CONSTRUCTION: RE-FILMING.

Today we re-filmed part of our film opening. We decided to re-film the scene in which she receives the news and breaks down then storms out, so that there was consistency within the opening. The film opening also drifted out of focus beforehand so therefore in order for the best effect we decided to re-film, we then went on to re-film the part in which she rips up the war photography photo of the little boy, we decided to speed this up in order to create suspense within the film opening and draw the viewer in. We also added to this by filming the woman, known as Susan Marsh walking away after ripping up the photos and dropping part of the photo to the floor, we then split this clip on iMovie and kept part of it at normal speed and speed the other part up in order to show the viewer that she was in a mental state of breakdown, this also generates tension. Overall, i feel it was a successful lesson in which we manged to improve our film as well as film new scenes within the opening. Next lesson we keep editing and plan to record the voice over of the doctor when the woman receives her news.

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING.

Today we carried on editing and decided which parts we were going to re-film. We added a nursery rhyme, that I sang and recorded to our opening sequence in which we overlayed over the top of the scene in which I am rocking the baby, having got her out of the suitcase after having got back from the hospital. We also looked at title sequences and where they may be placed with in the film opening. Tomorrow we plan to re-film the scene in which she sees her war photography and rips the photo of the little boy up and we want to look at re-filming the scene with the doctor in which she proceeds to slam the table and storm off after receiving her news.

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING.

In today's lesson we started editing some of the scenes, the shot above shows part of the editing process we did in iMovie. The image that can be seen is the woman playing with the doll, the shadow adds fieriness to the shot as well as a third dimension. This image then fades swiftly into the mother rocking the baby from side to side as a mother would do to her baby in order to soothe it.

CONSTRUCTION: MIRRORS.

Today we filmed the mirrors scene in the girls bathroom, I played the woman whilst, Connie directed and Amber did the filming. It started with the camera doing a zoom in to the woman, known a Susan Marsh. Whilst this was happening she was plaiting the dolls hair lovingly as a mother would do to their own child in a loving way. We then decided to try panning upwards so the camera was looking into the mirror with the woman. This looked very realistic as the woman looks swiftly in to the mirror to finish the shot, this may lead to her thinking that people may be watching her.

RESEARCH: SOCIAL GROUPS.

Today we researched the social groups present in our film opening. Within the opening there are 4 social groups present; mothers, doctors, children and woman that want children but can not have them.

The woman, known as Susan Marsh in our film opening, is the main character within the title sequence. There are many people that have children within society and those that don't are within the minority therefore if a woman wants a child but is not able to have one it is obvious that this will have a mental and emotional impact. The woman is driven to insanity when she finds herself surrounded by children and mothers to be, and she feel she is missing out on this. The woman, also a war photographer is a middle class lady leading a normal life, however it becomes apparent that this is not the first time she has gone insane when she reverts back to the war photography throughout the opening. She also relates to another social group, being a person with a mental illness. Many people have mental illnesses within society and they go unnoticed as the can not be seen, therefore everyone assumes they are 'normal'. People that face mental illness can be any gender, race, religion and age, it can happen to anyone and the fact that it is bypassed by people in day to day society means it is harder for them to cope on a daily basis.

The other social group are mothers, within the opening the woman looks upon them with envy and jealousy and wishes she could have a child of her own and be in the same position as many other women in society. The fact that she is a slightly older woman means that the sight of young mothers makes her angry as she feels that this is unfair on her. This is presented within the park scene where we see the mothers look after their children and show them affection and love.

Yet another social group is children, the woman longs for a child of her own and therefore the doll seen within the opening acts as a substitute for the child she longs to have.

The last social group is doctors, eventhough we do not see them within the film opening we hear the doctor talking to the woman and delivering the sad news that she is not able to have a child of her own. This sparks her mental breakdown and therefore is a very important part in the film opening.

PLANNING: CALL SHEETS.

AS Media Studies Call Sheet for [name of your film]. 
Doctors Waiting Room Scene.
Track: Voice over of doctor with music track.
Shoot date: 
Location: Claremont Fan Court Sixth Form.

Crew: Connie Dwan 0788*******
Crew: Amber Saville 0795*******
Crew:Georgina Self 0765*******
Camera equipment: Tripod, Canon D600 Camera.
Lighting equipment: Natural Lighting .
Props: Forms, pens.
Wardrobe: Susan Marsh is wearing formal attire: a suit skirt and blazer.



AS Media Studies Call Sheet for [name of your film]
Studio Scene
Track: Music track, sound effects of screams.
Shoot date: 6th Febuary 2014.
Location: Amber's House.

Crew: Connie Dwan 0788*******
Crew: Amber Saville 0795*******
Crew:Georgina Self 0765*******
Camera equipment: Tripod, Canon D600 Camera.
Lighting equipment: Natural Lighting.
Props: Photography.
Wardrobe: Susan Marsh is wearing a grey top with jeans and boots. 



AS Media Studies Call Sheet for [name of your film].
Dressing Table Scene.
Track: Music track, dialogue of Susan singing a lullaby to the doll.  
Shoot date: 23rd January 2014.
Location: Amber's House. 

Crew: Connie Dwan 0788******* 
Crew: Amber Saville 0795*******
Crew:Georgina Self 0765*******
Camera equipment: Tripod, Canon D600 Camera.
Lighting equipment: Dark lighting to create a sinister scene.
Props: Dressing Table, Hair Brush, Doll.
Wardrobe: Susan Marsh is wearing formal and dark clothing.




AS Media Studies Call Sheet for [name of your film].
Park Scene. 
Track: Music track, sound effects of children laughing and war noises.
Shoot date: January 2014.
Location: West End Recreation Ground. 

Crew: Connie Dwan 0788******* 
Crew: Amber Saville 0795*******
Crew:Georgina Self 0765*******
Camera equipment: Tripod, Canon D600 Camera.
Lighting equipment: Natural lighting.
Props: Doll, Sweets.
Wardrobe: Susan Marsh is wearing casual but dark clothing 
Wardrobe: The young girl Susan is obsessing over (Indy) is wearing childlike clothes such as dotted skirt and a tshirt with a picture on it. 




AS Media Studies Call Sheet for [name of your film].
Watching the Girl Scene and Dropping the Doll.
Track: Music track.
Shoot date: 6th Febuary 2014.
Location: Outside Ambers house, on the street.

Crew: Connie Dwan 0788******* 
Crew: Amber Saville 0795*******
Crew:Georgina Self 0765*******
Camera equipment: Tripod, Canon D600 Camera.
Lighting equipment: Natural lighting.
Props: Doll, Bike, Doll.
Wardrobe: Susan Marsh is wearing casual but dark clothing 
Wardrobe: The young girl Susan is obsessing over (Indy) is wearing childlike clothes such as dotted skirt and a tshirt with a picture on it. 

CONSTRUCTION: PRACTISE FILMING.

Today we tried to find a location to set the waiting room scene in, this proved successful when we found an empty room within the school grounds that we decided would be a perfect settings, with bland walls and a few display boards. The display boards highlight different health issues and complications and therefore made a believable setting for the woman that will be waiting in a hospital. The chairs were then set up around the room as it would be in a hospital waiting room. We then asked other school friends to play the patients so the waiting room wasn't empty again trying to make a realistic mise-en-scene. The people playing the other patients moved as if they were nervous by tapping their feet, twiddling their thumbs and playing with their hands. The camera then panned across the girls slowly, stopping to focus on their actions and movements.

CONSTRUCTION: PRACTISE CAMERA MOVEMENTS.

In today's lesson our group went out to practise the camera shots and movements, without me as I was absent due to illness. They did this in order to practise the type of shots and movements we were going to use in the film opening. The main prop in our film is Elizabeth the doll, therefore Connie and Amber used her to film. They struggled to find a decent location to film in however, they then decided that as we were going to film in a park they would use the tree house in the school grounds as this may act as an attraction with a park. They told me about the different camera shots they tried for example panning up and down and from right to left. They tried a tracking shot of the woman as she walks in to the tree house to interact with the doll to show how obsessive she is and to show her longing for a little girl. Then there was a point of view shot of the woman looking through the fence trying to see if anyone was watching her, this proves that she does not want people to know of her mental problems.

After doing this experiment, it was decided that we would use a dolly when doing the real filming as some of the shots were a little shaky and we felt this would be the most effective way to get the best out of it.

PLANNING: SOUNDTRACK.

Today we researched the soundtrack for the title sequence of our movie. Our main aim with music is to create a sense of suspense and enigma in order to draw the viewer into the movie. We researched different things on YouTube to see what the suggestions came up with, for example: thriller instrumental, scary instrumentals, terrifying instrumentals. The first one that i liked was called "The Den" by Thomas Smith, to listen click here. I picked this one as it starts with a child laughing and i felt that this fitted in quite well with our storyline.  The other piece i found, i really liked as it built suspense and tension as it progressed through the instrumental, to listen click here. I picked these two pieces as i felt that they both related to the film opening, with the first starting with laughter of a child and the second building suspense as our movie does.

PLANNING: WAR PHOTORGRAPHY.

The challenges that female journalists and war photographers face are phenomenal, watching children die and families being blown apart are some of things these women have to face on a daily basis. Obviously, this has a extensive emotional impact on the individual and their emotional well being, spurring mental illnesses such as post traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism and depression.