I was planning on using my mum as the mother in the opening sequence but it she wasn't available in the time that I needed her, for the father I had also planned on using my mum's boyfriend but he lives in Birmingham so that was also hard to get him here to film.
I then decided to use myself as the father and my girlfriend as the mother in the sequence.
My sister still remains the child in the sequence, there is a slight ethnicity issue as my sister is Jamaican and it does not seem right in the footage with me and my girlfriend as the father.
I shall upload actor images soon.
Thursday 26 February 2009
Monday 9 February 2009
Checklist
I was sitting in the library trying to do some coursework for this project and I didn't know what to do so then I came up with the
Sunday 8 February 2009
Title Sequence Soundtrack
Throughout my title sequence I do not plan on playing any music but plan to create good ambience and background sound to piece the special effects and everything together.
All sound clips that I use will be apart of the creative commons act and if I cannot find the clips I need I will try my best to make my own.
So far I have gathered sound effects for fire which you can hear on my second piece of test footage.
The sound used in that was two sound clips pieced together, on their own they did not sound realistic for the type of fire or scene I am setting up but together they were perfect.
I had got these sounds from www.freesounds.org
This is a website where people upload any sound effects they have created and other people can use them.
All sound clips that I use will be apart of the creative commons act and if I cannot find the clips I need I will try my best to make my own.
So far I have gathered sound effects for fire which you can hear on my second piece of test footage.
The sound used in that was two sound clips pieced together, on their own they did not sound realistic for the type of fire or scene I am setting up but together they were perfect.
I had got these sounds from www.freesounds.org
This is a website where people upload any sound effects they have created and other people can use them.
Inspirations - Fantastic Four
Fantastic four, although not one of my favourite movies, as got the hero for my sequence just right.
I have had an idealistic fire controlling hero in my head for a long time, and the human torch in fantastic four is him. Although I would give him enhanced strength as an extra power but that's for another time.
Here is a video compilation of the human torch from the movie:
The effects are amazing and him as a character/hero is just perfect. They really got to grips with Marvel's creation of him, this is how the hero in my movie should look and how I want him to look.
The human torch in this movie is cocky and arrogant and full of himself. My hero I would like to have a darker side to him than that. He isn't cocky nor is he arrogant but aware of the dangers that surround him, but he is a bit more malevolent in his ways.
I have had an idealistic fire controlling hero in my head for a long time, and the human torch in fantastic four is him. Although I would give him enhanced strength as an extra power but that's for another time.
Here is a video compilation of the human torch from the movie:
The effects are amazing and him as a character/hero is just perfect. They really got to grips with Marvel's creation of him, this is how the hero in my movie should look and how I want him to look.
The human torch in this movie is cocky and arrogant and full of himself. My hero I would like to have a darker side to him than that. He isn't cocky nor is he arrogant but aware of the dangers that surround him, but he is a bit more malevolent in his ways.
Saturday 7 February 2009
Actors & Actresses
In my film sequence I shall have three maybe four actors.
I have not got names yet for the characters that will be played instead for the moment I have them listed as their roles in the family.
I will need a young girl who will be the daughter, I will need a woman to be the mother and a man to play as the dad. I may have a fourth actor to play as another daughter of the similar age but that is not certain.
As the young girl I shall have my ten year old sister play the part here is a photo of her:
I will obviously have to gain consent from my mum to allow my sister to play in my sequence.
I hope that she will oblige to this, I see no reason for her not to.
The actress I will use to play the mum in my film opening will be my own mum.
I think that using real mother and daughter will add more authenticity to how they act in the shots. As they have an emotional tie they can then manipulate that to use on set.
Here is a photo of my mum:
I will have to gain consent from my mum for her to allow me to use any fotage that I shoot of her.
I will update with more actors at a later date.
I have not got names yet for the characters that will be played instead for the moment I have them listed as their roles in the family.
I will need a young girl who will be the daughter, I will need a woman to be the mother and a man to play as the dad. I may have a fourth actor to play as another daughter of the similar age but that is not certain.
As the young girl I shall have my ten year old sister play the part here is a photo of her:
I will obviously have to gain consent from my mum to allow my sister to play in my sequence.
I hope that she will oblige to this, I see no reason for her not to.
The actress I will use to play the mum in my film opening will be my own mum.
I think that using real mother and daughter will add more authenticity to how they act in the shots. As they have an emotional tie they can then manipulate that to use on set.
Here is a photo of my mum:
I will have to gain consent from my mum for her to allow me to use any fotage that I shoot of her.
I will update with more actors at a later date.
Costumes Updated
In a post below I have described the costumes that I shall have in my film sequence.
Here are just a few of them:
Test Footage 2
This is my second test of setting my kitchen on fire.
This time it looks more realistic well the flames do anyway, the room appears darker as though there was smoke infront of the camera. I still need to add smoke effects though and place the fire better in the shot.
The addition of sound really improves the footage aiding the visuals in seeming more realistic.
I know I still need to improve but I think I am getting there.
Here is the link I did not embedd it because when you do that the quality is poor so click the link and press hd quality.
Clicky
This time it looks more realistic well the flames do anyway, the room appears darker as though there was smoke infront of the camera. I still need to add smoke effects though and place the fire better in the shot.
The addition of sound really improves the footage aiding the visuals in seeming more realistic.
I know I still need to improve but I think I am getting there.
Here is the link I did not embedd it because when you do that the quality is poor so click the link and press hd quality.
Clicky
Wednesday 4 February 2009
3 Major Issues With Contingency Plans
These are:
The most important of the three is the fire and getting it to look good.
Because my sequence is reliant on the imagery and effects that I come up with, if the fire does not look up to scratch then the rest of my sequence will fail. Despite the fact that the quality of my action and sequence relies mainly on one factor, the complexity of this is major and needs to be in exact proportions.
A solution to this would be to shoot some live footage of some fire and then mask it into my other live footage of the actors in the house and trying to make it look good from then on which would be tricky but at least then I will have realism of a real fire and smoke.
The only people that could help me on this would possibly be my teacher Nick or a friend of my Dave who's skills in after effects just surpass mine ><.
The second most important major issue is the actors and how well they perform.
Although my sequence does not have a lot of dialogue in it, it does rely on human emotion of fear, shock and anxiety. These are not the easiest of emotions to perform to the standard of realism but my sequence craves for these emotions and these are just as important as the fire in making my sequence look believable.
A solution to this would be to re shoot and re shoot until I get the look I'm after or maybe just do some sort of auditions with friends and family to get the right actors.
People who could help me with the realism would be my teachers.
The least important of the major issues to me is the health and safety issues.
The only risk assessment I need take into consideration is that my actors will be running up and down stairs and around them making this a huge hazard risk.
This could be easily overcome if I am not allowed to continue with this, I could film downstairs and then some how make it look like they are coming down stairs.
And again my teachers would be the help that I would need for this.
- My fire and CGI look realistic.
- The actors make the sequence look believable.
- Health and Safety with risk assessments.
The most important of the three is the fire and getting it to look good.
Because my sequence is reliant on the imagery and effects that I come up with, if the fire does not look up to scratch then the rest of my sequence will fail. Despite the fact that the quality of my action and sequence relies mainly on one factor, the complexity of this is major and needs to be in exact proportions.
A solution to this would be to shoot some live footage of some fire and then mask it into my other live footage of the actors in the house and trying to make it look good from then on which would be tricky but at least then I will have realism of a real fire and smoke.
The only people that could help me on this would possibly be my teacher Nick or a friend of my Dave who's skills in after effects just surpass mine ><.
The second most important major issue is the actors and how well they perform.
Although my sequence does not have a lot of dialogue in it, it does rely on human emotion of fear, shock and anxiety. These are not the easiest of emotions to perform to the standard of realism but my sequence craves for these emotions and these are just as important as the fire in making my sequence look believable.
A solution to this would be to re shoot and re shoot until I get the look I'm after or maybe just do some sort of auditions with friends and family to get the right actors.
People who could help me with the realism would be my teachers.
The least important of the major issues to me is the health and safety issues.
The only risk assessment I need take into consideration is that my actors will be running up and down stairs and around them making this a huge hazard risk.
This could be easily overcome if I am not allowed to continue with this, I could film downstairs and then some how make it look like they are coming down stairs.
And again my teachers would be the help that I would need for this.
Problems That Are Getting To Me
Today in class I came across some slight annoyances and problems that will affect me and my project, most of these are easily overcome the rest are well will power and determination needed from me and also some slight technical hitches.
The annoyances or nuisances that will come upon me are the weather on Monday the 2ND of Feb and Tuesday the 3rd of Feb we lost to college days of work and it is possible that we might lose more due to snow, meaning I will need to pick up the slack.
Another nuisance is trying to figure out who would be ideal as actors for me and who would be good enough.
Here we get onto the more troublesome problems.
The setting of my location is what I'm struggling with, I need a fairly big house. Whilst mine is quite big it isn't the right shape that I need for some of my shots which I shall show with some location shots later on. Finding the right location is the key to my SFX working.
We've just been told today that we will only be able to use 4-5 of the HD camera from Coleridge school, now being in a class of 16 students this is quite hard to go about. As far as I am aware of currently two students have their own cameras they can use. That leaves 14 of use we are being allowed to use these cameras in half term but then have to share among us, there are two students who live fairly close to me but one of them will be using their own camera.
We also have 18 cameras in our class that are a bit "ropey" and are not of high standard and for loads of special effects it would be a shame if my live action footage degrades my effects.
Another minor concern is working within the time allocations for the footage. We have been told that our opening sequence has to be 2 minutes long and it could go 30 secs either way and not lose marks depending on the quality of our clip. I'm aiming for 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
Now we move on to the the major problems I have come across.
These are what really hit me in the face, as I am creating computerized fire and some CGI in my footage it has too look really good if it looks really unprofessional then that's my sequence ruined.
The actors I use, they need to make this believable. I'm not looking for the next James Bond or Spiderman but at least someone who can show emotion on demand.
Health and Safety. My actors are going to be running around a house up and down the stairs and near the stairs risk assessments need to be taken.
I will expand on my major issues in the next post.
The annoyances or nuisances that will come upon me are the weather on Monday the 2ND of Feb and Tuesday the 3rd of Feb we lost to college days of work and it is possible that we might lose more due to snow, meaning I will need to pick up the slack.
Another nuisance is trying to figure out who would be ideal as actors for me and who would be good enough.
Here we get onto the more troublesome problems.
The setting of my location is what I'm struggling with, I need a fairly big house. Whilst mine is quite big it isn't the right shape that I need for some of my shots which I shall show with some location shots later on. Finding the right location is the key to my SFX working.
We've just been told today that we will only be able to use 4-5 of the HD camera from Coleridge school, now being in a class of 16 students this is quite hard to go about. As far as I am aware of currently two students have their own cameras they can use. That leaves 14 of use we are being allowed to use these cameras in half term but then have to share among us, there are two students who live fairly close to me but one of them will be using their own camera.
We also have 18 cameras in our class that are a bit "ropey" and are not of high standard and for loads of special effects it would be a shame if my live action footage degrades my effects.
Another minor concern is working within the time allocations for the footage. We have been told that our opening sequence has to be 2 minutes long and it could go 30 secs either way and not lose marks depending on the quality of our clip. I'm aiming for 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
Now we move on to the the major problems I have come across.
These are what really hit me in the face, as I am creating computerized fire and some CGI in my footage it has too look really good if it looks really unprofessional then that's my sequence ruined.
The actors I use, they need to make this believable. I'm not looking for the next James Bond or Spiderman but at least someone who can show emotion on demand.
Health and Safety. My actors are going to be running around a house up and down the stairs and near the stairs risk assessments need to be taken.
I will expand on my major issues in the next post.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Costumes
The costumes that will be used for my sequence will be pretty simple. As the actors in the sequence are playing people woken up in the night by the fire alarm they shall be dressed to the occasion as it were.
The mother will either be wearing a night dress or pajamas, slippers are a possibility but in the films situation I don't think they'd have time in real life to have them on.
The father will be wearing pj bottoms and no top, maybe a top depends on my restrictions. And again the same with the slippers.
The two girls will have the same dress code as the mother but, being little girls they may have put their slippers on.
I shall add images of costumes and cast within the next day.
The mother will either be wearing a night dress or pajamas, slippers are a possibility but in the films situation I don't think they'd have time in real life to have them on.
The father will be wearing pj bottoms and no top, maybe a top depends on my restrictions. And again the same with the slippers.
The two girls will have the same dress code as the mother but, being little girls they may have put their slippers on.
I shall add images of costumes and cast within the next day.
Location Setting
For my opening sequence I will need one main location maybe two depending on how I progress and thoughts and ideas.
The main location will be within in a house mainly two of the bedrooms, the living room, the hall and stairs of this house. I would need a reasonably sized house though with clever camera angles I can make a small house big.
I may use my house for this or a friends house. I will observe my location options carefully so I can choose which would be the best to use, I could even use both.
The second possible location would be a shot taken from outside the house looking behind the family at the house watching the dad die.
I will post up images of locations ASAP
The main location will be within in a house mainly two of the bedrooms, the living room, the hall and stairs of this house. I would need a reasonably sized house though with clever camera angles I can make a small house big.
I may use my house for this or a friends house. I will observe my location options carefully so I can choose which would be the best to use, I could even use both.
The second possible location would be a shot taken from outside the house looking behind the family at the house watching the dad die.
I will post up images of locations ASAP
Sunday 1 February 2009
Timeline to my Film Opening Sequence
This is just another element to help me plan my storyboard. By creating this I get a feel for how long some shots should be and some specifics and key elements that I should most definitely have.
Film Opening Sequence: Shot List
Here are a list of shots that will be in my Film Opening Sequence this list will help me in creating my storyboard and also help me when it comes to shooting as a check list. These aren't neccesarily in order:
1. Production Logos.
2. Shot zooming in on the parents sleeping as we hear alarm bells.
3. Quick close up to the mothers face in horror.
4. Quick close up shot of the fathers face.
5. Shot of the mum opening the door with the dad close behind her.
6. Short tracking shot of them running to the childrens door.
7. Mid shot from behind the parents as they're sitting up on the bed looking at the smoke coming through their door.
8. Long shot looking down a hallway as the parents are running to the kids room.
9. Shot the same as above but then a pan to the kids door and we see it open and a little girl appears.
10. The parents quickly rush into the shot and hug their children.
11. We then have a mid shot of them running to the stairs.
12. Close up to the little girl's face she is confused and scared.
13. Close up to the other girl's face she is also scared grasping onto her mother.
14. Shot from the bottom of the stairs with them running down them.
15. Shot from behind them looking at the blocked door.
16.
1. Production Logos.
2. Shot zooming in on the parents sleeping as we hear alarm bells.
3. Quick close up to the mothers face in horror.
4. Quick close up shot of the fathers face.
5. Shot of the mum opening the door with the dad close behind her.
6. Short tracking shot of them running to the childrens door.
7. Mid shot from behind the parents as they're sitting up on the bed looking at the smoke coming through their door.
8. Long shot looking down a hallway as the parents are running to the kids room.
9. Shot the same as above but then a pan to the kids door and we see it open and a little girl appears.
10. The parents quickly rush into the shot and hug their children.
11. We then have a mid shot of them running to the stairs.
12. Close up to the little girl's face she is confused and scared.
13. Close up to the other girl's face she is also scared grasping onto her mother.
14. Shot from the bottom of the stairs with them running down them.
15. Shot from behind them looking at the blocked door.
16.
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