Second Cut

Second Cut

This is the Second cut to our A Level GCE Film Opening Production, called The Days of December, however the length of our film opening is 20 seconds too long, therefore we will have to delete some parts of the film opening in order to make sure it fits the requirements.

Letterboxing

Letterboxing

After looking at other films and other film opening with similar target audiences (Submarine, This is England) I have noticed the screen ration is different to the screen ration of our film opening. The original screen ration of film on premiere is 4:3, we have decided to use a technique called Letterboxing, this is where the ration of the screen image is changed to 16:9, this is a more appropriate screen ration for films that are shown at cinemas and is the ration most often used in professional films. I made the letterbox effect originally in Photoshop, and exported the image as a gif allowing the background to be transparent. This meant the footage could be played in between the bars changing the size of the black bars and making the ration 16:9.

Indoor Ambient Sound Collage

Indoor Ambient Sound Collage

We have decided to create another sound collage, this time it will be made of ambient sound effects creating a real atmosphere for when she is at home. We still wanted this scene to be very quiet to contrast with the song we have used at the beginning of the film opening. By having sounds that can normally be heard when the room is quiet, it gives the scene a sense of sadness, lifeless to the room showing that Alisha is much happier when she is not at home. This represents the unsettling life she has at home, without including any other characters. The sound collage this time wasn’t mad in ‘MixPad’ we imported the sound files that we had recorded and then placed them into the specific places to correspond with actions in the film.

Filming For Nightmare Scene

Filming For Nightmare Scene

Today me and Ellie filmed the nightmare scene with Alisha with the use of lighting to represent the different aspects of her personality and to present the story of the film. We changed the positioning of the lights and colours to create different atmospheres. We filmed Alisha in her school uniform to show her age and show the audience what themes will occur during the film. we also had Alisha use the same dull expression to show the lack of enthusiasm and motivation in her life. The colours are what show the state of mind in which our character is in, we filmed with a number of different colours to show the mental state of our character. we also used dutch tilt and hand held camerawork to show the deranged and frenzied state of her life.

Influences for the Nightmare scene

Influences for the Nightmare scene

In our nightmare scene will be filming in a studio with the use of different coloured lights to create different atmospheres and symbolize different aspects of Alisha’s personality and themes of the film. Other videos that use lighting in an abstract way (although not the same genre) can be seen in Beyoncé’s 1+1 music video. We have taken stylistic influences from this video, and will hope to mirror similar images created with the use of layers and lighting. This will give our work a similar abstract feel that it gives to the music video.

In the video lighting plays a major role as it brings symbolic elements to the video. The use of low lighting presents Beyoncé as vulnerable; this is the same technique we will use with Alisha to show her insecurities and shyness. In the video there are many layers added together to create a dream like style, this is a technique we will be using as it will also give our work a dreamlike feel, ensuring the audience realizes the scene is a nightmare. In 1+1 the colour of the lights also represents different things about Beyoncé just like they will do to Alisha in our nightmare scene.

below are some images taken from Beyoncé’s 1+1 music video. 

Filming For the Nightmare Scene

Filming For the Nightmare Scene

Tomorrow we will film for the Nightmare scene. We will be filming in a studio –like set up, using array of professional lighting we will be able to create an abstract nightmare sequence explain the theme of the film and parts of Alisha’s life. We plan to include frightening image of Alisha scared, then contrasted with her losing her mind, and then some images of someone abusing her. This will all be layered with a sound collage made of different abusive comments pre recorded and a song found on a copyright free music website. The song is a haunting piece of music which will allow the audience to know that it is a nightmare as opposed to an ordinary dream. We will be suing array of different coloured lights and backlights, by doing this we will be able to represent gender and present different themes due to the ideological stereotype that different colours have.

Sound Collage - Nightmare

Sound Collage - Nightmare

For the Nightmare scene we decided to create another sound collage. We have recorded a number of different people, each saying something different and violent. we have recorded them as it was they were speaking to them, by doing this it makes the attack on Alisha much more personal. We gathered a number of different comments, some from teachers, some from girls and some from boys.

After we recorded the different insults and violent phrases, i edited each sound individually on soundwave, i changed the tempo, pitch, volume, and created echos on each of the sounds. by doing this it creates an abstract feel and makes the sounds more interesting.

Once I had edited the sound files, i was able to put them all together and create the final sound collage. The master layer is a soft laughter creating a sense of immaturity and cruelty, the rest of the sound files are introduced slowly and then followed by an explosion of sounds each shouting something  horrible towards Alisha, this creates tension and shows the stress that is building inside of her, this nightmare scene introduces the theme of bullying and neglect to the film and allows the audience an inside as to what to expect later on in the film.

Sound Collage - Nightmare

Sound Collage - Nightmare