Organisation of Resources- Props, Costumes, Locations and Shot list

This week each group member has been assigned to produce a document showing our organisation of either props, costume or equipment. I was assigned props and began by creating an initial props list denoting which items we would require for each scene. We had already discussed when certain specific props would be sourced from, so I already had a good idea of how we would acquire each item. I combined my own photos with those taken by Laura (who is providing most of the medical props we will use) and annotated each photo with our reasons for using the prop. This document was completed yesterday and added to the group blog. I completed this section of planning.

I contributed to the organisation of costumes and equipment by through discussions with the group. We discussed elements like which colours we wanted to use for each character to contribute to mise-en-scene and convey personality through what they were wearing. We also discussed which equipment would be required for specific shots etc. I helped Lauren with her work on costumes by suggesting the protagonist should wear white to convey naivety and innocence as white gives these connotations. I also suggested that the protagonist should be wearing many layers to convey to the audience that she is vulnerable and is attempting to protect herself.
As I had competed this work before other group members, I began working on the shot list that we will be using during filming.This involved listing each scene and shot type and noting which props/costumes would be used within the scene. This was completed during today's session and will be posted to the group blog after it has been checked over by the rest of the group.

Whilst Abi, Lauren and I worked on the organisation of resources, Laura worked on scouting locations for the our piece. We all contributed to where we would film specific parts of the film by considering factor such as how long it would take to travel to each location and whether we would be able to film without interference. I felt that we should aim to film somewhere easily accsessible by all group members to avoid lengthy travelling time and therefore increase the time we spent filming. We will have to be careful that filming the crime scene does not cause public concern as it is being filmed in a public place.

This is the initial shot list I have produced. Items may be subject to change after group consultation. Updated Shot List can be seen here.


Shot list


Props

Casting Decisions

This week I was primarily involved with the casting process of our piece. This involved completing an Audition Schedule, editing and highlighting our selected scene and making notes/ giving direction during the actual audition.
Directing the auditionees gave me a chance to practice giving direction before we film our project, something I had not experienced before.
After the audition I produced a write up of the group's decisions in casting.
I found the audition process extremely helpful in helping us determine the right actor for each of our roles and seeing how well they responded to direction.
These are the notes I made during the audition and referred to for the write up:

Auditions

This week we have decided as a group to split up and work on the projects to be completed. Laura and Lauren will focus on location scouting and character profiles while Abi and myself undertake the casting process.
So far this week I have been contacting prospective auditionees and notifying them of the date and time of the audition. I have also produced an audition schedule which should aid in the smooth running of of the casting process. I have edited the scene we have chosen for the audition by highlighting each character's lines which should hopefully be helpful for the auditionees.
I am planning to make notes during the audition which can then be referred to when we make our final casting decisions.

Target Audience Profile

These are some notes that made for the Target Audience profile that Laura used when she wrote up the final copy at the end of last week. (Click to enlarge)

Storyboard and Target Audience Questionnaire

Last week I completed the film brief and photo storyboard for my group whilst they worked on the animatic storyboard and collating and combining the slides for the Similar Media Works presentation. Through the completion of these projects I have found that I am better at producing written projects for the group such as the film brief, as I found completing the photo storyboard more challenging and time-consuming ( the photo storyboard took approximately 3 hours to complete not including photo taking, in comparison to just over an hour for the film brief) This is also reflected in the fact I that find planning and evaluating tasks easier than the actual filming and editing process. Finding which sections of the production process each group member excels in will be vital to how we delegate work to be completed. I feel that we should aim to use the group member best suited to the particular project to be completed as not only will they be able to produce a successful piece of work, they will save time if it is something that comes naturally to them.

I contributed to the storyboard by taking photos with Laura and Lauren and then collating the images and producing the storyboard using PowerPoint. I completed this part of the storyboarding process.
The photo storyboard I produced developed our ideas from our initial storyboard, this time including camera angles and transistions etc. By using photos of example locations we were able to get more of a feel for the piece we are producing and find out which type of shots work best in each scene. We then went on to build again on these ideas and produce an animatic storyboard, which incorporated camera angles, transistions and approximate timings.

This week I have produced a questionnaire relating to our Target Audience Profile which I am in the process of distributing. Once all results have been collected in, I aim to analyse the information gathered to contribute to our group ideas on our specific target audience. Gaining this information from the public is vital in helping the group become aware of who exactly our project is being aimed at so we can make changes and improve our current ideas accordingly.
I have also made some notes for our Target Audience Profile and looked into the target audience and promotion techniques of a film within our genre which I will show the rest of the group at tomorrow's meeting, enabling us to combine ideas and produce the final profile.

Target Audience Research Questionnaire


Target Audience Questionnaire Analysis



Film Brief


Photo Storyboard