The Planning Process

Roles of the group
It was important to organise and plan who would be undertaking particular roles before filming anything at all.

After some group discussion, we decided that I would be the woman acting in the film, mainly because I didn't have the opportunity to appear in our AS piece, which therefore made the roles of the group much fairer.

It was then decided that Mark would be the prime person to edit the film, even though all four of us would still have a reasonable input. Because of his knowledge of computer technology and software, we thought that it would be best if he was put in charge of finding the institiutions, distributors and titles that would appear in our film.

Jen and Lauren on the other hand would be the main two people who would be in charge of filming and organising the make up. This meant that they would have to complete some research into making the bruising and scarring look real, which consequently meant that Youtube videos would have to be studied and used as part of the research. They would also have to undertake the responsibility of taking the photographs for our poster and magazine.

Prop/ Mise-en-scene list

• Dark make up for bruising
• Mascara
• Bathroom
• Church
• (Camera)
• (Edirol)

Planning process
One of the main things we had to produce as a group was a film schedule in order to know what we were doing and when we were filming.

Our filming schedule

Our filming schedule was something that really helped when it came to our organsiation as a group. The columns of our schedule included the dates of when we would film and also when we would spend time working on other parts of our promotional package. We also decided to note down what equipment and props we needed when it came to filming on Thursday 6th, 13th and 19th of January. This meant that we were able to arrange who would take responsibility for certain aspects of our filming and work together as a group.

Organising Our Filming

Looked at our filming schedule and realised that the 13th January was the day we were meant to devote our time to filming at St. Margarets Church in Rainham. We had emailed the vicar of the church before hand explaining that we wished to film a scene of a bride walking up an aisle and luckily, we received confirmation that we would be able to film on the 13th.

Here is the email sent to and from the church

However, after discussing the filming date as a group, we felt that we should really think about how we were going to film the wedding scene, whether St margaret's church would be appropriate and of course, to introduce ourselves and explain to the vicar what we were planning to do in further detail. So, instead, we went to the church and worked out how we would film the scene and how we would acheive something that looked really quite professional.

We managed to find a small platform (that was on wheels) which meant we were able to move across the church floor with ease and after recording an example of walking up the aisle we found that it was perfect for following the bride.

We then thought about placing the 'mysterious husband' at the alter so that when the bride ended her walk, she would be seen standing next to the groom and then instantly, in another shot, her standing in the church, on her own. We soon realised that by simply going to the church to plan and think about our filming, new and fresh ideas were created and therefore felt that the short trip to the church was extremely worthit. In the end, we chose not to use those shots because we thought that isolating the bride would convey a sense of isolation, however, having those shots meant that we were able to decide what we thought was best as a group.

This meant that we then wanted to reschedule the real filming for the following thursday (the 20th of January) and the vicar was more than happy to agree to this. We had a much clearer vision of what we wanted to achieve which consequently made us much more confident in our film planning.

Questionnaire & Audience Research

We decided to create a questionnaire that we then gave to our target audience ( young/middle aged women) in order to see what appealed to them so that we would be able to focus on making our own teaser trailer, as well as the magazine successfully appeal to them. We included questions that asked them personal questions about films (eg. what is your favourite film and why?) along with more specific questions related to our chosen drama genre. (eg. What is your favourite drama film and why is it so successful?)

What did we find out about our target audience and what appeals to them?

• Most said the storyline and actors are the main elements that make a film successful. Our target audience also said that a 'thought provoking' story is something that would appeal to them.
• Alot of the age group liked drama films (a vast majority voted for a drama genre as one of the top 3 films genres that they would watch) so we knew that our film would successfully appeal to our target audience.
• Nearly all people said that moderate use of strong language would be most suitable, which meant that we knew how far we would be able to go with the violent language if it came to making our film for real.
• All thought that a trailer made a big impact on the viewing of the film.
• Most said they'd pay £2.51 for a film magazine. Our magazine was going to be issued by 'Total Film' and their magazine prices are usually in that price range anyway, which, to us meant that we had the right magazine publisher/distributor in mind.
• Most people said that the actors, director, film review and genre were the biggest things that attracted them to the film.

Our questionnaire helped us immensely when it came to getting in touch with our target audience and understanding exactly what they wanted in a film. There were sections of the questionnaire that had a variety and mixtures of answers when it came to personal prefrences, however, there were also questions that enabled our group to accurately pinpoint the main elements that appealed to the audience. Because of this, I would say that producing and distributing a questionnaire was extremely benefitial.

Using Media Technology - How has technology helped?

Technology played a huge role in the research and planning of our media piece. In almost every lesson we have used the internet in order to aid us with the researching of films, trailers, posters, magazines and extra elements to filming, such as the certificate information etc. It has also, of course, allowed us to track and reflect on our progress through the production of our online blogs and also using the video sharing website, Youtube for finding videos on how to approach make up for the effective use of mise-en-scene, as well as the reseaching of drama trailers for inspiration.
We have also, as expected, had to experiment with the camera so that our filming is of a clear and good quality and also use the editing programme Pinnacle to start to upload and edit our film.
Photoshop and Photoshop Elements has also helped us immensely when it has come to the production of Film Magazine covers and Film Posters, (both teaser and normal.) We all felt as a group that Photoshop was a computer software programme that woud enable us to create extremely professional looking advertising pieces of media, as we were able to add shadows, gradients, specialised fonts and text, which made us feel much more confident in our production and creative skills, a confidence that we have gradually gained after our AS piece.

What other technology do we plan to use?

We plan to be using the Edirol and microphone for the recording of the wedding vows soon after we have gathered and edited all of our fim clips together. By using the Edirol, we will be able to produce a professional recording of clear quality, which will therefore make our trailer extremely successful. We also hope to find a room with an echoing sound so that it appears as if the vows are being spoken by a vicar inside a church in order to make it appear extremely realistic and also create an eerie atmosphere.

Have we improved with our use of technology since AS?

I personally feel that after familiarising myself with various types of technology, I am now able to use Pinnicale much more conifdently, mainly because I have had the opportunity to experiment with our uploaded video clips after filming. I plan to become mre involved when it comes to the production and formation of the film poster and magazine, as I will then be able to use Photoshop too.

For Better For Worse Animatic

Our Animatic was extremely useful when it came to helping the entire group see things much more visually. We had already produced a storyboard which allowed us to decide how long each shot would last for and because of this preparation, we were able to edit the timing just like we would do with our real piece of film. In order to produce our animatic, we had to use a flip camera. We wanted to make it as realistic and as close to our final piece as possible and because of this, we attempted to draw and position each sketch in the way it would appear on the real piece of film. We also tried to use colours for the distributors so that the film would look somewhat professional, even as an animatic. We also included black sheets of paper in between certain shots so that we would be able to see whether the transition would give the animatic a dramatic effect that can usually be a convention in other teaser trailers. Whether we incorporate a black transition between particualr shots is something that we will still have to decide as a group, but knowing that the animatic will enable us to see what things will look like as a whole will help us in the development, creative and planning stages. I therefore feel that creating this animatic was extremely worth while and will certainly benefit us in future decisions.

Our Storyboard

Above is the storyboard that we created so that we could plan each shot step by step. This particular storyboard was immensely helpful when it came to clearly setting out what shot would go and where, as well as helping us understand which video and audio clips would be displayed. This also helped us decide how many seconds each shots would be and it was therefore an excellent guideline for the group when it would finally come to editing our filming and giving our teaser trailer the desired dramatic effect. It allowed us to see what each shot would look like visually and also gave us the opportunity to put certain aspects, such as institutions and distributors in order, before we produced our complete animatic,which meant we were conesequently able to change anything that we really wanted to. Most of the seconds were 2, 3 or 4 seconds because we wanted to stick to the teaser trailer convention of quick sharp cuts to each shot as much as possible, so the result was relatively professional.

A Teaser Trailer Influence

What was the main teaser trailer that influenced our own trailer?

Social Networking
There were a few cuts in our teaser trailer, however there was a lot of black transitions which we wanted to add in our own for dramatic effect (had a black and white theme like ours) like ours, to shock and hit the audience and prolong the thinking time of the viewer, therefore giving the impression that things are unclear. In my opinion, the dramatic effect caused by the black slides successfully represents the drama genre, which consequently makes this particular trailer one that is extremely useful for developing our own trailer.
It was also very similar to our own teaser trailer where voiceovers are concerned. Like this specific trailer, we would be able to incorporate non diegetic sound over the top of what is happening allowing an oppurtunity for intruige without giving too much away.

I also liked the way that the main character's face is the last thing the viewer sees at the end of the trailer, because it is exactly what we wanted to have in our teaser trailer at the very end. We also decided to have a face staring right at the viewer because we could make the viewer connect with and identify that character instantly and effectively imply that something big will happen involving that particular person, giving subtle hints about the plot which will consequently engage the viewer.

We also planned to have the same sequence of the face being the last thing before the title 'For Better For Worse' and then the date 'Autumn 2012', which again, gives the viewer the main information without exposing the plot and other film elements.