Storyboards

Filming - Day 1

Group members present: Mandy, Sophie, Libby.

Following our shooting script, we knew which scenes we wanted to film on this day:

Establishing Shot.
The establishing shot was of the exterior of the toilet, which would be shown at the start of our film opening as a background for the opening credits. We faced some difficulties when filming this shot: as it was an outdoor shot we were concerned the natural light would not be bright enough and as a result the shot would appear dull on the computer. However, later during the editing process we found this was not the case. Another difficulty we faced was uneven ground when filming, unfortunately although the camera appeared to be level, when editing we found the shot was slanted and so we had to re-film.

Toilet Scene.

We also filmed the toilet scene, this included the first scenes of the opening with our main protagonist. The toilet was an ideal location because it was secluded and so there would be no unwanted background noise and it also looked quite run-down which followed the context of our film opening. We tried to follow our storyboard as much as possible as so wanted to use a variety of shots, such as: mid shots, high angled shots and long shots to show her from the front, back and side. We used the camera on the tripod for all of these shots to ensure the shot was steady and during the editing process we used jump cuts to maintain continuity. The artificial lighting already avaliable in the toilets and the natural light from outside kept the shots well-lit throughout the day and followed the storyboard well as it connoted that it was the early hours of the morning. There was a porblem, however, when we needed to shoot a scene meant to be at night but it wasn't dark enough despite our efforts to cover the windows and turn off the artifical lights, so we decided to re-film this night scene.
Lastly, we did a close up shot of Sophie's face and zoomed into her eye. We found this problematic as the shot was unsteady and became out of focus as we zoomed in. However, after many attempts, we achieved the shot we wanted and we were happy with the result.

The Vomit.
Our storyboard shows the protagonist walk over to the toilet sink and vomit, therefore in order to make this scene as realistic as possible we made some fake 'vomit' using juice, oats, hot chocolate and peaches. It was put in Sophie's mouth and from a mid shot to the side we filmed her being sick which added a good effect and looked very believable.

Party Scene Inspiration

25th Hour

Sound

• 'Bra' by Cymande (instrumental version)
• repetitive electronic, punk style beat
• the repetition makes the beat seem hypnotic which could reflect how the characters are feeling as they are under the influence of drugs or could suggest the hypnosis from the music is allowing the characters to relieve stress and relax

Screenshot 1

 Lighting

• the artifical strobe lighting in this screenshot has a blue tint which denotes a typical club atmosphere, however it connotes a 'dream-like' atmosphere
• it could also connote a sensual or relaxing atmosphere

Camera Angles

• the over the shoulder shot looking down on the dancers, makes it seem as if the viewer is spying on the crowds
• however, the long shot means that the viewer is distance and, therefore in a way, excluded from the party
• although this is a long shot, it could be considered as an establishing shot in some ways as it is setting the club scene

Screenshot 2

    

Lighting

• again, blue tinted lighting is used in a sensual and relaxing way

Camera Angles

• close up of a woman's face
• creates a sensual atmosphere as her lips are clearly outlined (women's lips are symbols of sexuality and sensuality)

Mise-en-Scene

• as it is a side profile, the curves of her faces are outlined - as her features are not sharp, the curves of her face along with the blue lighting constructs sexual yet soft persona for this character
• her straightforward gaze intensifies her sexuality - however as it is not directed at the camera, it is almost as if the viewers are prying into her personal life

Screenshot 3

Lighting

• in this shot a harsh white light is used instead of blue tinted light
• as it is the last clip of people dancing in a club the white light could symbolise awakening/realisation which contrasts to the previous 'dream-like' blue coloured lighting
• the harsh lighting could also reflect a burst of energy which echoes the energetic jumping of the people

Camera Angles 

• the viewer feels part of the lively atmosphere created by the dancers because the camera is placed amongst the crowd at eye level
• the extreme close ups of the dancers' hands allows the viewer to imagine that they are in an overcrowded and buzzing club

Mise-en-Scene

• young dancers - again emphasising that this is a popular club for young people
• casual clothing - one woman is wearing jeans and a vest top, which emulates a 'whatever' teenage attitude

Screenshot 4

Sound

• different to the previous heavy bass music, the soundtrack used for this scene includes a trumpet and a relatively slow drum beat
• typically thought to music for the 'older' generation it contrasts to the youthful drum and bass style music in the club
• the slower pace of the music reflects the character's calm and relaxed mood

Lighting

• spotlight is used to focus on this character, as the scene revolves around her and her mood
• the background is has little light to avoid distractions

Camera Angles

• close up shot makes sure the viewer's attention is on this character
• the close up shot also symbolises how the viewer is invading this character's personal space
• as this character is under the influence of drugs, the close up shot could show how she is viewing the world differently to before

Editing

• the scene is in slow motion to emulate the effects of  the drugs on this character

Mise-en-Scene

• although the close up shot makes it seem as if we are invading her privacy, her straight stare at the camera infers she knows the viewer is there and doesn't care

Lighting

For testing the lighting, i used different coloured plastic bags and held it over a torch and a ceiling spotlight. It worked effectively and would be good for our filming. Some of these colours would be especially useful for the party scene (using coloured strobe-type lighting).

Red can be associated with shame, fire, danger, blood, stop, war, aggression which would be ideal for our characters personality and how her life has changed. We could use this for our party scene as the girl is putting herself at danger through the amount of alcohol she is drinking and drugs she is taking or the rape scene as streetlights often have a red glow and it could portray the danger of what is happening to her. It could also be a good use of mise en scene as a party may have different coloured lights which adds to the excitement.






Scenes tinted in green are generally mysterious. Also meaning glass (maybe looking through a green vodka glass) and could show the smashing and falling apart of her life. It can have a negative connotation of envy/jealousy, inexperience and even mold. This would seem quite unrealistic in any other scene but the party scene as this light is quite unnatural and does not give the right effect for our film opening.

Blue is associated with cold and has a tendency to cause the feelings of sadness and depression. Again these could be used in the party scene but also this use of blue tint would be effective in the morning as the girl wakes up in the toilets as it would sadden the mood, helping to convey her feelings. It would also be a good use of mise en scene, making to morning appear more cold and adding to the dull, moody atmosphere.

The colour purple can be seen as a warm colour and a cold colour which can create both a posittive and negative atmosphere. It also has a spiritual feel. Again, this would only really be effective in the party scene for mise on scene as a coloured light. It would seem too unrealistic for any other scene as the lighting is quite unnatural.

Film Name

These pictures show different typography possiblities for the title of our film opening. The name of the film is VICTIM which fits the story as she isn't the type of girl who usually goes out and takes drugs and so she is a victim of the events that follow.

The top left we see a graffiti style of the title, it is good as it fits in with the style of our film which stereotypically is set in a run down place with graffiti sprayed places. However we decided not to use it as it rather hard to see clearly what it says.

Top right shows VICTIM written clearly and is not exaggerrated too much, the broken glass effect could signify her life breaking as well. However we decided not to use this either as it was too bulky and would be hard to incorporate into the film opening as we had wanted.

Bottom left is of the title being blown out like smoke, the idea was to have someone actually smoking and while they exhaled the letters would come out. However the shot in which we wanted the title shown would mean we would need someone to be in the scene and it wouldn't fit as the main protaginist is meant to be all alone.

Bottom right shows VICTIM outlined and has the effect of broken glass with shards around it, this is a good effect we could use. It also isn't too complicated and would be able to incorporate into the shot, this is why we have decided to use this typography for our title.

Shooting Script

Sound

Websites:

·         last.fm/music/+free-music-downloads/dubstep

·         jamendo.com

Conventions: (Some could be used as diegetic music played in parts of the party scene.)

·         Non diegetic rap music

·         Non diegetic dubstep

·         Non diegetic instruments - heavy guitars

·         Non diegetic drum line beat / bass drum beat

·         Non diegetic grime music soundtrack

·         Non diegetic voiceover

·         Diegetic dialogue

Party Music:

·    Dubstep: Example - Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix):
When the bass drops this can have a disorientating effect and can be used as parallel sound to show the character is feeling the effects of the drugs and alcohol kick in. It is also a convention of this genre for out of control party scenes such as this one.

·    Heartbeat (Chase and Status):

Heavy guitar builds up to make the scene more dramatic. The sudden change from slow to loud energetic music could be used as parallel sound to show how everything has changed from controlled to chaos.

Sound Effects:

·         Heartbeat

·         Heavy breathing

·         Ears ringing – muffled subliminal sounds of distorted voices and music. Shows disorientation        and effect of drugs/alcohol.

·         Deep bass sounds

·         Drum beat

·         Metal ‘clang’ sound effect

·         Heartbeat sound effect

·         Glass smashing sound effect

Establishing shots/Opening Scene:
For the opening we required a drum beat:
           http://www.peaceloveproductions.com/loops/PLP_technologybreak.mp3: This beat is quiet fast which will coincide with our fast changing shots. However we also have a slower track that could be used:
         http://www.trapkit.com/mp3/PURDIECYMBALSTART.mp3: This is slower and more mysterious so could give off the sense of enigma right from the start. A slower beat also shows it will not be an uplifting film.

Party Scene :
               http://soundcloud.com/groups/unsigned-dubstep-producers/tracks?page=2

               Malaka- what should i name this track? Mini clip (dirty dubstep/electro):
 This track is halfway down the page and after the initial inro, these is a good dubstep beat which is fast moving for when the party scene is going on. The beat that goes on until 30 seconds in is a good dance track for our party scene. This would be a good song to have as its dubstep which we wanted and is good to dance to.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/unsigned-dubstep-producers
        A second song which is good is:
            Ekoe-Flashing Lights Ft. Casp (128 kbps): Halfway down the page at 0.38 mintues the song slows up which could be incorperated for when she is taking drugs as it could be her orientation slowing.

http://www.last.fm/music/Halo+Nova/_/Psilocyborg: This is a good dubstep beat which, when the music muffles and the music moves down in pitches (like steps), it could signiture when the protagonist is slowly moving down these 'steps' to a different level (the effects of the alcohol etc.). It has a clockwork feel to it which can state that time is running slower when the effect of the protagonist is occuring.