Production Pitch

BECK Production Pitch

Production Meeting 3

Date: 13th December
Present: Bethany Hutson, Katie Bannock, Camille Pierrart and Ellie Bunce (Me)
Focus: Begin to create production pitch (everyone get started on their individual tasks)
Action point: Finish production pitch

In our third production meeting we were told to make an production pitch by Mr Buckmaster for the following lesson to show to him and the class. The production pitch had to include, a synopsis/brief, mood board, locations, cast/characters, treatment, soundtrack and a storyboard. This was Mr Buckmaster's example for us: http://marlboroughmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/production-pitch.html 

We all had different tasks to do to create our production pitch. Bethany did the storyboard and treatment, Camille did the brief, Katie looked for a soundtrack and I did the mood board, locations, cast/characters and made the power point presentation.

Production Meeting 2

Date: 12th December 2012
Present: Bethany Hutson, Camille Pierrart, Katie Bannock, Ellie Bunce (me)
Focus: Brainstorm ideas, and discuss any sequences we had watched

In our second production meeting we started thinking about ideas for our opening sequences, here are some of them:

1. Two people (boy and girl) waking up 
2. Sister and brother on a dog walk, stranger watching them
3. Missing child (posters, then we see the child)
4. Home videos of a boy growing up, then we see him now 

We then voted on the idea we wanted for our opening sequence, here are the results:

1. Three votes
2. No votes
3. One vote
4. No votes

So we decided to do the two people waking up, we then discussed this idea and expanded on it thinking about them crossing in the street but not acknowledging one another to set up an enigma for the rest of the play. 

Production Meeting 1

Date: 6th December 2012
Present: Bethany Hutson, Camille Pierrart, Ellie Bunce (me) and Katie Bannock

In our first production meeting we looked at different genres and sub genres in films in order to help us come with ideas for our opening sequence. Below is a spider diagram of genres and sub-genres:

We eliminated genres we wanted to stay away from or didn't think were able to do such as:

• Fantasy
• Melodramas
• Crime
• Epics/historical
• Magical
• Science fiction
• Westerns

This was because we thought they would be hard to portray realistically and we wanted our opening sequence to be believable. We also thought it would be hard make these type of films with our low budget, experience and knowledge.

We also thought about genres we to consider for our opening sequence such as:

• Romance
• Horror 
• Crime
• Action
• Drama

Our action point was to look at opening sequences and bring some ideas for our next meeting.

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we had to film someone opening and walking through a door and having a conversation. We had to include a reverse shot, shot the 180 degree rule and match on action.

This is Mr Buckmaster's example with the brief:  http://marlboroughmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Preliminary%20Task

Below is Bethany, Camille and my preliminary task along with our story board (made with post-it notes), shot list and script. Using these was a great help whilst making our preliminary, however, we had to cut some of the shots and the dialogue in them because they were too short. Doing the preliminary has helped me to see why it is so important to line up the camera exactly at the start so you don't get too much or too little head space (as you can see in some of our shots). It's also helped me understand why the duration and planning of each shot is so important.

How To Make A Video (notes)

Here are my note on how to make a video from a video from an Australian production crew we watched in class.

The roles of making a video:

• Executive producer
• Writer
• Producer
• Director
• Production manager
• Storyboard artist
• Camera operator
• Lighting director 
• Sound technician
• Actors
• Editor

The brief: is a written summary of the video, it sets limitation of process.

It covers the intention, purpose and target audience.

Pre-production: 

This is when the plans are put into place. It includes:

• Scripting
• Scene breakdown
• Storyboard
• Shot list
• Casting
• Locations
• and equipment hire

The stages are...

1. Script
2. Scene breakdown
3. Storyboard and shot list
4. Location

Shot list/ shooting schedule:

• Where
• Time needed
• Different camera angles
• When
• How long (duration)

Allow flexibility in this.

Production: (shooting)

In the production it is essential to manage time well.

The director works closely with the actors in this.

Continuity is essential in the production so someone needs to look out for small details.

Post-production:

• Shooting the project
• Times management initial
• Quality control (image, sound, performance)
• Finished production

Offline edit: rough cut

On line edit: final cut

• All elements are combined in editing
• Sound mix
• Sound mix of final edit

The three stages of making a video are:

1. Pre-production
2. Production
3. Post-production 

Analysing Opening Sequences

In class on Thursday 22nd and 29th November we analysed opening sequences from a variety of films for some of our product research. We focused on the key features of opening sequences, which are:

• Genre
• Narrative/ enigma
• Character
• Atmosphere
• Setting

One of the opening sequences we watched was 'Cape Fear' an American psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese. I focused of character in this, here are the notes I made:
I thought the main character was a middle aged man who I believe was a murderer from the waves which gradually turned red making them look like blood after we see him. I also felt the way in which he emerged from the waves made him look almost immortal. My other thought was that the waves, which started of fairly calm and got gradually faster depict the man's dysfunctional mind, this idea was also extended by titles which seem distorted.
The other character in the opening sequence was a young American girl who I believe was one of the man victims. She gives us an insight of the setting, it's in the summer, Cape Fear is a river and it's in America. She describes it as a magical place where people fear 'real life crashing in' her calm voice and description of Cape Fear is juxtaposed to the rest of the opening sequence.

Another opening sequence we watched was 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' a 2008 American-German film directed by Guillermo del Toro. In this opening sequence I focused on genre. I guessed that it was an action adventure fantasy, this was from the war like music playing throughout and the clashing of metal which I thought sounded like swords clashing and an army. The red and fire I also thought foreshadowed hell and death and the Da Vinci code notes showed that they were on an adventure, searching for something. The fantasy came from the young boy at the start who had horns and looked like the devil.

 
'Se7en' was another opening sequence we watched in class. 'Se7en' is an American psychological thriller directed by David Fincher. Instead of focusing on one key feature in this I looked at them all, here are my notes...
Genre: Psychological thriller
Atmosphere: Dysfunctional and layering of distorted pictures with quick snaps in-between camera shots which I felt reflected the main characters head
Narrative/enigma: What's this man doing and why?
Setting: America (you can tell from dollar)
Character: Psychopath (dysfunctional mind), dirty fingers with plasters on (doesn't care about appearance), I thought the main character was a middle aged man from the fingers.