The final part before we can start filming is very vital as it gives us as the crew members an organised idea of when we are filming, at what time, at what location and what scene. It also gives the actors an idea of what will be going on while filming.
Below is the shooting schedule that we created as a group. The shooting schedule is vital to the filming process as filming will be done over a period of time so it keeps us and the actors organised and up to date to stop everyone getting confused as to where we are, what we have done so far and what we still need to do. Not all of the scenes will be filmed in order which happens in many films. Also the times might be changed as sometimes the actors might not be able to make it to filming so we will have to change the times around in order to fit around the actors.
Now that we have covered the risks that are involved in filming our thriller opening, we are now going to look at the actor release forms which have to be signed by each one of our actors that will be appearing in our thriller opening. The actor release forms need to be done and considered as they are a very important and vital part of the filming process as it gives consent from our actors that they can take part in our film.
There are also terms and conditions that the actors need to give their consent to before they sign the actor release forms as the terms and conditions need to be stuck to and followed.
Terms and Conditions
Actor Release Form - Alex - played by Kyle Scale
Actor Release Form - Stacey - played by Annie Sutton
The next and final thing to post is the shooting schedule for our film.
In this post I will be embedding a document of our formal risk assessment. This document will assess all of the risks involved in creating our thriller opening never look back.
I have graded everything to see whether they are LOW risk MEDIUM risk or HIGH risk depending on how severe the risk is and the likelihood of how much people will get hurt.
In this post I will be showing you mine and my groups finished animatics. We worked together as a group to create a storyboard and create a finalised animatics from that storyboard.
Here is our improved animatics including the titles and idents, soundtrack and it is now 2 minutes and under.
We exhibited our finished animatics to the class and got some feedback on what we could do to improve it. Here is the feedback we got;
You will exhibit your animatic at the start of the lesson. For each animatic, your peers will assess:
1Is the narrative clear?
2Have the group framed the images appropriately?
3Have the group chosen the most effective shot types?
4Is the film opening around 2 minutes in length?
5Have the group included appropriate ident(s) & titles?
6Does the soundtrack effectively support the images?
7Does this animatic suggest that the group is ready for the shooting phase of the production process?
Elisa, Emma, Kelsey, Ben
I understood the narrative until it got to the ending. I was quite confused about what was actually happening and the lack of background music really made me unsure of how to feel. The dialogue really helped me to understand it though. Flashbacks are hard to show in animatic so I can understand why I maybe misunderstood what was going on but do some research so you can achieve a good effect in your film rough cut.
I think you have framed them well and the images are quite clear too.
I think you have given the shot types a lot of thought and you have definitely used a variety of shots from close ups to mid shots and you have used them appropriately too. Maybe you should give more thought to the camera movements specifically too.
2:30 – You need to really cut this down which means cutting out some scenes or time that isn’t much important. There is also no ident to this which needs 6 seconds for 2 so you need to think about cutting is down to meet the 2 minute criteria.
There is no ident and you really need to include this. I also think that you should maybe move the title to the beginning or the end instead of bang on in the middle. Its up to you really I just think it would be more effective at the end or beginning. You should use some titles as well because this is a key part really so give this some good thought.
There is hardly any music in the background, which really made a huge impact. A soundtrack is a very important thing in a film and you really need to find music to make your film the best possible film opening it can be. Soundtrack really helps to set the scene and I would really suggest spending a lot of time on this.
I think you still need to plan things more thoroughly and you need to give the film a little more attention to detail. You are pretty much nearly ready just little more work and I think you would be ready to shoot.
I am now going to talk about how to present flashbacks.
We could have used colour in our animatics to show that the flashback was at a different time period.
We could have also faded out and then faded back in to a completely different scene to show that it was a flashback, but again because it was all done in pencil so it was hard to tell which scene was which.
In this post I will be talking you through animatics. I will be carrying out research on animatics as we as a group have to create an animatic of our own for our thriller Never Look Back.
An animatic is a preliminary version of a film, produced by shooting successive sections of a storyboard and adding a soundtrack. An animatic is simply a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence with rough dialogue and/or rough soundtrack added to the sequence of still images to test whether the sound and images work effectively together.
Animatics have changed a lot over time, they started in a very low tech manner - they were produced by filming or taping storyboards, then an editor would edit the footage to an audio track. These animatics would seem crude to today's standards, but people were able to do some remarkable work with just paper. Some companies still hang onto these old fashioned techniques, unwilling or unable to move to the next generation of production.
Today some animatic companies have developed their own computer-generated 2D and 3D art to use in their animatics. Some 3D figures look so realistic that the expense of photographing models for testing purposes has become a thing of the past.
There are 2 types of animatics a photomatic and a rip-o-matic. A photomatic is where they test their animatics or film using photography or videos that may or may not have originally been shot for something else. A photomatic is based around photography. An animatic based around re-purposed video is called a videomatic or rip-o-matic.
The elements of a film that should be included in an animatic is the soundtrack and the sound effects. The soundtrack and sound effects are an important part of an animatic because it simulates reality, it makes the audience feel as if they are a part of the scene.
It can also be used to create an illusion. For example;
"A man and a woman walk into a cafe. several other people are sitting at various tables deep in conversation. The main couple sits at a table and a series of close-ups for their conversation are presented."
By adding the sound effect of the off-scene diners the audience is convinced that they are still in the cafe. Obviously, the producer does not want to pay a group of extras to sit off camera, the sound editor places them there with his crowd for the sound
Another Example;
"A woman is sitting in her living room. The door opens and her husband walks into the room."
With the addition of a few sound effects it is possible to inform the audience that he has driven up to the house, parked his car, walked to the door and used his key to unlock the door. None of this was shot it was an illusion created with effects.
Sound effects can also be used to create mood, for example, loud, fast-paced sound effects can create an upbeat kind of mood. Slow sound effects can add a tense kind of mood to the scene.
Another element of a film that should be included in an animatic is the camera movements. Camera movements are important as they can direct the viewer's attention to a specific shot in the scene or to a significant part of the scene. It can also reveal off screen space, for example, the setting where the characters are could play an important part in the scene and could be significant to what is happening or what is going to happen in the scene.
Animatics are used to test films before they get distributed properly. The creators of the film develops several ideas. Animatics allows everyone to see what is and what is not working in the film and what needs to be changed in time so they can make significant improvements.
It allows the producer to look at the animatic and see if they like the structure and all of the elements of the film work together and if not then it gives them significant time to make some necessary changes.
Below I am going to embed some real life examples of animatics.
Despicable me 2
Here is how the scene turned out;
Joust
Batman
My next post will be our very own animatic that we have created as a group for our thriller opening never look back.
In this post I am going to be talking about our storyboards.
A storyboard is like a miniature version of the final film and acts like a blue print for your film. It's a plan that depicts your script through visuals. It's the most important stage of pre-production and it helps the director visualize the details of their film prior to the production stage.
The basic storyboard conventions that are often used in a live action film and an animated film are;
Shot Selection
Camera Movements
Shot selection;
Long Shot - A long shot is often used to introduce the beginning of a scene. It's called a long shot as the camera is generally kept far away from the subject to capture a larger area of view. A long shot establishes the audiences perception of the time, place and action of that scene. It is often used as an establishing shot.
Mid Shot - A mid shot or a medium shot is the most common shot used in film. Most of the actions happen in a medium shot. It's a heavily reliable shot as it is considered to be the closest to what we usually see in real life. Mid shots are usually framed for a single actor to waist height. For group shots with many people in it, two-shot with just two actors in it and over the shoulder shot.
Close Up Shot - A close up shot is an important element of films. A close up shot if overused can end up like a talking heads movie. Mostly close up shot helps achieve immediate intimacy. Close up of a characters face, or lips and eyes to show subtle changes in the expression helps build a strong connection with the performance and if cut smoothly to a medium shot to reveal strong body gestures, it can make the action look very effective.
Camera Movements;
Tilt - Moving the camera up or down while keeping its horizontal axis constant. Similar to when you nod your head up and down - this is tilting.
Pan - Moving the camera to one side or the other, keeping its pivot at a fix point. Look to your left and then look to your right - that panning.
Zoom - Zooming is one camera movement that most film makers are familiar with. Technically it involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame. Zooming is one of the most frequently used camera movements and one of the most overused. This action of zoom can be used to direct the viewer's attention to some specific part in the scene. Like zooming in and zooming out are more often used as revealing tools.
Dolly - If the camera moves towards the subject or away from it, it's called a dolly. The name comes from the old "dolly tracks" that used to be laid down for the heavy camera to be moved along.
Truck - Trucking is similar to dolly but the motion of the camera is left to right. It means physically moving the camera from left to right or vice versa, but keeping the perpendicular relationship intact. Not to confuse it with pan, in which the camera remains firm on its axis only its lens turns from left to right.
Benefits of creating a storyboard prior to filming;
It forces you to think through all the logistics of your film
You can determine your plot and the flow of your plot
You can determine the camera angles and movements you will use
you cam determine the graphics and sound effects you will use
It allows you to sit down with members of your team and toss ideas around.
It will help you stay organised when you shoot and edit.
Provides everyone on your team with a detailed visualization of the final product.
You can assure that your time shooting and editing will be efficient and well organised.
It informs the production team so that the vision is shared effectively.
Helps to improve/develop the narrative
make filming location more efficient
Here is a storyboard from a real film. The film is psycho.
Now that I have done the Location Research I am now going to take you through the Prop Research. Prop's need to be considered in advance so we know what we are going to need for each scene. Prop's are very important when filming as prop's can represent a character in a certain way depending on how you want to portray someone. Drama Studio - Drama Rehearsal
We will be using no prop's in this scene. All that will be in this scene is Alex and Stacey, there will only be dialogue in this scene. We are only using dialogue to build up tension as we don't know what will happen in the scene next. There will be a chair and Alex's hoodie in the scene, however, no one will be using the chair or the hoodie. The chair, therefore, will just be part of the mise-en-scene and the hoodie will be part of the mise-en-scene as well until he puts the hoodie on and then it will be part of his costume.
Following Stacey Home
In this part of our opening the only prop that will be in this scene is the phone that Alex will be using. This prop will be used to create tension as we will not know what he is doing on his phone or who he is talking to. We don't know if he is planning for someone to "take care" of Stacey or if it just an innocent text to one of his friends.
Film example - Phone Prop
The film example I have used is Taken when Bryan is on the phone to his daughter when she is being kidnapped. This creates tension as we don't know what is happening on the other end of the phone call. This is the same kind of tension we want to create in our thriller Never Look Back.
Here is the scene from Taken with the phone call between Bryan and his daughter.
Drama Studio - Kidnapping Scene
In this scene the prop's that we will be using are either pieces of cloth or rope in order to tie Alex the the chair when Stacey has kidnapped him. This is used to create tension. It will make the audience watching think that Stacey isn't going to let Alex go.
Film Example - Rope
In this film there is a scene where the man kidnaps the woman and has tied her to the chair using rope this is the same tension we hope to create in our thriller Never Look Back.
The next prop in this scene we will be using is a gag. Alex will be wearing this when Stacey kidnaps him. This will create tension as Alex will not be able to speak or say anything this makes us think what Stacey is going to do to him next.
Film Example - Gag Here is an example of a gag being used in the film absence.
The next prop in the film is the keys. Stacey will have her keys with her when she is walking into her house.
The next prop in the film will be a bat or a glass beer bottle. This is when Alex is waiting for Stacey but then suddenly gets knocked out by someone.
Film Example - Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl
In this clip you will need to skip to 4.05 to see Jack Sparrow being hit over the head with a glass bottle.
Official Prop's List
In my next post I will be talking about storyboard research that we have had to do in order to create a storyboard of our own.
