Filming Evaluation

We filmed all of our footage on Monday 19th November 2012 as planned. It was a dull day which was what we wanted and luckily it had been raining which meant that we had puddles to use to our advantage. It didn't rain any of the time throughout filming which was good.

We filmed all the shots we planned to film plus a few extras to ensure we had enough clips to fill in any gaps or additional time to make up to the 2 minute boundary.

Here are a selection of different shots we achieved:

As you can see by a snippet of our shots we have achieved a variety of different shots including close ups, long shots, tracker shot and match on action.

What went well 
We were happy with our shots as we had the perfect lighting and day, and accumulated some good techniques which were going to look good once edited. My favourite shot is when the two characters walk through the puddle which makes a splash and leaves the ticket floating in the water, this is my favourite because I think it looks professional and very effective. Also the shot of the water on the bench arm looks detailed and is a good example of a close up. The fact that we got so many shots was excellent as it was such a small area and one place of setting however we managed to get near to everything we needed. We used the bridge at the train station to our advantage, and filmed a lot of the shots off the edge and had the side wall to rest the camera on to have a stable non-shakey shot. We tried to follow our animatics whilst filming, which helped a lot as we knew exactly what shots to film, and then added any additional ones we thought would look good. Overall I thought our filming session was successful and we got everything done in one day. 

What problems we had
When we first arrived at the train station and informed the ticket lady we were filming for our media coursework she said we needed to contact a certain number in order to have permission. So we contacted the number and had a long wait until we finally got permission which was time consuming. Once we started filming we had one main problem, and this was actually filming effective shots that would show that Charlotte gets hit by the train. This was very hard to portray whilst filming our shots due to safety; as obviously she cannot jump in front of the train. So we had to think carefully how we was going to film it and just filmed little snippets to indicate a hazard; like her shoe laces being undone and being too far over the yellow line. We knew that we could make it more obvious when editing and could hopefully make the audience know what happens.

Due to us choosing such a difficult opening story line I think we done our best to portray what we wanted to happen with our filming.

Character profile: Charlotte

History of women in the film industry
Women have been central to the film industry since its inception in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From Nickelodeons to full-length feature films and from silent films to talkies, as writers, directors, actors, and audience members, women have influenced the trajectory of the film industry. Female stardom was an essential component of the rise of the industry, though many of these women were celebrated more for their appearances than for their acting ability.

While the popularity of certain female stars offered them legendary status, the kinds of roles they were asked to play often reinforced traditional gender roles. That story is the familiar one. This exhibit intends to reveal a lesser known part of the story. Women actually played a powerful role in shaping the early film industry. As both consumers of film and professionals in the field, both in front of and behind the camera, women dramatically affected the development of American film.

In our film there are two characters that are important to the films storyline. They appear in our film opening. Below are their character profiles.

Name: Charlotte Wyatt
Age: 17
Date of birth: 23/06/95
Clothes size: 8
Height: 5ft4
Weight: 8st 2lb
Hair colour: Brunette
Eye colour: Hazel 
Siblings: Three brothers and one sister
Favourite colour: White 
Favourite music band: One Direction
Favourite music artist: Rihanna
Favourite film: Wild Child 

(Outfit in film opening)
Green parker coat - £50 H&M
Black leggings - £15 forever 21
Grey cardigan - £25 topshop
Red Vans - £50 office
Black bag - £15 New look 

In total this outfit was worth £155, however we already had the coat and the vans. So we only purchased the leggings and grey cardigan for the footage. We chose to dress Charlotte in these clothes as it is quite a cold day, so it was important for her to rap up warm. The leggings are comfy for travelling which is what the two friends are doing in the opening as well as the red vans. 


Charlotte is a very outgoing, kind and generous person. How ever she can be shy when meeting new people. She is funny and can always put a smile on her best friend Beth's face. Charlotte doesn't have a part time job but is currently studying legal secretary at college which she plans to get a career in. 
Likes: Charlotte likes to socialise and loves to sing. She likes horses and spends a lot of time down the stables. She has an interest in music, she spends a lot of her spare time with her earphones in listening to her favourite artist Rihanna.
Dislikes: Charlotte has a phobia of spiders.
Background:  Charlotte comes from a stable middle class background, she is supported by her parents but has additional financial help from her grandmother. 

Character profile: Beth

Name: Beth Morgan
Age: 17
Date of birth: 27/09/1995
Clothes size: 8
Height: 5ft6
Weight: 7st 8lb
Hair colour: Brunette/Blonde
Eye colour: Blue
Siblings: One brother called Ben
Favourite colour: Silver
Favourite music band: Bombay bicycle club
Favourite music artist: Alicia Keys
Favourite film:  Mean Girls

(Outfit in film opening)
Blue parker jacket - £65 River island
Light pink jumper - £20 Select
Black Jeans - £35 New look
Brown shoe boots - £25 Internationale
Black bag - £15 select 

In total this outfit is worth £160 however we already had the outfit, the only purchase we made was the jumper. We dressed beth in a simliar way to Charlotte, with the parker jacket to keep warm on the cold day, with a casual pair of jeans and a jumper. The little boots made the outfit differ from Beth's and included a bag




Beth finds it easy to make new friends, how ever she can be quite cold hearted and isn't the relationship type. She is a bubbly person and loves her family unconditionally. She works hard at her job in New look, and is currently studying at Sixth form. She is currently studying business, psychology, ICT and Maths; and plans to go on to university to get a degree in Accountancy. 
Likes: Beth is an average teenage girl, she likes socialising with friends and shopping as she is fashionable and has a fairly natural appearance. She is a very creative individual and likes drawing and can be very imitative in her fashion sense. 
Dislikes: She dislikes jelly as she doesn't like the texture. She also has a fear of wasps. 
Background: Beth comes from a financially stable family. Her father is a successful business man and her mother is a secretary. Her brother is younger than her, and she gets on well with him. 

Our chosen film institution

For our film we have chosen Universal Studios: 

We have chosen this as it is our favourite and most memorable opening institution. 

Recent films Universal have produced:

- The unborn (January 9, 2009)

- Kick-ass (March 26, 2010)

- Paul (March 18, 2010)

- Bridesmaids (May 13, 2010)

- Snow white and the huntsman (June 1, 2012)

- Ted (June 9, 2012)

All the films produced by universal are very different genre's, for example The Unborn is a Horror, where as Snow White and the Huntsman is an Action. 

We chose this as our film institution because in our opinion it is the most memorable and dramatic one. However we are aware that there is a 100th Anniversary version so we are going to try and use that, to make it a little bit different.

Filming Schedule

Our filming needs to be done all in one day ideally as the weather and lighting needs to be exactly the same throughout the shots. The day we have chosen to film Monday 19th November 2012. We have chosen a sunday because the train station will be less busy on this day which would be the best day for filming. We will go to the train station around 4pm to make sure the lighting is quite dull. As it is a melodrama we need quite a gloomy rainy day to show danger, rather than a bright sunny day which would suggest happiness.

What we are filming:
1. Ticket machine  
2. Ticket falling out of ticket machine
3. Money falling out of ticket machine
4. Ticket going into barrier
5. Walking through barrier
6. Taking ticket from barrier
7. Walking onto platform
8. A puddle
9. Stepping into puddle
10. Looking at the station's platform
11. The train tracks
12. The barriers on the road going down
13. Girls laughing (not paying attention)
14. Train dashing past at an extreme speed
15. Camera dropping
16. Character in bed with eyes closed
17. Eyes open
18. Sits up breathing heavily

Risk Assessment
We have to be very careful whilst filming at our chosen setting, as being a train station it can be a major hazard and dangerous place. Even when we are filming one of the characters being too far over the yellow line this is a major risk, as it only takes a loss of balance for devastation. Also whilst hanging off the bridge filming the characters from a distance could be difficult, as it would be easy for the camera to slip out of my hands, so I need to ensure I wear the safety strap. 

Planning

Plot

The opening of our film will be at a train station, where a teenage girl called Beth faces a tragic accident where she loses her friend. It will begin with the two girls walking into the station; buying tickets and walking through the barrier and onto the platform. They will be talking and not paying a lot of attention to their surroundings. It will not be completely clear what is happening as we want our opening to be tense and leave the audience wanting to know more. However, it will be clear enough to know that Charlotte gets hit by the train. The over all film will consist of Beth dealing with her traumatic past and meeting a boy named James who helps her through all of it despite her pushing him away. 

Opening setting

The setting will be a train station, where the accident was. We will film on a dull winter evening, so the station looks more intimidating and gloomy. The best day to film will be a sunday, where there will be little people around as we want a near to empty station. We will also film the character waking up in bed so a bedroom is another setting needed. Due to only having one setting; we may be limited to what we can film, but we will try our best to get the best shots possible. 

Cast
Emily Hamer is playing the role of Beth
Sacha Wyatt is playing the role of Charlotte
We chose Emily to play the role of Beth because she suited the type of person we wanted Beth to be like; fashionable, sociable and 17. Sacha plays the role of Beth as she is the same age as Charlotte (Emily) and looks like an average teenage girl. 

Characters

The main female character is a 17 year old called Beth, she was an average teenage girl who loved socialising, until she lost her best friend which left her emotionally insecure, depressed and paranoid.

The main male character is a 20 year old called James. James is a good looking boy and is described by many as a 'ladies man'. However, as soon as he meets Beth he soon makes her his main priority and doesn't leave her side. Beth's friend Charlotte who dies, is the same age as Beth (17). She is from a working background and loves shopping and socialising with her best friend Beth. 

Font of the Titles and positioning
We have chosen our font tiles to be Cambria, as it is quite a simple font that will not distract the viewer from the actual film. The titles will be either in the corner or in fairly discrete places that will be noticeable but not too in the viewers face. We will edit the titles on final cut express; 

Music 

The music we are using for our opening is an upbeat house track called what i might do by Ben Pearce. We are editing the song ourselves to slow it down, trim it and add extra beats. We wanted an upbeat song for the start of the opening as it's just two girls at the train station on a normal day, however there is a drop in the song which we will slow down towards the ending of the opening to show something has happened. 

Film certificate
A film certificate acts as a guideline for ages in which the film is suitable for. For example a PG film would not contain any bad language, discrimination, sexual explicits or drug taking. However a 12 may contain some mild cases. On the other hand an 18 could contain all of these which is why only a person over the age of 18 should be watching the film. Our film will be a 12

Bad language, discrimination, sexual explicits or drug taking
Our film will contain only mild bad language. There will be no discrimination or taking of recreational drugs. There will be a few intimate scenes between Beth and James towards the end of the film which will not display any nudity or sexual  intercourse. 

Animatic Storyboard

These are the animatics for our film opening, The animatic storyboard is an important part of the planning process as it tells us exactly when the settings change, different cuts are used, when text comes up and the types of shots we want to include. We did this by sketching the main shots we are going to include in our opening, these shots consisted of close ups and long shots and a variety of other shots. We know that our actual film opening will not be exact to this as these are our initial ideas and we have tried to portray them in these animatics. Our inital ideas are that the setting is at a train station and an accident occurs, we have drawn our animatics to show the main things that will occur, for example buying the tickets, the platform, the tracks and the train coming which is the hazard. The music we added to our animatics is something we like, but are still unsure of therefore we will not decide anything until we have our footage. We simply added it to get a better feel of the planning and shots we are going to have.

I think creating an animatic storyboard was useful as it acts as a plan for our filming, and if our music will suit the opening. We had a few problems such as the settings and shots were difficult to draw especially the platform which was hard to make into proportion and we wanted it to be as realistic as possible. However over all our animatics was successful and I think it will help us a lot when it comes to filming.