Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Magazine and Poster Shot list
magazine and poster shot list
This shot list is for the images that we took. I put all these together into one shot list as the pictures are used for both magazine and the poster, therefore there were no decisions make to take different pictures for each element.
This shot list is for the images that we took. I put all these together into one shot list as the pictures are used for both magazine and the poster, therefore there were no decisions make to take different pictures for each element.
Final Shot List
Final shotlist for trailer
This is the updated and final shot list that includes every shot included and used for our trailer.
This is the updated and final shot list that includes every shot included and used for our trailer.
Initial Shot List for Trailer
I created a shot list for our trailer as a basic guide to aid us during filming. The reason that this is beneficial is because it ensures that we don't miss anything out when we are filming, meaning that we are unlikely to have to go back later and refilm. This is our initial shot list, and will be updated with filming dates when we know when we will be filming.
shot list
shot list
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
First draft magazine
Draft Magazine 1 Repaired)
More Justifications:
The Magazine will be called Whodunnit?! and will have its own logo and masthead, the magazine usually accomodates all different soaps however as Helen Howe is a new soap the magazine will have a special Helen Howe edition where the cover is just for Helen Howe storylines and characters.The magazine will have one main image and one main coverline and this will be on the left hand side, the reason for the main cover line being on the left hand side will be because when shops stock magazines they are on the shelf so only the left side is seen. So the left side of the magazine needs to be bold and not too over crowded. We have taken this into consideration as the main cover line will say 'Who's the daddy?' in bold sans serif pink. The pink connotes femeniity and would therefore attract females howver because it says daddy it would attract males as well as they are being related to. Also san serif block letters will be used as that is the common type of text used for headlines.
The images of men will attract females as they will be attractive on the other hand the images of males will attract men also as they may be able to relate to the stereotype displayed in the image.The main image of Danielle biting her lip could connote sexuality and vulnerability this would attract men as she will look attractive and also as part of Laura Mulvey's the male gaze theory as Danielle is simply an object which the storyline is based around and the men are the ones who make the storyline interesting as they could be the father.
The images and coverlines on the magazine cover could also be related to Propp's theory of typical characters in the 1920s. For example we have used the 'villian' as the Richard has clearly caused trouble in Stephanie's 'Paradise' also he looks sleazy and suspicious in his image making him look villianous. Stephanie as the ' princess' as she is threatened by the villian as she has to put up with his sleazy ignorant ways. In addition Dannielle could be seen as a 'false hero' as she appears vulnerable and innocent however she is the character who started all the issues by sleeping with lots of different men.
More Justifications:
The Magazine will be called Whodunnit?! and will have its own logo and masthead, the magazine usually accomodates all different soaps however as Helen Howe is a new soap the magazine will have a special Helen Howe edition where the cover is just for Helen Howe storylines and characters.The magazine will have one main image and one main coverline and this will be on the left hand side, the reason for the main cover line being on the left hand side will be because when shops stock magazines they are on the shelf so only the left side is seen. So the left side of the magazine needs to be bold and not too over crowded. We have taken this into consideration as the main cover line will say 'Who's the daddy?' in bold sans serif pink. The pink connotes femeniity and would therefore attract females howver because it says daddy it would attract males as well as they are being related to. Also san serif block letters will be used as that is the common type of text used for headlines.
The images of men will attract females as they will be attractive on the other hand the images of males will attract men also as they may be able to relate to the stereotype displayed in the image.The main image of Danielle biting her lip could connote sexuality and vulnerability this would attract men as she will look attractive and also as part of Laura Mulvey's the male gaze theory as Danielle is simply an object which the storyline is based around and the men are the ones who make the storyline interesting as they could be the father.
The images and coverlines on the magazine cover could also be related to Propp's theory of typical characters in the 1920s. For example we have used the 'villian' as the Richard has clearly caused trouble in Stephanie's 'Paradise' also he looks sleazy and suspicious in his image making him look villianous. Stephanie as the ' princess' as she is threatened by the villian as she has to put up with his sleazy ignorant ways. In addition Dannielle could be seen as a 'false hero' as she appears vulnerable and innocent however she is the character who started all the issues by sleeping with lots of different men.
More Auditions
These are the people who we auditioned that we decided not to use for our characters. As we had already decided who we definitely wanted for our piece.
The auditions and audition poster
We created an audition poster which we put up around the school, advertising what the auditions were for and what school years were able to try out, but we also approached people who we thought fitted the specific characters aesthetically.
We organised a date and time for out auditions and got the auditionees into their pairs. We gave them time to run through the script with their partners first so that could relax more and concentrate more on the acting rather than reading the script. We then filmed each audition and told the actors we would let them know if they got the part as soon as possible.
After filming the auditions we edited the film as a group and each did a voice-over explaining who the auditionees are and what part they are auditioning for. We did a voice-over rather than using text to make it more digitally advanced.
This is our audition poster.
Audition Poster
This is the audition film
We organised a date and time for out auditions and got the auditionees into their pairs. We gave them time to run through the script with their partners first so that could relax more and concentrate more on the acting rather than reading the script. We then filmed each audition and told the actors we would let them know if they got the part as soon as possible.
After filming the auditions we edited the film as a group and each did a voice-over explaining who the auditionees are and what part they are auditioning for. We did a voice-over rather than using text to make it more digitally advanced.
This is our audition poster.
Audition Poster
This is the audition film
Draft magazine hand drawn
We sat down in a group and discussed how we wanted our magazine cover
to look, from analysing and researching soap magazine covers we had a good knowledge of what stands out and what is a good layout.
We drew a rough copy of how we want our magazine cover to be.
These are the pictures of the draft copy:
The picture on the left is the magazine cover we have a masthead which is Whodunnit?! as the magazine will be only on our soap becuase it is new and unique.
There is a large image for the main cover story which is Danielle and there are images around her of the possible fathers.
We have included the price which is at the top and the barcode which is down the bottom these are both common places for these details on soap magazines.
We have got cover lines down the right hand side as they are not as important as the main storyline but each one is interesting. Two of them are questions the top one being 'Will the fresh start be a good start?' with a picture of the Halls, and the bottom one is 'Trouble in paradise?' with a picture of Stephanie with her arms crossed. The middle cover line is a reveal, it says 'Aaron's secret revealed!' this type of advertising makes the reader want to watch the soap to find out what his secret is. This is a method which is common on soap magazines.
Audition Scripts
For our soap we needed to cast people with appropriate roles, we asked certain people who we thought would match the role for specific characters to audition.
Audition Script for Courtney and Danielle
Audition Script for Deano and Helen
This is the script for JJ and Aaron
Audition Script for JJ and Aaron
Audition Script for Stephanie and Richard
As our trailer will not have much dialogue in it we needed material which we could use in the auditions so we could judge each actor.
I created audition scripts for each main character, the scripts are between 2 characters so the actors will audition in pairs, this will not only be more time efficient but it will put them at ease too.
I based the conversations in the script with language based on the characters background for example Danielle talks in slang to fit her 'pregnant teen' stereotype. The conversations in the script are also based on the storylines hinted at in the trailer as well.
This is the script for Danielle and Courtney
Audition Script for Courtney and Danielle
This is the script for Deano and Helen
Audition Script for Deano and Helen
This is the script for JJ and Aaron
Audition Script for JJ and Aaron
This is the script for Stephanie and Richard
Audition Script for Stephanie and Richard
On each script there is a brief description of both characters and the age range to help the actors characterize.
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Final Props
As we were only filming a trailer, we found that we didn't use any significant props. A trailer is often kept minimal, with the set and characters established. The most important prop we used was the car:
We wanted it green to connote the envy the female getting out of the car feels towards Helen. We decided to not use the props we were intending to use because of the complexity of getting the specific objects we required and also with problems with our casting, we didn't have enough members to play lots of different people.
When looking at trailers, the set is very minimalistic. For example, the trailer for the return of Eastender's Kat and Alfie is minimalist and doesn't include many props and relies heavily on the set.
All we can see of the set is the pub, which is the focus of Eastenders and features in a lot of trailers.
We wanted it green to connote the envy the female getting out of the car feels towards Helen. We decided to not use the props we were intending to use because of the complexity of getting the specific objects we required and also with problems with our casting, we didn't have enough members to play lots of different people.
When looking at trailers, the set is very minimalistic. For example, the trailer for the return of Eastender's Kat and Alfie is minimalist and doesn't include many props and relies heavily on the set.
All we can see of the set is the pub, which is the focus of Eastenders and features in a lot of trailers.
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Props
Props
This is our props list currently. It will be developed if we consider to use anything else that may be of value. This is helping us to arrange what props we need to find/buy with a budget if needed. Following the preparation of filming, I will compose another list of the props we do use and why they are relevent, or not, to our trailer.
This is our props list currently. It will be developed if we consider to use anything else that may be of value. This is helping us to arrange what props we need to find/buy with a budget if needed. Following the preparation of filming, I will compose another list of the props we do use and why they are relevent, or not, to our trailer.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Lighting in Soap Operas
As a low budget school production, our soap opera trailer won't have a lot of the same technical qualities as a real soap opera; because of this, we will be using mainly natural lighting and so will need to plan filming schedules during hours of sunlight in order for the trailer to be the best possible quality. Also, we can film inside under artifical lighting, which again, isn't necessarily the way soap operas would normally be filmed but is a way for us to get around lighting problems.
In a soap opera, a "three point lighting" set up is made use of as a cheap but efficent way of lighting the set. The reason this is cheap to do is because the whole set is lit up and lights arent specifically changed for each shot, meaning fewer takes are needed. This means that less time is spent filming because the acors can move freely without havung to adjust lights and therefore less money is spent. In a film, this type of lighting set up wouldn't be used because it can look a far better quality and more natural by training specific lights on people, and films have a much larger budget.
(Information gained from http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/58468)
(http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/04/)
This is an example of a soap opera set, where it is clear that the lights are fixed and do not move to track actors.
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035565178@N01/316688438)
This is another photo that shows how the lights are used on a set.
In a soap opera, a "three point lighting" set up is made use of as a cheap but efficent way of lighting the set. The reason this is cheap to do is because the whole set is lit up and lights arent specifically changed for each shot, meaning fewer takes are needed. This means that less time is spent filming because the acors can move freely without havung to adjust lights and therefore less money is spent. In a film, this type of lighting set up wouldn't be used because it can look a far better quality and more natural by training specific lights on people, and films have a much larger budget.
(Information gained from http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/58468)
(http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/04/)
This is an example of a soap opera set, where it is clear that the lights are fixed and do not move to track actors.
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035565178@N01/316688438)
This is another photo that shows how the lights are used on a set.
Final Location
The google web definition for location scouting states: Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of film making and commercial photography (Reference:)
When location scouting we had to visualise how our trailer would be displayed and where we envisioned it to be set. We decided we would like to set it in the suburbs of a town in a modern village. We have chose a modern village because our target audience is Category D audience members and we feel that our audience members should be able to relate with our characters in a realistic setting. We would also like our characters to all be associated with each other as residents of villages often are.
A very generic convention of soap operas, is the local pub that residents all socialise in. We have decided to use a pub as this establishes to the audience the iconic convention that most soaps tend to share. We would like the pub to be the place where characters confide in each other, arguments happen and the whole village congregates. This is very typical of other soap operas, for example: The Queen Vic in Eastenders has seen many fights, wedding receptions and is always packed with locals.
A post office relates to our audience because it adds a sense of realism to our soap opera which is what we are aiming to achieve.
A village hall could be a possible place for the residents to gather together, this could be teenagers hanging around outside or it could be where the older residents take dance classes. This would be a good setting to use as it adds realism and our audience can relate more with going to a village hall than they could if we set our soap opera around posh restaurants and 5 star hotels.
We would like to film our soap opera trailer in a cul de sac, this is because all the residents are neighbours and will all be familiar with eachother. We aim to create storylines which involve multiple characters and their relations with eachother.
The reason we have chosen these locations is because they are all in one area, meaning that all the buildings look similiar. This will aid us during editing because when putting all the shots together it will look more consistant than if we had filmed in many different locations. In all soaps, the houses of the central characters tend to be fairly close together which is also fitting for this area,because the houses look onto each other. The fact that we all live in Great Leighs means that we don't need to gain permission to film outside houses because we can use our own.
When location scouting we had to visualise how our trailer would be displayed and where we envisioned it to be set. We decided we would like to set it in the suburbs of a town in a modern village. We have chose a modern village because our target audience is Category D audience members and we feel that our audience members should be able to relate with our characters in a realistic setting. We would also like our characters to all be associated with each other as residents of villages often are.
A very generic convention of soap operas, is the local pub that residents all socialise in. We have decided to use a pub as this establishes to the audience the iconic convention that most soaps tend to share. We would like the pub to be the place where characters confide in each other, arguments happen and the whole village congregates. This is very typical of other soap operas, for example: The Queen Vic in Eastenders has seen many fights, wedding receptions and is always packed with locals.
A post office relates to our audience because it adds a sense of realism to our soap opera which is what we are aiming to achieve.
A village hall could be a possible place for the residents to gather together, this could be teenagers hanging around outside or it could be where the older residents take dance classes. This would be a good setting to use as it adds realism and our audience can relate more with going to a village hall than they could if we set our soap opera around posh restaurants and 5 star hotels.
We would like to film our soap opera trailer in a cul de sac, this is because all the residents are neighbours and will all be familiar with eachother. We aim to create storylines which involve multiple characters and their relations with eachother.
The reason we have chosen these locations is because they are all in one area, meaning that all the buildings look similiar. This will aid us during editing because when putting all the shots together it will look more consistant than if we had filmed in many different locations. In all soaps, the houses of the central characters tend to be fairly close together which is also fitting for this area,because the houses look onto each other. The fact that we all live in Great Leighs means that we don't need to gain permission to film outside houses because we can use our own.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Location scouting
Boreham, Chelmsford Essex
Public footpath- could be used for tracking shot, but it will be difficult to get good lighting when filming here.
Public footpath- could be used for tracking shot, but it will be difficult to get good lighting when filming here.
These are the shops in the village, this is commonly seen in soap operas for example 'The Drive and buy' in Hollyoaks. This is something the audience will be able to relate to making the soap more believable which is what audience members look for in soaps according to Denis McQuail's Uses and Gratifications theory.
St Andrews Road- a road full of houses, gives the environment implying everyone knows eachother making the characters link easily.
Plantation Rd
Allens Close
Recreation Park-
New area, this would make the soap look new and connote that everyone has a fresh start in the soap making the audience want to watch and find out how the characters settle.
Also, the different colour houses could have connotations for different characters. For example, pink could be for the flirty female connoting femininity and blue for the gossiping elders because they are neutral in situations.
The butchers is a local business which are often present in villages also means it is a social place for the older characters in the soap.
The Six Bells pub, the main social meeting point for the Jack-the-lads.
The Recreation Park playground
The bench and swings are often seen in scenes of characters when miserable, this setting could be used in out soap.
Eastenders
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Stop Motion Narrative
We created a stop motion piece to give a more in depth portrayal of what we would like to include in our trailer. We created the trailer using stop motion photography of toys and a set we printed, this enabled explore the different filming techniques we could use for our trailer, we have started the trailer with a close up on Helen's feet. In our real trailer we would like her to be wearing red heels and the sound of her walking to be an extra diegetic sound of her heels clicking against the floor. We have tried to use the male gaze theory by using lots of low shots to sexualise Helen in order to appeal to our male audience. We have included our characters going about their daily business by using a man getting off of his motorbike to enter the pub, a man walking his dog and a character driving to the pub. All of these characters have been distracted by Helen's entrance to their neighbourhood. We have then revealed the rest of the family and by using Richard (a newly married man) looking at Helen and wolf whistling we are alluding to a storyline that may include the two. His wife, Stephanie, also slaps him and this also intrigues the audience into wanting to know about these characters. We have also used Helen's son, Deano, looking at Danielle who is a pregnant teenager. Teenage pregnancy is a typical convention in soap operas and this relates to a younger audience. As we are aiming our soap opera at a younger audience, we have included many young characters and story lines which are relevant and could be experience by younger people in our audience. Our stop motion ends here with all the residents looking at the new family and we have done this to introduce our characters slowly and intrigue our audience to find out more about these characters by watching the soap. We would like to use a voice over on our trailer to provide narration about the name of the show and what time and channel it will be broadcasted on.
Animatic Storyboard
This is our animatic storyboard. We have an animatic storyboard to explain the shots we wish to use and for use to have a clearer idea of what we need.
Monday, 4 October 2010
Photographic Storyboard
Whodunnit Photographic Storyboard
This is our photographic storyboard. The aim of this to provide a more realistic portrayal of how we imagine our trailer.
This is our photographic storyboard. The aim of this to provide a more realistic portrayal of how we imagine our trailer.
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Original Story Board
We created a storyboard to aid us in planning exactly how we want our trailer to flow. This means that we have all of our ideas laid down and can work on finalising our script and sorting out props and locations. Me and Jade created the storyboard from the planning sessions we had done as a group.
This would be a close up of a pair of red shoes walking along a pavement, with the extra diegetic sound of the shoes enhanced as they click on the pavement. The colour red connotes sexuality and so the audience is instantly aware of the type of trailer it will be, and the type of character who is wearing the shoes.
This is the first of three quick shots - mainly mid shots - which show different people going about their normal daily life, but being distracted by the mysterious character walking past.
This is the third shot which again shows a different group of people in their ordinary lives. The people seen in these three shots are not central characters and their role is only to build suspense.
This is a wide shot looking straight down the middle of a straight road. The character in the red shoes is shown entirely for the first time and she is walking down the road pulling a suitcase behind her. This denotes that she is either moving in or out of the area, and in this case she is moving in. The red shoes and bag are subconsciously linked the Virgin Airways adverts and so the audience will be reminded of glamour. The way that people are grouped on the pavement either side of her is reminiscent of a cat walk.
This shot is a cross between a wide shot and a close up in that three pairs of shoes and the wheels of a pram are seen only. In this shot, the non diegetic music would change in tempo in that it becomes faster and more disorderly, insinuating that disorder will be bought to the soap opera.
Another wide shot is used to show the children all grouped around the main character, Helen. They are in an arrow formation walking behind her down the road, instantly making it obvious to the audience that they are family.
This shot starts as an over the shoulder shot as Helen walks past and then goes to a mid shot, where Richard and Stephanie are seen. In this, Richard winks at Helen, shifting away from Stephanie, who turns to slap him. Extra diegetic sound it used to enhance the sound of the slap.
This is a mid shot where Courtney is seen from behind. As he walks past, Deano smiles at her, and as she smiles back, a reveal shot is used to show that she is pregnant. An over the shoulder shot facing Deano is used to show her stood behind her as he hurries off.
The final shot is another wide shot from a dutch angle, showing the family stood positioned around Helen, with the other central characters slightly further back.
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