Filming Diary #1

Today we filmed a small amount of footage for the opening of our trailer at Wisley airfield. The conditions were relatively good, it was sunny and clear, meaning the lighting was sufficient, there was a small amount of wind however it was not a particularly large problem as we were able to simply position ourselves accordingly. We have not entirely decided around the structure of our Trailer, therefore we got a  multitude of different shots to insure that we would have footage whichever direction we chose.  The footage in question was exclusively of Will, the main protagonist, scavenging through a desolate wasteland. We hope to have a few more shots at Wisley when we have more of a structure to our story.

Things that went well:
We got some good scenery shot that will be placed at the start of the trailer.
The main character is introduced in the shots we obtained.
The location was a good as expected
The light level were perfect for filming

The challenges:
The wind levels on the day of filming were high, meaning that some of the audio in some of the shots is not suitable for use in the trailer
Time constraints meant that we did not get all of the shots that we wanted to get and means we will have to return to the same location to finish filming, however this is not a bad thing as we have come up with a few other shots that would be good at that location and will have to go back anyway to film those.

Storyboard

Shot 1: This shot will show an establishing shot of the main character in desolate area where everything has been destroyed (hopefully we will be able to use Wisley airfield for this) The camera will pan around the character and the shot will be a medium shot, the shot will then zoom out into a long shot. There will be no dialogue in this shot however there will be the ambient noise from the scene and some music playing
Shot 2: This shot will be for the title credits which show the producer and director of the film. The music will still be playing and the text will fade in and out.
Shot 3: This shot will show two characters talking before the event that the film is based around takes place. This will help to give the audience a better understanding of the background of the protagonist. The camera will do a shot reverse shot of a close up of the two characters and maybe a few over the shoulder shots mixed in.
Shot 4: This is another credits shot but this time it will show more institutional information rather than credits
Shot 5: These shots will be based after the event has happened. The main character will be looking for food and supplies and will be scavenging through houses and building. This sequence will have varied shot types that will include close up and extreme close up shots of the character as well as some of the props. Once again the music will be playing, but this shot will start a voice over monologue from the main character.
Shot 6: This shot will also show the character scavenging for supplies but this shot will focus on the character rather than the objects they are handling, Once again the music will be playing ad the monologue will continue
Shot 7: This shot will be the first encounter that the main character has with other survivors. The camera will swap between the characters focusing on their faces using shot reverse shot as well as over the shoulder shots. At this shot the monologue will subside and the diagetic sound will be the only audible sound apart from the music that is playing in the background.
Shot 8: This shot will be a plain black screen and the monologue will return for a few seconds, then the the next shot will be shown. The music starts to quieten down in this shot and fades to almost silent.
Shot 9: This will be a sequence of fight scenes that the main character has with other survivors. This sequence will be a series of fast cuts and the music will start again. The shot will mostly consist of close up shots and medium shots to help make the sequence faster.
Shot 10: This shot will be a follow on from the previous and will feature fast moving scenes with the music playing and some dialogue.
Shot 11: This shot will be a scene where the main character is meeting the other groups of survivors and the sequence will include some arguments with the other survivors and disputes between the main character and the other characters.

Planning Targets

Well done with your intitial ideas. You need to add a few relevant pictures where you can and pie charts for your results. You need to interview two of your key actors and explain why they are suitable. You need to design some titles to create a brand identity. You need to evidence an intial storyboard. You need to evidence soundtrack research. Do this for next Friday so some footage can be filmed over half-term.

Title research

We have discussed many different ideas for titles which coincide with the overall theme of our film, we have whittled our decisions into 3 final ideas:

Scorched Earth
This title originally stems from our initial idea to have England nuked rather than struck by chemical weaponry, however as we have drifted away from that idea we have also drifted away from this title. I feel this title is perhaps slightly tacky and does not quite roll off of the tongue.

Aftermath
Somewhat of a piggy back from "Scorched Earth"  this title is perhaps slightly more catchy however is not a particularly interesting title, as aftermath is quite a broad word it does not really peak the audience's interest. However it does give more of an accurate insight into the film's story, as Scorched Earth could be considered a title for a war movie or thriller ect, the word aftermath is generally used to describe the events taking place after a disaster which is more suitable for our film.

Endgame
This is my personal favourite of all our titles, it is catchy and dramatic, therefore peaking the viewers interest and looking good on a poster. It is somewhat similar to "Aftermath" however much more powerful, implying that the events in the film are much more important because they are humanities last actions.

Her Majesty's Wasteland
This title has a very grand, powerful sound to it, it also rolls off the tongue in quite a pleasant sounding way. The title stems from our film's relation to British culture along with the apocalyptic nature of our film. This is my second favourite name for our film my only issues with it are that it puts too much emphasis on the british theme of our film (as that is not the main focal point for our film, just one of our usp's) and that it could possibly be too long (however this is not a massive issue)

Influences

Influence 1: The main influence to our film is 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle, we chose this film because of the simple ruggedness of it. The way the film uses the crude camera angles and the dark, simplistic lighting gives the film a more realistic, British feel to it. We intend to replicate this to a certain extent, some of the shots are slightly shaky and not pleasing to the eye so we don't intend to overdo the "rugged" feeling to the extent that it is confusing and unpleasant. It should also be noted that while our film is a post apocalyptic thriller, we will not be featuring any zombies or anything that is particularly unrealistic.


Influence 2: Another influence to our style of film is Mad Max, this does not have the same type of shots or overall look that we want, however  it does have a similar theme to our film. A post apocalyptic wasteland with roaming gangs of psychopaths and one central highly competent protagonist. We will have certain things different to this film, for example we will have much less on screen violence, as well as a main character which does not display so much of the pseudo masculinity in which Mad Max does.

Questionnaire

How old are you?
under 10
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40 or over

What film Genre do you generally like?
Action
Romance
Comedy
Adventure
Sci -Fi
Fantasy
Horror
Other (please specify)

How often do you generally watch films?
Every day
Every 2-6 days
Every week
Every fortnight
Every Month
Every Year
Never

Have you ever seen a post apocalyptic film?

What is your view on the theme of post apocalypse?
Very good
Good
OK
I don't know
Bad
Very Bad

What catches your eye in the trailer of a film?



is there anything that may be in the trailer of a film that may deter you from watching the actual thing?

Film Brief

The premise for our film is a world war between Russia and the USA, Britain is caught in the middle of it and is struck with  deadly chemical warheads which wipe out a large majority of the population. The story is centred around the protagonist, a normal man thrown into a destroyed world, looking for his brother in the ruins of destroyed society. Many of our possible locations are abandoned buildings and old quarry sites, to give the film a sense of desolation and emptiness. Apart from our main protagonist, we will have many other "filler" characters who play no big part but have some monetary presence and help the film gain a certain atmosphere by going through events in the middle of the film which the protagonist is cannot without ruining the story (such as death or serious injury).

 In the opposite side we will have many faceless antagonists all behind one Central villain. Our main antagonist will be an unstable psychopath which will lead the gang of minor antagonist, he is taking advantage of the destruction to make his criminal faction powerful. He stops at nothing to achieve this goal and is not above killing his own men, all of this aided by the fact that he is certifiably insane. Apart from our main antagonist there will be many other criminals as his henchmen, these minor thugs help supplement the danger in which our main antagonist projects, these henchmen will be ultimately terrified by their leader and will visibly cower away from him, giving the main antagonist more power, this is also accentuated by the fact that all of the other criminals will be wearing cover for their faces, making them less significant and are basically just props for the main antagonist.

The story will centre around the protagonist group searching for supplies/family while trying to combat the dangers presented by the new world.

Certificate Research

Symbol
	Universal- All audiences, nothing unsuitable for children
	Parental Guidance- All ages are acceptable but some scenes may be unsuitable for children
	12A- 12A means anyone under 12 must be accompanied by an adult, may contain brief sexual references and mild violence
	12- No one under 12 can see it, whether accompanied by an adult or not. may have violence and sexual references
	15- Strong violence is acceptable, accompanied with brief nudity, swearing is acceptable past "f*ck", drugs are acceptable as long as they are not promoted
	18- Any amount of swearing, large scenes of nudity, any amount of violence, We intend for our film to be a 15, as our audience is primarily 15-30 year olds, therefore we do not restrict who is able to see our film while at the same time allowing a suitable amount of violence to satisfy older viewers. As an action does not need an excessive amount of violence we are able to keep the age certificate lower while not diminishing the effect of the film. This