Photo Diary- Day 4.

Filming Day 4

Within day 4 of filming we decided to be productive in using our time. We re-shot scenes from our narrative which did not go as planned. The first scene which we filmed is the living room scene, we decided to change locations as we felt it was easier for everybody to travel to as it was within walking distance. 

Another thing we decided to change with this scene is how we could hear Hannah (Becky) on the phone to Jade (Grace). We felt that adding a voiceover to the conversation would seem more realistic and personal. This enables the demographic to interact with the two characters more, therefore helps us to build a solid relationship. 

We then filmed the scene which we will use at the beginning and at the very end of our film. This includes a High angle shot of Jade (Grace). This shot is used as it makes the character seem vulnerable to the audience, evoking sympathy.

After this we then filmed from multiple angles the scene in which Hannah (Becky) arrives at Jades (Grace's) house. Due to the weather and darkness this increased the amount of risks that were at place therefore we ensured to carry out further risk assessments. Within this scene we used a focus pull on Jade's (Grace's) watch as within our film the watch is one of our main props.

Link to our Risk Assessment.

Finally after we completed all the opening scenes we filmed shots of the two girls getting ready, using makeup and taking shots; something that teenage girls would typically be known to do before going out to a party or on a night out. These shots will be used in a montage to quickly enable to demographic to establish what the two girls are doing.

We felt as a group that this filming day was the most productive as we were able to film the beginning of our film in a day. We all used our time management skills and team working skills to create a positive working environment. 

Photo Diary- Day 3.

Filming- Day 3.

The third day of filming consisted of filming in two locations, Charlottes house (As Grace's bedroom) and Club Purism Barnsley as the nightclub the two girls attend.  First we filmed in Charlotte's house, to film Grace getting ready with her friend Becky before they go out, shots include: Grace on the phone to her friend, Grace putting lipstick/mascara on in the mirror, Becky taking shots etc. The girls get ready together and we filmed multiple shots however need to go back and film more to get better shots. The girls both wore typical 'going out' outfits, e.g. black jeans and an 'off shoulder top'.

After a few hours of filming in Charlotte's house we set off to Club Purism, there was a social being held there for students making it easy to get permission to film, and making sure that the club woudn't be too similar to the nightlife mayhem on a saturday night making it convenient for us. We began filming at Club Purism inside and out to film the girls entering the club to get different shots. The club is in the middle of our town centre making it easy and convenient to film.

Inside the club is low key lighting however with artificial lighting using things such as strobe lights. This might've made filming difficult due to the quality of the shots, however the bright lights made it possible due to the circumstances. We filmed Grace and Becky dancing on the dance floor however we still neeed to film some of the main scenes that are significant in the film such as Grace getting her drink spiked by the bar man.

We had access to the DJ's area, giving us the opportunity to get the type of shots that others might possibly struggle to get. For example we got the DJ's perspective, as well as the girls, making this a unique factor of the film. This access also made it easier to film as we weren't filming too much on the dance floor which was proven to be slightly difficult.

The next time we film, we aim to film the majority if not all of the home shots, leaving the other parts of the film until last, for example the car scenes and some of the club scenes, however this time they will be filmed in a bar called Funky Buddha, as the settings are very similar making it easy to merge the two together, it is also easier to access and film in that the club previously used.

Photo Diary- Day 2.

Filming day 2.

As well as being able to film part of our short film, we were all given the opportunity to decorate the nightclub, ready for Christmas. Doing this showed aspects of creativity and teamwork, as well as time management skills due to completing it within 2 hours (including the filming). The cinematic sequence that we are using within our film will be included alongside the starting titles, to use as our opening sequence. From this we had to get a variety of different shots, including close ups, establishing shots etc of the nightclub itself.

The nightclub was dark however after putting the lights on we were able to analyse what angles we will use within our final product. This meant that as a group we had to determin where we should place the camera in order to get the desired effect we wanted. Below are some examples: 

Within the shot below, the lighting rig is shown on the trusting bars. This shot did not get the desired effect that we wished to have as it appeared to have low key lighting. We believed that this was because the strobe lights and moving heads were not being operated at the time.

Because we were filming a cinematic sequence, our tripod did not need to be in use (shown below). This gave us the desired effect we wished as we had the ability to use a handheld camera, including specific movements of our choice.

After a long period of time, we had completed decorating. We hung decoratios from the ceiling while others hung tinsel etc. This allowed us to work as a team and displacy aspects of creativity and time management skills. Below is a photo: 

Photo Diary- Day 1.

Filming - Day 1.

The very first day of filming consisted of the group putting our ideas together, filming one of the first scenes of the short film and creating character profiles in video form. The scene that we filmed is one of the first things that the audience sees, Grace answers her phone and has a conversation with her friend on the phone. We tried different angles to mix it up so we have different options when it comes to editing.The following setting is an ordinary living room area, this allows the audience to relate to our character Grace as the majority of our target audience watches Television in their living room on a regular basis. This is the setting of the scene we filmed (living room):

This following image is an image displaying what the shot will be like when it shows Grace's phone ringing from across the room. We closed the living room curtains to give the shot low key lighting to focus the shot on the object (iPhone) more. Later in the day we decided to change our filming location due to time efficiency, however the location will only change in the different scenes of the film so our first day of filming wasn't wasted.

After filming our first scene successfully and deciding the next location that we would film, we decided to use our time wisely and do some practice shots of the scenes to follow. For example the shot below is an over the shoulder shot which will show our character, Becky getting ready (Specifically applying lipstick). This will allow us to save time when we decide to film the scene of the girls getting ready as then when the time comes we will know exactly what shots to include and how to do them.

After filming our first scene and completing practice shots, we decided to film Character profiles via video. We filmed these in a conservatory giving us high key lighting that was very suitable for the videos. In these Character profiles we included who we were and the characters that we were playing, we also mentioned what key events will happen in our short film and what messages our film gives out. For example we mentioned in each video  that our film was to raise awareness of safe drinking. 

Below is an example of what our Character profiles look like:

Next time we film: We plan on getting the very first and last scene done, where grace is laying in a boys bed with no emotion in her face. The shot will be an aerial shot and includes a zoom motion, due to us having a limitation of props this may take us some time and may use the whole filming day to complete. 

Club Scene Example

By Charlotte and I editing this club scene example it allowed for us to see what it would look like in our film without having to wait until it was all put together and also gave us an oppertunity to improve upon what we have already done when it comes to editing the final film. We also created a survey (https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F3V79TX) and asked people what they thought about it online. The results of this would allow us to see what people liked and what people didn't, in order to create the best film we can, ultimately making the film more enjoyable for the audience. We shared this survey onto our facebook page which got us more exposure, meaning we should have a larger audience when the film is ready to be released.

Research on Film Influences

Film Influences

When writing a synopsis for our short film 'Saving Grace', we had to think of a suitable storyline that would catch the attention of our audience, we decided to do this by making the film revolve around a real issue topic which affects mainly our target audience. Our film is about two teenage girls (typically our target audience, however not gender specific) and their night out around their local town, however things take a turn for the worse and the girls night doesn't go how they had planned. The film involves the subject of Safe drinking and the problems that can occur when drinking or more specifically on a night out, as our main character Grace is spiked and taken away from the nightclub by an unknown character, this is a technique of shock that we use in our film to grab our audiences attention. This is a subject that we believe should be spoken about more and awareness should be raised. 

In the UK, the number of girls that claim to have been spiked or know somebody that has is on the rise, this is due to the easy access of drugs and carelessness when drinking. Little action has been conducted to change this fact however we believe that a short film about this issue would have a greater effect on people and raise awareness. 

A real example of this issue is a 19 year old British student called Jane Khalaf's experience after a night out as she collapsed and suddenly died at Cologne's St. Marien's hospital after telling her friends she thought her drink had been spiked, doctors found traces of amphetamine and ecstasy in her blood. 

An online article written by Rebecca Holman stated that 'The problem is that there are too many grey areas around drink spiking and too much uncertainty'. After the death of the spiking victim Jane, a petition with over 52,000 signatures tried to force the authorities to investigate the case further. We believe that if we create a film that includes the similar scenes that our target audience experience and the unfortunate events that can occur whilst being on a night out, and we include footage that leads the audience to imagine what happens after the main character is taken away by a strange male, we could possibly change the publics view and make people more aware of safe drinking and hopefully change the statistics. 

We will do this by including nightclub scenes and similar scenes which teens experience on a night out and making the audience relate to the characters by showing scenes of the girls getting ready, this will grab the attention of the audience and then the audience will witness our main character being spiked however she doesn't know. The short film will then show the main character Grace getting taken out of the nightclub by a hooded stranger and put into his car as Grace isn't consciously aware of what is happening, we then leave the audience to use their imaginations of what could potentially happen once Grace is taken away. Hopefully this will have an effect on our audience. 

Film Influences.

With living in Barnsley and the surrounding areas. Elliott and I are up to date with the news stories and incidents that occur. Due to seeing the following incidents within local nightclubs, we felt we needed to raise awareness to our demographic of the dangers that can take place. 

Below, the incident describes how easy it is for underage people to drink alcohol. This is a ongoing problem throughout places within the UK and even the world. Due to this, including an incident in our film where consequences are shown from underage drinking was the perfect opportunity to raise awareness. We felt that we could class this as a moral panic. Moral Panics are when the media creates a scapegoat for problems in society, this then creates fear or panic for the demographic through certain events. 

We felt that the teenage demographic would change their outlook on underage drinking after watching our short film as they are able to view the consequences of actions which are similar.  This could help decrease the amount of underage drinking within the UK. After researching into the facts and figures of underage drinking, we were absolutely gobsmacked and this further ensured that this message needed to be included within our film. 

• More than 40% of children who start drinking before the age of 13 will go on to abuse alcohol or to become alcoholics at some point in their lives.

• Data released by the NHS reveals that 33 children are admitted to hospital each day in England, with drink related problems. The NHS figures also reveal that 7034 kids under 18 years old received treatment for problems related to drinking alcohol in the first six months of 2011.

• 1000 young people under the age of 15 are admitted to hospital each year with acute alcohol poisoning. All need emergency treatment and some die.

• Alcohol is now causing more DEATHS than heroin, speed, cocaine, ecstacy and cannabis combined.

• An individual who begins drinking as a young teen is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than someone who waits until adulthood to use alcohol.

• Almost one in ten boys and around one in eight girls aged 15 to 16 have unsafe sex after drinking alcohol.

• The British Medical Association states that alcohol is the factor in 75% of stabbings,  70% of beatings and 60-70% of murders.

Another reason why we decided to involve the assumption of a sexual offence made on the protagonist is the vast number of rapes reported each year across England and Wales. Due to the age ranging from very young we felt it was necessary to raise awareness on this subject. Below is a news article of a 39 year old Barnsley civilian who worked as a Bouncer/ Security man for a nightclub in Barnsley. It was said that he forced her to perform a sex act on him whilst she the woman was highly intoxicated on alcohol and even possibly cocaine. From reading this, we both understood how easy it is to be in a dangerous situation and due to the increase of young teenagers' alcohol consumption the matter needed to be brought to attention. Because we were able to bring attention to this matter through our short film, we were able to include real life situations through the scenes in the nightclubs and also through our characters emotions on camera. Because of the realism of our film, audiences will be able to make a connection to the characters and at the end of the film when they understand what has taken place, they are able to feel fear and sympathy. 

• • Rape Crisis member Centres across England and Wales responded to 171,000 helpline calls in the 12 months to 31st March 2016, an average over 3,000 a week
  
  
  • 58,000 individuals received an on-going Rape Crisis service(s), an increase of 16% since 2014-15
  
  
  • Rape Crisis members provided in excess of 350,000 sessions of specialist support, including advocacy, emotional support and counselling, an increase of 17% since 2014-15
  
  
  • 95 per cent of all service users were female
  
  
  • Three-quarters of all adult service users contacted Rape Crisis about sexual violence that occurred at least 12 months earlier; 42% were adult survivors of child sexual abuse
  
  
  • The largest group that contact Rape Crisis Centres continues to be those who prefer to self-refer (44%), a pattern which has remained consistent over the past five years and continues to demonstrate the necessity for funded independent services
  
  
  • Where age is known, 1,700 were aged 15 or under, an increase of 13% on last year; those aged under 25 represented 33% of service users, an increase of 8%
  
  
  • Where ethnicity is known, 27% of Rape Crisis services users were Black or Minority Ethnic, an increase from 23% in 2014-15
  
  
  • 23% of all service users identified as Disabled
  
  
  • The increase in demand for Rape Crisis specialist services has led to an 11% increase in waiting lists of new service users. At the end of March 2016 there were over 4,000 service users waiting for a service
  
  
  • There was a 53% increase in service users accessing text and email support services on the previous year
  
  
  • Approximately 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped in England and Wales alone every year; that's roughly 11 rapes (of adults alone) every hour. These figures include assaults by penetration and attempts. 
  
  
  • Nearly half a million adults are sexually assaulted in England and Wales each year
  
  
  • 1 in 5 women aged 16 - 59 has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 16
  
  
  • Only around 15% of those who experience sexual violence choose to report to the police
  
  
  • Approximately 90% of those who are raped know the perpetrator prior to the offence.

Shot List.

Shot List.

The following images show the shot list of our short film, Saving Grace. It includes the shots, angles, movements, locations, actions, actors and equipment required. This shot list will help us when filming and make it easier for us to remember exactly what is needed. The locations are colour coordinated, for example the Boy's Bedroom is highlighted in light blue. Later on in the film there is another shot in the same location, we will film both of these scenes on the same day so it is time efficient.  

Shot List (Bullet Points).

Shot List

• (Opening sequence) Extreme High Angle Shot- Grace laying in a strangers bed, Grace has no emotion in her face as she is laying there still.
• Zoom- slowly onto her face and then 
• Cuts to black with sound effect, as the title sequence begins.
• Fades from black.
• Medium establishing shot- Grace's living room. 
• Close up shot- Grace's phone ringing (her friend calling).
• Medium close up shot- Grace answering her phone & having a conversation.
• Establishing shot- Camera lower to the floor showing the sunset. 
• Time lapse- Sun setting to show it's cutting to night time.
• Medium close up- girls getting ready.
• Close up cuts- application of lipstick & putting on heels etc.
• Close up- girls shoes walking in/out of taxi. 
• Long shot- girls getting out of the taxi, shows girls talking to boys (3 boys- one with baseball cap, one with white shirt and one with necklace)
• Close up- one specific boy (with the white shirt)
• Pan- down to the boys shoes (black & white trainers).
• Tracking shot- boys and girls shoes walking into the bar.
• Establishing shot- different shots of the bar showing the different lighting.
• Medium close up- grace talking to the boy from outside (with the white shirt)
• Reaction shot- other boy with baseball cap frowning (jealous of the boy with white shirt).
• POV shot- from Grace making it clear who she's with and what shes doing. 
• Close up- boys same shoes from earlier.
• Tracking shot- boys shoes walking towards Grace's.
• Close up- both Grace's and the boys shoes, Grace's facing away from the boy (boy is behind grace) 
• Pan- upwards to reveal grace holding her drink.
• Close up- Grace's drink in her hand, shows the boy putting a pill in her drink, showing a specific watch.
• Tracking shot- Grace walking away.
• Extreme close up shot- Grace drinking her drink.
• Pans away- from Grace, de-focuses. 
• Reverse POV- medium close up of Grace walking around the bar (whilst music playing)
• Close up- Grace's shoes, stumbling out of the bar (alone) close up continues and shows the boy's shoes walk next to Grace's once again.
• Low angle shot- camera on the floor filming the two walking down the street towards a car. Shot stays the same as they both get further away, grace stumbling.
• Close up- boy getting keys out of his pocket.
• Medium shot- boy (doesn't show face) putting Grace in the back seat of the car.
• Fades to black.
• Fades from black
• Close up shot- boy's left hand on the wheel, the specific watch from earlier.
• Pan- right to show the boys right hand out of the window with a cigarette, continues to pan and shows white shirt and shows the boys face, reveals it's the boy from outisde the bar, her 'friend'. (audience would expect it to be the boy with the baseball cap as he was jealous)
• Pan- continues to pan to show Grace opening and closing her eye.
• Extreme close up- Grace's eye again but with different lighting.
• Zoom- outwards to show Grace laying in the boys bed with no expression on her face at all (same shot as the film begins with)

Risk Assessment