TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE USED

Throughout the production of our media product we used different kinds of technology to film and edit our opening sequence. We used various cameras for the filming as they would give us different quality pictures. And for the editing we used the iMac.

The camera we used for filming was the Samsung OIS Duo, this was the camera given to us by the school and was used for the entire process of filming. After testing this out when taking pictures we all found that it was incredibly high quality and had great picture. We felt that this would be necessary to use for filming as it would be able to capture the pictures on the wall in an extremely high quality. As we also used a lot of close ups we felt that this camera was the best as it would be able to capture the tears from the main character and exaggerate the emotion felt in the opening sequence. We also used this camera to take some pictures that were put up on the wall, as we found that the camera on this camcorder was extremely high quality, so we thought we’d take a few pictures with it to show variation in the cameras used when the two characters spent their time together. We didn’t have any problems with this camera and would definitely use it again for further media projects.

We also used a Coolpix L120 by Nikon, which was Becka’s own camera. As this is also a high quality camera, we decided that we would also use this to take pictures that would go up on the wall of Becka’s bedroom. As this is a normal camera that is designed to only take primarily photographs, we thought it would be most appropriate as we wanted to make it look as authentic as possible and use a normal camera. We also used this camera to take the video of the flashback as the camcorder was unavailable during the time they were taking more photos. Because it was dark the camera didn’t produce the high quality picture that is seen in the other pictures taken during the day. I believe that this contributed towards the authenticity of the flashback as it looks quite blurred and looks like it just a memory. The only problems we had with this camera had been during taking pictures. As the lighting in some of the locations was different to others, this meant that some photos didn’t look as good as others because the camera couldn’t work properly in all ranges of light.

We also used my Fujifilm Finepix JX camera to take a couple of the pictures. As this camera is lower quality compared to Becka’s camera we thought that we would use my camera to show different quality pictures. We only used my camera to take pictures and not any videos because my camera does not produce high quality video footage and we wanted to create high quality picture with our videoed footage. When taking pictures, we didn’t have any problems with this camera.

For editing we used apple products to edit our footage together. The main piece of technology we used for our editing process was the iMacs in the editing suite at school. At first we found the iMacs difficult to use but we then got used to it and found it quite easy to use in the end. The only problems we had with these was we found it difficult to do certain things that are easily used on PCs. For example, we found it difficult to find a way to print screen what we were doing to put onto our blogs, but we eventually found out how to do this and took a couple of screen captures. We also used a portable iMac to record the voiceovers. We originally used mine and Catherine’s iPhone’s but we later found that the recordings on the phones were not suitable so recorded our voiceover on Michael’s iMac this gave us a better quality sound and overall, a better voiceover.

When filming we used a tripod to keep the camera steady and prevent any shaking that would have occurred with handheld. The tripod came in handy when filming the still shots at the beginning, as we had to keep the camera as still as possible and the tripod allowed us to do this. We used the tripod for all aspects of the filming apart from when panning over the pictures as we found it difficult to pan across the photographs using the handle, as it made the footage look quite shaky. The tripod had many useful features, such as the extendable legs, the handles which allowed us to tilt the camera in any way we wanted and another feature which told us whether the camera was balanced or not.

The software we used during editing was mainly Final Cut Pro. With this software we were able to add non-diagetic sounds and piece together our footage so that it would run as smoothly as possible. We found the software difficult to use at first, because we had never used this software before and we were unaware of how to use various aspects of the software, as we had only ever used Sony Vegas to edit footage together before the iMacs replaced the PCs. We also used Garage Band to record our voiceovers. We didn’t find this software difficult to use at all, as all we needed to do was to press record, do our voice over, stop recording then import the voiceover into our opening sequence. This was incredibly easy to use and it produced a very high quality sound.

CHOOSING OUR TITLE

Our main priority before finishing editing was to insert a film title. In order to do this we had to come up with a name for a film first. We started to gather ideas from our target audience, this was students of our own age. We asked them to watch our opening sequence so far and asked them what they thought the title should be. Our first suggestion was “Ashley” as it linked in with the letter that is read out in the opening sequence, however, after some thought we believed that it was too short and blunt to be our title. “In Memory” was also a suggestion but we also felt that this sounded too much like something you would see on a gravestone which isn’t particularly what we had in mind. However, it does tie in more with the theme of loss in our opening sequence so it wasn’t entirely inappropriate. After thinking about some of the suggestions that were given to us we thought that the letter was the most significant part of our opening sequence, so we tried to look through the letter that was written for the opening sequence and tried to pick out phrases that would sound good as a film title. Looking through the letter we couldn’t find any phrases that would be appropriate as a film title apart from the end when it reads “with all my love.” We felt that this phrase would serve as a good title as it emphasises the friendship between the two characters and emphasises a sense of loss and exaggerates the feelings and emotions experienced in the opening sequence. We all agreed on this title and edited it into the opening sequence and were all happy with the way it looked.

After this we asked a couple of the students in the editing suite at the time what they thought to the title and all who watched agreed that the title went well with the opening sequence and added to the sense of emotions in the opening sequence.

TYPOGRAPHY

When choosing our font for our opening sequence we initially wanted to choose a font that was fairly hand written as this would tie in with the idea of the letter in our narrative. After looking at all of the fonts we found that hardly any of them looked as though they were handwritten. The fonts that we found that looked handwritten were “Noteworthy” and “Signpainter” however we thought that these fonts looked too causal as it doesn’t really go along with the emotions and feelings that are felt in the opening sequence. As there weren’t any other fonts that were suitable and looked handwritten we had to rethink our strategy. We thought we’d go for a fancy looking font. After looking we picked another two fonts; “Gabriola” and “Sinhala” (the bottom text) me and Becka both preferred Sinhala as it was quite small and simple and gets the message across very easily. We also thought it would be easy to read for our audience as it is a simple serif font but still looks quite professional. We will make this text white as we thought that black made it look too blunt, we decided on white as it is a simple colour and looks graceful and delicate, which will reflect the way we have created the opening sequence and how we have tried to convey our narrative.

THE FINISHED WALL

Here is a picture of the finished wall that we filmed for our opening sequence. We found it quite difficult to put all of these photos together as it was quite time consuming and difficult to edit. With the photographs where Catherine is ill we felt that it would be the easiest option to Photoshop these pictures, but this proved difficult, which is explained in the post below. However, we felt that our final decision to take the pictures of Catherine with her headscarf on was more realistic of a teenage girl. Doing this also made it easier for our group as we don’t have to worry about Photoshopping photos which will be time consuming and might not turn out the way we had wanted.

EMAILING 14TH FLOOR RECORDS

As we want to use ‘Skinny Love’ by Birdy as our soundtrack we felt that we should email the record company so that we could have permission to use it as we didn’t want to get into trouble with any form of plagiarism. We had to first research the record label that Birdy belonged to and found out that it was ‘14^th Floor Records’ who has signed bands such as, Biffy Clyro and The Wombats. The picture below shows what we emailed the company:

CHANGING COSTUME

During our first day of filming we thought that the costume that we originally wanted Becka to wear during filming was too formal for her to wear in her own house. We originally wanted her to wear a black dress and tights but when we got prepared for filming we felt that it was too formal for her to wear casually. We thought about other possibilties for costume that would still make her look fashionable and feminine.

We decided on this costume as it looks fashionable as jeans are very popular with young people in general and the plain white t-shirt is still casual. The way the shirt and jeans are styled are also quite feminine as they’re quite tight fitting as opposed to a loose fitting t-shirt which is most associated with males which is quite masculine. The way that Becka wears this costume still allows her to look feminine and fashionable as well as casual.

WRITING THE SCRIPT FOR THE VOICE OVER

In our opening sequence we are going to write a letter that Catherine will read as a voiceover which we will play over our footage in our opening sequence. The letter will a final goodbye from Catherine’s character to Becka’s. We decided that Abbi will write the letter as she takes English Language at A Level and recently wrote a monologue for her coursework which had a similar theme. So we felt that Abbi would be able to gain inspiration from this and write an effective letter. We decided to type it up on the computer first and then write it by hand on paper, this will allow us to edit the letter quickly and get a final draft ready as soon as we can. We will need to make sure that the writing looks realistic and looks as though it is a tomboys writing, in order to do this we will need to make sure that our writing looks quite boyish. We decided that we wanted the handwriting to be quite scruffy and shaky as she is growing weaker so we wanted the writing to look fairly sketchy and shaky, however, we need to make sure that the writing is still readable.

We are deciding whether or not we want to have one of Becka’s friends write out the letter as his writing is scruffy enough to look like a tomboy’s but is still readable. But we also thought that I could write it as I can alter my handwriting to make it look as though it were the handwriting of a tomboy, this might save us time and make it easier and more accessible to the group as we are all available at the same time. We will discuss this further with the group and decide soon.

LOCATIONS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

The group used many different locations for the photography in our opening sequence. These pictures show the different locations that we used when creating our media. We decided on these locations as we felt that these would reflect on the actor’s relationship and show that they have been to many different areas and spent a lot of time together. We tried to use a wide range of areas that were inside as well as outside. We also used locations at night to try and make their relationship seem as though it had spanned over a long period of time.

Some of the locations we used were:
– a kitchen
– the park near Catherine’s house
– streets
– gardens
– the school field

CREATING MORE PHOTOGRAPHY

After reviewing the photographs that we already had for out opening sequence, we felt that more should be taken to ensure that the audience see that the two friends have been to many different places throughout their lives. As Becka, Abbi and Catherine all live fairly close to each other we decided that it would be best for them to take more pictures for our piece. As I was unavailable to be with them to take photographs I was not present during this time. Over the 13^th and 14^th March Becka, Abbi and Catherine took many pictures that will go towards our opening sequence. They filmed at many different areas such as, kitchens, bedrooms, parks, streets and driveways. These pictures also show that the pair have done a lot of things together as they are wearing different clothes in them and have different hairstyles, this will make the opening sequence look more like the two friends have done a lot together over a long period of time. The group also tried to work with lighting in order to make it look authentic; the group took many different pictures during the day and when it became darker, they also tried to make the scenes look more realistic with lighting too, for example, when taking pictures of the two getting ready for a party, it is dark outside, this is authentic as parties are most likely to happen at night so the group waited until it was dark to take these pictures which made the pictures more yellowy which is how the pictures turn out in this kind of situation. Taking the pictures in the dark gave pictures a nice effect because, again, it makes it look as though the friends have done a lot together and are doing things normal teens would do. Taking pictures in the dark also gave us a change in location and setting as well as giving us a wider range of photos in which to choose from for our final piece. After these photos were taken Becka and Abbi showed me the pictures that had been taken and we went through them together and decided which photos we wanted to stick up on Becka’s wall.

Whilst taking these pictures the two encountered a few possible problems. With taking pictures around roads, there is an obvious risk with being around cars. Despite the fact that the road they were on wasn’t a particularly busy road, they knew that there would be some cars. Also, taking pictures during the dark hours of the day increases this risk as drivers may not be able to see the group. In order to prevent any form of accident from occurring the group took precautions and wore hi-vis jackets to make sure that they were seen by oncoming cars in the dark and the risk would a lot less.

As the group were also taking pictures in ditches along roads the group had to be careful when going down into them. They had to make sure they were careful and behaved in an appropriate way in order to prevent anyone from falling which could result in sprains and broken bones. There were also many stinging nettles in these ditches, so they had to be careful not to catch themselves on them. Unfortunately Abbi did sting herself when getting down into the ditches; they had to then make sure that they were careful to avoid these nettles.

COSTUME

Before filming our opening sequence we will have to plan every aspect of the filming to ensure that it will run as smoothly as possible and so that we avoid as many problems as possible. We will have to plan what the actors will wear when they are filmed. During a discussion, we drew out a quick mind map of what we wanted our characters to wear and look like. We made one mind map for what we wanted the stereotypical girl to wear and one for what we wanted the tomboy to wear:

As you can see from these mindmaps we have carefully considered possibile costumes for our characters and tried to come up with different ways in which they could be as realitic as possible. From this research we have come up with the main costumes for our characters in our opening sequence.

We have decided that we wanted Becka to wear something that was more fashionable than feminine, this was because we felt that this would represent a stereotypical teenager better as femininity isn’t nessessarily fashionable. As the actor is already fashionable we felt that this would be easier as well. Being a fashionable teenager can range from skinny jeans to rolled up trousers, to patterend skirts and dresses. When we begin to film the main part of our opening sequence we decided that the stereotypical teenager will wear a black dress, because this is fashionable and will look a lot more casual and less try-hard than other items of clothing. The picture shows that the dress itself is quite short, which is also stereotypical of teenagers to wear. The fact that it is black will also reflect upon the situation that she is in as the colour black is often associated with funerals which is also linked to the death of her best friend. We wanted the dress to be black as this will not distract the audience from the situation that she is in, this will overall make the opening sequence a little more sombre. The character will also be wearing black tights which will also reflect the sombre atmosphere. Overall the character will still look fashionable despite the fact that her best firend has passed away.

With Catherine’s costume we felt that we wanted to portray her as a stereotypical tomboy, in order to do this we looked at different ways tomboys look, the most popular outfit we found were hoodies, tracksuits and plain t-shirts. We then asked Catherine whether she had any items of clothing that related to this. As Catherine used to be a tomboy herself we felt that she could also come up with other ideas as she would know what to wear and how to present herself. Catherine showed us a picture of her costume and we felt that this would contribute greatly towards the way she is represented in our opening sequence. In the pictures we have also used this similar style of clothing to make sure the audience will see that she has always been a tomboy.We also felt that we would tie Catherine’s hair back as this would also make her look more tomboyish, and make it look as though she doesn’t really care about her appearance. The same will be with her makeup, we decided that we would make it look as though she doesn’t wear much makeup which would reflect the stereotype that tomboys do not really wear much makeup. We might make her wear a little mascara to make sure that she is slightly feminine, but we will keep the makeup hardly noticable.