Post production - silent film, idea changed

Plot - 
Two main characters who are best friends - Veronica and Anastasia, they always hang out and are liked by many people within the college. They're known and popular.

There's a character who's jealous of these two and is less popular - Camila. Shes always in the background, viewing the actions of the desirable best friends.  
There's a party coming up, Camila's confidence is broken as she is not invited. But the story changes when Camila is subtly invited in a way by Sumaya, another popular character that helps her realise shes just as desirable as the best friends. She turns up to the party, Sumaya gets Camila to show who she is at the party, overall making her feel confident and slowly introducing a friendship between Veronica and Anastasia 
Message - have self confidence & don't put yourself down.


Overall 4 characters -
Characters - 
Anastasia:
- middle class
- popular girl, studies textiles and has many friends

Veronica:
- also popular and middle class
- studies art & photography
- has a YouTube channel

Sumaya:
- Most liked person  in school
- Always has parties, not much family therefore finds comfort around her friends
- Does preforming arts

Camila:
- Jealous character
- Lower class
- Finds comfort in her artwork, introverted into herself and her artwork

Location:
- art department
- photography studio


Shot list:
( Seperate noted ideas: 
2 security guards standing outside the studio - using two characters within the class. 
shots of security tying to let the girl in, checking guest list etc

shallow depth of field with whole class walking out, unfocused on the class then from the hallway then focus on the two girls & jealous character. 2 girls walk out class, other girl is behind, another girl gives out invite to the 2 girls, jealous character looks at the invite being given, gets sad. have a close up of the jealous characters expression of reasoning she can go to the party )

Editing - 
Start - black screen with text saying date and time
Middle - another black screen with text to show next day - text therefore indicates the day of the party. 
Split screen of Anastasia and veronica doing their makeup in the bathroom - makeup as props. Camila also gets ready,
Split screen continues as the 2 girls walk into the studio (. party will take place in photography studio with lights & red backdrop ) 
Cut to shots of security letting veronica and Anastasia get in, then shortly after not letting Camila in.

Props:
- Poster, paper
- Fairy lights
- Makeup
- possible reflective jackets for the security

Post Production - silent film

Our story begins with clear shots that one character is better than the other. Ends with A/V actually winning with a clear message that the audience should believe in themselves and have a passion. The protagonist is jealous because they want to be good at dancing. Set at college.  Theme - jealousy.  A dance / music character who is successful at what they do.  A partner of theirs in the same class - the main character who is jealous of the successful character.
There's a dance competition coming up and the successful character sadly sprains / injure themselves. The only one to fill in their place is the main character . Through this, the character finds their drive \with the end message -
Message - believe in yourself and realise your passion.

Characters:  
Successful character:
Male: Edwin
Female: Anastasia

Main, jealous character:
Male: Aaron
Female:  Veronica

Location: Dance studio
Music room
Theatre
TV studio
( if the dance idea and characters are not available, the music idea and location will be used instead )
Shot list:
Fade in - establishing shots of locations we are going to use - dance studio and theatre 
Wide shots of the dancers in the theatre / dance studio practising - Begins with the class dancing in different places - successful character always in the front and jealous character positioned in the back.
Try position the characters and camera in the same place, but change location. Make this look natural when editing.
Cut to -
Long / wide shot of hallway
 - successful character walks out with and the main character looks at her from behind in jealousy. Use shallow depth of field over shoulders, etc. have a close up of jealous character.  clearly show the emotion. Have a close up next to walls and the character's face. Aaron's / Veronica's  action - shaking head, sad emotion etc.
Fade out to -
Wide shot - Use rule of thirds - position jealous character in the background grid and have the successful character with a few people around them practising near to the other side of the grid.
Cut from this to a close up of Aaron / Veronica tying their shoe lace, then slowly fade this again in the same position but with Aaron / Veronica wearing a different outfit. This is to symbolise the next day.
/ or have the rule of thirds wide shot, close up of the jealous character then blackout and edit text ' the next day... 'After this, film shots of Edwin / Anastasia on crutches ( crutches provided by group member, if this is not possible we can film the character acting hurt )
Cut to hallway, Edwin or Anastasia give a poster to A/V to symbolise the competition. Close up of the poster, in particular the date.
Use symmetry rule.  Both nod at each other from two sides.
Fast pace cutting between the jealous character dancing and getting better.
( Attempt to keep the character in the same composition in the shot and change the location around them. )
Cut to the date therefore showing the day of the competition.
Use after effects and add images of aesthetic dance rooms or film some footage of an aesthetic room / create a nice atmosphere.
Cut to 3 people in first second, third, show Aaron / Veronica coming first. Use shallow depth of field or have a normal two shot of Edwin / Anastasia and A/V smiling at each other / hugging. Have text at the end saying ' believe in yourself ' or any slogan relating to finding your passion etc. / shoot a long take of a certificate of winning the competition - edit the colour effect of this on premiere pro and add the text over this. Fade out to black.

New idea - 
After given feedback and further reflection after this within our group, we had decided to change the idea from the close up shot of the jealous character and to cut out the dance competition. Our given feedback was to include a different idea as the shooting time for the dance competition and locations would not make the scene look realistic and therefore would not make our film professional. Instead of the dance competition, the successful character will confront the other character and ask to do a dance off. Around this will be an audience which will hype up the dance off and will include people in the college. This therefore includes more of our audience and will attract the desired 16-20 target audience. Through this reflection, I have  therefore learnt and made sure to consider the target audience more during post production.

New shot list -
Fade in - establishing shots of locations we are going to use - dance studio and theatre 
Wide shots of the dancers in the theatre / dance studio practising - Begins with the class dancing in different places - successful character always in the front and jealous character positioned in the back.
Try position the characters and camera in the same place, but change location. Make this look natural when editing.
Cut to -
Long / wide shot of hallway
 - successful character walks out with and the main character looks at her from behind in jealousy. Use shallow depth of field over shoulders, etc. have a close up of jealous character.  clearly show the emotion. Have a close up next to walls and the character's face. Aaron's / Veronica's  action - shaking head, sad emotion etc.
- Cut to close up of jealous character tying their shoe lace. have their facial expression annoyed and get them to sigh. Get character to go up to successful character and make some gesture to show that one character has challenged the other to a dance off. Have a constant panning shot from this and try edit using the fast movement technique.  
Get music playing loudly in the background - desired location will be the dance studio, have people from around the block or from other places in the college hyping up the competition and making the whole thing funnier and appealing to the target audience
- Attempt this as a constant shot / have cutaways in between times of cut of the people are around in the circle.
- End with claps etc
- Medium two shot using rule of symmetry in the studio, zoom into the two shot and have a handshake and actions between the two characters / have them hug, etc. Get people around to hype this up again and show that they are now good partners within the class
- Have text at the end - something to do with believing in yourself and believing your passion. Have this text over blooper shots. Have the blooper shots slightly blurred, have laughs in the background etc - all done within the edit

Extra notes -
- Focus will be in making the dance scene big and fun-
- Keep recording - get bloopers for the end titles
- Use modern music, one which will attract the target audience
- Attempt the pan shot and cut
- ( notes from character profile ) Have a possible end shot of the person that the jealous character likes speak to them after seeing how good and competitive they are.

Sound including music and Foley sound:
-  Background music for establishing shots - find any suitable or starting music to any other song which suits the jealousy hallway shots
- Sound for when character breaks their leg - ( research )
- Dietetic sound of music in theatre or dance room


Props / costume design:
- Costumes for dancing actors include all black clothing.
- Own clothing


Character profile:
Successful characters: Edwin or Anastasia
- Have a hands on, middle class family - reason why they chose to study something creative
- Originally from Colombia
- 18
- Has loads of friends and a boyfriend, popular and liked character in her class and within the performing art students.


Jealous character: Aaron or Veronica 
- Lower class family, deeper meaning behind why they picked a dance course - come from a lower class family, feel the need to express themselves in some form of art
- from
- 18
- Has a few friends, not many. un-supportive family ( changes at the end when character wins competition )
- Not in a relationship, but likes someone in her performing arts class. ( person likes her back, but she does not have the confidence to speak to him )
-

Adobe Audition editing practise

To practise with sound effects after researching examples and Foley sound, I have experimented with audios recorded by our group by adding certain effects and playing around within Adobe Audition. This has allowed me to initially use and learn about the software and will come in use for future projects when editing audios for short films, clips, etc.

My example on sound cloud - Audition edit

Special effects

Special effects are used within many films to create an outstanding atmosphere to support the visual of a story. They act as an illusion to create a realistic world. These effects can be categorised into mechanical / physical effects and visual / optical effects.

Visual effects (VFX) - could include using CGI and animation. 
VFX are image manipulated effects created digitally to create a desired environment which would not be possible to create in real life as there may be obstacles, such as the story line including a made up world, the expense, dangers etc. 

Film examples 🎬
- Interstellar 
- Life of pi
- The Hunger Games
- The Wolf of Wall Street 
- Harry Potter

Mechanical effects - 
Unlike optical effects, physical effects are created live on set rather than in post production and often include large scale props and makeup. To create realistic character effects, prosthetic may be used, the same for location or settings where cars or buildings may be blown up etc. 

Film examples 🎬
- Independence day 
- The dark knight - makeup
- Edward Scissorhands - makeup 
- Alice in wonderland - makeup

Inserted is a clip I have edited in Premiere Pro, initially learning how to use and do some visual effects with the features the software has.

Observational documentary practical

 For our observational documentary, we decided to follow around one of group members. We had based it on one of his passions, being photography. No input had been put in by the filmmakers and crew, being the rest of our group, in observational style.

The documentary had some pros such as some cinematic shots and following the  main character and using the camera as a 'fly on the wall ' however the lighting of the shots could be improved and more information as to the editing of the photographer could be added as more insight to their life.

Observational documentaries

Observational documentaries - documentaries shot in a specific style of following action around as it happens like ' a window of the world ' therefore having not much post production input - no voice over or much editing. There is also no input from the film crew, these documentaries are shot so that the audience has their own opinion with no input.
These documentaries may make the audience feel part of whats happening therefore provide insight to information this way, instead of feeding it to them through a voice over. They allow the subject to ' move ' freely without much editing and connect the audience by making them focus solely on the story line and narrative of whats being told.
These types of documentaries were popular during the 1960's and are referenced as being a type of ' fly on the wall ' presentation.

Some common and set characteristics of observational documentaries include:

• Speech which is overheard and not directed to the camera or audience
• Synchronous sound 
• Do not hear or see filmmaker, no voice over
• Zoom lenses and hand held camera - further in-forcing the idea of the audience being real and close with whats happening along with camera following the action

Example: Salesman 1968

In this example, it is evident that there is no voice over, and the story line is carried out through the dialogue of the characters. Music has also been added, which is parallel to whats happening on screen and enhances the story. Though not the longest, some takes within the scene are long and take a few seconds to cut compared to an expository documentary. An example is with planet earth. Though some are long, most takes are cut quickly and include a voice over at every scene providing detail. This documentary however is an opposite example.

Further techniques included in Salesman are synchronized sound. 

Expository documentary practical

To initially explore expository photography, our group decided to chose sport as a topic and focus around women's basketball. The idea of women's sports is modern and will intrigue a similar aged audience along with intriguing them to watch. The documentary gives more information than what an

audience member would know by solely watching a game, by providing many role model names and historical stories / events.
Within our group, we each gave ourselves different roles in order to complete on time.These were shared and doubled at times, for example , cinematographer and editor, screenwriter and voice over, interviewer and interviewee etc.
The scene includes an interview with the captain of the colleges basketball team along with historical facts and figures of women's sport and basketball overall worldwide.

Script for documentary -https://writerduet.com/script/#VWRJW