted to animate the text with.
Creating the Ident
I created our ident using Adobe After effects, a specialist composition and motion graphic software. I decided to use this software as I used it last year when creating the ident for our AS Media Studies product. I felt that due to the professional results that can achieved from after effects that it would be the best software to use, as I wanted to create a realistic and professional company ident. Below, I have embedded the video of myself using adobe after effects last year to create original and professional titles, also with the help of after effects and Livetype.
The Filming Stage
Day 1: Tuesday 17th January 2012 -
Present at this shoot were Holly and Myself, as our actors were available (Erica and Tom), Holly and I decided to go out and film and due to timetable clashes Rob and Adele were unable to attend. I suggested that we went and filmed at the woods for the rape scene as this would probably take the longest to complete as the rape scene is a key part of the audience understanding the storyline. We decided to film in many different angles ranging from behind tree's to long floor shots and pans, this is so that when we get to the editing stage, we can pick from many different angles to build up the rape scene.
Filming went well and we managed to get quite alot done, although it was very boring for the actors we needed to get as many angles and shot type's as we could. We managed to complete this section of the film, footage wise and now it is ready to edit.
Location - Norton Canes Wood's
Filmed - Rape scene.
Day 2: Thursday 2nd February 2012 -
We planned to go out and film on Thursday because this was one of the only times that all of our group were available to go out and film. We decided that because we had Erica and Adam available, that we should go and film at my house and film the kitchen scene with Samantha and Anthony sitting at the table. Due to the sheer amount of footage required due to the large amount of dialogue being exchanged, filming took along time to complete, as once again we filmed each piece of dialogue with many different shot types and angles. We then filmed the part prior to Samantha going into the flashback, this also took along time due to complete a successful pan within a small room with a normal lens camera. To complete this shot better it would be better to use a wide angled lens.
Filming was very boring but due to the amount of takes and shots that we needed. This was down to disorganisation between our production group, first of all not deciding what to film before getting on location, forgetting props, not following the storyboard and the actors not learning lines due to only reading the script on the day.
Location - My house.
Filmed - Kitchen and lounge scene (prior to the flashback).
Day 3: Saturday 25th February 2012 -
After Thursdays shoot took alot longer than we had planned, we decided to meet up on Saturday morning to get the rest of the footage at my house finished as well as the rest of the woods rape scene. Due to actor availability, we had to put filming back until 3pm, so we didn't have alot of time. To finish off from Thursday, we started filming at my house, once again filming the kitchen and lounge scene with different angles as it will help in the editing stage. After finishing at my house, we decided to go and film at the woods to finish off any other parts of the rape scene that we had missed. As a production group, we decided that we needed to add some dialogue into the rape scene as well as filming a few more angles to further help us edit the footage. Present at the filming were Holly, Adele and myself, Rob didn't turn up.
Filming went very well although of a few set backs earlier on, we were alot more prepared, we had organised all the props that we needed and decided prior to going out to film what we needed to complete and film.
Location - My house and the Woods.
Filmed - Kitchen, lounge and rape scene.
Day 4: Thursday 8th March 2012 -
As this would be the last filming session before we needed to submit our rough cut, we needed to organise ourselves and decide what we needed to film. So we decided to go and film at Holly's house and film the start of the flashback as we had Ray and Samantha available. As we didn't have long, we decided to film as many different angles as we could. Holly, Adele, Rob and myself were present at the shoot.
Filming went well considering the time that we had, we managed to get all of the start of the flashback filmed, so that it could be added to our film ready for the rough cut. We could have done with more time, but due to timetable clashes and actor availability we could only film during the lunch break.
Location - Hollys house.
Filmed - Start of the flashback.
The Editing Stage
After completing the filming stages, we now need to edit the recorded footage into our final 5 minute film.
- First of all, we will need to capture all of the footage from the HD mini DV tapes onto our sequence on Final Cut Express. As each take is recorded and saved on the tape, this process takes along time due to the footage being captured in real time.
- When all the footage has been captured, we will now need to rename the clips, this will be vital when we have all of our clips in the browser. We decided to keep all of our clips and not delete any, because if we needed any piece of footage then everything will be already captured and saved onto the computer this will save us a large amount of precious time.
- When out filming, most of the footage will be record in reverse chronology and pieces of footage will be spread out across many clips, we will edit using the in and out markers to insert footage into the timeline, we do this as we only want the footage to be inserted from the clips which we will use in our film.
- When we have inserted all of our footage, Final cut express has many video transitions which will use to move from one clip to another, we will use the fade in and fade out effect; for the start and end and the ripple effect; for the flashback.
- Once, we are happy with the inserted footage we can now insert the ident, titles and credits. We have decided to use the text feature within Final Cut Express to create our titles, as we felt that we only needed simple text titles with religious images as they elude to the audience of the religious genre. For the credits, we are going to use the scrolling text feature in FCE, once again a simple credits but to great effect.
- We have now finished on the visual part of the editing, it is now time to start on the audio. As we will be using the Sony HD camera which has a boom microphone connected, we will not need to over dub the sound. However, to create a greater feel to the film, we will use Soundtrack Pro and the audio content installed to overlay sound under the film. We will be using copyright free production music from Soundtrack Pro.
- When we have found the music that we want to insert, we will now need to insert the tracks and mix the levels from the camera with attached boom microphone, any Foley sounds inserted and the production music.
- When we are happy with the visual and audio parts of the film, it is now time to export it as a QuickTime movie.
- When we have exported the film, it is now time to upload the film onto YouTube.
Rough Cut
Feedback
After showing our rough cut version of our film to our Mentor, Mr Hood, he gave us the following feedback.
To Sin No More Rough Cut Feedback
After receiving the above feedback, we made the decision to go out and re-film in order for our film to gain a higher mark. We are going to re-film the whole film due to many parts of our film that did not make sense or were not of a good quality, both framing of the shot or the actual shot type was not the best choice. Also as parts of the film were missing, we are now planning to go out and film those parts in order to make our film up to the required 5 minutes, as in the specification.
The Re-filming Diary
As we have planned to re-shoot all of our film, we are going to dedicate a whole day to filming. As we had the actors and the location, we decided to film the same shot several amount of times, as to have a wider choice for which was best to use.
Friday 16th March 2012;
We first of all visited, my house in Norton Canes to film the house footage of Samantha and Anthony at the table and sitting in the lounge where the flashback begins with Samantha watching the television. Holly, Adele and myself attended the session, our aim was to multi-camera shoot and edit Samantha and Anthony talking at the table, we filmed close ups and mid-shots of both actors. As lighting was our main problem in our rough cut that the footage is light and then dark due to been filmed on different days, we decided to use the halogen lighting system which mean that we could light the whole room and the actors in order to remove any issues of lighting. We also filmed Samantha in the lounge, as in our rough cut, we had to insert a cross fade, we decided to change the shot to a pan of which Samantha walks in and sits down and within the same pan Anthony is able to walk in and deliver his lines.
Secondly, we visited the location in which the flashback is filmed, also in Norton Canes. In our feedback, we were praised for the flashback scene, however, we decided that a few things needed to be re-filmed or tweaked. As Samantha and Ray walk for a large amount of time, we have decided to change the shot to a shot reverse shot, as the two actors walk through the gate. Whilst also at the location, we decided to film Samantha dropping her rosary beads, I decided to film this part several times as in the editing stage we could make this part slow motion, which could add to the tension effect.
Unfortunately, the date we picked to go out and film, fell on a day where I was attending a wedding. So I was unable to film the parts at Holly's house; Samantha in bed, walking down the stairs and looking into the memory box. However, having spoke to Holly, she said that filming went well.
We set out with a target to get everything re-filmed and I think that we reached this target, however, on the shoot, we decided that to vary the shot type's that we have used, we needed to amend our animatic and storyboard.
Saturday 17th March 2012;
As we wanted a young girl to sing the nursery rhyme whilst on the swings at a park, we asked our teachers daughter, Molly, however, as she is at school on a Friday, we decided to go out and film at the 'Wreck' in Great Wyrley on Saturday morning. Holly and myself were present and we decided to multi-camera film, Molly singing whilst on the swings, a close up and a mid shot and also a long shot. Filming went well and we managed to get some good footage.
Change of Name.
We have decided to change the name of our film due to the change and adaptation of the original idea, we no longer believe that Samantha is sinning no more, therefore, we have decided to change the title of our film to 'Reborn from Sin'. We decided to call our film 'Reborn from Sin' as Samantha's son; Anthony has been born from sin and this has given Samantha a whole new perspective upon life. Although, she will never forget the rape, she will always love her son, whether or not he is the product of a rape.
The New titles.
We decided that the current titles were not brilliant and didn't help to give the target audience clews about the genre of the film. So, we decided to create new titles, however, this time create basic titles in the final cut software and then add religious images like crucifix's and child prayers into the sequence, this helps to create further symbolisation of the religious genre to the film.
The Final Product
Here is our final product, we have taken all the feedback received from our rough cut and amended our film whilst also adding parts that we had missed out or not yet filmed. I am very happy with our final product, below I have embedded the final film with the amended name - 'Reborn from Sin'.
Decisions that we made along the way
We decided that we needed to remove the second male, the second son of Samantha, this was due to the idea not making complete sense when we watched it back, as the second male was supposed to have been aborted as he was conceived via the rape. We felt that if we could not fully understand the importance of the second male being in the film, even though we already knew the purpose, then we needed to remove the section with the second male. We re-filmed the footage without the second male in, for which we have used in the final cut.
We also decided, along the way, that we needed to remove the scene on the park and the nursery rhyme, this was due to the scene being unnecessary, as it may have confused the audience. This was a big risk to leave the playground scene out, purely for the large amount of symbolism that could have been alluded to, however, it would have been very difficult for the audience to work out the fact that Samantha's innocence has been taken away.
After watching back our final product compared to our animatic and storyboard, I realised that we had made many amendments to the original idea through new storyline ideas, editing ideas or filming and camera shot ideas. Although we tried to keep as close as we could to the storyboard and animatic, changes are not necessaries a bad thing and we have decided to amend the storyboard and animatic to fit our new preferred product and storyline. As with many films, our project has drastically been furthered to more than we could imagine prior to the construction stage.
Now we have finished the construction, it is now time to start creating the ancillary products; a film poster and magazine review.
