Radio Advert Paperwork

Initial Ideas
Tell No-one Textual Analysis
Radio Advert Script

Progress Report - 18/03/10

At this stage, we are well into the production stage of our coursework. The group's main priority during class sessions is to work on completeing both the trailer and the radio advert, however at this stage we have yet to start working on our radio piece.

In terms of our film trailer, we have completed the pre-production, as well as the production, and are into the post-production stage. We filmed our piece over two days - 11th and 12th of March. I think this went really well, and that we all worked well together as a team. Each of us took on our roles, and because we stuck to them, we completed filming on schedule and ensured we had every shot we needed, with several takes of each, working with the storyboards and the script to make sure everything was as we had planned it to be. One issue we did have during filming was lighting levels. We found it difficult to get the lighting levels that we had hoped for, and so had to improvise by using a torch to reach the lighting we wanted. Although this was a solution, we did find it hard to try and make our set look like it wasn't torch lit, and that the light was being sourced from somewhere else. Although this was the case, from watching back the footage we have, I think that the lighitng levels turned out ok, and do make our trailer look effective, if not a little dark.

Because we have included several tracking shots within our trailer, we had to find ways to create these without making the camera look as though it was hand held. In the courtyard scene, we used a wheelchair in order to do this, with Tom pushing myself in the wheelchair, and Rowan overseeing things. As well as this, we are also including a tracking shot in the last sequence of our film, with the camera and the male protagonist both running towards each other. To achieve this shot we used the same concept as the shot in the courtyard, using a computer chair.

Throughout the filming stage, we also took production stills, as well as stills for the other aspects of our coursework. By taking this time for both filming and production stills (4-5hours in total)we made sure that we has several takes of each shot to make sure we had a choice of which one to use when it came to the editing stage. After filming on each day, we made sure that we took time as a group to go over the footage we had taken to make sure that everything was how we wanted it, and that if there were any problems we could think of ways to rectify them.

At the moment, we are in the editing stage with our trailer. We are getting to grips with using Adobe Premier, a new programme which we have never used before. Although Tom is the editor within the group, we are all taking an active role in deciding which takes should be used, and also any other decision such as when we should cut each shot. When we were capturing our footage, we made sure we logged each shot, and gave it a number. When it came to then putting together our rough cut, it was much easier to find the shots and assemble them into the right order.

As we are editing the trailer, we are tying out the different effects that we think would work well with our chosen genre, and will make the trailer look effective. For example, we chose to put our CCTV shots into black and white, and use red text in the bottom right corner saying "Recording" to make it look more realistic and effective. We have also decided to use white noise in several places to make the transition between the CCTV shots more professional. With the CCTV shot of our female protagonist in the library, we have chosen to to use visual white noise as well as the sound to show that she has disappeared. This helps to build tension because the audience will want to know how and why she has disappeared, thus wanting to go and watch the film. To show that the CCTV shots are changing, we also made it look as though the frames were fuzzy as they were changing. In order to do this, I took a still frame of the CCTV shot that we wanted to change to and in Photoshop put a filter on it to make it look fuzzy and misplaced. We then put these stills infront of the CCTV shots we were changing for a split second to to make it look as though the channel was changing. Another effect we used was the grain effect. We used this on the last shot where the female protagonist is answering a question that she asked early in the trailer. We decided to put a grain as well as the "Recording" text in red on this frame to make it look realistic because the whole idea of the film is that the two protagonists are making a documentary around their college. The grain makes the quality of the image look lower and so this is realistic because it is what the audience would exoect a sort of 'home movie' to look like. The "Recording" text in the corner of the frame helps to add to this effect.

Instead of using diegetic sound within our trailer, we will be using a voice over which we have pre-recorded in the radio studio with our actress. When producing this element of our trailer, we again all took on our specific roles to make sure everything went according to plan. I was the monitoring the sound and doing the recording, and Rowan and Tom were helping Becca (our actress) to read the script in the way we wanted in order to add the right effect to the trailer, which we hope will add to the tension we want to create. When we cut and use this voice over to add to our trailer, Tom will be able to cut it in the right places to fit with the visual aspect. This is because before we started to record the voice over, we briefed Becca, telling her how we wanted her to speak and giving her time to practice with the script. This meant that we were able to fulfill the codes and conventions of our chosen genre as much as possible, and I think that when we add this to the final trailer, it will be effective and accomplish the effect we want.

Location Photos

This is a shot of the front of the college. We have decided to use this as our establishing shot because it tells the audience where the film is going to be set. Having the plinth with the name of the college on in the corner of the shot also tells the audience that the film is set in a college environment, and so from this they can assume that the main characters will probably be young people, who are in education.















We want to use this shot to show our two main protagonists within the college environment. The characters will be stood still, perhaps talking to eachother, and the camera will move around them. The idea behind this shot is to show the characters within the college environment, which will help the audience to make the link that they are students within the college.















This is the second view of the previous shot. As the camera moves around the two characters, this is what will be seen.















This is a CCTV shot of a classroom within the college. The aim of this shot is to show that the college is empty at the time the two protagonists are there, and to also show the audience what the college is like.




















This shot will be used to show the male protagonist running past, and when we film we will frame it so that you can only see his feet. This will be the first shot to add tension to the trailer, and will show the audience that eveything isn't what it seems within the college. It will also give the audience an idea that something or someone is in the college, and the idea is to make them want to watch the rest of the film.




















This is another CCTV shot, and will show the male protagonist running past. This is to portray that he is being chased by something or someone, and will also show that he and the female protagonist have been separated at some point previous to this.















This shot of the library is also a CCTV shot. We intend to show the female protagonist stood in the centre of this shot, looking straight at the camera, with a blank expression on her face. The aim of this shot is to reinforce to the audience that our chosen genre is a thriller. By having a blank expression on her face, we want the female protagonist to look like she is posessed, and that the antagonist has some kind of power over her. I also think that by including this shot, we will show that it is the female protagonist is vulnberable compared to the male protagonist, which supports the stereotype that women are vulnerable compared to men.




















We will use this shot to show the antagonist following the male protagonist. The male protagonist will be stood in the hallway, and the camera will move out from behind the wall and begin to walk towards him. This shows that audience that the protagonists don't know the antagonist is following them, and it also tells them that something sinister is happening within the college, however it doesn't identify the reason behind this.




















This is a shot of the same corridor that we will use in the previous shot. In this shot, we intend to show the male protagonist turning round because he thinks somebody or something is behind him, however when he turns round there will be nothing behind him. This will again support the conventions of a thriller genre because the audience have been led to believe something else in the previous shot.















After being in the corridor, the male protagonist will then walk into a classroom in the same corridor. The classroom will be in darkness, and he will be looking around the room with a torch. This gives a feeling of tension to the audience because they dont know if he will find anything in the room. Because he is looking around the college, it will also be clear to the audience that he is looking for the girl he was shown with at the beginning of the trailer. In turn this then tells the audience that something untoward has happened to her and that they have somehow been separated, which is more than likely because of the actions of the antagonist.




















After showing the shot of the male protagonist looking for the female protagonist in the classroom, we will change to a shot of the room where she is being kept. This confirms to the audience that the male protagonist is definately looking for her, but it also tells them that she is in distress and is being held against her will. As a result of this, the audience will want to know what is going to happen to her, and whether he will find her by the end of the film.















This shot will show the male protagonist starting to walk around the room trying to find the female protagonist. We intend this to be a point of view shot, will will help the audience to see things from his point of view.




















This is the room where the female protagonist will be 'held' by the antagonist in the film. We chose this room because it is fairly small and so we will be able to make it look crampt, and it we will also be able to make this room very dark which will help add to the tension in the film, and also add to the 'fear factor' that we want to create.















We will use this stairwell to show our male protagonist supposedly searching for the female protagonist. We want to show him looking around the college in different areas, and think this area would work because it is dimly lit. As well as using this shot, we will also be using a point of view shot of the antagonist from the top of the stairwell. In this shot, we want to make it appear as though the antagonist is watching the male protagonist without him knowing. This will help to build the tension of the trailer.




















This will be the point of view shot from the antagonist, watching the male protagonist going down the stairs.




















We will be using this corridor for the last sequence of our trailer. This is becuase it is a narrow corridor, and is another area of the college that we can make dark in order to fit with the codes and conventions of a thriller genre.




















This is the area of the corridor where our male protagonist will trip over. The lighting will be very dark, which we again will add to the tension we wish to create.




















This is a view of the same corridor that we will be using in the closing sequence of our trailer. This is the view with the door from the small room where the female protagonist will be being 'held' by the antagonist. We want the audience to know that the male protagonist gets to the room where she is being held, however we don't want them to know if he finds her, or even if he knows she is being held in that room.

Advanced Portfolio Progress Report - 02/03/10

During the past few weeks, the Pre-Production stage of my coursework has been the main focus during Media classes. Within my group, we have decided on an idea for the trailer aspect of our viral campaign, and came to a decision as to what we will be producing by each creating a viable idea, and then came together as a group to decide which idea we would go through with, by doing analysis such as a SWOT for each idea. After this had been decided, we started to get into the planning stage for the trailer, going further with our chosen idea in the way of conducting further research into different trailers of our chosen genre, as well as researching aspects such as advertising codes of practise. All of these aspects contribute to our work by making sure it will be as realistic and accurate as is possible, for example by researching the advertising codes of practise, we know what we would be allowed to include in our trailer. We also looked at the BBFC guidelines, which helped us to determine what certificate our trailer and film should be, and as a group we decided that our film will be classified as a 15 and our trailer a 12A. We decided this because we felt that the content we wanted to include fitted into these guidelines.

In the past week or so, the main focus of our group has been to address the issue of completeing our script and storyboard. These two aspects of our Pre-Production work are probably the most time consuming, but also the most important. This is because without these two aspects, we aren't really able to progress further with our trailer. After re-starting our storyboard four times, and holding meetings several times outside of class times, we finally came to an agreement on the final draft of our storyboard, including all the shots that we had in our initial ideas, as well as putting in others.

Whilst still deciding on our storyboard, each member of the group conducted individual character research, with myself taking on the research for the female protagonist, and deciding to focus on Sidney Prescott from 'Scream', played by Neve Campbell. The purpose of this research was to help inform the group of what the characters within our trailer would typically be like, for example dress codes and non-verbal communication.

Now this has been completed, during the next week the group will be spending time on organising the shoot for the trailer, which will include booking any equipment rooms that we need within the college and finding suitable actors to portray the roles in a way that we are happy with.