Task 11 - Print Artefacts: "Snap, Snap, Bang" Print Products Draft 1

This is the first draft of what the poster for the movie will like. I hope to bring more focus to the cards on the table rather than the entire room, which also may include having to Photoshop the light into the shot to get both the table and the table in the poster.

Task 10 - Editing: "Snap, Snap, Bang" - 1st Draft and Feedback

Open ended question for the class:

1. What is the narrative?
2. Opinions on the black and white?
3. What do you think of the overall costume and setting?
4. Too corny? Too simple?
5. Are there any major issues with editing?
6. Is the story disjointed because of the editing?
7.  What do you think is the target audience?
8. Do you understand the basic premise of "The Game"
9. What can you learn from each of these characters?
10. Are there any technical aspects that don't work?

 Points for myself:

•  The short needs a clear introduction 
• Need to add sound effects and a soundtrack
• Some shots need to be rearranged to show a more cohesive narrative.

Task 10 - Filming: "Snap, Snap, Bang" - Editing - Part 3

Two weeks before the Christmas break, I roughly have around 2 minutes worth of footage filmed and edited, with roughly 1-2 yet to be filmed over the weekend and added the following Monday. This new addition of filming will be the introduction to the short, following the character of Contestant 2 on his walk through the night, having left a party early after some trouble and making his way to "The Club".

I did intend to have this introduction filmed along with the rest of the footage that was filmed over a month ago, although I was hoping it would make for a better shot if it was snowing as well as being dark out. However I do not think it will snow in time for me to film this, so I will have to film without the snow.

Between the 14th and 18th December, the short will be completely filmed and finishing up on the editing for the short. Within this week i will also put in after school session to complete the Production company logo and print products (poster and movie review), so that everything will be finished together, in time for me to focus on the Evaluation questions.

As of 8/12/15:

Today the footage that was filmed over the weekend has been edited and now acts as the introduction to the character of Contestant 2, thus bridging the audience from his house to "The Club".

Now that a finished version of the short is completed, this gives me time to leave it to one side and wait for some targeted audiences to give me feedback on the project. During this time I will be completing the Print Products for the movie. 

Task 10 - Filming: "Snap, Snap, Bang" Editing - Part 2

Having wrapped filming on the scenes inside the Room around a week ago, I am in a position where I have the majority of the short filmed and ready for editing, which I have started piecing together, firstly with the shots, then sound effects, any visual effects, and then leaving time for additions to be made. As I have said before in previous blog posts, the translation from storyboard and script to filming proved very difficult at first and this set back filming quite a bit as I had to rework certain angles/dialogue to fit filming, and not just my imagination.

Although I did manage to complete filming inside the Room in that week, I have not started filming the small segment shots of Contestant 2 on his night out and walking to the Club. Although this will only take up 30-45 seconds of the short, I feel as though it's essential to linking the viewers to the character which will be needed for them to feel some level of emotion for that character when he ultimately seals his own fate.

Task 10 - Filming: "Snap, Snap, Bang" Editing - Part 1

From home I was looking at some footage I had filmed a few weeks ago and I found a small section of footage which was me, or in the narrative would be one of the Assistants helping organise all the different games that take place, showcasing various weapons/torture methods that might be used. In a brief amount of time I was able to edit over some text that said 'Stock Take Commencing 8/5/2015 Concluding 12/5/2015' in typical digital text type.

I felt as though I was slowly building just a short idea of how this place operates, and the small 1 minute segment might be a good idea to use as a post credit scene, or in the background of the credits rolling at the end of the short film as it would be a more relaxed, and slower paced segment after the main production to calm the audience down essentially, not that the main production is that thematically intense. I also didn't want the short to end and cue credits, I wanted something afterwards to leave the audience with something else that wasn't necessarily related to the product and the character's within it, but ties into the overall premise.

Task 10 - Filming: "Snap, Snap, Bang" Shooting Complications 2

One of the biggest challenges I've encountered in creating and actually filming this short is that trying to take an idea and applying it to film is almost impossible. Mid way through filming last weekend I came to a sudden realisation that I could never perfectly translate what i imagined in my head onto film, which isn't the end of the world, but it is of slight disappointment when I can't include a certain shot or tracking sequence to due physical limitations, both by me and the camera. As a result of this I feel as though I really need to work on editing the sections of the short that I have so far, and put together more of an idea of what I want this production to be seen as, which may ultimately mean changing various ideas around, shot sequences etc.

Task 10 - Filming: "Snap, Snap, Bang" - First Day of Filming

Last weekend I had begun shooting the introduction to the short, which consisted of introducing the character of Contestant 3. This 3/4 shots were simple to film as in the final product I plan to have them be very quick cuts which then leads into the character making his way to the club, with the camera acting as an observer to which the audience will follow.

Over the weekend I filmed as much as I could of the short as I could, both varying between Contestant'a 1 and 2. This was made possible by my family helping me clear out the garage on the day and prior to, and my friend arriving at my house early so we could film in the garage. We filmed for a total of 4 hours, to which we filmed the majority of the script and re-shot any takes that we didn't feel were good enough to make it into the post-production stage.

I plan to finish primary shooting by next weekend, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th, which will leave more than enough time to re-shoot any takes that I feel aren't how I imagined them to be, which will be decided on over this week.

Task 10 - Editing: "Snap, Snap, Bang" Print Products Draft 2

This is a more accurate interpretation of what I want the final product to look like. After doing various research into products and lesson sessions around the subject of creating print products I am struggling with filling the "dead space" around the bottom of the poster. All things considering I feel as though I can put this print product together fairly promptly, which gives me more time for editing the actual product, and drafting various stages of the movie review print artifact.

I am yet to decide on what colour scheme I would want the poster to be, but I feel as though a black background, with a red table in the center would work well in contrast with the cards on the table, also keeping within the typical conventions of a thriller movie in Black, White and Red.

Task 10 - Filming: "Snap, Snap, Bang" - Shooting Complications

As I am slowly completing the tasks set for the pre-production stage of A2 media and I am getting closer to filming the product itself there are various problems that have arisen. One of which is the location I wish to film in may not always be available to me when I need it, as there is a disused car in there. This creates quite a large problem as not only is the entire short based in the garage location, but I then have to ask if we can move the car out of the garage for a few hours every weekend to film the product. Another problem is that the two actors I intend to use in my product can't be available at the same time for me, which has led me to decide that I will film their scenes separately, and any scenes that require both of them I will have to overlap their footage together so it appears as though they are in the same shot. This does mean I will have to be putting more time into the editing process than I wanted, but the script was designed with these specific actors, and that location in mind so I am working around these issues.

In filming the actors, considering that I can not get both of them together on the same day, I am going to film their scenes individually, which may require some alterations to the script and storyboard to retain continuity. In the editing process I will overlap their scenes together so it appears as though they are in the same scene. This is admittedly more difficult than what I wanted to achieve, but I feel if I wrap filming in early November, that gives me the whole month of December and part way into January to edit my product.