Wednesday 31 March 2010
Evaluation
Through our use of props we upheld the suspension of belief, this made that our audience will connect to the film, and it also makes the film historically accurate. We used candle light to illustrate the secret relationship and also to add to the time era. We chose an old fashioned style pen as well to add to the narrative, and the paper we used was also chosen specifically to add to the mise-en-scene. We changed the costume for Rose in this scene, this shows the change in time, and adds to the authenticism of the film which attracts our audience.
Evaluation
We thought very carefully about the location we wanted to use as the mise-en-scene and overall setting in a film is very important in creating a sense of verisimilitude and helps when setting up a narrative and engaging the audience. After many discussions and a lot of organizing we decided that Knepp Castle in Horsham would be the best possible place to film as there was a variety of grounds we could choose from to film in and the castle itself was a lovely building to film which therefore enabled us to create a believable film with an exquisite mise-en-scene and setting. To add this we felt that by choosing the perfect location it improved our overall product and helped to engage our target audience.
Evaluation
When researching into period dramas we looked carefully at the clothing of the characters as we felt this was important in creating a sense of verisimilitude which we believed would engage the audience more. We looked at several other period dramas and the costumes that were used for the female protagonists and found that a few of them used very lavish ball gowns, however we also found that several of them used simple, elegant dresses as seen in the still from ‘Pride and Prejudice’ above. As we had more access to the simple elegant dresses rather than the lavish clothing we chose to use these types of costumes for our female protagonist as seen in the still below the first image.
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Post-Production
Titles:
We chose to use scenery shots of our location for our titles to establish the location and genre of our opening sequence. We used a cross dissolve transition between clips to make the opening seconds run smoothly. We chose a serif, cursive font for the cast list to add to the time period in which our film was set in. For the title of our film 'Unrequited', we chose to use a black background in order to show the importance of the name as it has significant meanings within the film. The soundtrack over the titles replaces the natural sound from the clips as we felt it contributed more to the genre and allowed the audience to connect with the film once it starts. We used a sound bridge from "Unrequited" to the establishing shot of the castle with a piece of natural sound from garage band.
Scene 1:
We had difficulty with the editing when going from a mid shot to a long shot of our protagonist reading the letter, as her positioning was slightly different when edited together. To combat this, we use a slow motion effect to make the clips match each other better. We heightened the sound of the opening of the door, as it is a sound signifier; the door is a barrier of the love between James and Rose. We chose not to film many close-ups in the first three scenes of our film, so that during the flashback sequence the audience will be able to connect more to Rose and James with the close ups used.
Scene 2:
In post production, we used a voice-over for the dialogue between Rose and Chester because we felt it added to the connection between characters and audience, as well as improving the sound quality. When making the voiceover and adding it over the clip we had to cut the sound and position it in the right place to make sure it matched which was particularly difficult. When editing this scene we had to match the movement of Rose's hand stroking Chester from a long shot to a mid-close-up.
Scene 3:
Originally we were going to use a much longer clip here of Rose, however after doing this we realised that it did not add much to the stroyline so we chose to cut it very short and then to fade into a flash back of another time which tells more of the story and is more interesting to watch.
Scene 4:
To gain a full understanding for the audience that this scene was a flash back, we edited it by changing the colour to black and white, we then had to change the brightness of the clip to show the writing and light from the candles clearly. We used a voice over here as well of Rose reasing the letter that she is writing, we had to match the voice with what she was writing.
We chose to use scenery shots of our location for our titles to establish the location and genre of our opening sequence. We used a cross dissolve transition between clips to make the opening seconds run smoothly. We chose a serif, cursive font for the cast list to add to the time period in which our film was set in. For the title of our film 'Unrequited', we chose to use a black background in order to show the importance of the name as it has significant meanings within the film. The soundtrack over the titles replaces the natural sound from the clips as we felt it contributed more to the genre and allowed the audience to connect with the film once it starts. We used a sound bridge from "Unrequited" to the establishing shot of the castle with a piece of natural sound from garage band.
Scene 1:
We had difficulty with the editing when going from a mid shot to a long shot of our protagonist reading the letter, as her positioning was slightly different when edited together. To combat this, we use a slow motion effect to make the clips match each other better. We heightened the sound of the opening of the door, as it is a sound signifier; the door is a barrier of the love between James and Rose. We chose not to film many close-ups in the first three scenes of our film, so that during the flashback sequence the audience will be able to connect more to Rose and James with the close ups used.
Scene 2:
In post production, we used a voice-over for the dialogue between Rose and Chester because we felt it added to the connection between characters and audience, as well as improving the sound quality. When making the voiceover and adding it over the clip we had to cut the sound and position it in the right place to make sure it matched which was particularly difficult. When editing this scene we had to match the movement of Rose's hand stroking Chester from a long shot to a mid-close-up.
Scene 3:
Originally we were going to use a much longer clip here of Rose, however after doing this we realised that it did not add much to the stroyline so we chose to cut it very short and then to fade into a flash back of another time which tells more of the story and is more interesting to watch.
Scene 4:
To gain a full understanding for the audience that this scene was a flash back, we edited it by changing the colour to black and white, we then had to change the brightness of the clip to show the writing and light from the candles clearly. We used a voice over here as well of Rose reasing the letter that she is writing, we had to match the voice with what she was writing.
Our Questionnaire
Before our production, we made a questionnaire to be the basis of many ideas for our opening sequence. We included specific questions that would enable us to become more aware of our audience and what they would expect from a period drama. Here's our questionnaire and findings of the 10 people we asked, who we knew were our target audience.
1.) What period dramas (TV or film) have you watched before and what is your favourite?
Pride and Prejudice
Atonement
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Jane Eyre
These dramas were the most popular choices, and atonement was the most favoured along with pride and prejudice.
From this we chose to watch Atonement to learn more about period dramas and their storylines in particular as well as getting inspiration from the costume and location from Pride and Prejudice and other period dramas we have watched before.
2.) What grabs your attention most about period dramas?
Location
Costume
Storyline
Half the people we asked said the location was most important where as 30% of the people said the storyline was the most important aspect. The remaining 20% answered costume.
On hearing this we found our own location at Knepp Castle which fits beautifully with our genre, from this we knew we should make best use to the location in order to create the best effect from it.
3.) How important is the soundtrack to a period drama? And what sort of music would you expect?
Scale of 1-10
The majority of people answered 6 out of 10 for the importance of the soundtrack, the answers range from 3-7. The type of music mentioned was unanimously classical as it suits the genre best.
The soundtrack is not the most important factor to our audience, however it will add to the emotion and connection between the actors and audience. Therefore we spent time looking for the right soundtrack and it is a classical piece of music.
4.) Do you associate period dramas with a love story?
Yes/No
8 out of 10 people said yes they would expect a love story within a period drama.
We chose to make a love story in our period drama after finding out that this would be expected in a period drama.
5.) Do you think period dramas are aimed at women and why?
The majority of people said yes they were more aimed at women than men, although some men may be intersted in the historical aspect of these dramas. This is because women enjoy having an escape from reality. The type of women who watch period dramas are those interested in literature, history and fashion.
We made sure to understand our audience well before filming in order to make a film that would appeal to them. We carefully chose our costumes which would appeal to those interested in the fashion aspect of the period dramas; the location is historical and the storyline reflects already existing period drama novels and films.
6.) What would you expect to see in a period drama?
People said grand architecture and the surroundings such as the house and gardens seen in atonement.
From knowing this we filmed extra footage of the scenary to make sure we included enough of the well-fitting location.
7.) What sort of atmosphere do you expect? And how do you think this is created?
A mixture of tension and suspense as well as happiness and romance. This is created by the emotions shown from the actors and how the soundtrack adds to this.
We made our storyline have a mix of emotions hidden within it, for example, Rose is pleased to find a note from her lover but there is tension created by this as it is a forbidden love. The voiceovers used add to the connection made between the audience and our protagonist as they are more personal.
1.) What period dramas (TV or film) have you watched before and what is your favourite?
Pride and Prejudice
Atonement
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Jane Eyre
These dramas were the most popular choices, and atonement was the most favoured along with pride and prejudice.
From this we chose to watch Atonement to learn more about period dramas and their storylines in particular as well as getting inspiration from the costume and location from Pride and Prejudice and other period dramas we have watched before.
2.) What grabs your attention most about period dramas?
Location
Costume
Storyline
Half the people we asked said the location was most important where as 30% of the people said the storyline was the most important aspect. The remaining 20% answered costume.
On hearing this we found our own location at Knepp Castle which fits beautifully with our genre, from this we knew we should make best use to the location in order to create the best effect from it.
3.) How important is the soundtrack to a period drama? And what sort of music would you expect?
Scale of 1-10
The majority of people answered 6 out of 10 for the importance of the soundtrack, the answers range from 3-7. The type of music mentioned was unanimously classical as it suits the genre best.
The soundtrack is not the most important factor to our audience, however it will add to the emotion and connection between the actors and audience. Therefore we spent time looking for the right soundtrack and it is a classical piece of music.
4.) Do you associate period dramas with a love story?
Yes/No
8 out of 10 people said yes they would expect a love story within a period drama.
We chose to make a love story in our period drama after finding out that this would be expected in a period drama.
5.) Do you think period dramas are aimed at women and why?
The majority of people said yes they were more aimed at women than men, although some men may be intersted in the historical aspect of these dramas. This is because women enjoy having an escape from reality. The type of women who watch period dramas are those interested in literature, history and fashion.
We made sure to understand our audience well before filming in order to make a film that would appeal to them. We carefully chose our costumes which would appeal to those interested in the fashion aspect of the period dramas; the location is historical and the storyline reflects already existing period drama novels and films.
6.) What would you expect to see in a period drama?
People said grand architecture and the surroundings such as the house and gardens seen in atonement.
From knowing this we filmed extra footage of the scenary to make sure we included enough of the well-fitting location.
7.) What sort of atmosphere do you expect? And how do you think this is created?
A mixture of tension and suspense as well as happiness and romance. This is created by the emotions shown from the actors and how the soundtrack adds to this.
We made our storyline have a mix of emotions hidden within it, for example, Rose is pleased to find a note from her lover but there is tension created by this as it is a forbidden love. The voiceovers used add to the connection made between the audience and our protagonist as they are more personal.
Thursday 4 March 2010
The name of our film!
Today we decided on the name of our film: "Unrequited" we chose this name for our period drama film because it is a synonym; it means
1.not returned or reciprocated: unrequited love. This is relevant to our film because Rose does not reciprocate the love of the Cedric.
2.not avenged or retaliated: an unrequited wrong.
3.not repaid or satisfied. This represents the debt that the family holds which leads to their future problems and is the base of the film.
Our original idea was "The Lake" this is because of our original idea to base the film was water, and we were going to film by a lake. However due to the unsuitability of the location we chose to change our idea slightly, and therefore were unable to keep this title.
However we feel our new title is much more fitting to our film because is has a deeper meaning and is more relevant now to our film. We also think it is an original title.
1.not returned or reciprocated: unrequited love. This is relevant to our film because Rose does not reciprocate the love of the Cedric.
2.not avenged or retaliated: an unrequited wrong.
3.not repaid or satisfied. This represents the debt that the family holds which leads to their future problems and is the base of the film.
Our original idea was "The Lake" this is because of our original idea to base the film was water, and we were going to film by a lake. However due to the unsuitability of the location we chose to change our idea slightly, and therefore were unable to keep this title.
However we feel our new title is much more fitting to our film because is has a deeper meaning and is more relevant now to our film. We also think it is an original title.
Filming.
We went to Knepp Castle to film our piece, we were really pleased with the location apart from the lake where we had planned to film a large amount of footage. Up close the lake didn't create the effect we were looking for, and would not fit with our desired mise-en-scene. Therefore we decided to choose two different locations which we had not planned on using, but took advantage of as we were in such a unique place which was ideal for our genre.
Another set back we had was that there was some maintenance work taking place at the same time we were there, and there was loud machinary being used. This interrupted our filming, to combat this we filmed additional footage of the natural sound when the machinary was not in use. There was also a strong wind throughout the day which interfeered with the sound quality as the mirocphone was on the camera.
We were pleased with our actress and costume, Tessa, our actress fitted in with the location and followed our directions well which added to the realism and effect that we wanted to create.
Another set back we had was that there was some maintenance work taking place at the same time we were there, and there was loud machinary being used. This interrupted our filming, to combat this we filmed additional footage of the natural sound when the machinary was not in use. There was also a strong wind throughout the day which interfeered with the sound quality as the mirocphone was on the camera.
We were pleased with our actress and costume, Tessa, our actress fitted in with the location and followed our directions well which added to the realism and effect that we wanted to create.
Sunday 7 February 2010
Storyboards of Preliminary Task
These are the storyboards we created and used for the filming of our preliminary task, "Have You Fed The Fish?".
Thursday 4 February 2010
Costumes
We have spent time looking at costumes at clothing from 1900's, we particularly liked the costumes used in "The Edge of Love", 2008, starring Kiera Knightley and Sienna Miller. These are the types of clothing that we are looking at using in our film, we have spent time looking in charity shops to find authentic looking fashion.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Location
This is our location, Knepp Castle, we have access to inside the castle and the grounds. It is a typical location of a period drama.The setting of this beautiful castle will create a perfect atmosphere for our film.
Other filming projects taken place at Knepp castle are:
Plot:The storyline
-Family in debt from mothers overspending on lavish goods
-Receive letter from Edward, he is going to receive an admiral position in the navy while he is away at sea.
-Family are happy, they believe that Edward's position would pay off their debt as well as boosting their status and position in society.
-But, Edward dies when his ship is under fire.
-Family are devastated and go into morning, their problems are worsened.
-Meanwhile, Rose and James meet and begin their affair.
-Mother decided that Rose must marry a rich man to get rid of their debt, she decides on the Earl of Canterbury.
-Rose meets Cedric and hates him, she tried to change her mothers mind but fails, the wedding is being planned.
-Rose is still seeing James and they plan to run away together
-Mother gives Rose her wedding dress the night before the wedding, while trying the dress on in her room Rose receives a note from James asking her to leave with him tonight, straight away and not to bring anything.
-Still in her wedding dress Rose climbs out of her window during a thunderstorm and runs to meet James.
-While walking over a small, old bridge, the wood breaks and she falls in to a river with a strong current where she drowns.
-Receive letter from Edward, he is going to receive an admiral position in the navy while he is away at sea.
-Family are happy, they believe that Edward's position would pay off their debt as well as boosting their status and position in society.
-But, Edward dies when his ship is under fire.
-Family are devastated and go into morning, their problems are worsened.
-Meanwhile, Rose and James meet and begin their affair.
-Mother decided that Rose must marry a rich man to get rid of their debt, she decides on the Earl of Canterbury.
-Rose meets Cedric and hates him, she tried to change her mothers mind but fails, the wedding is being planned.
-Rose is still seeing James and they plan to run away together
-Mother gives Rose her wedding dress the night before the wedding, while trying the dress on in her room Rose receives a note from James asking her to leave with him tonight, straight away and not to bring anything.
-Still in her wedding dress Rose climbs out of her window during a thunderstorm and runs to meet James.
-While walking over a small, old bridge, the wood breaks and she falls in to a river with a strong current where she drowns.
Plot: The Characters
Protagonist: Rose Knightingale, 17.
-Free spirited
-Dreams of seeing the world
-Reflects wealth and society
-Romantic, dreams of falling in love
-Good relationship with father, bad relationship with mother.
-Misses her brother
-Dreamer
Mother, Mrs Knightingale.
-Main priority to be respected in society
-Experiences are everything
-Stern, not loving
-Wishes for children to be married to wealthy, respected people
-Wealth is everything
-Overspends on lavish goods
Father, Mr Knightingale
-Sympathetic and empathetic towards Rose and other children
-Not in control of his wife
-Disagrees with mothers spending but does not stop her
-Wants his children to be happy
Isabella Knightingale, 8 (sister)
-Musically talented
-Mothers favourite child
-"lovely"
-Obedient
Edward Knightingale, 23 (brother)
-Away in the navy
-Parents are proud of him
-Not aware of family problems
House staff
-various servants
-butlers
-cooks
-maids
James White, 19. Blacksmith
-Lives in small cottage in local village
-Works for his families business
-Not wealthy
-Made iron gates for Knightingale family, where he met Rose.
-Fell for Rose and made excuses to see her.
-Handsome
-Rose falls in love with him and start a hidden romance
The Earl of Canterbury, Cedric Huntington, 34 years
-Villain
-Owns a large house, and a lot of property
-Abusive, bad temper
-Wants to marry Rose
-Unattractive
-Creepy
-Free spirited
-Dreams of seeing the world
-Reflects wealth and society
-Romantic, dreams of falling in love
-Good relationship with father, bad relationship with mother.
-Misses her brother
-Dreamer
Mother, Mrs Knightingale.
-Main priority to be respected in society
-Experiences are everything
-Stern, not loving
-Wishes for children to be married to wealthy, respected people
-Wealth is everything
-Overspends on lavish goods
Father, Mr Knightingale
-Sympathetic and empathetic towards Rose and other children
-Not in control of his wife
-Disagrees with mothers spending but does not stop her
-Wants his children to be happy
Isabella Knightingale, 8 (sister)
-Musically talented
-Mothers favourite child
-"lovely"
-Obedient
Edward Knightingale, 23 (brother)
-Away in the navy
-Parents are proud of him
-Not aware of family problems
House staff
-various servants
-butlers
-cooks
-maids
James White, 19. Blacksmith
-Lives in small cottage in local village
-Works for his families business
-Not wealthy
-Made iron gates for Knightingale family, where he met Rose.
-Fell for Rose and made excuses to see her.
-Handsome
-Rose falls in love with him and start a hidden romance
The Earl of Canterbury, Cedric Huntington, 34 years
-Villain
-Owns a large house, and a lot of property
-Abusive, bad temper
-Wants to marry Rose
-Unattractive
-Creepy
Initial Ideas
Our first idea was to create a psychological thriller, we researched thriller films and created a presentation on Memento. After watching previous work created by Coombe students and other school as well, we discovered that a lot of thriller films had already been created. This led to our decision to not create a thriller but be original, and try something different and unique. We chose a genre which we were passionate about and which we had not seen on any other blog site; period drama.
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