Altered Filming Schedule

Due to the fact I have decided to alter my idea, I have therefore had to change my filming schedule and film some of the shots again but from different angles and perspectives. By planning out a new schedule I will be able to look at how my filming is coming along and it will allow for me to see where I can fit other filming dates in should I need them.

Ideally, all the production should have been finished before the February half term which is around the same time as Valentine's Day (14th) but due to other commitments I have been unable to finish the required filming. Therefore I will be filming very often in the half term as this is convenient form both me and the actress I am using.

I have already got some shots regarding the scene with the girl in her room but I will not be able to finish this scene without filming the others first so I will leave that filming until the end. I also do not want to try and film it all in one day as this would be too difficult and I want to make it seem like the different scenes are all filmed on different days to represent different memories. By filming on different days, I will be able to make it seem like time has past by using things such as different weather conditions, the characters wearing different clothing and other alterations. A brief outline of my altered production planning will follow:

Monday 16th February - I want to try and film the first scene all within this day. I will be filming in the centre of Oxford and will act it out in the same fashion as a first date. It will be from the guy's point of view and it will show the two characters meeting, walking around for a bit, possibly sitting in a restaurant or a cafe, then it will show the guy walking the girl home and them saying good bye before the next clip occurs.

Thursday 19th February - This will be the second scene filming. The second scene will show the characters as more comfortable with one another and this will make the characters seem more fluid in their movements and how they act with one another. It will be either in University Parks in Oxford or it will be like the two characters going for a "day out" together and having fun. The reasoning for leaving a gap is so that I can attend any other commitments I have but also so that I can see how the weather conditions may alter and so that I can change the clothing of the actress to make it seem like it is more further on in time.

Friday 20th/Saturday 21st February - This may take me one or two days to complete as I am planning on filming the rest of the scenes in the house and also the final scene which includes shooting from the guys point of view. I have left this to last as both of these scenes occur on the same day and therefore I want to try and ensure continuity is kept as well as the fact I can't shoot any more of the scenes in the house without having the other bits of filming done first. I may need to film the remaining house scenes on another day because I may have to do some more editing before these can be completed.

Film Review 3 - American Sniper

The Main Poster for American Sniper

The recently released film American Sniper has been a huge hit in America and has smashed the box office by receiving millions of views and becoming a huge success. A couple of weeks ago I decided to go and watch it and from my own experience of the film, I can see why it was such a big hit in America. The film stars Bradley Cooper who has also starred in another film in which I have reviewed in a previous post (The Place Beyond the Pines). He plays the American Soldier Chris Kyle as the film follows the life f the US Navy Seal and how he became the most lethal and feared sniper in American history. It also follows his life at home and how he dealt with the aftermath of the war in Iraq. It also shows how his family were affected by his time serving in Iraq and how his own experience nearly breaks his family apart.

As I have stated earlier on, the film was very widely credited in America and it made a substantial amount of money through the box office. It also received various nominations for awards including Best Picture and Best Male Actor at the Oscars (two of the most prestigious awards). It was also however subject to much controversy not just from some areas of America but from other countries as well such as the UK. This is because a lot of film reviewers and journalists spoke about how they thought the film "Glorified War" and how it does not balance a fair argument between the two sides in the conflict.

Despite this I thought the film was a triumph and I thought that it showed quite a lot of truth into what happens in the battlefields of wars. I though the acting was brilliant throughout the entire film and Bradley Cooper managed to take on the role very well as I thought it was very different to some of the other roles he has played in films such as The Hangover and The Place Beyond the Pines. The trailer for American Sniper can be seen below:

Production Alteration

As you may have gathered from looking at some of my previous posts, I have 2 characters in my production with the girl playing a more dominant role than the guy. I have been having difficulty finding times when they are both free to do some filming and it is normally due to the male character being unable to make it to the filming destination because of their work commitments. Therefore, I have decided to alter the way I will be going about my production and I will be using the idea of one of my previous posts as inspiration for my idea.

In one of my previous posts I mentioned a couple of music videos that use the camera from the point of view of one of the characters so it is like you are seeing the situation through their eyes. I like this idea because it gives a more personal feel to the video and could make the viewer seem as though they are more inclined to watch the video for one reason or another. With this change of idea on how to shoot the film, I have also decided to alter some of the scenes and some of the props that would have been included in the original idea. I wanted to change the idea of pictures or photo album to either an old video camera or a DVD which the girl can watch the "flashbacks" on as this will save more time of me getting the photos developed and it will also be easier to transition between the watching of the film and the actual film itself. I also might change the idea of the last scene and alter the other two scenes to make them easier to incorporate with the idea of the point of view filming. As well as this, I have also considered changing the ending to make it happier and so I can incorporate more camera angles to try and bring my mark up.

I have also considered changing the song because I wanted to make the video more of a happy video and this would be difficult with the original song I had planned. The song I was considering as a replacement still has an element of sadness to it but the lyrics make it sound more happy. The alternative music choice will be placed below:

Filming Plan - Day 1

The first thing I want to try and film are all the shots that don't include any of my actors as this will be relatively easy and quick to do as I will be able to do these on my own. My plan was to go into Oxford City Centre, as this is where most of my filming will take place, and I planned to film some shots whilst there was sufficient amount of sunlight to show the happy side of the music video. Then I could either use the same shots but edit them with a darker effect for the sad aspect of the music video, or I could film them again when it gets darker and later but I may not be able to get the desired level of continuity that I want if I was to do this. I also planned to do some practice shots of just the girl but I will be doing these on another date, which will be in the next week or two.

The scenes I would particularly like to get done are the scenes for the first meeting and also the second scene as these will both be relatively easy to do. I don't want to try and get the shots for the third scene just yet as these are whether dependant and I will have to ensure I am able to act fast if i want to be able to film these shots. As for the bedroom scenes, I need to find a place which has the criteria that I am after. The outside of the house does not necessarily have to be the same and for this reason I will probably try and find a nice house placed on its own to try and film a very short clip. I will most probably be able to do this when I go and film the shots by myself as it will be easy and does not require me using any of my actors.

Ancillary Text Ideas

As I have already established, I am doing a music video as my production idea and therefore I think the most suitable ancillary text for me to use would be a poster and then I will also make a website as we have to provide two different ancillary texts. I feel that producing a poster is the most relevant form of ancillary text because if you are to look at how artists sell their music, (not as much now) they would use physical copies of their music in the form of CDs. One of the main reasons why people were attracted to CDs was because of the album art that is presented on the front of it. Some artists would use similar pictures from the album art to make posters and vice versa. This meant that they were giving themselves a public image and it also meant that they were advertising their music in such a way that it was able to catch the eye of consumers. Some consumers even collect the posters and album art as it is seen as a form of collective memorabilia to them. Below is an example of the album art and a poster of the artist who produced the song that I will be using in my final production.

Poster Promoting Her Song "Bones"

The Cover of Alex G's First Album

Oxfordshire Youth Media Awards Review

Before Christmas, our school was invited to attend an awards presentation for media at Wheatley Park School. This is where our school, along with 4-5 others, would present some of the best AS and A2 media productions that they had to offer to a judge pane and then they would be nominated against one another for an award. The judging panel included the head of the SAE Institute, a successful documentary film maker and Niv Adiri, who won an Oscar for his sound work on the film Gravity.

The Marlborough School had 3 different productions that were shown and of these 3, 2 of them walked away with awards. The music video produced by last year's A2 student Ben Pilston won best music video and another former A2 student, Ellie Bunce, won the award for the best camera work for her music video. Both of these videos will be presented at the bottom of this blog.

From attending this event, I have learnt that their are many different ways in which ideas can be presented and the amount of camera and editing techniques that are available has allowed me to think in more detail about the ones that I will be using in my production. This will benefit me greatly as it will allow for me to produce my final piece with more detail and greater care and this should mean that my final product will be produced to the best quality possible.

Below are the two music videos that won awards for the Marlborough School at the event. Ben's is on the top and Ellie's is on the bottom.

Alternative Shots Idea 2

Recently I watched a music video that I thought captured the way in which the artists were seen differently and the whole video could give the viewer more of a personal feel towards it as it is filmed through the eyes of someone opposite the artists and therefore makes you feel as though you are actually in the video itself. The music video was Night Changes by One Direction. Normally I am not one to listen to artists such as One Direction but I heard this song on the radio one day and decided to check out the video. I was interested in the idea of the videoing in first person and it gave me the idea of doing this in my production.

The concept of filming in a first person view like they did isn't seen much in music videos as you normally are able to see the main characters in third person. However, I thought the use of the first person was very clever as it was not something I had seen before and thought that the way in which the band members interacted with the camera was very good. An example of one of the interactions I liked is very near the beginning where the band member puts the scarf around whoever was filming. The video also gives the feel that it is actually a person and not just a camera as you see the band members holding the camera woman's hand at a few points and you also see her foot and lap towards the end. This was clever use of the camera and this gave me some inspiration if I was to change the idea of my production. The only drawback with using this in my production is that I need to include a wide range of camera shots and angles and with this method I will only be incorporating one type of shot and it would need very little editing which may bring my grade down unless I was to be very precise with filming and ensuring I make it as perfect as possible.

The video for One Direction - Night Changes can be seen below: