Audience screening

To get feedback and to see what the target audience thought of our filming opening, i held and audience screening. This to us was a very good was a getting constructive feedback. For the screening i produced a questionnaire so i could find out so i could get written feedback as well as verbal. From combining verbal and written feedback, these were the main pints that we concluded.

• The voice over was a little too long for the footage.
• They really like the message of the voice over because thats what gave the film narrative, also thought that the actual dialogue used was very clearly worded.
• Most of the shots were long shots, and the close up that we did have were a little to blunt, because it was just the actress staring into the camera.  
• Thought that we used a variety of shot types, which made the footage more visually appealing. 
• Thought that the mise-en-scene worked really well and was constructed well, and all of the audience said that they really like the location. 

After getting this feedback it was decided that we needed to go and re-shoot. To do this i drew up new story boards, and decided which shots to cut from the old footage. After getting the new footage, and editing it in with the old one, it became the final film opening.   

The editing process

During the editing of The footage, i used final cut express. This was a software that i had used before for previous projects, but did not know how to use it to its full potential. To try and learn new things on the software, i reasearched tutorials on the interent, and learnt some new skills. This meant that i had most skills i needed to begin editing.

The reason why i chose to use final cut express was because i felt that it had a lot of functions that could make the film opening look like it had been made professionally, and would not be too difficult to use. Some of the effects which i tired and used in the final cut were, fades, the use of black and white, text, and rendering files.

Filming day 2

This time before we left to go filming i made sure that the camera lighting was set to a normal light and not over exposed. I also made sure that the camera was fully working and charged. The first thing that we did at the shoot was to re film the stuff that we had done before and then film some new footage. This went very well and there were no problems along the way.

Filming day 1

For the first day of filming we went to our one and only location. At first i had some difficulties with the camera and that it was not working so that delayed the process, but after we got it working, i was able to film some of the shots needed. I would have got more on film but the actress could not stay for too long because she had a family commitment.

When i uploaded the footage that i had in to final cut, it was clear that when filming lighting was way too over exposed. This meant that for the film to look of a good quality, everything that was shot would need to be re shot.  

Pre production planning

Before i began to film i did some more planning just to make the filming process and easy as possible and to make sure that no mistakes were made and every thing got done. The things which i did was:

Storyboards:

In the storyboards there are hand drawn pictures of what is going to happen in each shot. Next to the picture its says what action is going to happen in each shot, what the lighting is going to be and also if there is any sound or dialogue. I found this very useful because it let me lay out all the shots and give me a better insight of what is going to happen rather than just turning up and not knowing what to film. Also it enabled me to start planning editing, because i had to think about sound lighting.

Shot List:

In the shot list it said what is going to happen in each shot. Also what sort of shot it actually is like a close up. I made this after making the storyboard. This will be helpful when filming, because it will save us carrying around all of the storyboards, and also make sure that i do not forget to film something and then have to go back and film it. 

Shooting schedule:

The shooting schedule basically is a plan of when i am going to film and checking to see weather the actress is also available at that time as well. The shooting schedule will also have noted down what props will be needed on which day, and also what equipment and costumes. 

The narrative of the film opening

The narrative of the film opening is going to be abstract shots with a voiceover. Basically we are going to show the audience a montage of shots of a girl, the main character, Olivia. She will be in the location of a garden in which the audience will learn is the garden of a mental institute. The audience will be able to learn this through the voice over. The voice over will make the montage of shots make sense because they will tell the story of where she is and why she is there. The narrative will let the audience know that Olivia has been sexually abused by her step-father. Although as she was little when this all started to happen, she believed what he told her of that he loved her and wanted to be with her. This went on for many years with year growing up believing that his love for her was real and that one day her and the father would be together. Then one day she told her mother about her "love" for the dad, and that they was going to be together. The mother at hearing this thought that she was mentally ill, and decided that she needed help and sent her to a mental institute. The only reason why the girl agreed to go was because the step father said that if she does go then they can be together when she gets out. Although after being in the institute for such a long time she has time to reflect and realises that the father never loved her and never will and has developed some sort of hatred for him. Now she is coming out because her mother wants her back. This storyline will be cleverly worded in the voice over. The rest of the film will her about her coming out of the institue and dealing with seeing the step father, and how her mother is going to react at seeing her daughter. Also her coming back to reality and dealing with life.

Casting

The casting of this role will be very important. This is because the actress that we have to cast will be the only cast member in the opening sequence. We looking at weather we would cast a male of female, it soon became clear that we wanted to cast a female as we felt that a girl would fit in much more with the narrative than a boy would. Next we considered the age of the actress. I did not want her to be too young as she may not have got much acting experience, and felt that the role would be best played by a girl aged around 15-17. Finally the appearance of the girl would also be important. I wanted to to be stereotypically pretty but not to be over the top, as it was not important to the narrative. When considering all of these factors, i looked at 3 different actresses. These were Amy (top) Georgina (Left) and Antonia (right). I also did a test to see if all actress were able to play the role, in the way that i wanted it to be portrayed. In this i asked the to act of some of the scenes that i wanted to be in my film opening.

   

After careful consideration i decided to choose Antonia as the actress that i wanted to use in my film. This was becuase she has previous acting expriecne, is usually available and also lives near to the location that we want to film in. She also fits in with all of the      characteristics that i wanted our lead actress to have 

Deciding on the target audience

After doing the questionnaire and looking at the results, this then lead me to be able to decide on a certain target audience. I will try to make the film as diverse as possible to it can appeal to the widest target audience. My target age range will range from 16 - 30. This is because i feel that they will best be able to understand the narrative. I will target both male and female, as this is done in most social realist films, and i feel that the narrative will appeal to both genders. I felt that the themes that are going to be addressed in the opening will not be suitable for anyone under the age of 12. In relation to social status, i belive that it will appeal to all and also the same with social class.   

So overall i feel that the overall rating for the film should be a 15. This means that no one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. Also no one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video. I feel this is a suitable certificate because some of the themes like sexual abuse, and a mental disabilty, may be unsuitable for children under that age. Also this would give the film less limitations in the rest of the film.

Audience research results

After making the questionnaire, i handed it out to a wide range of people with different backgrounds.  The results showed :


- The age of the people that took part in the questionnaire were in the age group ranging from 16 - 19


- The majority of people watched films usually ranging between every week to every month


- Most of them preferred to watch films at the cinema, when i asked why they said because they enjoyed the experience, and found it a good social activity 


- When asked which genre they most preferred, the most popular seemed to be social realist, this was to be expected, considering the age range of the people doing the questionnaire 


- British film seemed to be more popular than other culture films


- Mental disability, was the most favored answer when asked what would be your favorite topic in a social realist film, when i asked why they said because it can be done in so many different ways it everyone that features it is not really the same. 

Looking at locations

Whilst doing the planning of the film i looked at many possible locations. These ranged from a house, hospital, a garden and a park. From going and looking at these i narrowed it down to two locations. Overall i chose to shoot it in a garden. I chose this because i thought that it would fit the narrative the best. Also because in the garden, as it was quite big, it enables me to get a wide variety of shots. In the location, there is a pond, grass, a little dirt track path, and other useable areas. 

When deciding on a locations i had to consider many different things. These were:

• Does it look realistic ? 
• Is it easy to travel to?
• Would i need permission?
• Would weather conditions affect filming?

Audience research

To find out more about my audience and who i should be targeting, i decided to do a survey to film about more about them and what they would prefer. 

I also did planning along with my audience research, this included brainstorming many ideas, in relation

  

Social realist genre conventions

For this part of the project i watched serval films from the social realist genre. These included, This is england, Kidadulthood, and Fish tank. In all of them i found some of the same conventions.  


- First of all many films in this genre have been shot using handheld cameras,  this is to give the films a documentary feel to the reinforce the realism. These often include long cuts and a lack of 'flashy' editing, in order to make the audience forget they are watching a film. 


- Next the use of unknown actors was also a common factor found throughout many films in this genre, such as This is england, Fish Tank and London to Brighton. The actors were used to reinforce the realism as they could be seen as just anybody in society, so that they hadn't been in any films before and had not created a stereotype for themselves wouldn't get in the way of their next characters representation.


- Also the use of sound if mostly diegetic as music is sparsely used and the real world sound is exaggerated. Music is still used, but mostly in very specific scenes, often to carry the emotion of a certain character to the audience.

Social realist films

There have been many successful films in the social realist genre, many of them winning awards. Beneath i have made a mood board showing some of the films that have inspired me to chose the social realist genre.

Social realist films normally have characters that would not generally be in big hollywood films. These films tend to be set around characters that are in their natural living environment and society. The narrative of a social realist film will generally be about characters and when unsettling things happen in their lives. This gives a chance for the less well know types of society a chance to be represented.  It has been argued that in general the representation of the working class has shifted from being what producers thought and saw of social realist situations  to what consumers reflected in a move that has seen members of the working class in more privatized domestic environments and leisure-time settings. 

When social realist films first began the main representation was focused on white working class males. Although there was some breakthrough in terms of race in films such as My Beautiful Launderette (1985) and Bahji on the Beach (1994). Now social realist films are not afraid to and have been  representing characters of all ages,races, and genders. This shows an acceptance that the british audience and are now more accepting of certain circumstances than they would of been in the past.

Social realist issues

There are many films in the social realist genre. Many have impacted the audiences lives. These films have inspired me to choose the social realist genre, for my film opening. There are many themes that can run throughout the genre and can also be crossed used. Below i have made a mood board listing these issues.