Production Diaries Written by Larissa, Kate, Kofi and Megan
November 15th 2016 Firstly, we gathered our ideas and then decided to structuralise a main narrative based on one of our member’s synopsis ideas. We then progressed this into further detail creating the equilibrium, disequilibrium, recognition and new equilibrium which allowed us to find out which scenes we should present in our horror trailer. We displayed our findings on a Microsoft Word document including part of the synopsis by further working on a conclusion to a solution to make the ending more dramatic and stereotypical to the “Final Girl” Theory. We created our character profiles which included Alex, Noah, Erin & Racheal and our officer Quinn. These characters are the main cast which will be presented in the trailer creating the impact and mystery behind the story of the film. However, these are our initial ideas and we may change this accordingly as we develop our thoughts and ideas. November 17th 2016 In today’s lesson we have edited the synopsis, changed the main character’s name to Ashley to follow the conventions of the ‘final girl’. We’ve started to plan the settings required to film the trailer and thought about filming permission if required for that area. We have briefly tried to think of title names for our trailer which connects the storyline to give the audience an insight on what to expect. In order to film in the designated area, we have used google maps to show the distance from where we live to organise a time to meet up and film, taking into consideration daylight hours to confirm that the settings are accessible. November 18th 2016 The group as a whole researched trailers which similar are to our own to influence our production, we found many trailers that took a similar approach but we chose to really focus on a total of three trailers which were: Halloween, Taken and The Resident as they all featured a stalker-type antagonist and had the conventions typically seen in the horror genre. They gave us inspiration using the horror codes and conventions that we previously researched as we found connections to our synopsis.
November 22nd 2016 Kate The group split in two halves to work on two different sections. One group, consisting of Megan and Kate worked on the shot list, working out how many shots we will need for each individual location as well as narrative, type of shot and sounds of each shot. They started this but will still need to add the final shots to finish. The other two Kofi and Larissa worked on the impact of idea and wrote more in detail about the use of narrative, genre and characters. They looked into theorists and methods that we will take inspiration and knowledge from to use in our trailer. By doing this research and planning this will give us more structure when it comes to creating our trailer. November 24th 2016 We researched and were able to explain how research had an impact on our film idea; by doing this we foresaw what our original plans were for the synopsis and how we adapted it to include the key aspects for creating our trailer. Secondly, we started creating the list of shots and where they will be set and who will be in the frames when we go out to film. This includes the location, narrative, shot type, duration and sound/music. We have also started to create a prop list including all the valuable items needed to create the trailer. November 29th 2016 In today’s lesson, we all had separate jobs to complete posts for our blog. Larissa and Kate worked on the shot list and were able to add in more shots, whilst Kofi began to focus on the trailer analysis and Megan worked on the questionnaire she had made on survey monkey. Once we had completed these tasks we all read through each other’s work to see if we’d change or add anything including grammar and punctuation. The questionnaire was completed in this lesson and posted on multiple social media sites to gather as many responses as possible from the general public and to gain an understanding about what they’re interested in and if they would watch our trailer.
December 2nd 2016 After creating our questionnaire to collect research, we gathered the results; the biggest platform we used to share our questionnaire was social media mainly Facebook and Twitter, where we got results from friends and family with a wide age range. We collected our results, reviewed them then presented them on our blogs. This was done by screen printing the results from Survey Monkey and pasting them onto our blog posts. By doing the questionnaire this will provide us with useful information and aspects to consider when taking our ideas further. December 6th 2016 We focused on locations & costumes and decided on our actors for the trailer, made a list of potential areas where we could film such as the woods which could be Fritton, Gunton or Bacton as they are all public areas with heavily wooded spots and paths which would be ideal. We also identified the other remaining locations we will shoot our trailer such as Kate’s House and Norwich City’s Market and Bedford Street. We have not decided on where our basement location will be set but furthering on options of where we could shoot this particular scene. Considering our actors and location, we have filled out numerous location forms as well as specialised forms to be granted access to the private areas such as the house. December 8th 2016 In today’s lesson, Larissa and Kofi worked on the risk assessment, filling in the potential hazards on each location which could cause harm to the talent’s present as well as our media group and they completed the risk assessment in this lesson. Kate and Megan worked on the storyboard by adding on new shot ideas for our trailer so we can refer back when filming our media trailer. December 9th 2016 Today Kofi and Megan ensured that the adult release forms were completed within our group and the relevant location permission forms were distributed. They then scanned the sheets through to a computer to be posted onto our blogs once the photos were added. Kate and Larissa worked on the story board and made sure that the shots we have arranged were perfected and completed accurately and fit in an order that we could shoot so that continuity flowed seamlessly.
December 13th 2016 In this lesson we continued adding shots to the story board, and completed the Location and Recces forms, by doing this we worked out what places we needed to use and get permission to use. We could then book a room at college to use to film in; We booked the Aldred room for the 3rd of January. From here we could start getting dates and sorting times to film and what to film so make the Production schedule. Today we also agreed that Megan wold play the role of Ashley, Kofi would play the role of Noah, Kate and Larissa would be the two friends and Harrison would play the antagonist. December 15th 2016 In today’s lesson Larissa blurred out all of the private information on our forms so we could post them onto our blogs. Megan and Kate focused on the storyboard carrying on to get the last couple of shots completed. Kofi scanned all of the necessary paper work onto the computer for Larissa so we could attach it onto our blogs, by doing this he also sorted all of the paper work so we were prepared for filming. We all worked together to gather the production diaries together and put them all into order. January 3rd 2017 Today we left the college and went to the small wooded area behind the park opposite the college to film testers for our trailer to get a feel as to the kind of outcome we wanted. We approached it as if it were the real thing, testing what shots worked best for different scenes so we did not waste time during the actual filming. We returned to class and uploaded the footage onto the Mac computer to keep it safe. January 5th 2017 During today’s time all four of us went outside the college to begin collecting our photos to print off and use for Prop purposes. We made sure to get a variety of scenes and positions and make it appear as if it’s been taken from a distance away to represent stalking. These images will be around the main protagonist when she is tied up so you will not necessarily notice them in great detail but they will be present. We all then came back to class and uploaded the images onto Megan’s computer to keep them safe. We arranged the filming to be done during the following week and Kate made sure they were suitable and achievable. Kofi searched google for parking availability at Gunton to make sure that we have a safe place to keep the car. Larissa made sure all of the Production diaries were up to date, reordering them and helped Megan upload the footage.
January 6th 2017 Today we went to Gunton Woods to film, here we experimented with different shots and angles to get multiple shots and footage to use in our trailer. Equipment we used included a video camera and tripod, for lighting we didn’t use any equipment and decided to use natural lighting from outside. Megan and Kofi acted out shots we had previously planned to put in our trailer; whilst Kate and Larissa filmed the shots and worked behind the camera. As Harrison was unavailable we decided to use Kofi as the antagonist as his face is hidden from view so it would not cause a problem to switch in another person in his place. January 10th 2017 During Second Period the group filmed at Ashley’s house location, which was Kate’s house. At this time, we started to film the outside of her house, filming the more stalker aspects of the trailer, this was for out trailer as the first/opening scene so the audience could understand the general idea of what is happening after watching a couple of seconds. Overall we gathered 5 key scenes that lasted around 15-20 seconds all together and will be cut down shorter and edited so it flows with the continuity of the other remaining scenes. January 12th 2017 In today’s lesson Kofi and Larissa sorted out the production diary putting the dates in a chronological order. Megan and Kate experimented with the editing of our production for the first time using premiere pro and began editing our trailer, putting scenes together and cropping them to fit the allotted time frame. We all decided on other dates to film the remaining scenes of our horror trailer. January 13th 2017 In Todays lesson Megan printed out all of the images that we took on the 5th January, they were cut out and stored in a plastic folder to ensure they didn’t get lost or damaged. Kate, Kofi and Larissa were on the Mac editing the trailer further and inserting new footage. January 16th 2017 On the 16th we went to Norwich to film down the lanes and back alleys such as Gentleman’s Walk, here we took long distance, tracking and point of view shots to capture ‘Ashley’ being followed to include in our trailer. Megan, Kate and Kofi were in shot whilst Larissa filmed the shots we all agreed on. In one shot Kofi held the camera to create a point of view/ tracking shot.
We also took pictures which we needed to use later as props. January 17th 2017 The group did a second shoot at Kate’s house, but this time it was for the scenes leading up to the ending before the woods chase scene, this is seen as the stalker capturing Ashley and holding her in his ‘basement’, during this film shoot we included a variety of props (knife, rope and gag) and make up (fake blood) to create the full effect of the character being bruised and beaten, we took several shots and implemented different angles and camera shots and experimented which would be the best fit to the horror aspect of the trailer and to portray a sense of fear. January 19th 2017 Today we continued to edit the trailer footage that we got from Norwich and Kate’s house and played around with sound that is present in the footage by manipulating volume and clarity. We also took a very quick photo-shoot for some image ideas for our magazine and poster that Larissa and Kate took so we knew what we were going to aim for in the studio tomorrow, this meant that we didn’t waste the allotted time we have in W16 January 20th 2017 Today we booked W16- a photography studio with a green and black backdrop to take our first images for our magazine and poster. We experimented with angles and lighting and all took turns to take shots of each other to ensure that those acting got a chance to use the equipment. Unfortunately some of the shots appeared blurred when we uploaded them onto the computer and we agreed to do a re-shoot at a later date. January 24th 2017 Today we used W16 Studio to film, we all set up the lights, tripod, camera and table to create the police station scene. For this scene Kofi, Larissa and Kate focussed on filming whilst Megan acted in response to Kofi’s questioning. After we filmed everything we needed, Kate and Kofi started on editing the footage whilst Megan and Larissa started on their magazine and posters, after half the time remaining we swapped places to ensure that everyone had a chance to edit.
January 26th 2017 During the lesson we split into 2 groups; one half of the group would edit all the footage we had and aid to the production of the trailer whilst the other half of the group would be editing their magazines/posters for their individual post production task for advertising the “film", again we swapped the roles halfway to give feedback on the editing and to give everyone a chance to start on their magazine and poster. January 27th 2017 In today’s lesson we split into 2 groups again; one half of the group edited all the footage we had for the trailer whilst the other half of the group edited their magazines/posters for their individual ancillary task for advertising our trailer, again we swapped the roles halfway through to give feedback on editing and to give everyone a chance to start on their magazine and poster. January 31th 2017 Today we split into two groups again, Megan and Kate started off editing the trailer and swapping scenes around for the best effect whilst Kofi and Larissa edited their magazine and poster. We swapped just over half way through to give everyone a chance to do different tasks. Today we also ensured that all our blog posts were up to date. February 2nd 2017 Today’s lesson Kofi and Larissa edit the trailer some more and played around with the scarier elements and tried to determine what worked best. Kate and Megan recorded the voice-over by Olivia Jarvis in a small office room in College using the script we had written. This was then uploaded and embedded into our trailer over the parts we needed. February 3rd 2017 During lesson time the group split into 2 halves as usual, Kofi and Kate started editing finding links to the music which would create more tension and dramatizes the effects, and Meagan and Larissa worked began by editing their magazines. Half way through the lesson we changed the roles so we could all equally have editing time on magazines/posters and film editing
February 7th 2017 We continued to work on the trailer and Kate and Megan searched sites such as Freesound and Incomptech to find suitable music to add to our trailer as the original one had little impact whilst Larissa and Kofi worked on the trailer editing in the appropriate places. After finding the choices limited we had permission to use the music in the BTEC folder and found a piece called ‘dessert’ that had the impact we wanted and added this to our trailer easily. WE swapped half way through so everyone was able to work on their posters and magazines. February 9th 2017 We each had a computer and spent the lesson really focusing on getting our magazines and posters up to a good standard of work, we left 40 minutes at the end to all sit at the Mac and scrutinise our trailer and remove bits we agreed didn’t work. Megan and Kate focused on the overlaying of the voice-over onto the trailer in areas that had the greatest effect. Larissa found the graphics convention in a horror trailer called ‘Taken’ which inspired her to share her ideas with the group so Larissa and Kate began to place the graphics into the appropriate place after Larissa came up with what the graphics should say. February 10th 2017 Today’s lesson had a different structure. As we as a class had completed our first drafts we sat at the desks and viewed each other’s trailers, using feedback sheets to explain elements that did and didn’t work in our opinion. After each trailer the class was filmed responding the the trailer with feedback to help us with our final improvements and evaluations later on. After all of the trailers were viewed the videos were uploaded to YouTube so we could embed them to our blogs and the feedback sheets were scanned into the printer and then sent to our documents to convert into a Flipsnack document. February 21st 2017 During the lesson, we focused on changing some features that we had been given during the feedback we had got in the previous lesson. By implementing new texts and focusing on the improvements that the audience felt needed changing we gave the audience what they felt could improve our trailer. We did this as a group to focus on our interests we felt to have a group agreement towards our final product. After editing the group focused upon their Magazine and Posters to finish their final product towards the deadline for the 24th of February.
February 23rd 2017 The group spent this lesson on their individual magazine and horror poster making changes and improvements to produce a polished, professional product including the alterations in; fonts, layout, colour scheme all conventions which will improve the appearance of our ancillary texts. February 24th 2017 Today during our free period in College Larissa, Megan and Kofi went out to do a re-shoot of the outside images we had done before as some were too blurred to use on our magazines. Kate was in another lesson, however she had previously told us of the shots she aimed to get and we re-created these to the best of our ability. In class the same day we finalised our magazines and posters and gave each other feedback on what could be improved to entice more people into watching our trailer/film. From this point onwards, the diary is relevant to the dates shown (a week in length) as the content of the week rarely differed so each is a summary of 5 days. 27th February – 3rd March 2017 During this week we continued to work on all of our products, especially the trailer which we continued to improve upon based on the results we got back from the class feedback. We split into two groups as usual and alternated so we could work on everything in each lesson which meant that we all had a say in the trailer’s outcome and also had time to work on our own ancillary texts. 6th March – 10th March 2017 In class we had a week’s period to finish off evaluation question 2, This consisted of analysing our trailer and our ancillary texts, Poster and Magazine. During this time period it consisted on uploading information on describing a role of distributors and how they illustrate their promotions to advertise to an audience. This rose to independent research into films that used promotional techniques to advertise their product using a media platform. After presenting this information on blogger, we had to annotate our Main Product and Ancillary Texts on a YouTube clip adding annotations to show how we used certain elements to create it and what types of inspiration we took from existing Trailers, Posters and Magazines. These will then be finally uploaded all to blogger to be presented.
20th March – 23rd March 2017 This is the week before of our deadline for our ancillary texts and final trailer; therefore we spent the lesson in half again so everyone was able to spent time on their ancillary texts and the horror trailer. However, we decided that we needed extra time spent on the trailer and a one to one with our teacher to receive vital feedback. Therefore, Larissa and Kate stayed after college until 6pm to make sure we had the crucial feedback and made various alterations to produce a conventional polished product. 27st March – 31st March 2017 This week we focused on getting our ancillary texts, main trailer and evaluation questions to a stage of solid completion for the deadline of the 31 st March. By this date we had to ensure that our trailer was completed, exported and uploaded to YouTube so we could then embed it onto Label A of our blogs. We uploaded out trailer on the Thursday 30th and all of our texts were finished and posted to our blogs under the correct labels by the Friday 31 st. During this week we also ensured that we had all relevant posts and all of the labels worked and were appropriate to the work we did.