CONSTRUCTION: CHARACTER COSTUME - FEMALE REFUGEE

Female Refugee costume

I have made this collage above on PicMonkey of myself playing the female Refugee. PicMonkey is a really useful tool as it allows me to edit photographs brightening the lighting and adapting the size of the photograph; the photo editing tool also allows me to make collages of photographs I have taken.

I then wore a silky, orange veil-like headscarf whilst filming.

HERE is a link to one of the blog posts I wrote about planning character costumes using Pinterest for inspiration - specifically this link sends you to a post on the Female Refugee. 

HERE is a link to a blog post I have wrote about the costumes and props of the female refugee; including reasons why I was wearing certain clothing items. 

COMPLETING FUTURELEARN DIGITAL STORYTELLING COURSE WEEK 1

I have been completing the first week of my FutureLearn film course on Digital Storytelling in association with the University of Birmingham. Since completing research on the Scandi Noir Genre I have been becoming more familiar with the genre and have been trying to watch texts of the genre such as film trailers, films, television trailers and television series. I have trying to interconnect and tie in my research and 'knowledge' of the Scandi Noir genre with my film course especially when being asked questions about what audiences' want and what makes a storyline special.

Getting involved in the discursive element of the course really interests me as I can share my views and answers to questions with people across the globe completing the same course as me; therefore they probably share the same interests as me. This is incredibly useful as through discussion new ideas can be made.

I am documenting my FutureLearn film course on my Twitter feed on the right hand side of my blog roll --> or HERE is a link to my Twitter page. I update my feed with information relating to the course every time I complete a step or week of my course. Once I have completed my course I will be able to buy a certificate of completion; I have previously completed a FutureLearn film course last year and bought a certificate of completion as well.

Below are some examples of my responses to questions I have been asked to discuss on my FutureLearn film course:



COMPLETING FUTURELEARN DIGITAL STORYTELLING COURSE WEEK 2

I have been completing the first week of my FutureLearn film course on Digital Storytelling in association with the University of Birmingham. Since completing research on the Scandi Noir Genre I have been becoming more familiar with the genre and have been trying to watch texts of the genre such as film trailers, films, television trailers and television series. I have trying to interconnect and tie in my research and 'knowledge' of the Scandi Noir genre with my film course especially when being asked questions about what audiences' want and what makes a storyline special.

This week we were concentrating on the pre-production phase to help me run a successful shoot; looking at how you I can research my story and the ethics behind my work including the social, cultural, political and historical elements of my course. I also looked at ways in which the story is structured, as well as some fundamental principles that are commonly used in film studies. I also looked at practical and technical 'know how' from the BBC including storyboard shooting (an example of which I use in my own planning of my film trailer project) to make sure that I would't be using copyright information (only copyright free information), covering tips for scripting my story, as well as making sure I end up with enough footage when editing. All of these tips I will also be taking (and have taken) into consideration in the researching, planning, constructing, editing and evaluation stages of my project.

Below is a video featured on this weeks course on the process 'preparing for the edit before you film'. Video editor Garry Paton suggests that drawing storyboards, a process I completed myself before filming, and floor plans are great ways to help organise your filming making you efficient and focussed whilst completing the tasks ahead.

Here is an example of an answer of mine in this weeks course on the importance of the initial stages of planning before filming including completing storyboards and shot lists.

Copyright is all around us!

I have also taken useful tips from the BAFTA Guru forum on YouTube as well as lectures/interviews with BAFA Gurus such as Emma Thompson and Richard Curtis. HERE is a link to a blog post I have written about tips from BAFTA Guru's about tips for scripting my story. 

Getting involved in the discursive element of the course really interests me as I can share my views and answers to questions with people across the globe completing the same course as me; therefore they probably share the same interests as me. This is incredibly useful as through discussion new ideas can be made.

I am documenting my FutureLearn film course on my Twitter feed on the right hand side of my blog roll --> or HERE is a link to my Twitter page. I update my feed with information relating to the course every time I complete a step or week of my course. Once I have completed my course I will be able to buy a certificate of completion; I have previously completed a FutureLearn film course last year and bought a certificate of completion as well.

I am trying to use the steps provided in my course, for example answering the top line and big question in relation to films featured on the course as well as in relation to my own film trailer project.

HERE is a link to my blog post on my film trailers top line and question.

An example of a topic in this weeks course, having also talked about it last week in week 1

Theorists were also in discussion such as Aristotle and Todorov in relation to structuring the idea behind a film or story, for example many of Aristotle's ideas including themes and elements he identified are still relevant today. For example, plot, character, dialogue, unity help us come up with ideas, analyse and construct stories. Todorov's theory of a story starting with Equilibrium, continuing to have Equilibrium broken known as Disequilibrium, and then restored by the end of the story into Equilibrium.

Todorov's theory in this weeks course

Below are some examples of answers I have answered in the discursive section of the weeks course: 

THE BBC ACADEMY RESEARCH SKILLS

In week 2 on the FutureLearn Digital Storytelling course I was introduced to the BBC Academy; I have found similarities in the researching process that professional researchers complete compared to my own researching process in my film trailer project. 

Below is a link to an MP3 podcast on the BBC Academy (similar to an AudioBoom - HERE is a blog post I have written about AudioBoom and my findings) featured on week 2s course on researchers; covering the role and the job of the researcher mentioning that their job is never done and staying persistent in expanding your stories research. Researching includes the characters role, the characters past and future influencing the costume and props they will be using - these are all areas I am covering during my research of my film trailers storyline and characters. 

The MP3 features 3 researchers Jaime Taylor a freelance documentary maker and assistant producer, Mark Edger a science and history researcher and Charlotte Denton a researcher on entertainment and factual programmes. They discuss the best resources they have used, best ways to organise their 'mammoth amounts of information' they have researched and found as well as the variety of different planning required to work on factual television series and fast turnaround shows such as 'mini documentaries' everyday on The One Show for example. 

HERE is a link to the MP3 podcast on the BBC Academy. 

I have shared this website and article, linked above, on my Twitter page.

Getting involved in the discursive element of the course really interests me as I can share my views and answers to questions with people across the globe completing the same course as me; therefore they probably share the same interests as me. This is incredibly useful as through discussion new ideas can be made.

I am documenting my FutureLearn film course on my Twitter feed on the right hand side of my blog roll --> or HERE is a link to my Twitter page. I update my feed with information relating to the course every time I complete a step or week of my course. Once I have completed my course I will be able to buy a certificate of completion; I have previously completed a FutureLearn film course last year and bought a certificate of completion as well.

I also subscribed to my course, FutureLearn Digital Storytelling: Filmmaking for the Web, YouTube page so I can follow the process of the course. 

  

CONSTRUCTION: SCENES WITH CHRIS

After filming the warehouse scene, Demi, Sophie, Marcus and I filmed scenes between Aaron and Chris. Aaron is wanting to have questions answered by Chris in relation to his sister Sydney's death. 

The editing process on Photo Collage

Below I made a photo collage on a new website I have recently found called Photo Collage. It is similar to Photovisi and PicMonkey; Photo Collage is useful as it allows me to create a selection of differently formatted photo collages using a variety of different photos I have taken. It is quick, simple and easy to use, I will be making use of this editing tool in future blog posts of the construction stage.

Below are some videos I recorded whilst filming on my iPhone: 

Below are a selection of videos I recorded on Snapchat - similar to vlogger and YouTuber Casey Neistat (HERE is a blog post I wrote about his popular vlogging): 

CONSTRUCTION: WAREHOUSE SCENES

I completed filming a selection of warehouse scenes with the characters Aaron, Sydney and The Ghost involved. We filmed a variety of scenes at the warehouse including:

1. A scene between Sydney and both the female and male refugees commanding to them that they should obey her to receive their passports.
2. A scene between Aaron and Sydney with Sydney handing over a bag of illegal passports and large quantities of money from successfully selling illegal passports to migrants and refugees.
3. A scene between Aaron and Sydney where he hits her with a brick causing her death - we thought it would be appropriate to film this in 'photograph-like snipits' ellipses of jump cuts to create a slow-motion feel, similar to slow motion fight scenes in the film Sherlock Holmes (2009).

Below are two videos of the Sherlock Holmes film fight scenes. I have noticed similarity between both ours and the professional film.

 

Editing process on Photovisi

Below I made a collage on the photo editing tool Photovisi using a variety of different photos taken whilst filming the warehouse scenes. Photovisi is an extremely useful tool, like PicMonkey I used in previous posts, that allows you to create a photo collage using not only photographs you have taken but also photographs you have uploaded to social media platforms including Twitter and Instagram. I hope to make use of this tool in future posts.

CONSTRUCTION: LOCATION RECCE

Previously to film my group made a trip to the building site in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey to check whether filming the warehouse scene would be appropriate, fit our vision of filming and also make us aware of how the scene would look like visually both in the construction stages as well as what it may look like against other scenes when being edited. 

We agreed that prior to filming the location had to be near empty as it we didn't want any disturbances such as members of the building site being in shot without permission as well as trucks driving past the camera making it go out of focus and disturb the action being captured. We wanted the warehouse to be a large size with dark lighting (preferably filmed at night), empty with no people and a cold, unfriendly and vacant feel further conveying a haunting, empty and vulnerable feel, similar to the atmosphere created at the church (HERE is a link to my post on the location recce I completed previous to filming at the church and HERE is a link to my post on filming the grave yard scene at the church) and scenes filmed at the car park (HERE is a link to my post on the location recce I completed previous to filming at the car park and HERE is a link to my post on filming the car park scenes in Woking, Surrey) making Aaron seem alone, vacant and lonely. This atmosphere also conveys Sydney's association with the trading of illegal passports to helpless, manipulated and desperate refugees and migrants as forced upon her by the illegal gang. In this sense both Aaron and Sydney appear to be alone, vacant and lonely. 

HERE is a link to a case study I completed about the trading of illegal passports. 

Building site

This is where we filmed the warehouse scenes with the characters Sydney, Aaron, Chris and The Ghost

Building site

PLANNING: RISK ASSESSMENT - THE WAREHOUSE

We received permission to film at the building site in Kingston Upon Thames as a member of my group knows the owner and site manager of the building site. He remained with us whilst filming making sure that the site was safe for us to film at. 

Taking into account the risks that we taking filming at the building site, we made sure on a health and safety perspective that the area where we were filming, as shown below, was clear of any large machinery or sharp objects such as broken glass. We used high resolution lighting so we could see whilst filming making sure we are safe. 

PLANNING: CALL SHEET #3

I was set the task to organise the call sheets throughout our filming and construction process. I have typed up the Call Sheets including the date of the shoot, location (with a map to help people know the route to travel to the location), crew to be attending the shoot with contact details, equipment used further promoting people to remember to bring the camera, tripod and lights home from the Media Studies studios as well as props and costume to wear. By completing a call sheet this will make myself and my group organised for future shoots so we don't miss deadlines. I have also noted making call sheets in my most recent trello list allowing me to be organised. 

HERE is a link to my most recent Trello for the month of October. 

BAFTA GURU

I have been making use of the BAFTA Guru website that allows you to listen to '60 second with....' interviews with BAFTA award winning actors/actresses, BAFTA nominated actors/actresses, up and coming actors/actresses, directors, script and screen writers, producers and distributors. These people are commonly known as 'Gurus' of their trade hense the name of the website; in turn attracting and addressing audiences such as myself. They discuss a variety of topics including screenwriting, scriptwriting (helping you focus on ideas)

Below is an example of a BAFTA Guru video I have watched; this is called '60 seconds with Alicia Vikander'.



The advice of scriptwriting from BAFTA award winning actress Emma Thompson was incredibly useful in providing me with advice for making use of film trailer ideas and helping me decide on different ideas when answering questions in discussion on my FutureLearn film course I am completing this year (HERE is link to a blog post on me starting my FutureLearn digital film course and HERE is a link to a blog post on answering questions in discussion on my FutureLearn digital film course).

I have been documenting my journey on completing my FutureLearn film course on my Twitter page located on the right hand side of my blog roll ----> or HERE is the link to my Twitter page.

Below is Emma Thompsons lecture on Screenwriters.



Below is an interview featuring BAFTA winning director and screen writer Richard Curtis on Screenwriters.



HERE is link to the BAFTA Guru website.

HERE is link to the BAFTA Guru YouTube channel where you can view, as well as on the website linked above, videos from BAFTA Gurus.

AUDIOBOOM

Whilst writing blog posts recently I have been making use of audioBoom. This is a free online website, much like SoundCloud, but you can listen to Podcasts and radio interviews from radio shows such as the BBC radio stations. 

audioBoom came to my attention when I was completing the final week of Future Learn: From Script to Screen film making course last year. I thought this site was incredibly interesting as I can post audioBoom posts or just simply listen to other peoples. 

An audioBoom account (as shown below) that I find interesting is the BBC Radio 4: The Media Show. This account/channel covers news regarding the media such as topics covered in the newspaper as well as discussions. 

I have recently listened to this discussion on BBC Radio 4: The Media Show covering the role of advertisers and editors on British drama. They also covered the limitations of editing and advertising including 'phone ins' from professionals in the media industry addressing their views. 

listen to ‘Media: Advertisers and editorial; British drama; "Immigration Street"’ on audioBoom

PLANNING: SOUNDTRACK - SCRIPT THE VOICE OVER AND DIALOGUE

Whilst completing my FutureLearn Digital Storytelling course in week 2 I was introduced to a Podcast featuring BBC Science's Andrew Thompson, Charles Colville, producer for BBC Factual, and Lizzie Faulkner, a freelance series producer who has worked for Sky Atlantic, BBC One and RTE, who discuss scriptwriting for factual television. 

I learned that it is important to begin with a script, as it starts the preparation process that further enables you to start working on key ideas helping you to produce a believable, watchable and interesting piece of text, in my case being a film trailer (having to think about the overall films storyline). The script can also give you guidance, helping you let your intentions be known and help structure your shoot and edit.  

I have shared this article and Podcast on my Twitter page, located on the right hand side of my blog roll. 

HERE is a link to the Podcast. 

After completing our shot list, we made a 'scene by scene' document allowing us to have a clear description of the scene, character dialogue and examples of shots to be taken such as time lapses in London.

Red - voice over

Blue - description of scene

Green - notes

Black - dialogue





PLANNING: CHARACTER PROPS AND COSTUME - THE GHOST

In order to gather inspiration for each characters props and costume, I created a board on Pinterest for the character The Ghost. 

The character The Ghost is portrayed in the film trailer as a savvy, experimental and questionable entrepreneur of making and distributing illegal passports to vulnerable, naïve and helpless refugees and immigrants. His name makes audiences' believe that is ghost-like, a presence or poltergeist, however his name derives from him having a significant amount of presence, being approachable and having significant influence in his acquaintances lives such as Sydney's. He makes a considerable amount of money and with the support and help from Sydney, he has expanded his illegal passport empire and successfully sells his illegal passports throughout Europe. He is a criminal and rogue trader purposefully landing desperate refugees and immigrants in unfortunate situations when they are either denied access to a country they are aiming to be accept access into or on the run from the police living illegally in a country they are not welcome in. His expensive dress connotes his wealth, large ego and business success, he shares with Sydney, for example he wears designer trainers and rich cotton jackets, jeans, shirts and t-shirts. He wears dark colours to remain in disguise if anyone recognises him.

The Ghost's costume - played by Jay Collins

HERE is a link to a blog post of a case study I completed on illegal passports.  

Using Pinterest not only for the character of The Ghost but also for the whole cast of my film trailer helped me gain a better idea of how each character would dress, act and what props they would use. I have a better idea of what kind of mood they would influence the film trailer, for example a mysterious, illusive, haunting and 'hidden' due to influence of an illegal trade such as trafficking refugees.

Pinterest is a useful as it allows me to collect a vast amount of photographs, GIFs and videos on a particular topic or person in culture and society; I can also follow other people on Pinterest gaining inspiration globally and connecting with people who may have 'pinned' the same photo(s).

HERE is a blog post on how I made GIFs - similar to the format of photos I find on Pinterest and due researching how to make GIFs I can make a GIF with videos and photographs I take whilst filming my film trailer or photographs I have come across on Pinterest; gaining more inspiration.

Below is my Pinterest board for the character The Ghost - HERE is link to my board.

PLANNING: CHARACTER PROPS AND COSTUME - DETECTIVE GIGGS

In order to gather inspiration for each characters props and costume, I created a board on Pinterest for the character Detective Giggs.

Researching the definition of 'police'

Researching the definition of 'detective'

Researching what a detectives job entails - http://www.whatdoesado.com/detective.htm 

The character Detective Giggs is portrayed in the film trailer as a source of authority, 'voice of reason' and a member of establishment with legal advice and command over people like Aaron. She is recognisable as a member of the established MET police department by her eye-catching, reflective uniform with the crest and badges associated with the police on her jacket. This is also seen on her hat as well when in the accusation/custody room with Aaron. She is determined to find out what Aaron's motives were when he was selling illegal passports, and most importantly making sure he doesn't repeat his actions in the future solving his crimes and making the community he committed his crimes in safer for the public.

Detective Giggs' Costume - played by Sophie Bennett

Using Pinterest not only for the character of Detective Giggs but also for the whole cast of my film trailer helped me gain a better idea of how each character would dress, act and what props they would use. I have a better idea of what kind of mood they would influence the film trailer, for example a mysterious, illusive, haunting and 'hidden' due to influence of an illegal trade such as trafficking refugees.

Pinterest is a useful as it allows me to collect a vast amount of photographs, GIFs and videos on a particular topic or person in culture and society; I can also follow other people on Pinterest gaining inspiration globally and connecting with people who may have 'pinned' the same photo(s).

HERE is a blog post on how I made GIFs - similar to the format of photos I find on Pinterest and due researching how to make GIFs I can make a GIF with videos and photographs I take whilst filming my film trailer or photographs I have come across on Pinterest; gaining more inspiration.

Below is my Pinterest board for the character Detective Giggs - HERE is a link to my board.

PLANNING: CHARACTER PROPS AND COSTUME - CHRIS

In order to gather inspiration for each characters props and costume, I created a board on Pinterest for the character Chris. 

The character Chris is portrayed in the film trailer as a strong, commanding and authoritative character who represents the voice of reason, especially when Aaron is seeking an answer for any connections to his sisters death. Chris wears dark clothing such as a dark shirt, dark coloured chino style trousers, black dark fabric trainers and a dark, thick coloured jumper. Through his clothes he can remain relatively anonymous to the audience, however through his powerful, influential and grand presence in Sydney's life, he proves to play a valuable role in Aaron avenging his sisters death. He is nearer the age of Sydney than Aaron, however with his youthful looks, Chris is portrayed as in his middle to late 20s. He looks cool, sophisticated and confident in his appearance; making him reassured, self poised and mentally strong.

Chris' Costume - played by Jordan

Using Pinterest not only for the character of Chris but also for the whole cast of my film trailer helped me gain a better idea of how each character would dress, act and what props they would use. I have a better idea of what kind of mood they would influence the film trailer, for example a mysterious, illusive, haunting and 'hidden' due to influence of an illegal trade such as trafficking refugees.

Pinterest is a useful as it allows me to collect a vast amount of photographs, GIFs and videos on a particular topic or person in culture and society; I can also follow other people on Pinterest gaining inspiration globally and connecting with people who may have 'pinned' the same photo(s).

HERE is a blog post on how I made GIFs - similar to the format of photos I find on Pinterest and due researching how to make GIFs I can make a GIF with videos and photographs I take whilst filming my film trailer or photographs I have come across on Pinterest; gaining more inspiration.

Below is my Pinterest board for the character Chris - HERE is a link to my board.