Interviewing:

Process:

•  Go into the sixthform centre 
• Ask people questions:
• Why should we cast you?
• What is your best quality?
• Have you had any pervious acting experience?
• Ask boys the questions so that we can say that we were considering different options for the stalker- chose a woman because there wouldn't be the immedate assumption that she was a sexual predator.

We conducted interviews before our casting process to decide what direction we wanted the stalker to go in. These questions helped us find out who would work best as an actor and a person. We decided, through interviewing the boys, that we would rather a female stalker. We though that Charlotte would be the best as she was already in our production team and so could help to direct her scenes. Charlotte is also cast as the best friend of Sarah, Becky, who we decided should be the stalker. Althouh this is not discovered in our film-opening, havin a female stalker leaves the motive up to interpretation whereas with a male stalker it would be assumed, stereotypically, that thei motivation was sexual.

Female interviews for the stalker:

Male interviews for the stalker:

Filming: Friday- Photoshoot

 Friday the 23rd of April:

• On Friday we went to look at lighting and filming possibilties in the woods near the Belvedere at school. 
• We were looking for shadows which would create a creepier atmosphere as it was the first scene where Sarah receives a photo of herself from her stalker.
• We walked through the pathway of the woods and tried to use our camera to film the phone screen from an over-the-shoulde-shot. We found that this did not work as the light was glaring onto the screen.
• We then adjusted the angle to a bird's eye view shot which meant that the light was blocked from shining on the screen.
• We successfully filmed Sarah receiving the text by focusing on her phone screen which was a unique angle that we haven't used previously. 

Photoshoot:

We needed options of pictures to be able to send 'Sarah' the text of herself in the woods. We went up to the Belvedere and were able to take canted angle shots from behind trees which gave the photos a creepy appearence. We went closer to the wood area but we found that the shadows were too intense and so it was hard to make our Jess' face. We then moved into a more open area where we were able to get pictures of Jess from behind a bush to make it a realistic angle of where the stalker was hiding. We adjusted the angle that Jess faced so that we could see more of her face in the pictures which made it clearer when she received the text.  

This is our final photo that we used because                                                                              you can clearly see her face:                                  

   

Feedback

Hotseating:

Planning: 

• Stalker- have a voice affect on it and blurr the face- we are having to conceal their identity. Sketchy exchange possibly of money to bribe the stalker to speak about it.
• Ellie- just come in from a run to keep in her character.
• Possibly be in the style of a police interview as if people are being questioned about Sarah's stalking.
• Same quesitons for each- cut from each person's answer.

Questions:

Questions to ask Sarah's friends: Rough outline

• What's your name? Where do you work? 
• Relationship- last time you saw her? Friendship? How was she?
• Have you noticed anything is wrong with her?
• Does she seem happy? Is there anyone you think that is jealous of her?
• Does she have a partner?

Questions to ask Sarah: Rough outline

• Do you know Becky and Alice?
• Do you have a bestfriend?
• Do you know anyone who could be jealous of you?

PLANNING: CASTING

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PLANNING: RISK ASSESSMENT

 Risk Assessment

Hazard to Health and Safety

Risk posed and to whom

Risk Level (H/M/L)

Control measure to reduce risk

Further action needed to reduce risk

Transport: Standing in the street in Walton to get the shot of Jess through the window from the stalker’s perspective (could have got hit by a car if we were too focused on shooting). Danger when travelling to destination by car. Moving vehicles (lorries) in school carpark. Students looking wrong way when crossing road. Student falling down stairs. Walking across roads. Be cautious when walking/driving to filming location and be aware of surroundings. Aim to cross roads at designated pedestrian crossings. Always have a person looking for incoming cars.

Weather: In the forest it was slippery due to rain (danger of falling and injuring ourselves). Danger of getting clothing wet and becoming too cold. Wet camera when filming outside. Students bring appropriate clothing suitable for all weather and be cautious when walking on slippery surfaces.

First Aid Issues: Trips/Falls – could trip over in the dark room. Could come into contact with harmful chemicals in the dark room. Brambles in woods. Carry a first aid kit at all times, aim to have a first-aider on stand-by, identify areas of danger (e.g. brambles or chemicals).

General Public (e.g. theft or assault): Outside in the dark on the street (danger of potential assault or kind of incident). Threat of pick-pocking in Walton (not a large risk as we are not in a crowded location). Students causing incident with member of public. Students stay in groups when in public spaces (with mobile phones), do not approach members of public or respond to provoking comments, students to remain in supervised conditions, do not film late at night, follow guidance of emergency personnel.

Accommodation (e.g. risk assessment from centre): No overnight accommodation

Major Public Incident (e.g. terrorism): Not applicable as there is minor chance of a terrorist attack in a small town. In the case of one: Ensure venue has assembly point and pupils know where it is, as well as giving pupils assembly points whilst on public transport. Ensure pupils know the national advice to run if possible and hide if not. Ensure pupils know to always follow police instruction. Issue pupils with printed emergency contact card detailing school landline and school mobile – instruct them to call if they become lost (as well as alerting security official). Ensure trip leader has a school mobile and also contact details for both the school and all pupils + families.

RISK ASSESSMENT	HAZARD TO HEALTH AND SAFETY	RISK POSED AND TO WHOM	RISK LEVEL (H/M/L)	CONTROL MEASURE TO REDUCE RISK
Transport	Incoming cars when we stand in the street to get shots of Jess through window from stalker’s perspective. And moving vehicles (e.g. lorries) school car park.   Traveling in car   Crossing roads	Potential injury through getting hit by a car if we were too focused on shooting.   Danger when travelling to destination by car.   Students looking wrong way when crossing road.	H	Always have a person looking for incoming cars. Students to be made aware of risks.   Be cautious when walking/driving to filming location and be aware of surroundings.   Aim to cross roads at designated pedestrian crossings.
Weather	Rain when filming outside making ground slippery and dangerous (especially in forest)   Rain making clothes and camera equipment wet	Rain could cause students to slip and fall – potentially causing injury.         Damage to the camera and risk of students becoming cold.	M	Students bring appropriate clothing suitable for all weather and be cautious when walking on slippery surfaces.
First Aid Issues	Trips/Falls       Chemicals             Brambles	Could trip over in the dark room.   Could come into contact with harmful chemicals in the dark room.   Brambles in woods – could trip over or cut themselves on	M       L           M	Carry a first aid kit at all times, aim to have a first-aider on stand-by, identify areas of danger (e.g. brambles or chemicals).
General Public e.g. theft or assault	Assault             Theft               Incidents	Outside in the dark on the street (danger of potential assault or kind of incident).   Threat of pick-pocking in Walton (not a large risk as we are not in a crowded location).   Students causing incident with member of public	L             L           L	Students stay in groups when in public spaces (with mobile phones). No filming late at night.       Filming in supervised conditions.       Students not to approach members of public or respond to provoking comments. Students to be advised on their responsibilities and school expectations.
Accommodation e.g. risk assessment from centre	N/A (no overnight accommodation)		L
Major Public Incident e.g. terrorism	Not applicable as there is minor chance of a terrorist attack in a small town		L

Creative Critical Reflection 1

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PLANNING: LOGO AND PRODUCTION COMPANY

 For our production, I made our company's logo which I also transposed into a moving sequence. I used PowerPoint as I knew it had the transition of curtains opening which we wanted to use to open our production logo sequence. 

Firstly, I went onto PowerPoint and selected the 'transitions' where I was able to find the 'curtain reveal' option. I was working on an iMac which allowed me to screenrecord the transition when I 'presented' the two slides. On the first slide, I had a blank white screen which you can see at the beginning of the moving image. On the next side I imposed an image of a cinema and added 'cool text' lettering over the cinema screen which reads 'SILVER SCREEN PRODUCTIONS'. I then went onto my Mac and selected 'screen record' where I was able to capture the transition of the curtains revealing our production logo. I uploaded this at the start of both of our productions.

Creative Critical Reflection 3

 

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Creative Critical Reflection 2

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Semiotics

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RESEARCH: Art of the Title

 Silence of the Lambs:

I chose this title sequence because it is of the horror genre with thrilling elements which I would like to incorporate in my own work whilst observing the successful techniques that are used to create intense atmosphere.

The title sequence starts with the non-diegetic sound of classical music as a starry image with a dark background is shown on the screen. Then eight stars are visible as they slowly move into a formation of a circle. The calming music combined with the beautiful stars creates a captivating start to the title sequence which highlights the motion picture company which is Orion Pictures. This is strategic marketing. The image then fades to black with the music continuing. Then an image of a tree appears as the music is altered to have lower notes being played which implies an ominous atmospheric change. Ambient sounds of birds and crickets suggest a rural setting of a woods for the tree to be situated instead of a private garden. The camera then pans down and zooms in so that we are shown more of the woods as two paths become visible through the branches of the trees. A woman can then be seen running quickly up the hill and pulling herself up with the rope attached to the bank. This show is impactful as it suggests urgency and possible danger which is hidden to the audience but implied through the diegetic sound of her heavy and rapid breathing. However, as the camera gets closer to her face and she slows down towards the top, it is clear that she is not in any immediate danger as she is seen to half-smile.

A tracking shot then follows behind her as she is running through the woods with her sweater visibly covered in sweat which implies her exhaustion due to her running. The camera then does a zoomed tracking shot of her face which is also covered in sweat. Another tracking shot from the side follows her movements through the forest which appear to speed up and become more frantic as the non-diegetic music’s tempo picks up to mimic the girls’ running. This combination raises the tension as it is emphasising her speed along with the setting of desolate woods which may be done to lead the audience to suspect possible danger as the fog ahead could be seen as shielding something dangerous. These different tracking shots are continued to reveal a difference in her expression which appears to be more pained and angst which is assumed to be part of her exhaustion. A rope wall appears as she runs towards it and a panning shot shows her climbing over it and continuing to run towards an obstacle of wooden benches. This suggests that these woods are intended for some form of training which is reiterated when someone can be heard to call ‘Sterling’ from out of shot which is followed by a man running towards the girl. She is told that she has to see someone in their office which she responds to with ‘Thankyou sir’ and runs back the way she came. We are left with a reaction shot of the man with a concerned expression on his face which suggests trouble for the girl.

We are shown a tree with planks of wood nailed in which read phrases which are about pain and agony and enjoying it which reiterates the idea of her being part of a training camp. This is followed by the girl running into a compound area with groups of boys in matching outfits presumably training with the asynchronous sound of buzzing in and out of a building which could be associated with prison discharging. Non-diegetic sounds of a helicopter accompany a different view of the building with people walking through a glass-panelled tunnel. A tracking shot follows the girl through stairs and into a room with guns and people loading or mending them. A point of view shot shows he girl getting into a lift with only men and the doors shutting. This is significant as it shows a male-dominant environment which she surrounds herself in which could be useful to know later on in the film.

She gets off the lift and walks to the office and non-diegetic dialogue can be heard whilst she speaks to a man in a suit who she addresses, again, as ‘sir’ as he orders her to wait. This could be emphasising her position in this location which could possibly be a student as she addresses these people politely and with a superior level of respect. A pan shot shows her looking around the office she was shown into with her hand together behind her back as she stands looking around. This formal position suggests an uncomfortable formality that she is requires to uphold which, again, implies a militant aspect of her life. The screen then goes to blackout.

CONSTRUCTION:

 First filming session:

Location: Woods behind the triangle at school and close to the belvedere.

Events: We went for our first filming session on the 17^th of December. We took our phones and went up to the woods which are close to the main building of our school. We decided that we wanted to gather some of the atmospheric sounds for our film opening such as crunching leaves for a scene of Sarah running through the woods and twigs snapping when her stalker is in pursuit of her. We also recorded Sarah running through the woods and different ways of her making her way around with some shots of the stalker following in the same places.

Risks:

·        The rain made the leaves slippery which could have been risky when taking the running shots as well as the tracking shots to follow Sarah running.

·        There were also stinging nettles surrounding a tree where we filmed which stung Charlotte but were not a massive problem just a potential one.

Problems:

·        Wind- When we were dedicating out filming to ambient sounds, any interruption to that such as wind was extremely disruptive.

·        Rain- The rain made our camera lenses temporarily clouded which halted us on occasion.

PLANNING: CHARACTERS AND SOCIAL GROUPS

Our group looked at different social groups and incorporated specific stereotypes which fit into our initial ideas for our production to form clear characters for the audience to be familiar with. I made different Pinterest boards for the different social groups which we were looking at along with a board on the main character as she has elements from two boards combined. I made one board on the social group of lacrosse and another on photography. This helped us develop clearer ideas of props and costumes we need. Similarly, I did this with the stalker and main character to give us a clearer visual of how we were going to represent the characters. Patterns became apparent when collating my images for each group. For example, the images for my stalker board were very monochrome with shadow effects and a darker physical appearance. This inspired us to use low lighting with shadows cast on our stalker when filming her taking ominous footage of the victim. Concealment was common in the images too which we developed to conclude that we would keep the facial features of the stalker secret until the end to pain her as more threatening. Similarly, patterns emerged with our protagonist who is influenced by her passion for lacrosse and interest in photography in and out of her work. The images appeared brighter and highlighted the key elements to a ‘sporty’ character such as clothing brands such as Nike and Adidas which we will include as well as props which fit in with the ‘photography’ stereotype such as a camera.