07.03.2015 PLANNING: TRELLO UPDATE

07.03.2015 CONSTRUCTION: FLIPAGRAM OF PROGRESS SO FAR

I have made a two short videos (the video with photos lasts for 30 seconds) showing the progress so far of my film opening, The Unhinging, in photos. I have made both of these videos on Flipagram, a free photo editing and photo sharing slide show service; it is exactly like Instagram but you can post photo slideshows with music (also being able to share your 'flipagrams' on Instagram and Facebook by clicking 'share').  It is really useful as it can make your photos 'come alive' with the sound of music, documenting your progress in a fun and unique way. 

I have documented how I have made my Flipagram below by posting my steps as a Flipagram presentation. I have added audio narration to my film, showing the clear purpose of my presentation. 

I have shared my Flipagram on my film openings Instagram feed and shared my video on my Twitter page making my followers aware of what I have made. By sharing this on my film openings Instagram feed, that I update every time we film or complete work on our film opening, I will attract attention/awareness from my film openings followers therefore starting a 'buzz' for the films release starting a trend. I have showed this as a photo slideshow using Photosnack - as shown below. 

06.03.2015 CONSTRUCTION: FILMING OPERATOR AND NEWS REPORTER SCENES

Today we filmed the operator scene. We chose to film in the ICT department at school as it was suited to the purpose of the scene. For example Agatha played a police phone operator who receives a call from India, the main protagonist, needing urgent help. We thought that the ICT department would be suitable as power cables, sockets and computers would be visible in the shot of Agatha, making it recognisable to the audience that it was a call centre or location associated with electronic telecommunication.

We chose to put Agatha in a plain, suit, office attire as she is a professional, operator at work. We also decided that she should wear headset with microphone attachment as she would be needing to pick up urgent, emergency calls quickly having to have immediate and easy access to multitask, for example type information down of the caller such as their name, location, age and emergency. 

I have made a photo collage of our shoot filming the operator scene using PicMonkey, a free online editing and photo collage making service. It is useful as it is quick to use, understand and easy to share using social media websites. I have documented my film opening shoot on my films Instagram page and on my personal Twitter page.

We started filming the news reporter scene after we had successfully filmed the film operator scene. However, due to the location we chose (just outside our schools entrance gates) where it was extremely windy and was a popular, busy entrance point for people visiting and exiting the school we were unable to continue filming. We have now chosen to re-film the scene that we chose to film then, sometime next week (beginning 9th March 2015) when the weather should be better or we could possibly film inside. 

05.03.2015 PLANNING: TRELLO UPDATE

05.03.2015 CONSTRUCTION: FILM POSTER

Today we worked on our film openings promotional poster. We chose a photo that would be suitable; we all agreed that the photo should have space for the films title, our films slogan, the names of the people in the film, the release date and age limit (15 years). For example we needed blank space around the figure of Demi (playing India).  I acknowledged that the eye reads from right to left in a zig-zag motion - as shown in a previous post of mine as well to the left. 

We chose to edit the photo using Photoshop, adding darkness to the background and blurring out the edges of tree branches and leaves. This made Demi (playing India) stand out and highlight that she is the main focus of the film opening - the protagonist. We made Demi skin a little lighter so the colour would highlight her red cut along her cheek bone and bruising around her forehead, cheek bones and jawline/chin. 

We added the title, The Unhinging, above the image of Demi  in bold, crackled font making it appear like wood or bark - linking with the 'unhinging' element of our film (the unhinging of a lock). 

We then added the names of the people starring in the film and the release date, using a smudging tool to create a blurred, out of focus effect connecting with the theme of our film opening of being lost and unaware India's surroundings. 

We added the slogan on the left hand side of the image of Demi, making it appear she is looking towards the text - 'From her fear she gained strength'. We looked at various slogans of Hollywood Blockbusters such as Red Riding Hood and Harry Potter for inspiration. 

04.03.2015 CONSTRUCTION: WEBSITE PHOTO

In order to create an advertising platform for our film opening, The Unhinging, we have to create a website; Agatha is in charge of making this. I have been taking photos throughout our film openings shoots and location recces and uploading them onto social media platforms such as my film openings Instagram and my personal Twitter page using the hashtag '#theunhingingmovie' to create connection and associate my tweet with my film opening. Agatha and I decided that we should use a photo taken from our recent photoshoot for the film poster. We took photos in the forrest as this was the main location of our film opening and India is lost for a large proportion of the opening in the forrest. I suggested creating a reflection/mirrored effect of a photo of Demi (playing India). Agatha did this in photoshop by copying the original photo of Demi, rotating it and blending the two photos (especially around the head and hair line) together so the attachment appeared unnoticeable. 

Agatha continued to add a darkening effect to the image, especially behind Demi's reflections creating an eerie and haunted effect. She also made the image of Demi darker so she almost blended into the background creating a sense of her being lost or unknown - connecting to the theme of our film opening of India having been kidnapped. Making the image darker made Demi's facial features such as her profile stand out creating a haunting and atmospheric feel. This image reminds me of a mugshot of a criminal, unlike the character of India who is a vulnerable, innocent girl. 

We added text above the reflections in bold, eye-catching writing. I felt that the title had to be readable and eye-catching as the poster is dark and mysterious. We looked at other fonts on 1001Fonts.

Agatha and I also looked at other films websites to see what photos/posters they used so we could get inspiration - such as looking at the titles (fonts) and images used. 

We looked at The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Taken 3. We both noticed that the titles of these films were incredibly small compared to the main photo of the protagonist. We realised this was because these actors are incredibly well known and people would realise what the film is because of these actors (Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Neeson) previous films or the fact these films are sequels. 

I have made a PicMonkey of my research. PicMonkey is a free online photo editing and photo collage making service. 

27.02.2015 CONSTRUCTION: EDITING POSTER & WEBSITE PHOTOS

I created this photo collage using Photovisi, an online website that allows you to make photo collages or edit photos and upload them onto social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook. 

Agatha and I started editing photos for the poster and website of our film opening, The Unhinging. We started adjusting the light and darkness of a photo taken of Demi, playing our main character India, as well as adjusting the colour of the trees behind her. For example we added a red layer of colour over the top of the trees creating a red sunset effect behind the branches making it appear there is a threat, danger (or blood) to India's safety. We made her eye brighter as well, making the colour of her eyes an amber colour. We thought this was fitting as we used the Amber Alert messages/true story of the kidnapping of Amber Hagerman as inspiration for our film opening. We also thought that as Demi has a red hair the background and eye colour would match well with the character and appearance of India - the colour red is associated with danger. 

I had the idea to use a profile shot of Demi looking to the left, mirrored to the right. For example, as seen in the top photo on my Photovisi collage, we reflected the image to the right hand side creating a mirroring effect. We were careful to make it symmetrical, adding darker shading around her hair line to blend both profiles together. I thought this looked great and an image we could use, as well as the image we edited prior to this (described above) on our poster as it would create a sense of India being lost, enigma; adding to the mystery of the kidapping. We added the title of our film opening to see how it looked.We now understand that our title needs to be edgy, mysterious and have an effect connected to the 'kidnapping' theme for example using font that appears to look like the bark of a tree or writing that someone has etched using a sharp object. This makes the film appear that it has a criminal theme - kidnapping.