Video Diary 1 - After Filming

Catherine and I wanted to create a video diary to comment on our progress throughout the filming and editing processes. Our first video diary was after filming was finished. We made up questions that we could ask ourselves about how filming went to show the examiner how we were feeling throughout each stage. We wanted to film the interview because its a lot more fun and interesting. We didn't want to just write up the answers. Also, seeing us in person would make the examiner relate to our work more in our opinion.

We wanted to answer questions about what went well and what didn't go to plan. We also answered questions about how we felt Lauren, our actress performed. We wanted to comment on everything we did before that point so we made sure to mention recording the monologue and how that went for us.

Actor Interview - Before Filming

On the train on the way to our destination we wanted to interview the actor in our film, our friend Lauren, to give her an idea of our expectations of her for our film. The train journey was the first time we had fully discussed the shots we wanted to achieve however when we were at the recording studio recording the monologue this gave Lauren more of an insight into our main character in our film. This is a transcript from the interview.

 Lauren: "So what do I do first?"

 Molly: "So you already know that you're a nameless homeless person trying to find your parents. Do you remember the monologue? That is the sort of character we want you to be."

 Catherine: "You need to make sure that you maintain your character, especially these train shots because we can't do them again."

 Lauren: "Are there any lines?"

 Molly: "No. The focus of the film is on our main character so throughout the opening of the film the monologue is the only dialogue."

 Catherine: "Make sure that you show your emotions through your facial expressions. You need to be able to show the audience that you are upset and lonely."

 Lauren: "Ok, so what shot is first then?"

 Molly: "We need a midshot of you sitting on the train looking through the window clutching your sleeping bag for comfort."

 Catherine: "Again you need to make it obvious that you are on you own. You need the audience to be able to symphasise with you."

 Lauren: "Ok, I will make sure that I remain quite serious and solmn. I won't make any direct eye contact with the camera and I will make sure I remain in character throughout."

 Molly: "That sounds great, that is exactly what we need from you."

Filming - Time Management and Difficulties

We planned to film our opening two minutes on the 20th Dec 2013. This was harder to plan than we thought because we had to consider each others time. It seemed as though when one of us was free, the other two had other plans. It being so close to Christmas, only made it harder for us. It was really important for us to get the Christmas lights to be a main part in our opening so we really needed to get the filming done before they were turned off and taken down.
We finally were all free on the 3rd January. So we took that opportunity to go out and get all the scenes filmed. We were battling with the light that was quickly fading so that gave us even more pressure to get a good result.

The first hour or so of filming went really well. We filmed the first 5 shots without a hitch. We were having a lot of fun playing around with the tripod and the angle at which we would shoot the scene. It all started to go wrong for us when we started walking to the high street in Guildford. When we got there we realised that the Christmas lights were not turned on. This really worried us because the lights were one of the most important aspects of our opening. We decided to leave filming the Christmas lights for the time being and focus on our main scenes because Lauren our actress had to get home in a rush after we had filmed. Another worry we had was the light. In between takes, the light was fading really quickly. This worried us because we didn't want it to be light in one scene and dark in another. When we realised this, we make a bigger effort to get the shots done. Looking back this hurrying may have made our actual scenes not as good as they could have been, but the rush was necessary. The last few shots we filmed went really well because they were mainly close ups, so we didn't need to worry about the light.
We were really worried when we were planning our filming because we didn't think we would have enough shots to get 2 mintues. But this was nothing to worry about because we filmed for extra time than we had planned to give us some leeway.

Overall we are pleased with our filming but we would have liked to not have to worry about the light fading and the Christmas lights not being on. We had a great time filming and it was even more fun that we aticipated. Were happy with the results and hopefully the editing process will be just as fun.

Soundtrack Research - Final Thoughts

For our media piece we were not allowed to use copyrighted music, which made it hard for us to think about the type of music we wanted behind our monologue and film. We research many instrumental tracks to add to our film but in the end we decided on one.

In the end we decided to use a instrumetnal version of Katy Perry's Wide Awake that we found on YouTube. This wasnt copyrighted and was the perfect fit for our film. The piano version was perfectly steady and emotional for our film and fit right in with the monologue aswell.
We didnt want to include lyrics in the music for our film because it would get in the way of the monologue which we want all the attention to be on. We didnt want our audience to get distracted trying to analyse the meaning of the lyrics because we wanted them to be analysing the monologue and getting to know the character.
We editied the monologue with the sound and made it fit in with the tempo of the song. We made sure that as the characters voice got a bit higher and more emotional, so did the music. We cut parts out the make it match with the verbal noise and made sure it sounded perfect, ready for the film to go over the top of it.
Overall we are so excited about the soundtrack. We think it fits perfectly with the emotional monlouge and will go just as well with the film itself.

Shot Type Evaluation - Shot 6

For the sixth shot type we will be using a midshot to show the main character walking across a road and moving out of the camera frame as she does so. We decided that this shot type is effective as a midshot allows more of her facial expressions to be shown. This is important as we believe that we don't want to reveal too much about the girl's appearence at the start. However as the film progresses we will use closer shots so the audience can feel as though they are getting to know her, and by the end of the film they will feel that they know everything about it. The fact that we will be showing her moving out of the camera frama will effectively represent her on going journey and her desire to find her parents and how focused she is on doing so. We decided that this particular shot needs ten seconds, this is because she will obviously need a bit of time to cross the road safely and we want to capture the whole of her walk as she walks out of the frame.

Shot Type Evaluation - Shot 5

The fifth shot will be a long shot to show the character walking away from the train station. This will be effective in giving the audience a feel of the location. It emphasises the idea that she is just a teenager in a big world. The long shot will make her look small in comparison to the other shots which we have used that make her look bigger. This shot shows her leaving the station which is significant as it indicates the start of her journey to find her parents. This long shot will allow the audience to see vehicles on the roads, buildings and pedestrians which is realistic and sets the urban location. It is important that the location is as realistic as possible because our story is based on an event which happens to many people, therefore we can't make it look like something it is not, the location can't be out of context such as an exotic location. Many drama films such as Forest Gump are filmed in Urban locations. We decided that this shot type is suitable for this particular moment in the opening because all the main character is doing is walking amongst other people, we decided that she would want to blend in with the crowd as she doesn't particulary want to stand out as being homeless. Therefore this long shot will not allow any facial expressions to be exposed. We decided that 5 seconds would be suitable for this particular shot as nothing significant occurs in this shot so it does not need to be of huge focus.

Shot Type Evaluation - Shot 4

We will then use an over the point of view shot of the main character getting off the train. This is effective as it focuses on the girl as an individual and shows her to be superior as she is the one who is focused on, therefore her story is of importance. It will also reveal her alienation to society as she is surrounded by people who live normal lives and have lots of disposable income to leisurely shop wheras she can barely afford a train fare. This shot will put the audience in her shoes and will able them to feel what it is like to be so lonely and therefore they will symphasise with her. It also allows the audience to see the surroundings and link them with the main characters perspective. Seeing people around her will make her feel lonely and depressed seeing people with family and friends however a normal person probably wouldn't even notice individuals around them as they have their friends or family there with them, therefore the surroundings will be blurred to them. This emphasises the importance of the girl finding her parents so she can hopefully one day feel the same as the 'Christmas shoppers.' By using this point of view shot we want to make the audience symphasise with the girl as she has to walk past people with their friends and families as she is leaving the train. We have decided to make this shot five seconds, we believe this will be more than long enough to give a good insight in the characters thoughts and feelings. From the first image I have selected it shows the amount of people we want in it. It is busy however the people appear to be dressed in Summer clothes and we want people to be in Winter clothes and carrying lots of shopping bags to show that they have lots of disposable income so can therefore afford it. As a whole the atmosphere in both of these images seems to be quite subdued, we want to try and capture people talking and having a good time to show how our main character can't have this.

Shot Type Evaluation - Shot 3

The third shot type will be a mid shot showing our main character sat on a train. By using this shot type we aim to give the audience an insight into what it is really like to be on your own. Audiences will be able to relate to times when using public transport on your own you tend to feel lonely however you have somewhere to go to, we want to audience to symphasise with the girl and make them realise that she really has no one and she is not on her way home to be with her family. The midshot will allow the audience to get a good view of every features of the girl. They will be able to see her face so they can see her expression of longing as well as what she is wearing. We want to allow them to be able to have an insight into the characters situation by what she is wearing. A midshot is also a perfect shot type for as well as revealing the character of focus it also reveals the surroundings. We want the audience to be able to see people on the train and the scene right on the train by filming so close to Christmas as this is the time where people go shopping with their friends and families. We also want the camera to shake a little bit so therefore we will not be using a tripod. This will give a rough feel which links in with the fact that she sleeps on the streets. It will also be realistic and goes well with the motion of train as they tend to be very bumpy, therefore it will be more realistic.

Shot Type Evaluation - Shot 2

The second shot type we want to use is an establishing shot however we will use several of these. They will take up six seconds of filming. This is to give the audience a feel of the location. We want to give an idea of what general shoppers are like at this time of year busy buying presents for their family.We want to show a festive atmosphere and the happiness of people, we also want to emphasise their wealth to be able to leisurely shop whilst all our main character wants is to find her parents. We need to point our how these people take their lives for granted so we will try to do this buy filming very close to Christmas when we will know it will be busy. The establishing shots we have selected really capturesthe Christmas shoppers walking up and down the streets. The first shot shot captures the bright Christmas lights which is our symbol in our film. We believe the Christmas lights in Guildford will be as good as the ones in this image, we want the lights ideally to be very bright to make the atmosphere very bright and festive. We want the audience to feel as though everyone is having a really nice time shopping with their friends and family all accept our main character. Her main issue right now is where to sleep tonight. The second shot is really shows the amount of people who go out Christmas shopping and reinforces the idea that her parents could literally be anyone. We know that Guildford will not be as busy as London because around 10 million people live in London, however Guildford is the main shopping location of the Surrey Hills, therefore it still should be very busy. The Christmas lights are a very important part of our film, if they are not bright enough or there are not enough of them this will make the atmosphere not seem as festive. We will also need to a few close up shots of the Christmas lights which will take up four seconds of filming. This is to reinforce the setting being near to Christmas.

Shot Type Evaluation - Shot 1

The first shot type we will be using will be a shallow focus shots of Christmas lights combined with the title 'The Desperate Persuit.' This will emphasise our key theme of hope and will ensure that the Christmas lights will draw in the attention of the audience as they will want to know the significance of these lights. This shallow focus will transform into a deep focus shot creating a blurred effect which will be effective as it will cause the audience to feel as though that her dream of hope may not be achieved. The blurred effect indicates confusion which is most likely what our main character feels, the confusion as to why her parents left her. Therefore as well as looking good, these shots link in very well with our symbol of the Christmas lights and our theme of hope. We want to have the shot lasting for four seconds as we believe this is long enough to display the titles for and will make the audience think.
Shallow focus-The first image below I selected is not the exact object we will be using, however it reselmbles the shot type we will be using. The second image however is more or less what we are after. We love how the background is blurred effectively in this shot.
Deep focus- The first image shows blurred Christmas tree lights, it is not the type of object we will be using however the circle light effect is what we will be aiming for. The second image shows a street Christmas light, this shows the right type of object however it is not quite the effect we want.

Recording Our Monologue

We travelled up to Guildford on Sunday to record the monologue we had previously written. We went to Spiral Studios and met Rob and Sam. When we arrived they took a while to set up all of the microphones and equipment needed for our recording. This took around 20 minutes, giving Lauren (our main character) time to rehearse the monologue and get it in her memory.

While Rob and Sam finished setting up, it was time for Lauren to go into the sound proof room. She had headphones on where she could hear us talking when we wanted to give her comments and advice, and we could hear what she was saying through the speakers where we where. This really helped us get the perfect portrayal of emotions from Lauren.
It took around 30 minutes to record our monologue and get it to the quality we wanted it. Rob had to add a few things he called plug-ins to it, which he said made the overall quality of the track better. He also said adding this would help us be able to put music on top of it without reducing the sound quality. He gave us a CD of the un-mastered version and he is going to email us the finished product in a few days time.

Overall we are so thrilled with how the session went. Rob gave us a discount because we didnt take very long recording, which was a bonus. We loved the experience of going to a real recording studio with all the prefessional equipment. Rob and Sam were incredibly kind and helpful. Lauren was absolutly amazing! She got into character straight away and nailed it within 3 attempts. Having the monologue recorded, has given us the basis of our film. We can now move on to start the actual filming process and hopefully that will turn out as good as the monologue did. 

Soundtrack Research

We have listened to various different soundtracks to help inspire us for the creation of our own original soundtrack for our two minute opening. When creating features of the actual film we made various references to Christmas lights in the streets it reminded us of a song we have once listened to in the past and helped to build up a vision of how it must feel to be alone in the festive period. The first song we listened to was 'Christmas Lights' by Coldplay which was released in 2010. Judging by the lyrics they hint that the theme of this song is a relationship which has broken down very near to Christmas. The song narrator emphasises his loneliness through the use of imagery and symbols; making many references to Christmas lights. This is similar to our idea in our film as we are going to use the Christmas lights as our symbol of our main characters hope to find her parents. However we are not going to use diegetic music. This is because we are using a monologue so therefore diegetic music will clash with our monologue. However in this song we love the constant tune of the piano which is featured on its own at the start of the song. On its own it symbolizes loss which is a feeling our main character has experienced for the course of her life; she is not complete without her parents. We can relate many features of this song to our main character however there are a few differences; the song narrator has lost someone they love whereas our main character is on a journey to find her parents. We will probably decide to combine the tune of the piano with either a violin or a guitar. When this particular song gets into the chorus it sounds more upbeat; this type of song would be ideal for a trailer to show her finding her parents however we need to emphasise her sadness; so this song is not what we want. However many of the features of the song have however inspired us.

The next song we listened to was found on YouTube, we searched various soundtracks. We simply searched 'Piano music instrumentals' to find this soundtrack made up of two and a half hours of music. The first track on this soundtrack is a simple yet effective tune using a piano. As soon as we heard this song we absolutely loved it however we could not identify what all of the instruments were that we're included in this piece however we can identify that the piano was combined with a guitar. Within the first minute this song it really helped to inspire us on what sort of music to use for our film opening. To us the opening of the song really gives us the images of a person on their own watching people go by as just the piano is played at the start of the song. This gives us a vision of emptiness which would be able to help us give the audience an insight into the characters feelings. Ideally we really want to try and make the audience able to relate to a time when they have felt this way, so therefore it is vital to compose a piece that will do just that.

The final song we listened to was found on the same soundtrack. The song we found starts at 1:56:37. We decided that this tune was almost perfect for our film opening, it has so many different instruments used in it however it is not over powering; it is simple. It gives a bit of an urban vibe as acoustic instruments used give an empty feel and some other instruments used make a sound similar to wind. This will really go well with the surroundings as our main character is on her own in the streets, it is a cold winter night so wind will most likely feature. Later in this song more of a beat features which would go perfectly with the part in our film when the main character finally decides to find her parents, through this beat it will give be audience the idea that the main character is actually getting somewhere. Therefore both this track and the above track have really helped to inspire us with what type of music we will include in our opening.

Film Titles Questionairre

We asked 20 people to choose a film title from a list of 5. We did this to get an idea about what our target audience would be more drawn to. Our first idea for a film title was 'The Search' but we wanted to get a response from our target audience to see if our ideas were acceptable.

A nameless foster child has recently been kicked out of her foster parent’s house for stealing. She is homeless and alone at Christmas. All she wants to do is find her biological parents, who could be anywhere. Follow her journey as she goes through all the experiences of being homeless and the emotions of losing everyone around her. An outstanding and touching true story that will leave you breathless...
Which film title do you think goes well with the above film plot?
·     The Search
·     The Desperate Pursuit
·      Going Down
·      Roaming The Streets
·      The Unprotected

The results are as followed:

From this we discovered that the majority of people are drawn to either 'The Unprotected' or 'The Desperate Pursuit'. This sort of shattered our first idea of 'The Search'. We decided to choose from the two most popular because its what our target audience want to see, and to attract our audience we need to include titles that they approve of.
Finally, we agreed on 'The Desperate Pursuit' for our film title. We chose this because it draws you in more and it sounds more dramatic, making the audience want to know more. We like this film title for our movie because it reflects the story really well. The young girl is on a 'desperate pursuit' to find her parents. The title is fitting, which a film title needs to be and overall we are pleased that we decided to ask people what they thought.

Institution Research - Other Companies

Below we have written about the six main production companies in the world. These are the main companies, but of course there are many other companies that produce film on a much lower scale. These companies has much lower budgets but still release hard hitting movies that people around the world love and relate to.
The 'big six' are the major production companies, but there are other companies which are called the 'mini-majors'. These companies are big companies but just not as well known and popular as the big six.
The 'Mini-Major' companies include:

DreamWorks -
DreamWorks is a California film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totaling more than $100 million each. Most of DreamWorks' films are marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios.
Films by DreamWorks include: 'Chicken Run', 'Shrek', 'She's The Man' and 'Just Like Heaven'.

Lionsgate Films -
Lionsgate Films is a Canadian film production studio and a division of Lions Gate Entertainment. It is the largest and most successful mini-major film studio in North America. It focuses mainly on foreign and independent films and has distributed various commercially successful film series.
Films by Lionsgate Films include:'The Twilight Saga' (partially), 'The Hunger Games', 'Saw' and 'The Expendables'.

Open Road Films -
Open Road Films is an American film distribution company based in Hollywood, California. It was launched in March 2011 by the two largest U.S. theatrical exhibitors, AMC Theatres and Regal Entertainment Group.
Films by Open Road Films include: 'The Host', 'Side Effects', and 'Silent Hill'.

Relativity Media LLC
Relativity Media LLC is an American full-scale film studio. It acquires, develops, produces, and distributes films and produces television programs.
Films by Relativity Media LLC include: 'Mirror Mirror', 'Movie 43', 'House At The End Of The Street' and 'Safehaven'

The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American mini-major film studio. Its films are released on DVD and Blu-ray by Beverly Hills–based Anchor Bay Entertainment, due to the 25% purchase of Starz Media, which is Anchor Bay's parent, and it has an office in Beverly Hills.
Films By The Weinstein Company include: 'So Undercover', 'Lawless', 'I Dont Know How She Does It' and 'Silver Linings Playbook'.

Looking at the filmography of these companies, nearly all the films i know and have seen. This just shows that the 'big six' dont produce all of the blockbuster films.

Institution Research - Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures entertainment is an American television and film production company. It is based in Culver City, California and serves as Sony's main global production company. Sony pictures entertainment was established on the 7th August 1991. Sony pictures has a television group which produces iconic American sitcoms like Seinfield and Days of our lives.


Films produced by Sony pictures entertaiment include: 'Spiderman', 'Men in black', 'Skyfall' and '21 Jump street'.

Institution Research - Walt Disney Studios

Walt Disney Studios is one of the largest and best known Studios in the world and is one of the six major film studios. It produces many kids films which we all would have watched as a child.
Disney was founded in 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney. They were the leaders of the animation industry before diversifying into live-action films, television and travel. In 1986 it expanded its operations and started divisions for theatre, radio, music, online media and publishing.
Disney also owns the ABC television network, Disney Channel, ESPN and ABC Family. It also owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world. 

Films produced by Walt Disney include: 'Cinderella', 'Mary Poppins', 'Bambi', 'Peter Pan', ' The Jungle Book' and 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarves'.

Television shows produced by ABC and ABC Family include: 'Lost', 'Greys Anatomy', 'Nashville', 'Twisted', 'The Fosters' and 'Pretty Little Liars'.

Institution Research - Paramount Pictures

 
Paramount Pictures Corporation (also known as Paramount Pictures) is a film and television production studio founded in 1912. Based in LA, it is one of the largest film studios ever and the fifth oldest still in continuous production. It is a division of the American media company Viacom. On August 21, 2006, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films became full labels of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group.

Films Produced by Paramount Pictures include: 'Mission Impossible', 'Save The Last Dance', 'Zoolander', 'The Italian Job', 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days', 'School Of Rock' and 'Coach Carter'.

Institution Research - Universal Pictures

Universal Studios Inc. (also known as Universal Pictures)  is an American motion picture studio,and is one of the six major movie studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City.
Universal Studios was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley and Jules Brulatour. It is the oldest movie studio In the USA and the fourth oldest in the world that is still in continuous production behind Gaumont Pictures, Pathe and Nordisk Film.

Universal Studio has a theme park situated in Hollywood, California. Themes from movies and television shows are integrated into the rides like The Simpson's Ride, Jurassic Park: The Ride, and Revenge of the Mummy. There is now two more theme parks in Orlando, Florida and Japan. The theme parks only show you how high budget and high profit this company is. The list of films produced by Universal Pictures in endless and the amount of money the company make is ridiculous!

Films produced by Universal Pictures include: 'Meet The Parents', 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas', 'Bridget Jones Diary', 'The Mommy Returns', 'Despicable Me', 'Transformers' and 'American Pie'

TV shows produced by Universal Studios include: 'House', 'The Office', 'Suits', 'Law And Order: LA' and 'Lipstick Jungle' 

Institution Research - Warner Bros

 

Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. or simply WB is an American producer of film, television, and music entertainment. Warner Bros. has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Entertainment. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network.
Warner Bros was founded in 1903 by the four Warner brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack.
Warner Bros specialise in a number of different things (hense the subsidiary companies) and produce many high budget movies.
One of the main things that Warner Bros have done is the WB TV network. This was founded in 1995 and found a large teenage following after producing shows like Charmed, Dawsons Creek and One Tree Hill. In 2006 the WB network was closed and CBS and WB created what is now The CW network, cancelling many TV shows on the WB but transferring their most popular to the new network.

Major films produced by Warner Bros include: 'Kangeroo Jack', 'Two Weeks Notice', 'What A Girl Wants', 'A Cinderella Story' and 'The Polar Express'

TV shows produced by the WB (now CW) Network include: 'Charmed', 'Dawsons Creek', '7th Heaven', 'The Vampire Diaries', One Tree Hill', 'Hart Of Dixie', 'Arrow' and 'Beauty And The Beast'

 

 

Instituation Research - 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox is one of the six major film studios situated in Los Angeles in the USA. The company was founded on May 31, 1935 when Fox Film Corporation was merged with Twentieth Century Pictures.
20th Century Fox has distributed many successful movies including Star Wars, Ice Age and Die Hard. Many television shows has also been produced by 20th Century Fox including The Simpson's, How I Met Your Mother and Glee.
20th Century Fox's logo is one of the most well known logo's in film history and you would probably see it on the majority of films you watch. Many films have played around with the logo and the music at the beginning of their films or TV shows. For example on season 10 of the Simpson's, you see Bart running around the logo being chased. And also on the film Alien, the music has been payed around with to fit in with the genre of the film.

Famous films by 20th Century Fox include: 'Home Alone', 'Avatar', 'White Men Can't Jump', '27 Dresses', 'Star Wars', 'Die Hard', 'Aquamarine', 'Life of Pi' and 'Runner Runner'

Famous TV shows by 20th Century Fox include: 'New Girl', 'Modern Family', 'Bones', 'How I Met Your Mother', 'My Name Is Earl', 'Life On Mars' and 'Glee'.

Research Into Recording Our Monologue

We have decided that if we record our monologue on a simple program like a laptop or a voice recorder, the sound quality will be extremely bad and the monologue will not sound as professional as we want it to be. To change this we were thinking of hiring a recording studio. This will allow us to get the sound quality we want, despite the small cost.

We started searching for recording studios near us and we found quite a few that are extremely close to us. Some of the studios we found were just too expensive and a little bit too far away, but we found two that were reasonably priced and close by in the town of Guildford where we were planning on filming. Guildford is a short train journey away from us so its a perfect area.

The first Studio we emailed was Silent Hill Studio's in Guildford. They were available to help us for little over £20, but we had a problem because they were only available during the week, which is when we are at school. This disappointed us a little bit but we decided to go on and email a few other places in and around Guildford.

The second place we emailed, Spiral Studio's came back to us within minutes and said they would be available to have us anytime. The price was quoted at £30 for an hour and a half. We were really impressed at this and decided to go on the 8th December.

 

 

Whats really great about actually hiring somewhere for the first time while doing media, is knowing for certain that you are going to get a good result as we will be surrounded by professional equipment and professional employees that will help make our monologue the best it can be.

 

Our Monologue

The main feature of our opening 2 minutes is the monologue spoken by the main character over the top of the film. This needs to link to what is happening in the film at times and make the audience connect and sympathise with the girl.
We wanted to make the girl sound like the average teenager. Not very literate when it comes to talking and quite informal. This makes her relatable to other teenagers, our target audience. We like the way the monologue shows the girl as not caring about her parents, but the monologue is easy to see through and hopefully the audience will see that she is lying to herself, and in fact all she cares about is finding them and being loved by them.

 

"Every year i see these christmas lights, its just another reminder that, im alone. Hope has a way of holding onto you, its something you can never escape from, its the only thing that has kept me going throughout my whole life. Hope that i will pass my exams, hope that ill find love, hope that ill find my parents.

This is my story. I’d tell you my name but what’s the point when it doesn’t mean anything.  You see a typical family has two parents, a couple of kids. My family, it’s just me. I lived in a foster home for a while. John and Kelly were nice but I knew they didn’t love me like they loved Jake, their real kid. See my parents gave me up when I was born. They couldn’t hack it. And now look at me, I’ve been to juvi. I’ve been in and out of foster homes, and now I’m pretty much living on the streets. John and Kelly kicked me out when they realised I stole from them. I know it’s a terrible thing to do but I guess I just needed to get out of there and that was the only way to make sure I did. All I’m focused on right now is finding my real parents. I have a lot to say to them. Why did they leave me? Why did they allow me to have such a crappy life? Are they even still together? Probably not.

You see being in foster care is like being in a world of your own. No one to worry about you, no bedtime, no love. I guess if my parents were still around id be a different person. I wouldn’t be so messed up or angry. But my parents aren’t here and I’ve adapted myself to deal with that. I’m fine on my own, but I need to find them. I just need to. I need to let them see what they’ve missed out on."

 

Costume Research

We want to research deeply into the costumes of our characters because we believe they fully express the characters personality. Our main character is a homeless teenager. She is angry, hurt and alone and we want clothing to reflect that demeanour. We also need to make sure the audience believe that she is homeless, to do this we need to make sure we research into what homeless people would wear.
The usual stereotype for a homeless person is that they are dirty and addicted to drugs. They are also considered illiterate and lazy. For some people this is the case but in many circumstances homeless people are just helpless lost souls.
Our main character is defiantly not considered a bad person because she is homeless; she is just someone who has no love in her life and no one to look after her. She is just a child and wants to be loved.

The clothes the girl wears need to reflect how desperate she is and how much she wants to get out of her situation. We were thinking that maybe she could wear clothes that any normal teenage girl would wear but scruff them up to make the audience believe she is actually homeless. We want her to be wearing a winter hat and a long scarf to really show how cold it is. This will make the audience sympathise with her. Other pieces of clothing we will use are a winter coat that is too big for her. This will show how people don’t care enough about her to be buying her normal sized clothing. She will also wear scruffy trainers. All of these items of clothing will emphasise the fact that she is homeless.

Although we want the girl to look scruffy and dirty, we want to make her appealing to the audience. To do this we will make sure that you can see that the girl makes the best out of the clothes she has.

Location Research

Location Research

 

We have decided to film our opening two minutes in Guildford. This is our closest town centre so it will be easy and cheap to get to. Also there are lots of people around in Guildford, especially at Christmas time so we would like to film there to emphasise the fact that the girl’s parents could be literally anyone and it will be a struggle to find them.

We want to film nearer Christmas, when the lights are on. This will make the girl seem more alone and really show how everyone else is perfectly happy and her life is in pieces.
Another reason we have decided to film when the Christmas lights are on is to get good artificial lighting because it will be hard to see the characters if it is fully dark. The lights will create not only a festive feel but it will light up our characters in different colours which will make it feel more Christmassy.

The way Guildford High Street is set out will make it easy for us to really show the Christmas feel because the lights hang from building to building making it obvious that it’s Christmas. Hopefully   the town will be busy and we will be able to capture families having a good time Christmas shopping to show how alone the girl is.

Target Audience Research - Questionnaire Analysis

We asked a variety of people a set of questions about drama. We decided to mainly ask 13-19 year olds because that’s the age group we want to attract. We asked a mixture of males and females so we could get a feel of who likes specific aspects of drama movies.








From this pie chart we gathered that 70% of the people we asked are fans of drama films. This supported our prediction that most people would be fans. This also made us happy that we decided to target 15-17 year olds. From this question we can now go on and make a drama film knowing that the majority of our target audience would enjoy it.

The second question we asked was ‘What do you think is a key part of the drama genre’. We decided to ask this question so we could understand what makes a drama film so popular and from the answers we can decide which aspects to add into our film. From the pie chart we can see that the majority of people think a key part of drama films are conflict and emotion. These are key parts that we need to add into our film to make it appealing to our target audience. When the participants explained their choices they mentioned that these were key parts because it makes a drama film more meaningful and serious. Not many people picked humour as being a key aspect. I think this is because it ruins the dramatic atmosphere and makes it seems less serious which a drama film should be.  A couple of people chose ‘based on a true story’. This is something we could add into our film because my older sister went through a similar situation to our main character.



The next question we asked was about the music and what sort of music they think should be incorporated in a drama film. The majority of people said it should be slowly paced and lyrical. They said that this was because it created a meaningful atmosphere and makes the film overall more touching and truthful, when there are emotional scenes. From this we realised that for our film to be more dramatic and emotional we need to create that sort of atmosphere by adding in slow music that can be relatable to that specific scene and the characters thoughts and feelings. This made us decide to use only a piano and maybe a violin for our opening two minutes.

The fourth question we asked was about the characters. We expected that people would say everyday people and maybe children.

From the pie chart we realised that actually no one said they thought children should be in drama film. This was unexpected and shocked us because we thought that lots of people would say that children should be in drama films. What didn’t surprise us was that the majority of people said that everyday people should be in drama films. Their explanation for this was that it makes the film more relatable to the audience and makes the problems seem more real. We agreed with this and that’s why we chose to use an everyday foster child as our main character that other people can relate to and sympathise with.

Other people said that sick people should be characters in drama films because it makes the film more dramatic and tense. We decided not to add any sick people in our film because it takes the attention away from our main character which we don’t want. We want her to be the centre of the film and have the audience only sympathise with her.

 

We asked where people thought a drama film should be set to get an idea about where we should film our opening two minutes. Nobody said that a drama film should be set in an exotic location. When asked to explain this they said that this was because it makes it less relatable. The majority of people said that a drama film should be set in urban areas, followed closely by rural areas. This gave us a choice about where to set our film because the majority of people said that either urban or rural areas would be fine. We decided to set our film in an urban area. This is because our main character needs to be trying to find her parents in a place where lots of people live and that is urban areas.

Next we asked people to name the sub-genre they most like to be linked in with a drama film. No one said action or adventure, which we expected because it is not very realistic which drama films are. The majority of people said romance. This didn’t surprise us because romance is part of everyday life and a drama film generally reflects everyday life. A few people said that comedy is a good sub-genre for a drama film because it makes the film less serious. We want our film to be extremely serious so we have decided not to add in comedy. Seeing how seriously people like romance as a sub-genre to drama films, we thought that we should add in an aspect of romance. There wouldn’t be enough time to incorporate it in the opening two minutes but if we were filming the whole film we would add in an aspect of romance.

The next question we asked was ‘is dialogue important in an opening or do you think music is just as effective?’ The majority of people said that music was just as and if not more important that dialogue in a drama film. From this we decided to not have any dialogue in our film and only have slow music with a small monologue over the top of it. This would make the opening seem more dramatic and relatable. The monologue is going to reflect what is happening in the scene but not tie in completely.

Overall, from this questionnaire we have realised that drama films need to be relatable to every life and therefore have everyday characters. This is something we are incorporating in our film. This questionnaire really helped us understand what we need to add into our film to make it appealing to our target audience and gave us lots of ideas as to how we should film our opening two minutes.