connotations

Connotations

Here, the over the shoulder shot presents some connotations of the "college" atmosphere, i.e. the own clothes, the locker - we did this in relation of our teen genre. The positioning of mise en scene, frames and emphasis our main character's situation, this forms the urgency of knowing (hence the shot's effect of a second person peeking) within the audience. We don't clearly see what is in the locker making this the just of our climax (an enigma). We were inspired to make a homage of a shot on the back of another shot from "not another teen movie" which shows two teens conversing. However our shot is more focused, it subverts the typical use of a convention in a teen movie because the dead bird creates an intense mood for the audience instead of making light of the situation and we also made a contrast of colour using dull colours which has an effect of creating seriousness. Knowing this is just a 2 minute opening of our movie, we manipulate different levels of tension to grasp our target audience aiming to maintain them watching till the end.

Post by Sam Kitondo

character

Our main plan for the character of daniel was to make sure he was an 'average teenager', the side fringe and modern brand-name clothing helped to create this image. However we didn't want to show a representation of a steryotypical hooded teenager, because this image has many negative connotations and would distance the audience from sympathising and bonding with the character.
We also didn't want our audience to think the main character was being bullied due to his popularity, specifically how 'cool' the other students thought he was: this is why we didn't fall into the trap of making Daniel a nerd sterotype, because this would have also distracted from the message behind the film and from the audience's emphathy toward the character. However there is a specific part in the film opening when Daniel is dressed in young children's clothing spcifically designed to make Daniel look 'uncool' adding a bit of humour into our opening sequence, but also emphasising the psychological bullying taking place, humiliating him rather than hurting him physically.


post by shona ☺

Distributor

We thought Pathé Would be an ideal distributor for our film; one of the major distributors for the Uk, Pathé not only distribute specialised films but also mainstream blockbusters like the enormously successful 'Slumdog Millionaire'. We thought it would be a good choice of distributor because they are very well known and are an experienced and trusted distributor, who have distributed a wide range of successful films.

Pathé website

"Lolita" is a film distributed by Pathé about the relationship between a teenager and an older man. Similar to our production, this is a gritty drama, and though not a teen movie specifically, the main character is a teenager, like ours.

Another gritty film focused on the problems of teenage life is "The Virgin Suicides" which shows how the struggles of teenage life can damage a person physically and psychologically, just like our own film opening

post by Alex Bayo Shona & Sam ☺

Technology

During the course of making this film opening, we have had to use a variety of different technologies and programs in ordre to succeed.
One of the most useful tools we have used is the internet on our Mac computer, specifically two websites, Youtube and Blogger.com, the site on which we have documented all our progress.

Youtube was particularly useful because we could easily research genres and film openings by searching through the video clips and watching them. This made our research quick and easy to complete, and gave us more time to complete our filming.

Blogger.com made it possible to easily record our progress simply and made it possible for us to keep all our information in one easy to access location, which made it easy for us to look on what we've done well and what has yet to be improved.

We've learned to use the technology available to us, and how to use it to make our workload more managable and easier to complete. The technology around us is there to help us, and that is what we should use it for.

Post by Shona ☺

Feedback from Thurs 19th

On Thursday 19th, we presented our film in progress at an audience screening and got a lot of useful feedback both positive and negative:
the general concensus was that the opening credits, displayed on everyday items, were inventive and well portrayed although some of the shots could benefit from being shorter. Our variety of shots and the editing was well recieved by the audience as was the script in the voice over, and the cliffhanger ending; however the sound editing of the music left much to be desired and we need to re-record the voice over to make it clearer and so it matches closer with the transitions. The transitions were thought to be good although the ripple effect we added was generally disliked, and is something we need to improve in order to make our final product flow more.
This feedback will directly influence our work in the weeks to come and will allow our final product to be as well thought out and professional as possible.

post by Shona ☺

Presentation

Here is the presentation we used for visual stimulus during the pitch for our film opening:

ABSS productions

View more presentations from Dunraven.

Post by Alex, Bayo, Sam & Shona ☺☻

Location shots

Here are some of the photographs taken when scouting out Daniel's house.

These pictures are of possible shots we will use for the opening sequence, since our credits will be written on everyday objects, like on the side of his shoe. Here we were exploring the size of the shot, and the tilt of the shoe, to make the shot look realistic rather than stilted.

Here was a possible high tilt we're going to use for another name from the credits, we're planning for the actor to take down the cereal box to reveal another with the name written on it. However, from this picture, there isn't enough light so we may have to alter that when it comes to filming.

Here is one of our more ambitious shots, filming Daniel through the mirror at a tilt, rather than straight on. We had some problems organising the location of the camera for this shot because we couldn't have the camera reflected in the mirror, although we've now sorted out that problem by filming at an angle. This is also a form of establishing shot, but also another credit name will be in the shot, written on the mirror.

post by Shona ☺

explanation of shots- group 5

SHOT 1:
The close up/ cutaway shot of the alarm clock is used to automatically introduce the audience the time and begins the link between the playing diegetic music which slowly transforms to non diegetic.

SHOT 2:
The aerial shot links in with the opening credit using a pillowcase to emphasise the originality, thus also keeping the audience interested.

SHOT 3:
The close up is of Daniel staring back at the camera - which is meant to be a mirror, identifying with the audience that he is getting ready for something in the bathroom with the fact of him brushing his teeth.

SHOT 4:
The mid-shot of Daniel begins with a view of his legs then a telephoto zoom of his footwear/shoes while he is putting them on linking in the credit sequence.

SHOT 5:
The text message on the mobile phone is again purposely used as mise-en-scene to indicate that this is a teen genre with the inclusion of the props we use.

SHOT 6:
The mid panning shot is used to identify the location where the audience sees Daniel’s relation with the props they know that that is his house.

SHOT 7:
The camera in the cupboard creates a confined special feeling and the combinations of shapes focus on the main character to identify with the audience that he is basically boxed up.

SHOT 8:
The transition from the cupboard to the school locker creates a continuous mood and atmosphere but set in another location. This is done to portray the persistence of Daniel always being a target, of victimization.

SHOT 9:
We use the over the shoulder shot to continue the alienation effect, alluring a sympathetic feeling between the audience and our main character. Daniel.

SHOT 10,11,12:
These are the flashback stages of Daniel being bullied, psychologically, to build awareness to the audience of what’s happening. Theses methods of bullying we use here are, his drink getting spiked, multiple pictures of him along the college walls and his clothes being replaced with children’s clothes and because he has nothing else he has to wear them.

SHOT 13:
Once maintaining the audience’s awareness of what has happened/happening, we purposely want Daniel to close the locker door to show the ending of his life of bullying and leaves the audience in a cliff hanger/enigma, initially it being the end of the shot!

SHOT 14:
Continuing the originality of our credit sequence we had to put the title on the locker, then using the camera to focuses in on it setting the atmosphere for the audience.

post by Sam Kitondo

Shooting Schedule >D

Here is the main part of our shooting schedule, although some of the dates are still TBC and it's still open to improvement apon further discussion with our Actor:



















post by Shona ☺

Additional Research :)

Since we are making a Teen film which explores teen issues we decided to do a survey asking our intended audience (teenagers, 15+) about their thoughts and their prefrences. We asked approximately 30 people in our sixth form common room to fill out our survey:

Two thirds of people asked watched many teen films, and the remainder still watched Teen movies, although less frequently. When asked if they'd rather prefer comedy or thriller, most circled comedy, although almost all confessed that 'It would depend on their mood'. However despite this when asked would a film focusing on teenage issues be improved using aspects of thriller or comedy; the vast majority said that it would be improved by the thriller treatment, and one volunteer stated "If it was comedy, it would be sickeningly cheesy" and most disliked films which revolved around teenage problems.
These results supported our main idea for our film opening. We will be making a film focusing on bullying and teenage issues, although we will be making it more dynamic and interesting by using concepts from psychological thrillers. Our target audience is also interested in Teen movies, and this gives us an incentive to stick with this genre.


post by Alex, Bayo, Sam & Shona ☻

Story Board <3

This is an outline of the general story in story board form, and also a collection of different shots/techniques we plan to use, and their effects.



















(click on image to enlarge)

post by Shona ☻

Actors, Locations, Props & Costumes

We are using Daniel Chapman as our main actor. Not only is he enthusiastic, but he's willing and he's available at the same times as us: period 3&4 on a tuesday and period 2 on a friday.
Daniel fits our original plan for the main character; 16/17, white, average teenager. Being 5'8'' with brown hair and eyes, he is a generic character, which makes sure the audience don't presume there is a racial or physical reason he's getting bullied. The more normal he is the more the audience relate to him, and the more potent the anti-bullying message is.

We have more than one location for our film opening. The main location will be the locker room in the sixth form block (room 005) in which will be filmed the bullying scene, where we get our first taste of the psychological torture he has to live through. The stark grey and bright artificial lighting give an eerie surreal feeling to the scene, which only enhances the disturbing nature of the discovery of the dead bird. It's also easily accessible, and empty during lesson time.

The other location is Daniel's house, where the film titles and very beginning is filmed. Because the opening sequence is supposed to create an atmosphere of normality and familiarity, filming this in a place Daniel is used to allows him to relax, and makes his acting more natural, and helps to further immerse the audience. Also, it being a teenagers room and house, aids in asserting the Teen film genre.



The costumes we are going to use in our film opening will be Daniel's everyday clothes, usually a striped longsleeves and skinny black jeans. We will use this because they are common clothes, easy to obtain and worn by modern teenagers. this will again affirm the Teen film genre, making Daniel recognisable as an average teenager, someone the audience can relate to.

At one point in the script, the main character's clothing gets switched with that of a small child, another aspect of the psychological bullying part of the film. These clothes will drastically differ from Daniel's normal clothing, being much smaller in size and brightly coloured to emphasise the cruelty of switching the clothes, but also the main character's humiliation in having to wear them.


Throughout the opening there is a variety of different props including a pillow with 'AB§ Productions' printed on it, a mirror, a mobile phone, a cereal box and a pair of trainers. These items will all be used in the beginning to show the opening titles, the names being written on these items as the main character picks them up and uses them as he gets ready. Names will be written in soap on the mirror as the main character brushes his teeth, typed into the mobile as he sends a text, drawn onto the side of his shoe as he bends down to lace them up and written on the side of the cereal box. This allows us to utilise the full two minutes whilst still including unique titles.
The main prop during our opening sequence will be a dead bird, although not a real one because of hygiene and moral issues. This prop is incredibly important because it not only marks a major change in mood, but also it symbolises the pain the main character has gone through, and it epitomises all the bullying he has had to endure. we don't yet have this prop, although it has come to our attention that the art department has a model dead bird we could use, which we will enquire about ASAP. If we cannot use that model, another option is to make one, and we already have a member who has volunteered to do so.

post by Alex, Bayo, Sam & Shona ☺

Pitch! :D

Here is the write up of the pitch we presented on Thursday 22nd:

Our film is about a teenager (16/17) who, for his whole life, has suffered psychological abuse and bullying, and has decided once and for all to put an end to it. The film is about how more damaging attacking someone's self esteem and confidence can be rather than simple physical violence and threats. The main enigma's suggested in the opening are; who is bullying the main character and why? And what is he going to do to stop it?
The opening presents an isolation of dialogue, this gives us the literal connotation that he is quiet and not really engaging, this also creates an enigma.

The outline of our opening sequence will start with the main character waking up and getting ready to school; the credits appearing on everyday items, such as written on the side of his shoe. Then it will cut to his school locker wherein is placed a dead bird. A voice over and flashback will start giving the audience a taste of what his life has been like. It will cut back to the school and will end with the film title written on his locker door.
What makes our film unique is that, unlike many other movies, we wanted to portray the psychological effect of bullying rather than the cliché of a hormone driven scene of violence. One of the effects we thought would work was the use of a dead bird placed in a locker, which is in a moral sense is pretty disgusting.
In addition we stayed with the idea of having key moments in the flashback to create the sense of our hybrid genre of a British social realist drama/ teen movie.
For ideas relating to the main character we decided to use a white 16/17 year old male. We decided specifically on white and male because the audience isn't told why he's getting bullied and we don't want them to jump to the conclusion that it's racism or sexism. Being the white 'neutral' boy it makes him a normal person, like you, which makes the audience relate to him and sympathize with him. You can also easily tell he's the main character because a) he is in every scene, and has the most screen time. b) All the events relate to him and c) it's his voice we hear in the voice over.

Our film is both practical and viable mainly because the majority of our opening will be filmed at our school, which makes it easy to access and more realistic that our group will be able to meet up for the filming. Also having a modern teenager for the main character means we won't have to use period set or clothing, and it's easier for us to get into the mindset of the main character.

We were influenced by several different films including 'thirteen' (2003) with its gritty realism, which shows the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. 'One Tree Hill' (series) is very similar, in that it explores teenage problems, like peer pressure and forging relationships.

We were directly influenced by 'College' (2008)'s opening, where the credits were written on different everyday items associated with teenagers. We took that concept and adapted on it, making it more relevant to our main character, rather than random items.

Post by Alex, Bayo, Sam and Shona ☺

Target audience ☻

Since our film opening is going to be a Teen film/psychological drama we were going to make the target audience teenagers, by addressing teen problems, such as bullying, and having it portrayed by a teen cast.
We originally thought a 12+ rating would be appropriate, allowing for the largest possible audience within the teen spectrum. However we discovered the psychological bullying displayed in the opening sequence would be too distressing to younger teens; so we changed the target audience to ages 15+ so we could focus on putting our point across, rather than making the psychological bullying less disturbing ( so that it would be suitable for a 12+ audience) which would dull the overall effect, and make the message less poignant.

post by Shona ☺

Sound Track and Tunes

Today we searched for possible copy right music that would be useful for our opening sequence. We used wesites such as http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ and http://www.audio.lgfl.org.uk/ These websites proved to be very helpful and have helped us move a step further in the organisation of our film opening.

In addition to this we drew a general outline of the shots that we would be using upto half way of the film. Also we watched a few films such as Black Knight by Gil Junger and College by Deb Hagan which had similar shots to the shots we have decided to use.



Post by Bayo.

Blog no. 1: Genre ☺

Teen movies are movies whose target audience are teenagers. Most of the cast, or the main members of the cast, are teenagers, and often the main crux of the story is teenage problems, revolving around peer pressure, relationships, school life and romance.

Teen movies are very open to interpretation and because of this there are many unique Teen movie opening sequences. However, most teen movies use the opening to introduce the main character and the time period, whilst the main plot and sometimes the location remain as enigmas to the audience.

Because so much can fit under the genre of ‘Teen movies’, they are often made into hybrids; the most frequent of these are teen/drama and teen/comedy.

Teen/Drama focuses heavily on teenage life, and, more often than not, explores some form of abuse associated with teenagers. This could include bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, physical/sexual abuse and prejudice/discrimination. the opening of Teen/Drama film ‘Thirteen’ (2003) is a perfect example of this, showing teenagers abusing drugs which leads to severe self destructive behaviour.
Teen/Comedy films generally parody teen life, exaggerating awkward situations and making light of the problems Teen/Dramas focus seriously on, often by using slapstick comedy. The Teen/Comedy genre centres around mocking stereotypes linked with teenagers. For Example, in this scene from ‘Superbad’ (2007) when they make fun of alcohol abuse, showing drunk police officers act in a dangerous, juvenile manner toward the main characters, though the situation isn’t taken seriously.

Post by Shona ☺