Refelction

The website and poster are due next lesson. I'm proud of the layout of my website, especially the characters page and the amount of effort that was put into all the links. But, especially after looking at Emilys awesome site, I feel that mine is far below the professional-looking level, and I'm not sure how to change it, not just because there is no time left but because personally I can find very little to work with in the area of this film. I know that someone who was really good at creative media, or if I was as adapt in creative as in my other subjects, that the possibilities really would be endless, and I'm just not being open-minded enough. I know that there are plenty of excuses, like preparing for both tests and Japan and meetings and workshops and lectures etc. but I know that if I was more organized I would actually have plenty of time to invest in this website. I actually feel really bad for not doing so well this year, because I wanted to end my creative media lessons with a good impression, on myself and my effort skills. I also wish that I had enough to talk about so that these reflections would end up helping me rather than just sounding like diary entries, or something else retarded like that. Even now, thought of Final Fantasy are filling my head, I just can't get myself to focus in class, and when I do focus it's only for a short while before I start worrying again about how much I have to do and how I really can't afford to miss two lessons in the week before test block. I don't even know particularly why I'm so worried about missing those lessons, I've never really had to much and I've never really put much effort in preparing for tests of any kind, I just do what I'm asked, no more, no less, I guess it's just a rebound of my fear of doing anything that may require effort and be outside of the comfort zone induced by my rebelliousness, which I personally hate because I can see how stupid that attitude is and how much more I could achieve if I let myself do things despite the expectations that people have of me.
Once again I've wandered off topic, my website just feels to simple and little-kiddy looking, I tried to use similarity and repetition on every page, but it seems to have worked to well, and just looks like I'm trying to get out of doing more complicated work. =^_^= Ah well, no one will read this anyway.

Reflection

These last few lessons we have been working on our wbsite and poster. I started with my wbsite, and I basically got nowhere near anything in that lesson because of all the time it took mucking around trying to make things work. The next lesson I started on my poster and I think it's going really well so far, I looked up a couple more posters and I got the idea to use the park scene (with no people) as the badckground, as it isn't too busy but it is an extremely important part of the story. I was messing around with photoshop and I found out how to wash it out or something like that so now my poster is basically black and white and I think the whole effect makes it seem a lot more tragedy/supernatural etc. Now i'm, also thinking abut what to make the background of my website, as the image I had really had nothing to do with the film at all. So I think the same washed out park image will do perfectly, and if it is too small and streches out then that is no problem as will give it an even more mysterious effect, but i'll have to check it out next lesson.

Tree Diagram

Website

CoverPage -
The cover page will contain the title of the story and a one way link to the homepage. It will be a plain background with large, loopy text for the title and smaller text for the "enter site" caption.

Homepage -
The homepage will contain the blurb, film title, menu system and the film poster. The background will be the dark foggy one and the text will all be either red or blue depending on the appearance of the background.

Characters Page -
The characters page will follow the same trend colour scheme and background wise. It will contain short descriptions of each of the main characters and links leading to image pages of each of them.

Trailer Page -
This page will contain a blurb of the story or something simular and a placeholder for the trailer. Matching coolour scheme, title and menu linking the page to the character page, story page and the homepage.

Stroy Page -
This will contain the synopsis of the story and a few images from the film.

Poster

Images -
For the poster a background image is required, this could either be a background similar to that of the site, dark and foggy, or it could use the park background or a close up of one the characters, probably Suzie. If it was a picture of Suzie the background would have to be plain and dark, maybe the foggy type, with very few colours other than that.

Text -
The title would be the films title "Rules Of Life" with either the slogan or the blurb, depending on space available. The main characters names will be across the top, depending on the colour scheme they will be in plain text. The release date could be anything probably the date the task is due or something, and it will be in one of the bottom corners of the poster.

Planning - Text

Synopsis -
Blurb: Missing memories, visions of a dead friend, sisters who can't see you, Suzie doesn't know what has happened to her and when she finds out... how could she believe it?

Synopsis: After an argument with her mother, Suzie runs from her home. She unknowingly puts herself in the path of tragedy when she goes alone to the park. When she wakes up with no memory of having gotten home, and finds her dead friend sitting on her couch she and her family discover that the only way to be happy is to let go.

Slogan: When the only option is to acknowledge the truth.

Cast and Crew:
Suzie - Played by Emily Bennett, this tragic story revolves around Suzie and how she must accept her own death in order to let her family move on.

Lettie - Played by Katie Manchester, the dead friend of Suzie, this mysterious apparition endeavors to help her friend understand.

Mother - Played by Shelby Batty, this woman mourns the loss of her daughter but refuses to let the rest of the family stay in the past.

Sister - Played by Amelia Batty, Jess loved her sister dearly and holds on so strongly to her memories that she almost comes into contact with the spirit of her lost older sister.

Planning

Background -
If I am trying to play the genre of my movie to its fullest extent the image I want to use must reflect this. I'm going to use a picture containing fog, hopefully it will have a purple or blue colour tinge to it and possibly some water or anything else to exaggerate the mystery tragedy type of genre. These are some examples I found.

Colour Scheme -
The images I use from the film will also have to relate to this, maybe a few close-ups or the empty park or something, if I edit that it could also be used as a background image. Overall I'm going to aim for a cool colour scheme of blues, greens, and purples, maybe I'll make the text red/crimson to add more to the feel, and also because it is a complementary colour which will make it stand out without looking bad, it also represents blood an tragedy.

Reflection

Poster making was really fun the other day, and it was also really helpful because I needed a brush-up on photoshop techniques, I haven't used it in ages and it takes me fives seconds to forget what I just did. I got even better today, figuring out by myself how to change all different colours and parts. Making the same poster again but differently was really hard. I couldn't think of any other genre because my image is just a few scrunched up bits of paper fading into black. So when I tried to mnake it lighter and happy I couldn't change the brightness because it was just black and there was no former background to illuminate. I ended up just making it a faded brown theme, I have no idea what sort of genre it is now, but it's definately something old fashioned or seomthing to do with ppolitics, which of course is hard to get away from considering the name I had to use. It was still fun though, but I think I need to decide what image I'm going to use for my actual film poster, since I am using my own film. A plain background may be good, I think, with a picture of emilys face or the park or something related to the story. xp =^_^=

Poster Practice

Twilight

I was just looking for another site to continue my research and it was actually a brilliant idea! The Eclipse site has a little comments box on the side on the front page next to the trailer and I think that's a great idea because people love being able to express themselves and also to see what other people think.
From reading the character descriptions on this site I have learned that while writing them it is not good to write assumptions about feelings and especially appearances as they make the whole thing sound corny and gay and pathetic. However I don't think I will have to try so hard to avoid this problem as my movie is not derived from a book.

Harry Potter - Deathly Hallows

The colours are repetitive, when it comes to the text all of it is in silver, keeping the site related. There is plenty of space in the background and all the pages are focused on one specific thing eg. Characters, Storyling etc.
The overall feel is a bit omnious, like something very big and important and final is comming up, which is true because it is the long awaited end of a long series. All the colours and the burning background add to the tragic atomosphere.
There is a varitey of posters for the film, some contain images of characters and some of objects which are important in the film, for example the Diadem of Ravenclaw.
The website is layed out very clearly, the background stays the same for every page and the information is all displayed in the same fashion, the box just reappears with a different content.
It definately appeals well to the the target audience, both people who are already fans of the series and to people who know nothing about it. It is colourful, and the fact the background is a huge burning castle begs the question "what is going on?"
I like the layout, is looks really clean-cut and proffessional.

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/index.html

The Dark Knight

The site retains the same colour throughout, it is dark and black and reflects the film itself and the supernatural theme of it. Each page contains much space and is centered around one idea, such as the trailer, the characters, the dates etc.
The front page contains a picture of the main character and the background is an image of the city which the film is about, these elements give continuous insight to the storyline of the film and build up an expectancy by the viewers of what they will see in the film.
There are many posters for this film, most of them contain very little information other then a couple of dates and the name of the film. They mostly contain images of the two main characters and are in similar formats which relate them to each other.
The menu system is also interactive.
The target audience is a wide age-range, from 15 years to 30's, the site is interactive both visually and through audio, it targets people who like action and some sort of tradgedy through the dark colurs and full-on background sound.
I like the fact that it is all very simular, it makes it easy to relate every part of the film and its advertisments.

http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/dvdsite/

Post-Production

There were a few problems encountered during post-production and editing. Technically there was a problem with the format of my film, I had created using a lower definition so when it was converted the image appeared stretched. I also ran into trouble with some time management, by the time I learned how to properly use the program final cut I had only enough time to make a couple of quick changes, however, I didn't have enough time as the shots ended up too bright and it make the film a little jerky with odd colours. I also had I slight problem when I didn't have the files I needed to make the film run smoothly, as I had deleted all the ones I believed I wasn't going to use, so in one scene the sister puts the dog down then is holding it a second later.

Storyboards were of absolutely no use which really brought the filming down in my opinion, they would have allowed us to have a specific thing to follow and film, however, the story kept getting changed, so the storyboards no longer applied, and the group kept changing what they wanted to do during the filming process, which made it even more confusing. The rough edit was really useful, it showed us what we needed to change and where effects and voice-overs were needed. We eventually got a script as well and that was really useful as we knew exactly what we needed to say, allowing to film the shots as many times as we wanted and using different parts for the same scene as the words

For time-management there were a few issues, however the only ways I could fix these were to cut things short, or only make them half as good as they could have been, because all the time issues I encountered were ones where I learned information too late to use it appropriately in my film. The worst t.m. issue was the voice recording one, we didn't get it done until a Friday lunch-time and the film was due the next Tuesday, I couldn't get a laptop out for the weekend and so I only had Monday night to work on it, it was made even worse when I got to work on it finally and the brilliant voice recording system which we waited so long for had recorded the sounds so low we could hardly hear them, therefore I had to lower the volume of every single part of my sound-track individually in order to make the voices heard.

I don't think effective use was really made of the EDL because it wasn't until after the scenes were made that I knew exactly the way I wanted to put them together, it was also difficult because the group couldn't really help each other as we were each making pretty different films using different shots and slightly different storylines.

I think after I was reminded what to do that I effectively made plenty of reflections, however they weren't really of any use to me, next time think what I need to do is not reflect but plan ahead if I need to use them productively.

I learned how to use the program final cut pro, and how to convert our clips to the correct format to be used in final cut through another program, I also learned how to individually change parts of the sound in garageband, including parts from the films soundtrack.

I'm not satisfied with the final result of my film, there are many aspects that I had wished to change or improove which I noticed during the progress, but my time managment seemed to be so bad that I only got half the job done that I wanted.

If I could I would have spent much more time on the editing, making it far smoother, finding the scene I was missing with the dog, making the sound better etc. I would have liked to re-record the sound as I had been expecting it to be much better then it turned out to be, however I only discovered this the day before it was due so I couldn't do anything about it.

If I could start again I would definately do a few things differently, I would start by making sure the storyline had storyboards to follow, then I would get all the planning for filming done with plently of time. I would get the voice recording done much earlier so that if there were any problems I would have time to fix them. I would also pay more attention to the editing. Basically I think the only real problem with my project, or the factor that made it un-satisfying, was the lack of time management so that would the factor that never left my head if I did the project again.

E-Z-T Film + Emilys Film

In Elenas film the overall editing was done very well with much detail, they used overlapping layers, colour manipulation as well as camera movement and angle. These effects made the films genre and storyline much more apparent even though it was still only a short film. They also used the effect of taking many photos and using photoshop then running them together to make a scene that would fit in with the normal runs, this allowed them to put in extra effects, it was a brilliant idea. They could just improove one of the first scenes, where she was going into the house, it was a little long, and the sound seemed a bit "echoey". In comparison to mine, the film seemed to have had a lot more time put into it, and far more checking and double-checking of the editing and sound.

Emilys film was done really well in the sense that they chose a perfect storyline for the task, it was short but contained many different elements, as they could use whatever they wanted to slow the girl down, such as a long trip, falling over etc. The film had good use of camera angles as well. The thing that could have been a bit better were the sound, as it was a bit hard to hear in some shots. Compared to mine the storyline was far clearer and it was also funny and had a meaning that was easy to read.

Relfection

All that's really left is the voices. Hopefully that should go smoothly, I timed the blank spaces myself, but if Emily doesn't say it right, even with the script, it's going to mess up my whole film, and I won't be able to fix it because we're out if time. However I don't really think I'll have that problem because Emily always tries her hardest. I'll have plenty of time to get it done on Monday night, as long as I don't forget, I think it would be easier if I could get a laptop and do it on the weekend, that would also help to NOT break my back, as I always do going home with those stupid heavy laptop bags, but I know that I wouldn't get it done on the weekend, and there would probably be no laptops left for me to get anyway. I'm happy with my film, I know it's not the best I could have done, even though I worked really hard on it, but I'm not telling myself that there was more I could have done, only more I should possibly have done, but I work better when I allow myself to be laid back and get it done the way that makes me feel happy with my work. Unfortunately I can't escape from all the other assignments which are more pressing and more important, to me at least. I guess all this means that the real problems I've had with this unit are all to do with myself, I can't manage my time properly and I can make myself do the work the work if it's uninteresting, or, especially in the case of this, embarrassing. But the good things that have come from it is learning just how much better I do when I don't go all out on an assignment, because for some strange reason, when I work harder, I get worse marks, maybe that's why I can't motivate myself? =^_^=

Reflection

So now the problem is with the sound, since the specific type of music that goes with whatever genre this film is supposed to be is unclear to me, I basically have to guess what music and effects to add because I'm not very well versed in sound and films. The problem is that I need the music to be subtle, and I also can't find much that I want. It helped a lot when we were showed how to edit the different volumes of specific bits of the sound. Garageband is really annoying, however, because you can not search for types of music like, for example, "build up beat" or something like that. Luckily I've found a few things that I like and think work.

(Well, I forgot to post this, and now I'm not sure what else I was going to say, but I'll still put it up, as progress.)

Props List

Production Title:
Props Master: Emily Bennett, Shelby Batty, Katie Manchester Scene 1 to 13
Director: Olivia Park
Scene #
Name Characters Required Props/Costumes Required
1.

Arriving Home Susie • School Uniform
• Empty Neighborhood
• Susie’s house
2.

Kitchen Scene Susie
Susie’s Mother • School Uniform
• Causal clothes for the mother
• Kitchen equipment e.g. knives, chopping board, food, kitchen table
• Laptop
• Chair
3.

Running Throw the Park Susie
Two Men • Empty Park
• School Uniform
• Gangster clothes for the two men characters

4.

Beating Up Susie Susie
Two Men • Empty Play Ground e.g. swing
• School Uniform
• Gangster clothes for the two men characters
• Toy Gun
5.

Phone the Police Susie’s Mother
Susie’s Sister • Causal Clothes for the mother
• Causal Clothes for the sister
• Phone
• Chairs•
6.

Waking Up Susie • Bed
• Pillows
• School Uniform
• Stuffed Tory
• Bedroom equipment e.g. table, photo frames,

Edit Descision List

I finally got this sorted out, but it might look a bit strange put on the blog.

Production Title: Rules of Life
Director: Emily Bennett Sequence/Scene Name: Kitchen Fight
Editor: Katie Manchester
File/Clip Name Start Timecode End Timecode Shot Description
Emily Driveway Emily, in her school uniform, walks down the driveway.
Emily Front Door Emily walks in the door.
Into The Kitchen Emily enters the kitchen where her mother is grating carrot.
Emily’s Conversation Emily asking and responding to questions from Shelby.
Emily’s Convo Emily asking and responding to questions from Shelby.
Shelby’s Conversation Shelby responding to questions asked by Emily, and asking in return.


Production Title: Rules of Life
Director: Emily Bennett Sequence/Scene Name: Waking Up
Editor: Katie Manchester
File/Clip Name Start Timecode End Timecode Shot Description
Wake Up Emily Emily wakes up in her bed and runs to the door.
Looking Around Emily runs down the corridor looking around.
Emily Stairs Emily walks down the stairs, confused.
Emily Katie Couch Emily meets Katie on the couch and doesn’t believe her eyes.


Production Title: Rules of Life
Director: Emily Bennett Sequence/Scene Name: Park Scene
Editor: Katie Manchester
File/Clip Name Start Timecode End Timecode Shot Description
Emily Running Emily running into the park.
Running Past Emily running into the park with the bad guys going past.
Sit On Swing Emily sits on the swing in the park.
Emily Shelby Olivia Attack Shelby grabs Emily on the swing, Emily runs to the fence, fails to get over it and is thrown onto the ground.
Emily Beaten Up Emily gets beaten up on the ground.


Production Title: Rules of Life
Director: Emily Bennett Sequence/Scene Name: Explanation Scene
Editor: Katie Manchester
File/Clip Name Start Timecode End Timecode Shot Description
Emily Katie Dog Emily and Katie are talking on the stairs outside about Emily being dead.
Dog Sister Close The camera moves form Emily and Katie outside to the door where Amelia comes out.
Emily Sister Door Amelia, with the dog, sees Emily and runs to the door.
Through Door Sister Amelia is let in through the door by Emily.

Production Title: Rules of Life
Director: Emily Bennett Sequence/Scene Name: Mother Yells At Sister
Editor: Katie Manchester
Sister To Mum Amelia tells Shelby that she has seen Emily but they get into a fight about the fact that she is dead.

Production Title: Rules of Life
Director: Emily Bennett Sequence/Scene Name: The End
Editor: Katie Manchester
File/Clip Name Start Timecode End Timecode Shot Description
Set The Table Shelby and Amelia are in the kitchen, Shelby tells her to set table.

Reflection

I feel much happier about my film now. Since having the idea of adding more to the storyline and then learning how to add effects the whole task seems more much interesting. All i have to do is add the title and credits, if needed, then hopefully I can find some really well-suited sound and effects to add when we put it in garageband. The only problem left is really getting it finished on time, but since there is so little left to do that probably won't be a problem.

Music - The Shadow

Adventurous, magical, creepy, dark, strange, unreal, danger, unexpected, un-settled

A movie with a goal in mind that will lead the people into danger, strange things occur, traveling is involved

Volume becomes louder as tempo speeds up, the end becomes much softer but darker,
suggesting that something new is happening or about to happen

Woodwind, strings, brass

Reflection/Evaluation

During the filming of the project there were many problems and diffuculties. None of us were experienced with a camera, so our filming was pretty all over the place, even when we got the tripod on the second day of our filming. All of us had different images in our minds of what the film should look like, because the script was changed and we therefore had no storyboard to follow, it was very hard to get the scenes we wanted. We had trouble getting the film done because of timing, all of our scenes were at a house and so we had to set up dates and get everyone to go over, however, since it was on the weekends people were busy and we only had two sepereate days to film. Both times one team member didn't show up, though she did want too, the first date was good and we got most filming done but we were inexperienced so it turn oout so well. The second date, times of 'visiting' to film were cut short for two more members. We ended up getting all the filming done though, and it only took two days.

One of the tricks I learned during the filming process was something Mr Andrews taught us about how the different angles really make a person seem more imposing or insignifigant. It may be a bad excuse but even after we learned this is seems we are still to amatuer to use the technique properly, however it still did make a difference in the scene that we completely re-shot.

I am satisfied with our film progress, I just need to learn how to use the new program and then it will hopefully be a much easier task then it has been so far.

I believe that our time has been managed effectively, we only had two days to film, yet we managed to get all the film we needed and I am happy with what we got.

There are a few things I would like to change, a few of the scenes which have problems that can hopefully be fixed during the editing problem. Another thing would be the lengths of some of the scenes, which is probably a problem with the storyline not the clips we filmed, there are a couple of shots which are simply too long and make the rest of the film seem oddly fast, I don't think it will go well together or make the time limit when the film is completed.

If I could start again I would start from the very begining and choose a different story which be shot a school, becuase managing everything in our spare time made it extremely difficult, however it also helped, we have taken it much less seriously if we had thought that we had a lot more time to think about it. I would also change the actors if I could start again, either change just mine or get some people who were willing to help out and were confident in their acting skills, it may not be about how well we act but every time I see a scene with myself in it all the problems just jump out at me and I cannot make proper desicions as I am unwilling to watch them repeatedly or even once.

Props and Costume List

Production Title:
Props Master: Emily Bennett, Shelby Batty, Katie Manchester Scene 1 to 13
Director: Olivia Park
Scene #
Name Characters Required Props/Costumes Required
1.

Arriving Home Susie • School Uniform
• Empty Neighborhood
• Susie’s house
2.

Kitchen Scene Susie
Susie’s Mother • School Uniform
• Causal clothes for the mother
• Kitchen equipment e.g. knives, chopping board, food, kitchen table
• Laptop
• Chair
3.

Running Throw the Park Susie
Two Men • Empty Park
• School Uniform
• Gangster clothes for the two men characters

4.

Beating Up Susie Susie
Two Men • Empty Play Ground e.g. swing
• School Uniform
• Gangster clothes for the two men characters
• Toy Gun
5.

Phone the Police Susie’s Mother
Susie’s Sister • Causal Clothes for the mother
• Causal Clothes for the sister
• Phone
• Chairs•
6.

Waking Up Susie • Bed
• Pillows
• School Uniform
• Stuffed Tory
• Bedroom equipment e.g. table, photo frames,

More Filming

We got together again to finish the filming, it had both good and bad elements. Two people were sick, the one who came unfortunately didn't feel very well or do much, she only had to film however so it wasn't too bad, the other unfortunately had to stay at home which sucked because she was the one who really wanted to come and act. The scenes were far easier to film this time, we knew the procedure, the script had been changed to a far more likable one which was more in my comfort zone at least, so the first few scenes went pretty smoothly. The park scene, which I didn't really think we needed to change, went well in the way that we got good shots, it was really a good thing because we had only about fifteen minutes to do it so we were in a hurry, and there also other people in the park which we had to maneuver around and keep out of the shots. We had a little bit of trouble with the dog but it worked out pretty well considering it was not a trained dog or anything. Overall the filming went pretty well but we didn't get everything finished because somebody else decided to leave early, however the shots we got were good and we have enough to finsih the film, hopefully. =^_^=

Comment

I haven't really got much to comment on except the planning which I keep hearing, which happens to be an extremely bad thing. Changing parts of the scenes is great, it always happens, it needs to happen, things need to be changed to fit the story or the background or any other random elements, but continuously changing the whole story, not just the scenes is a complete waste of time and resources. If the scenes you shot were bad focus on fixing them, don't go around and change the whole story because you think it looks bad on camera, that's pointless. I want to put all my effort into this task, but it keeps changes into things that I'm uncomfortable with, not only that, but I have no problem with most of the filming we've already done. I agree that we need some more shots because our film is currently genre-less, but the rest of the scenes are good and that should be the end it. We need to get the task the way it should be done, not talk about getting it done in the holidays and stuff because that is how things never end up getting done on time. If you have a schedule to keep plan your time around it, get it done, and don't change your mind afterward because some peoples timetables may not be flexible enough and then it will never turn out the way you want it.

Filming

On the weekend we got together to do our filming for Emily's story, which we chose. It was slow at first, Emily had typed up a whole new thing for every scene which was a bit different and definitely longer. So we sat down and looked over the new story and made comments and planned the places we were going to them and anything we would need so that we were prepared. The first few scenes we a bit awkward we didn't get anything done before lunch except for writing up a script for our first scene, it was important though because that scene contained the largest amount of words. Something we didn't prepare well for and which wasn't included in the new treatment was shots, angles and movements with the actual camera so we had a bit of a problem with bad shots and just took many different ones of the same scene to figure out later. We also had some trouble with another scene which was the only one away from the house in the park, we had to film the beating up scene including fake blood and everything. This one really was hard to contain our excitement because it was such a silly scene but we got it done really well in the end. The major problem for me was the scenes that I was in, it was very very uncomfortable because my scenes had changed a bit and the new things the others wanted me to do definitely did not fit in with the actions of a peacefully dead friend, for example running up and grabbing her, then standing behind her as she watched her family and walking away arm in arm. Not to mention that I didn't plan at all to watch any of the film when I saw a tiny bit of one of the shots I'm in and now whenever I think about it it really makes me feel sick. Hopefully I can just get the editing done and make it look really good and not ever watch the whole thing.
I hope it does turn out well though, because it was so hard for me to do even that.

Reflection/Evaluation

One of the problems I had during this unit was the fact that my story was so long. I worked continuously and really hard just to get it finished in time, because I not only had to write up the treatment and character profiles and locations etc. I was left with very little time to do the actual story board which was the most important and time consuming part. Another problem was the fact that I didn't get my draft until the day before the task was due, it was because I kept running out of time to go and get it but it was still my responsibility, it caused such a problem because there was so much I needed to change, there was very little time to change it, I couldn't properly change it because my storyboards were done and I also had to finish drawing the images in my storyboard on the same night.
My research on the Hero's journey made the creation of my story impossibly simple, I just followed them like guidelines factoring in my own elements and characters.
The activities we did helped me write my storyboards because I had no idea what sort of context we were supposed to put them in, how to use the arrows and what to write in my explanations.
During the project I learned some drawing tricks while I was making the storyboards, because I had to make so many pictures I just learned to skim over the details and focus on the important points which were explained in my storyboards.

I'm satisfied with the fact that I ended up finishing it, but if I'd had more time then I would have gone over it and fixed up the words and added more things to the typed version of my storyboards. I also would have made the drawings a bit better and more detailed.
I managed my time pretty well considering the amount of time, though I was just finishing everything at the last minute I'd actually done a lot more then I'd thought and it turned out that I had about five minutes worth of work left by the time I got home to do it. It was a great feeling because I'd been so stressed which was because I'd thought I'd managed my time badly.
I guess that I would like to change the amount of time given for each separate part of the assignment, the storyboards turned out to take up a huge amount of time but it was very close to the due date, a couple of weeks, when we got the time to do them, they needed so much more time than the treatment yet they had a lot less.
If I could start again I would create a story that didn't follow the Hero's Journey so it would be mush shorter, I would also make a story that was so deeply based on emotions and relationships because the limit on the length of the story gave me no time to convey it.

Draft Treatment

This is not the draft of my treatment because I didn't make one, I just edited my original, a lot.


A panorama of a dark green forest appears, the sun rising over a silhouetted mountain, dark clouds hover at the edge of the shot. The scene changes, a young boy is walking along a busy dirt road, the sounds of loud voices and horse hooves rise in the background An old man suddenly runs into the boy, his hand opens and something drops into the boys palm. The old man runs into the crowd without a word or backward glance.
The sky is dark, the boy walks through the door of a house calling “I’m home!” Out of the shadows lurches the old man, “Listen and make your choice.”
The old man is sitting down after explaining his quest, “This is wrong,” the boy says, he runs into a different room. A different man, his simular features only that of a father comes into the dark room. A chink of light makes his face visible in the dim room, he tells his son to trust the old man.
The world outside is now so dark that the two figures hurrying from the house are only vaguely lit shadows.
One morning around a burnt out fire, the old man tells the boy that he must first learn to use a sword, he trains him with wooden stick, a montage of a range of shots illustrate various fighting scenes with walking in between. Finally the old man’s sword is shown lying on the ground, he says to the boy, “you have become a skilled swordsman, I can teach you no more.”
A large wall rises high over the boys head, he walks slowly into the city. Walking along the busy road a young girl suddenly runs into the boy, a sword slung across her back over ragged clothes. The girl notices their travelling packs and asks to join them.
Inside a high ceilinged library three men meet up with the small group. They talk about a book which will help the quest. Browsing the overflowing shelves the young boy yells out, “I found it!” They read the book over his shoulder.
The three friends wave at the companions as they leave the city, the old man watches the girl with a suspicious look. “I want you to do something,” the old man states to the girl, and he sends her away to find a Lily of Truth. As the girl goes off on her mission the young buy rounds on the old man and says that his judgement was too harsh, he runs after the girl. The boy finds the girl as she is putting her pack back on, the flower in her hand, but the screen goes black as a dull thump rings out and muffled yells.
The boy sits up, the girls pack and the flower are lying where she last stood, the shot dollies out to reveal that he is completely alone.
The old man argues with the boy when he is accused of being the reason she was kidnapped. The old man finally admits that he was wrong to doubt her. They continue walking through a shadowy forest.
The shadows become much darker as the old man and his companion enter a clearing, overshadowed with ancient trees. The girl appears before them with an evil grin on her face, sword in hand. She leaps forward and the boy fights her, his strength seems stronger, clanging metal echoes through the clearing. The battle halts, the boy holds his sword over the girl for the finishing blow but he hesitates. The girl is on the ground, she raises her sword and jerks her arm forward.
The girl scowls as the old man jumps in front of the boy and is run through instead. The old man grips her hand, coughing violently, “Run!” he tells the boy.
The boy runs into the dense forest and stumbles into a rock wall, a message stands out on it which says, ‘To find the light of a pure heart put the key to the lock.’
Branches snap as the girl rushes into the cleared space. She reaches out with a snarl on her face but the boy has his hands over his heart and is smiling at her. Bright light erupts from the boys hands covering both of them, the girl covers her eyes with her arms and screeches.
The girls arms fly to her sides and she sighs, opening her eyes. The boy has disappeared and the forest is quiet.
The girl sits in the empty clearing silently.
The boy’s father, the friends from the city who helped and people everywhere look up and cheer at the brightness.
It’s dark but the boys face appears clearly. The old man’s voice echoes as he says that it is not time for the boy to move on yet. The boy says that he has nothing to go back too. A bowl of water materializes in front of the boy, glowing slightly, an image of the girl in the clearing emerges on it. The boy reaches towards the bowl.
The girl jumps up as the boy appears next to her. She spins around and tries to touch him but her goes through his arm. The boy tells her to go and live her life, his voice rings through the clearing. The girl tells him that her family was killed and she has nothing left to live for. The boy smiles slightly, he puts his arms around her, whispers something, and disappears again.
The girl walks away from the clearing, the old man’s grave behind her on the ground, a bunch of flowers on top of it.
The girl walks into the city, people everywhere are cheering and rejoicing. The tall friend who helped find the book comes up to her and tells her that everyone is waiting. The man drags the girl into a big hall full of people dancing. He leaves her in the middle of the hall. The girls eyes widen as the boys voice sounds behind her, “I’ve been waiting.”

Locations/Settings

The City – A crowded place full of different types of people, many thieves, and criminals hide in the shadows, the people only remember was it felt like to feel safe at night. Guards patrol the high city walls and stand at all hours around the Main Hall.

Main Hall – The meeting place of the educated friends of Nero, the home of the great library and city council places.

Forests Heart – The centre of the darkness in the world, a haunted place where no animals live. Here the old battle was fought and the warrior died leaving behind the darkness as depicted in the message on the wall. This is the place where the story has been leading up to, and most of the action happens here.

Character Profiles

Daniel – The main character of the story, Daniel is the young farmer boy who reacts to the stone. He enjoys the simple life he has and works hard, his open mind and happy sense of justice allow him to give up his life for the mission.

Nero – A strange old man who seems to hide his past, Nero carried the stone until he found Daniel and is now set on guiding the young boy to journeys end. Nero is a practised fighter, though slowed by age and he is impatient at times.

Kara – A kind, fast young girl who runs into the others in the city. She curiously joins them, adding a bright fresh mind and sharp reflexes. She seems sad sometimes when she remembers her own lost family.

Story Outline

Main character meets helper who proclaims the quest, the boy agrees, unwillingly at first.
Traveling together and learning about the world and the quest.
Get information from friends at city and meet new member.
The new girl is tested but is kidnapped by the enemy after successfully completing the task.
They go after her but find her possessed by the enemy, even though the boy wins the fight he can't hurt his friend and the old man gets killed instead.
The boy finds the tablet and reads the instructions, he puts the key to his heart and banishes the darkness. He disappears and only the girl is left.
The girl waits for a while then goes back to the city.
The boy finds himself in a normal place with the old man and the man tells him that it is his choice because he doesn't need to die yet.
The girl is welcomed to the city and dragged to a celebration where she finds the boy has come back.

Reflection/Evaluation of Whole Term/Assignment

I definitely found it difficult in this unit to write up the scene analysis’ because truthfully they were a bit boring but mainly the way we had to explain it. It was hard for me to condense my writing and frustrating because I knew when things were wrong but I didn’t know how to fix them. I think though that I definitely became much better at it by the end of the unit.
The activities helped me understand film elements by explaining the reasons behind shots, before I did this unit I just thought it was to make it less boring and show the beautiful scenery etc, but now I know so much more about it and I understand it, the downside to this is the fact that it makes it hard now to watch even my favorite movies without pointing out different elements and things that I just notice randomly, that isn’t a good thing because it makes it less believable.
I like the technique I discovered of using cuts and sound to make scenes go much faster it was actually really interesting learning about that, also the huge changes that can be made in films and scenes by simply changing the colours. Colour reflects mood more than anything and by looking at the same shot in different colours it was surprising the different elements that were noticed and the affects it had on the mood and the possible storyline.
My planning and research helped me write my essay by preparing me for the style of writing that was needed. My very first research task, on the elements of a particular genre, ended up sounding really rather horrible because I had no idea how to write. After doing a few more exercises and reading a few examples it was much easier and I think my essay sounded pretty ok.
Condensing the information I had when writing the scene analysis was rather hard at first, I didn’t really understand how to write it so I basically wrote a whole shot-by-shot of the Aviator film, it wasn’t until later that I realized we were just supposed to use particular bits and talk in detail about them, not the whole entire film. Another problem was the horror story method we had to write, that one I really had trouble with, I’ve only ever seen one horror film and I don’t plan on watching any more, so I wasn’t very keen and I didn’t make my horror story the way it should have been, as in, it sounded more like a mystery.

I am pretty happy about my essay, at first I felt like I’d written it a bit oddly or I’d gotten something wrong because even as I listened to all the tips I asked for they just confused me a bit more and I was very worried about the way I wrote it and when I read it back to myself I thought it sounded weird. When I think about it now though it know that was just because I’d never written this type of essay before an it was actually not to bad, I do think that I worked hard on it for the most part.
There isn’t much I would like to change I just feel that my conclusion was too short and it sounded really bad and repetitive, my opening sentences also sounded pretty much the same with a few different words.
I would just be fine with the actually re-writing of it, because that is the part I feel needs to be redone, I would probably also just check over the scenes I used, I don’t think the Van Helsing scene really depicted the fantasy genre very well and it was a bit too short.

Moulin Rouge - Element Analysis

Concept -
From what was seen in this scene it seems to be about the story of a young writer who comes the France and falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge night-club, but she has apparently died ad he i left in a depressed state.

Theme -
The film is definitely a musical, this whole scene is being sung, it seems that it could also be a love story because of the mention that his love is dead and the saying 'the greatest thing you'll ever know, i just to love, and be loved in return'.

What Do You See -
The lighting is dark and dull, it is blue, black and just dark colours which don't highlight anything particular. It changes when showing inside the nightclub, the colours are bright, yet not lit to well, and shown all over the place, emphasizing the feeling of chaos.

What Do You Hear -
Not any background sounds, the voices and music are the loudest thing in the scene and they are very deep and sad. The typewriter is the loudest sound effect, by making it so noticeable the viewer can tell that it is important, in this case it's showing that he is a writer and that he is typing the story that he is telling.

What Do You Feel -
It feels very sad and depressing, with the combination of the low colours an voices, but scary at the same time, because of the bright colours being flashed around and the high, evil sounding laughs and at the end the way he says that his love is dead. Then at the very end it changes again and feels light and happy and like the beginning of a new story, when both his voice and the colours become bright and he says it was the center of the Bohemian Revolution!

What Do You Think About That -
It all makes me want to go and watch the whole movie, it shows just the right parts f the story to make me feel nervous and excited, it definitely has a great suspense element.

What Does It Make You wonder -
It really makes me wonder what happened, why is his love dead? What happened after he came to France and started his new life? What's going to happen next?

Genre Research

This was the first one I did, before any proper work on the subject, and it isn't very well written because I didn't really understand how to analyze it. I'm not going to change anything though because it shows how much more understanding I gained on how to analyze films and genres.

Sci-Fi
Most science-fiction films or movies don't contain lots of hidden things in the background that the characters can't see, usually things like that in sci-fi are aliens in disguise or something and they are notice through strange actions or sounds.
The shooting of science-fiction varies between types of shots, when seeing alien ships or bases that are computer generated images they mainly show little parts of them with the people acting and not often large parts, in order to hide the fact that it's been animated and create a more realistic effect. They use close-ups when alien species or strange things things are being shown so viewers can see the differences between worlds or societies.
The sounds in science-fiction are usually similar, most are sharp, they stand out and sound adventurous and match the themes, some editors choose to use the same 'theme song' and simply change the length, loudness and speed to match the different scenes in the movie, keeping all the scenes related.
Many sci-fi films are quite different from other genre story lines and they often get quite full-on. To show this through the use of editing the lighting changes in almost every scene, there are many cuts to show how fast things are happening and the colours change often because of the alien influences in the stories.

Mise-En-Scene Storyboarding

These are the pictures my group took when we were trying to make a short story board about some type of horror film.

List of Protangonasts and Their Antangonists

Protagonist Antagonist
Lief - The Shadow Lord
Eragon - Galbatorix
Naruto - Akatsuki
Harry Potter - Voldemort
Van Helsing - Dracula

Hero's Journey

There are definately a few steps which just make ideas jump into my mind and will will be vary useful and helpful such as the Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Supernatural Aid, the Crossing of the First Threshhold, The Road of Trials, Meeting with the Goddess and a few others, these steps definately bring good storylines to mind and i can relate them to quite a few movies i've seen myself. On the other hand there are a few steps which I probably won't use because I can't see how to make them fit into the storylines that come to mind, these include Apothesis, Master od the Two Worlds and Freedom to Live, for one thing having so many elements might just be far too long and also these steps mean that there has to be some strong spiritual or simular elements in the story and that could also be going a bit far off topic, but they could always end up subconsciously inthe background depeneding on what different events lead too.

Genre Identification - Shanghai Noon/Alien Elements

Genre List some of the common elements used in these genres; consider Mise-en-scene, Cinematography, Sound (Effects and Music) and Narrative Conventions (typical scenarios or characters)

Action Films - Lots happening, many fights, medium and close-up shots depending on the type of action eg. swords, guns. Loud, fast music and quick shots and scenes, loud sound effects, slow motion in the middle of big action scenes

Adventure Films - Usually a long quest, lot’s of traveling and different places and people, long distance shots generally, far-off echoic music with little lyrics

Comedy Films - Visual humor, love stories, idiots, desperate situations, medium and close-ups mainly, very into the people side of films, more to do with emotions then scenery, many odd sound effects thrown in, and strange music

Crime and Gangster Films - Tough people, rough neighborhoods, cars, small amount of music, medium shots generally, a few deaths, racism, vandalism, police

Drama Films - Huge, dramatic storylines, strong music, suspense and tension, shots all over the place ranging from close ups to medium long

Epic Historical Films - Historically correct, suspenseful storylines, dependence on a particular person, a big goal, medium ranged shots, music can be very different in different movies because of the range between battles, political things, peaceful times

Horror Films (Alien) - Suspenseful, dark lighting, few sounds, heart-beating rapidly standing out, much death, supernatural, mystery, gore

Musical Dance Films - Great variety of music, many love stories, dramatic, medium-long shots, loud music mainly with lyrics, dances, actors and performers

Science Fiction Films - Aliens, futuristic lifestyles, different worlds, supernatural themes, lots of weapons, space ships, echoic music, many sound effects from shooting and lasers to alien screeches and robotic tones

War (Anti-War) Films - Battles, politics, weapons, sneaks, history, future, whole range of shots, in the middle of fights fast shot but slow motion often, blood, gore, death

Westerns (Shanghai Noon) - Cowboys, horses, guns, boots, country music, long-medium shots, tumbleweeds, dusty towns, bars, stables, particular tough bad guy, joking good guy

Aviator Scene Analysis

The film Aviator is a historical film about breaking an old flying record. During this scene sound and editing were used to great effect to help add suspense and drama. The Aviator is a good example of an historical film because it is based on a true story and most of the elements remain true to factual information which this genre represents.

The sound and editing in this film were used to convey the feelings and emotions of this particular scene and they really added a good deal of suspense. In the beginning it was calm and quiet, there was only a small amount of light music in the background, which conveyed a sense of normality, nothing was happening yet.The shots were just medium length and the dialogue was the loudest sound, which helped make you focus on what they were saying. Then he got in the plane and it showed the switches being flicked, and the loud sound effects to go with them which added to their importance. Then the plane started up and the engines noise was loud but no music added yet, nothing was building up or happening. The shots were continuously of his face, to show the emotions running through him, and of the plane to let you know how important it was, and the dependence this scene had on it. Then the plane is seen further away and it’s quieter now, his face is shown close-up and he seems to get tenser, suddenly the music starts, and it’s soft but building up. Now you know that something is about to happen. As he takes off the music suddenly escalates, exclamations come from the watching crowd as their hats are blown off, it shows surprise, and that makes it a bit more suspenseful in the sense of, is something else unexpected going to happen? Then the engine becomes a bit louder and the plane is brought close up again and rattling sounds are brought in coming from the plane. The music and engine and workings of the plane are the main sounds now, it makes it seem that it’s really hard for this plane to try to go so fast and that with this technology breaking the speed record will really be a great step. As he comes in for the first run he whoops, showing excitement in the atmosphere, but he doesn’t break the record and his time is said unexcitedly to show a bit of disappointment. The clock is ticking loudly, to add dependence on it and importance. As he misses it again a bit of tension builds up because only one more try is left and that’s all he can get. Then he breaks the record and everybody jumps and yells with excitement and relief. But the music is still going tensely, so you know something else is going to happen. He runs out of fuel and the engine dies down and sputters out, leaving the plane falling silently through the air. When it crashes, to show that it was on light there are no great bangs just a rushing sound as the plane scrapes on through the farm. It isn’t shown stopping but instead the cars are parking and that adds a tiny bit more suspense before seeing him casually leaning against the plane, ending the scene with an air of triumph but also the idea that it isn’t over yet.

This explanation shows that the elements of sound and editing were used with good timing in this film, escalating at the right times and showing the things that were most important in order to give you a perfect impression of what was going on and what you needed to understand. It is a perfect example of a film from the history genre.

Comparisons A New Hope & Revenge of the Sith

We just watched the trailers for Star Wars A New Hope and Revenge of the Sith. They had rather great differences in the overall impact of them. New Hope was a bit dull and boring, it had shots of action back there was no music to back them up and make it exciting, the voice over in the background had no relation to the film and it was dull as well. The impact of R.O.T.S was a lot more interesting and exciting, it was fast and the music was loud and full-on and right in front you, it really got you interested and it was narrated by a character from the film which made it more personal. New Hope was much slower, it showed more of the scenes but didn't give away much of the real story, whereas in Revenge of the Sith it continuously cut through the shots and went at a fast pace with quick jumps between action shots and intense moments. The sound was much better in R.O.T.S because it focused more on the music and the voices so you could hear clearly what was going on, whereas in New Hope the voices from shots were almost background noise, they could hardly be made out, but the weapons were really loud and they jumped out but without the use of music or other effects even these intense, action-packed battles seemed boring. The voice narrating was also really full-on and it was the loudest sound but it had no relevance to the story which bored it down a bit and made it seem close to a documentary.

Horror Story Method

The trouble with this is comming up with an ending to the story because i've only ever watched one horror movie and i don't plan on watching one again or remembering anything about that one, but i did my best.

Have the policeman stay late at night to finish some paperwork in his office and have a mysterious man turn up and give him an ominous tip about things that are about to happen then disappear suddenly. For the next two days have people over town disappearing mysteriously, completely random people who have nothing in common. Late on the third night have the policeman return home to find his wife dead. Add a sweet young girl to the police force whose brother has also gone missing. Have all the missing villagers be found dead in a nearby dried out creek or stream. Have the police force begin to doubt the man because his wife died at home and not with the others, make the new girl sympathetic towards him. Have the mysterious man turn up again when the man goes to visit his wife’s grave. Make him walk off through the town all night seeing the man everywhere and scaring people. In the morning make some officials arrest him and take him to a mental home where he is plagued by images of the dead villagers and the mysterious man. Let him escape and run off to ask for help from the police girl who talks about a clue. Make them go to a run down old warehouse and find hundreds of corpses. Have the mysterious man turn up and reveal that it was him and then have them run around trying to hide and find a way out. Let the girl call the police and have them turn up and grab the man just before he finds them. As the girl is being driven away let the policeman find out that her brother had not been found amoung the dead people and the murderor had in fact been him.

Horror Recipe

Characters
• Teenagers (possibly stupid)
• Murderer
• Police
• Victim/s
• Family/relatives
• Weird/spooky kids
• Hero
• Traitor
• Klutz

Desperation

Isolation
• No network
• Going Crazy

Settings/Locations
• Rain
• Night
• Deserted hotel
• Mansion
• Middle of nowhere
• Crop field
• Dark alley way
• Boat
• Secret room
• Graveyard
• Castle

Enemies/Villains/Bad Stuff
• Monster
• Escaped mental person
• Ghost
• Zombies
• Mutant
• Infected animal
• Vampires
• Psycho
• Stalker
• Alien
• Technology

Weapon/Device
• Poison
• Shard of glass
• Crowbar
• Crossbow
• Massive/kitchen knife
• Claws
• Gas
• Fists
• Guns
• Saw
• Axe
• Barbed wire
• Needle and thread
• Torture chamber
• Supernatural powers

I-Robot Scene Analysis

I chose a three minute scene from i-robot, this is the scene where Dr. Calvin has been told to destroy Sonny and Spooner is looking for answers to what Sonny is, and what he is for. Throughout the whole scene is one continuous sound, the music starts of slowly and keeps the same speed throughout the scene but it gets stronger and louder as the scene progresses and reaches a crescendo when Sonny is about to be destroyed, this music adds mood the scene and builds up tension and suspense. The lighting in the Sonny parts is bright, white and clean, it shows that the building is official, no mess, and then it switches to Spooner and the change in lighting is great, it is very dark and dirty outside, it has been deliberately made like this to show what people think of the old robots, as trash, and how wasted and dark the world has become outside technology. With Sonny and Calvin the shots are mostly medium and close-ups, it helps show the conversation they are having and the effects and emotions it causes. There aren’t many rapid cuts because the scene is not moving so fast, this adds to the feeling of Calvin, how reluctant she is and how slow time is moving for her, the shots also don’t show much aside from Sonny and Calvin which helps the viewer focus only on them. There are also no shots that show Sonny talking before he is supposed to get deactivated, this is done so you don’t guess that Sonny has been swapped with a different robot but the look on Calvin’s face and the music make you believe that it was him.