moodboards for characters

Made by Vita 

Real mother

e

Real father

Fake father 

 

Fake mother

flashback research

I look at other media's portrayal of flashbacks, the screenwriting needs to have a clear timeline. I have found the 'flow of logic' of the timeline needs to be accurate, so the plot makes sense. There needs to be enough clarity through the whole script. I think it would be used full to write the storyline to the most film. 

For most film flashback should only be used if there is need for the context of the story, or used instead of the character speaking about past experiences which explains the way there are to an audience, its shown. For example Ratatouille. 

Flashbacks can easily confused an audience if not done right. Most films may have a couple used to give a background of an idea. But some films whole concept is the flashbacks telling the whole story through flashbacks and different people such as "The Hours" which has flashes back from the perspective of three different women. 

Flashbacks that has been well executed, 

Ratatouille - 

How it's shown: The sound goes very quiet, as only can hear the bites, then the sound zooms (like a car zooming past or comupter restarted). The editing makes the camera zoom out around the man. Which the zooms to the man as a child, then when the flashback ends it zoom back out into the start. 

There is no dialogue but the flashback displays what is happening clearly 

The flashback helps give context to the character and adds to the story

Eternal sunshine of the Spotless Mind -

The flashback in the film are taken to a literal sense in the film. The flashback are of the lead interacting with past memories.  The flashbacks change by a shot, there is a whole scene of him talking to his ex girlfriend, she goes to kiss him from an OTS shot and then it cut to a wide shot of him alone, no transition, she just disappears. 

The social network - 

The scenes are key in the story of what actually happened. The film jumps back and forth to what happening in actual time and what had happen before. The scenes just cut through conversation, if the side text of what actually happened is needed. The story has more fluidity with flashbacks, they do not make you focus on the fact there is a flashback but more on whats happening.  As the film is about other people view on to what happened, the flashback help the audience to clarify to what is happening and who side with like. 

 

Our first storyboard

 We made a very pulled back simple story board of what roughly happens 

2nd Camera workshop

What to do when shoot

Alway start with a wide shot when filming, because if in editing the shot doesn't match up a wide shot can always be place in.  Also incase if you run out of time on a location, in editing it can be replaced for whatever close up/mid shot was meant to happen. Then after shooting wide, shot mid because if run out of time for close ups, mid and wide shots aren's as big a jump from wide to close up and makes the piece more appealing to watch. 

Marks are used so people and objects are position in the same place for focusing for every different shot type, plus for continuity purposes. They are used by either place tap or a small object (like a camera lens) for where the person is meant to be standing. 

Continuity is very important, it provides the editors with a daily update of what is shot on each day.

Make sure that each scene is covered by every camera angle and they cut together in the edit

It can save a production lots of money and having to re-shoot scenes

Stand by is called my director to make sure everything is in place and ready to go, Standing by is just before the camera starts to record is said by the cameraman/operators. Then cameras rolling is said by the director when the the camera should start recording and then actions when the filming of the scene starts. And then at the end of the scene the camera hold for a few seconds then the director yells cut. 

You film before saying action, one in case camera doesn't record or something falls out of place, two in case the action starts before the camera is filming. 

You shouldn't watch footage back on set in case the actor sees and doesn't like the way they look, this could alter their performance and change everything that has have already been shot and waste time. 

The 180 shot rule is going from side to side and never letting an actor be on the other side of the camera. If they are shot sitting on the right from every angle they need to be sat on the right. 

Teacher Feedback on Ideas

 Our group described our main ideas to our teacher, he said our strongest point was Iside's and Vita's idea combine. Though that maybe due because that idea was developed the most. We talked about the gym idea and how it may not read to an audience as much because it's not the stereotypical women in danger, such as a women walking alone at night. We have decided to that Iside's and Vita's Idea is the one we will do. But will need to edit and develop the idea more. 

1st Camera Workshop

Learning how to set up and use the Cameras

Camera type - Blackmagic URSA mini 

RULES:

• When passing a piece of equipment, the person who wanting the equipment once they have the weight of the equipment says"mine" and the person passing says "yours" when they give up the weight
• pack up nicely so equipment is easy to use.

1) we took the tripod out of the bag, pulled the legs out and placed on the ground 

 

2) The yellow air bubble need to be facing you and then attach the pan hand

The yellow air bubble is the spirt level. 

Twist under near the main part of the tripod 90 degrees, and use the pan hand to adjust. The idea is the have the dote in the circle and that how to know that the tripod is level. And then twist 90 degrees back to tighten.

3) Before adjusting the spirt level, first you want to set the height of the tripod. To adjust height, the bottom of the legs there is the extension locks. Turn all to the side then pull up all the side equally. Then turn the extension locks back to keep at height. If wanting to go higher there are another set on the middle of the legs. 

 

4) On the tripod there is a side lock which is for the head to tilt and can be locked in a tilt position and there is another on the front of the head by the yellow spirt level for the pan lock. 

5) To place the camera on the tripod. Hold camera from the top handle and the rest of the camera with the other hand. The yellow spirt should be facing you, gentle slot the camera into the head of tripod and press the button on the left. Once the camera has slide through and all the camera is on the head, let go of button on the left all on the head there is a lever on the left to twist. The camera is now safely on the tripod. 

 

6) Placing the battery in the back. The Battery has a V in the back this is the slide down onto the back of the camera, it clicks when in place. 

7) Take camera cap lid off, open the side of the camera and turn on. One the lens of the camera are the nozzle. The big one is to zoom in and out and the smaller one is to focus. To the best focus first you must zoom in and then focus from there and then zoom back out. Need to do this in every shot otherwise loses the level of quality. It's also used to emphasis certain things in a scene, like you want a person in deep focus and everything in the background not. It defines the images seen. 

 

8) Blue part on the lens controls the exposure, you have to pinch it and then rotate to control the exposure. Exposure is important because it controls how light and dark a picture as well as different tones in the photos. It also decides the artist decisions of the shot.

9) White balances is easy to use by tapping on the corner of the screen where the 'WB' is then it give you options for where you are. For example if the camera was set for indoor lighting then filming natural day light it makes the film very blue cause the sky makes a blue overcast but when changing the white balances to outdoors the film looks normal. 

sequence ideas - bullet point action

gym idea - (zoe's)

• establishing tilt shot from ground to front of tread mill with women working out. 
• close up front shot front of her breathing a little heavy no sweat 
• close up zooms out to mid shot from side of women 
• wide shot of gym ( few people in back ground)
• mid shot from side of lifting arm up and other hand tapping monitor
• POV (woman ) check heart rate on monitor of heart rate (97 not too high)
• mid shot from front of women running 
• POV (guy) mid shot from back of gym as the women on treadmill 
• POV (guy) close up maze gaze shot take focus the women’s feet which then tracks up her body 
• Mid shot from the side and the woman starts to slow a little run. 
• Close up pan of the side of the women’s face to into the mirror where you can see the man in the background
• Extreme close up on women face front on and she starts to sweats and looks a little scared.
• mid shot from side as she turn treadmill down 
• POV (woman)close up of her pressing buttons down. 
• close up of her taking a deep breathe 
• mid/wide shot that tracks from the front of room as the women walks different machine. 
• POV (women)pan of the room to see if she sees the man staring 
• over the shoulder shot as she reaches down to pick up weights. 
• POV (guy)mid shot from side male gaze as she picks weight zooms on legs
• POV (guy) male gaze mid shot as she walk to sit on machine  
• POV (guy)close up male gaze on legs and she gets feet into the straps 
• mid shot of women from in front of machine of her working out
• mid shot of women from right side of machine of her working out
• mid shot of women from in left of machine of her working out
• POV (guy) watching her work out 
• close up shot of women from in front of machine of her working out 
• wide/mid shot from side of woman as in background can see the man
• close up on her face from the side as you can see him in background 
• extreme close up on woman face as her eye tracks to the side (she has notice the man but just ignores him)
• mid shot of woman front on and she starts to slow her pace
• POV (man ) closer to the woman as she checks heart rate monitor 
• POV (woman) check heart monitor (92)
• close up front on of women drinking water from bottle 
• mid shot of her drinking water bottle 
• POV (woman) place bottle down 
• POV (woman) tilts trying adjust her right legs/feet into foot straps
• POV (man) 5 feet away from the women and males gaze to of woman waist 
• POV (man) handheld camera as he takes a step closer to woman 
• POV (woman) still adjusting strap 
• POV (man) handheld camera as he takes a step closer to woman 
• POV (woman) still adjusting strap, begins to sit up and clocks man 
• extreme close up on women face as she is panic 
• zooms out to close up women is sitting up with man in out of focus in frame 
• POV (man) as reaches for women's waist and grabs it 
• close up on woman's waist, front on woulds with monitor swinging ('140 slow down') 
• camera tilts down and cuts 

Action list (Vita's)

• blurred POV of the girl waking up (vision impairment because of the car accident)
• static mid shot of her seating up
• close-up to her hand reaching out to the bedside table to take the glasses
• static mid shot+ change the angle (e.g. from the table's perspective) of the girl putting her glasses on
• following close-up shot of the girl fixing her hair/yawning in order to expose the scars on her hands
• static mid shot of the girl starting to stand up from bed 
• long shot of her standing beside her bed and stretching for a second
• "over-the-shoulder" shot (through the books on her shelf) + rack focus to draw attention to the object
• following shot (from the back) of the girl walking to the bathroom
• mirror shot with the camera moving away from ECU to the mirror to a mid shot (creates an illusion in the beginning, that there is no mirror, but as the camera moves away, the audiences see it was a mirror after all)
• close-up to her turning the tap on
• "over-the-shoulder" shot (through the objects in the bathroom, like numerous pills), while the girl is washing her face
• static mid shot (profile) of the girl drying her face with a towel
• following close-up shot of her reaching out to a box of certain pills
• mid shot from the mirror's POV, as she can't get a single pill out
• close-up to her trying to get a pill out
• low angle "over-the-shoulder" (through the bin) shot of the girl approaching the bin and throwing the box away
• following shot of the girl walking out of the bathroom (the camera captures her from the front)
• match on action (she approaches the wardrobe) 
• close-ups to the objects in her room (posters, photos, neat clothes etc.) x4
• POV of her tying her shoes (while sitting down on the bed) +she is already wearing the school uniform
• floor-level static shot of her standing up and walking away to apply her perfume
• "over-the-shoulder" (through the perfume on a shelf) shot+following shot when she takes the bottle
• close-up of her spraying the perfume (to show the scars again)
• static long shot (door's POV) of her putting the perfume back and grabbing her school bag 
• close-up of her hand approaching the bag
• long shot from the bed of her walking out of the room
• following shot (from the back) of her approaching the main door (to go outside)
• mid shot of her almost standing outside screaming "Mom? Dad?" in the direction of the opened door
• close-up to her checking her time (wristwatch)
• mid shot of her standing outside and the parents walking out
• close-up to the dad unlocking the car
• long shot (from the car's POV), as they walk towards it
• following mid shot of the girl getting in the car
• static mid shot from inside the car (the front window's POV)
• close-up to the dad starting the car
• following close-up shot of his hand turning the radio up
• reverse dolly shot of the girl suddenly getting a headache
• close-up to her face
• POV shot (from where she is), looking at the parents on the front seats
• the same POV with the other actors for the parents, in a different location (a flashback)
• as the last two shots keep "glitching" between each other, there is a POV shot of the mom turning around to look at the daughter
• back to the girl's POV, which starts to get blurry
• a following POV of her passing out, the screen fades into black (+the muffled voices can still be heard)

blog first meeting

 Group - Vita, Iside

Our group was randomly decided. In our first meeting Iside wasn't in. Vita and i were helping with our grouping, we then told each other all our ideas. From there we had already heard Iside ideas in class and really like one of hers. We then thought of combining ideas together. 

Coffee shop (vita's idea) - Based in a coffee shop. where the woman is waiting for the killer in a cafe. A long shot from the entrance of the cafe introduces the audience to the setting and the main character. Close-ups to her sunglasses, shaky hands holding the cup of coffee, bruises emphasise she was abused and she is trying to stay secretive at the moment. The mid shot, followed by an ECU reveal the texts on her phone (with the killer). A POV shot of her looking at the floor of the cafe and hearing distant steps (that are getting closer) will be interrupted by flashbacks to her boyfriend and him abusing her (shown through a POV as well). In the flashback only his legs and his fist (ready to hit the woman) would be revealed. An over the shoulder following shot (over waiter's shoulder) captures the waiter walking towards the woman's table to give her the receipt. A close-up shows her spilling the coffee, as the waiter puts the receipt on the table. A POV shot captures her opening the receipt and finding a note inside of it. A mid shot, followed by a close-up reveals a tear falling down her cheek (from underneath the sunglasses), as she holds the note. The camera moves closer to her hands and as she drops the note on the table(along with the cash for the coffee) and quickly stands up from the table, the viewers can see what was written on the note through an ECU ("I told you you would never run away with the signature of the killer  

Gym (my idea) - idea 3 on my blog. It would start in a gym with seeing the lead women from a maze gaze POV angle. Then the camera flips to the women's view. She see him in the mirror, they never make direct eye contact. The rest is from the women's point of view. The camera cuts from the women on a different workout and he is still in the background. This repeats but while the women is working out the man starts to walk closer to her, she stops working out and freezes. We see her fitbit heart rate raising. The last shot is from the male pov, his hand places on her shoulder and the camera zooms to the fit bit heart rates that reach extreme high. Then cuts.

Car kidnapping (Iside idea) is of this girl she’s kidnapped in the car and then a song starts playing, this song reminds her of her past, therefore we start seeing her memories of her childhood that reminds her of this song playing on the radio. The opening title sequence would be of the scene starting with the girl kidnapped in the car then suddenly the song starts to play and we get a quick flashback of memories of her childhood. She starts  reminding herself of the time spent with her family and there’s short clips of her playing in the garden and laughing and spending time with her whole family United.

Car crash (Vita's)The scene starts with a blurred POV of the girl waking up (because of the accident she has a vision impairment), followed by a mid shot of her seating up and putting her glasses on. Close ups to the scars on her hands and face (from the accident again) should be present while she is in bed as well. A long shot captures her slowly standing up and "over the shoulder" shots (through such objects, like school books on her table, clothes laying around the room) introduce the audience to the setting, while the girl walks to the bathroom. A bathroom mirror shot shows the character's face and as she turns on the tab (close-up), she starts getting flashbacks. A mid shot from the mirror's POV, blurred close-ups, shaky camera movement capture the girl having a sever headache. "Flashbacks" to the day of the accident will be added here while editing. Mid shots from the backseat to the front seat, where her parents were seating, close-ups to the hands of the dad (=the driver), pans to the windows, introducing the location, close-ups to such details like the fabric of the car seats will represent the memories the girl has of that day. A dutch angle mid shot with a handheld camera movement should capture the girl reaching out to the box of pills she has in the bathroom. A close-up will show the pills and a following shot will capture the girl falling down on the floor and dropping the pills. A POV shot (blurred, because she is dizzy) should show how she is trying to drink one of the pills from the ground. A floor level dolly zoom shot should capture her finally swallowing the pill and a static low angle shot should show how she eventually collapses on the floor. A POV shot should show how she is slowly closing her eyes. The titles will be appearing throughout the whole scene and the name of the movie will appear on the black screen as the girl shuts her eyes at the very end of the scene. 

Flashback (vita plus Iside's idea) - The scene starts with a blurred POV of the girl waking up (because of the accident she has a vision impairment), followed by a mid shot of her seating up and putting her glasses on. Close ups to the scars on her hands and face (from the accident again) should be present while she is in bed as well. A long shot captures her slowly standing up and "over the shoulder" shots (through such objects, like school books on her table, clothes laying around the room and her pills are empty) introduce the audience to the setting, shaky camera movement capture the girl having a sever headache. We walks downstair and outside to the car as she is going to school. In the car the radio plays and the girl gets a flashback to being driving in a car as a child (camera angle pov is from a lower angle) and the people driving aren't her 'parents'. The camera flips between the two images of her different sets of parents driving. 

ideas for opening title seqences

 1) The plot of this film would be about an adduction. The victim would be a college/uni female student. She is shopping at night from a big food shop and as she walks back from her car is when she is adducted. The film would follow her struggle to strive as she travel across the country tied in the boot of her kidnappers car. 

In the opening sequence, it would start with our victim walking out of the automatic doors, the camera at a wide shot behind the women as the cameras focus zooms in on her. The credits start apperring She is listening to upbeat music (some sort of breakup song, similar to a up beat Taylor swift song). The camera is walking next her in a mid shot. The camera cut to her shoes walking on the ground and then to a strangers. Every time it's the strangers shoes there is no music just there footsteps.As the women gets closer to her car, a creepy music starts to play. One of the final is the women shoes are next to the strangers, there is silents for a second, then the shopping bags drop and the only noise is the bags hitting the ground. As the bag hits the ground the camera falls and hits the ground and then becomes pitch black as the last thing we hear is the car boot being shut. 

2) The plot of this film would be psychological thriller. It follows as a girlfriend is saying goodbye to her partner for the night as she begins to hear things in the house. It's actually her having a hallucination from a tumour pressing on her brain. 

In the opening sequences, it would start by the couple hugging before the bf leaving. There would be close up shots as she locks the door. The camera would follow her as she processes to make a cup of tea. there would be close ups on the tea bag being put in the water and ect. The sequence would end on the women sitting down and hearing her first noise of cupboard being slapped open. 

3)The plot of this film would be on female rights and struggles through the ripe of empowerment. It follows a group of women through traumatic experiences and how them join together by connecting through their traumatic experiences

The opening title sequence would be the start of one story of at the gym a women is working out and in the corner of her eye can see a man looking at her work out. The camera zooms in and out of focus of these man and the women is trying to avoid making eye contact. Her heart rate on the machine starts racing up as the man take steps closer to her. The sequence ends with the machine reach a high rate and saying 'take a break". 

4) The plot is a coming of age comedy about a male who lives his life doing what everybody expects him to do and he finally has enough and changes careers and from his upper middle class life and goes on to try different random jobs that he enjoys and then form his own company and becomes successful. 

The opening title sequence starts with the lead man doing a very over productive morning routine. I follows the man as he calming turns the alarm off, camera glides with him as he begins to make a large breakfast. The sound of the eggs being fried, with him prepare a meal for his soon to be wife. Camera then follows him to when he begins to get changed and brush his teeth. When he slashes water on his face the camera hold as he stares at himself, stepping out of a smile into a broken look then hears soon to be wife call his name. He sighs and quick changes his facial expression and walks out his front door as it is slapped shut.