Final Video

High Life - Media Studies Preliminary Coursework

Script Draft

My name is Scott Madison, I'm just your average geeky schoolboy who doesn't have many friends. It's not like I didn't try to fit in.. I did but, it just didn't work out very well.  (all this during shots of school)

In school, people saw me as a quiet guy, who probably spends most of his weekends helping tidy the house with his mum or trying to make new friends on xbox. and the thing is.. they were right! They WERE right, not anymore. In the eyes of fellow classmates I was still that geeky kid who had no life outside of school. but what they didn't know was that I had been pushing myself to my very limits, persevering and working so hard, so so hard to be the best I could be. I wasn't working hard to be the best I could be in school, this was something much bigger.

Theres's so much trouble and crime in society today and far too often we do not see these criminals be brought to justice. For example, in the UK alone there have been no charges for over 10,000 violent crimes! 10,000! Is this what our society has come to? people constantly living in fear? Someone needs to stand up to the injustice in society, the people need to feel safe, the people need protection, the people need... a hero.

To get to where I am now was not an easy task, picking the right costume, the right equipment, and the time to train.. but I have to admit.. I am pretty awesome!

Endless days and nights with barely any sleep studying all the superheroes and the way a superhero was perceived to look by the public, that was the level I had to get to. I may not have looked like bruce wayne or move like peter parker, but I am inspired by them to help society and to stop crime! Sure Kick-ass didn't look like much of a superhero but he still made a difference.

At the time all of this seemed impossible, my life has changed in so many ways, and there is no going back to the way things used to be. I was Scott Madison.. I was a nobody.. but now, although nobody is aware of it, I am a somebody, I am the red hawk! and this is my story..

Fourth Filming Date

Fourth Filming Date

Date: Wednesday 1st May

Time: 12:30pm

Location: Rathmore Grammar School 

During this filming date, we are going to be recording the non-diegetic voiceover which will dominate over the video project. We will be using an iPhone 4S for the voice recording and Gavin will be doing the voice over. We will be using an interview room in the school do to the quiet nature.

Third Filming Date

Third Filming Date

Date: Tuesday 30th April

Time: 3:30pm 

Location: Rathmore Grammar School / Castle Gardens Lisburn

During this filming date, we shall film our green screen attempts as well as the wide shots used in the scene at Castle Gardens. We shall also film the protagonist entering the shop to buy the costume, and then leaving with a bag in his hand. This will be the final scene we need to film for the movie. All the equipment required is in Rathmore Grammar School.

Posted By - Eoin Lavery

Updates - Recording

After starting our recordings the first week into march, we decided that we would have to reshoot everything we did, which wasn't very much on the first day. We started recording using a camera we had borrowed from school but after much discussion within the group we decided we would used the camera off an iPhone of one of the members in our group, as the iPhone has better quality and is much handier for using in regard to having to borrow a camera and share it with another group. We started recording then on the week starting the 18th of March. Firstly we recorded the parts that we could get done in school during our media studies classes, although some of them may need to be rerecorded. On the 28th of March our group went into town to buy our costume and props, that are a massive part of our movie. The main character of our movie Gavin Fitzpatrick also came with us to make sure the costume we were getting was his size and would fit him. The following wednesday (3rd of April) our group again got together and went to film in our location of Crumlin, where one of the members of our group Matt lives. We started recording at 2 o'clock, and we filmed numerous parts of the movie throughout the day. We had a big problem to overcome during our film when Matt fell and badly injured his leg, as he had to leave to go to the hospital with 2 hours to spare. The other members of our group and our actor Gavin had to improvise, and did so well to film more shots of the movie before finishing for the day. We had planned to record again the next day but were prevented to do so because of Matt's injury. Our plan has always been to record all of our shooting first, then simply add in a voiceover over the top after.

Green Screen Attempt Update

Media Green Screen attempt

An idea was developed in the group as you know about using a green screen in order to have a main title sequence with credits in the background of the shot.

Because the nature of this shot can be tricky and may not work out because of the limited time we have to complete this project, we are going to have to options for the video.

One video will be created without the green screen title/credit sequence in the video. The other will include the sequence. This precaution is to ensure that we will have a working project by the deadline and it will allow us to advance our skills to using keying in post-production editing.

Posted by - Eoin Lavery

Second Filming Date

Second Filming Date

Date: Saturday 23rd March

Time 1:00pm

Location: Crumlin, Main Street

The objective of this set filming date is to re-film some of the clips we had previously attempted which had small errors such as continuity or low-light or other problems developed in the post-production editing process. We will also film some newer indoor scenes at the house set that have evolved from our previous ideas. The same equipment as before will be required.

Hope to see you there!

Posted by - Eoin Lavery

FIlming Date

First Filming Date

Date: Saturday 16th March 2013

Location: Crumlin, Main Street

Time: 1:00pm

We will meet in Crumlin, Main Street in order to film the scene of our character at home. The weather is set to be bright and sunny, so filming should be easy to complete and should be done to a high standard. I will bring the filming equipment, along with the MacBook pro, data transfer cable and external hard drive for backups. Matthew will have the costume parts at his house.

If someone could contact Gavin to let him know the planned times for filming that would be very helpful and would allow us to ensure he is definitely free and available.

Let's hope this goes well!

Posted By - Eoin Lavery

anamatics

StoryBoard Final

The final storyboard draft:

1. Warner Bros. title sequence as they are the distribution company that we chose.

2. "A TMMT PRODUCTIONS FILM" Title Sequence

3. "TMMT PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS" FIlm

4. Character Scott lying down on his bed, looking past the camera, resting arms behind his head. Voiceover begins over the top of the video.

5. Fade transition to scene of Scott walking up school corridor. He is approached by three bullies. The leftmost bully throws him into the bin nearby. They walk off scene, shouting abuse at Scott as they go.  Scott fixes the bin then continues down the corridor.

6.Fade transition back to the scene of the Scott lying on his bed, before a jump cut showing Scott sitting up, then getting off his bed, voiceover is still ongoing.

7.Fade transition again, to an over the shoulder shot of Scott being laughed at by fellow classmates.

8.Jump cut to Scott using a treadmill, "Starring Gavin Fitzpatrick" title appears on the wall behind him. Jump cut again to a face on view of Scott lying down, preparing to bench weights, the mass amount of weights are seen either side of the bar.

9.Jump cut showing Gavin from a different angle, his face and the screaming shows him struggling. The sound title "Sound By Matt Mc Randal appears behind him, in perspective along the bars of the equipment.

10. Fade transition shows a pan shot, following Scott as he walks into a shop, a Push Slide transition changes to show Scott leaving the shop, now with a bag in hand.

11. Fade again to the scene of scott in the school corridor. Effects are used to emphasise how this moment is in the past and how rough it was for Scott.

12. A flash transition takes him forward to walking along a street, in the red hawk costume, cape blowing in the wind, walking past bystanders who watch him confused.

13. A flash transition again cuts to show an over the shoulder shot of Scott in costume. Standing on a wall in Castle Gardens, Lisburn, overlooking oncoming traffic.

Coursework Management

Introduction

In this section of the coursework, the management of the video project will be discussed in detail. The details of the management of the actors, props, locations, mise en scene, lighting etc will be discussed in this section. We will consider the benefits of using the particular method or item for the project.

Props & Equipment

Because of how complex this particular project is, and the number of props and pieces of equipment that are involved, we will have to manage all the apparatus carefully.

Props

The main characters costume is composed of several different parts all used together to create one costume. The base layer of the costume will be a red coloured morphsuit. The reason for using this is that the costume is very simple, with no added protection to the character. It demonstrates his naivety as a superhero, that a costume is all he needs to be a crime-fighter. It shows how detached he is from the real world because he can not tell that criminals can be dangerous because of how he watches the world go by from his bedroom. The colour red does however show his anger and frustration towards the world and towards the world and criminals who are out there. 

The next layer of the costume is the  heavy boots. The size of these boots are large and are clearly out of proportion for someone of the characters build. This is used to demonstrate how he is stepping into the shoes of a crime fighter, but the size of these boots show how large the challenge is to the character, because the shoes he is "stepping" into, are too big for him to handle.

After the boots, are the black briefs that are worn by the character. These briefs are another cliché item and are commonly associated with children who are trying to be superheroes. This demonstrates how the character is only a child and is immature. It also adds a level of comedy to the project because of how ridiculous he looks to other people.

A black mask with eyes holes cut out is used over the face of the character. (Fill in reasons for choice)

The character also wears a black cape which...(Fill in reasons for choice)

Equipment

The following equipment is used to film the project:

• iPhone 4S/ iPhone 5 (as the camera)
• iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 data transfer cable,
• Velbon Tripod.
• iPhone tripod adapter.
• Chroma Keying screen (blue/ green screen)
• MacBook Pro (editing)
• External Hard Drive.

iPhone 4S/ iPhone 5

We made a decision to use the iPhone 4S/ iPhone 5 in order to film our project. This is a beneficial choice because both devices offer an 8 MegaPixel camera, with full 1080p HD video capture. This allows us to create high quality video while having the portability and the convenience of a smart phone.

iPhone 4S/iPhone 5 data transfer cable

We will always bring along suitable data transfer cable for the iPhone4S/5 in order to take the footage off the phone and transfer it to the MacBook Pro that we will use to edit the clips.

Velbon tripod

We have chosen to use a velbon tripod because it allows us to increase the height of the camera, change the angles etc and it also allows attachments to be clipped on, or attached to the screw on the tripod. This is useful for the tripod adapter we will use.

iPhone tripod adapter

Due to the fact that both the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 have the same width, we can use a single tripod adapter to hold both devices on the tripod. This allows us to switch devices over in case one of the device's batter were, for example, to run low on battery and needed recharging. The tripod provides a firm grip and a screw hole so that the phone can fit in place and the adapter can fit nearly any good quality tripod available.

Chroma Keying screen

We will make use of a chroma key screen during the making of our project. We will need to store this screen so that it will not get damaged or wrinkled, it will be stored in a rolled up fashion and in a location where it be disturbed as little as possible to reduce any damage done to the screen.

MacBook Pro

We will use a MacBook Pro in order to edit our film. The reason for this choice is that the mac series of computers are the only computers that can run Final Cut Pro X. We are going to use Final Cut Pro X as our editing software because it is easy to use yet it allows for advanced editing. We are also using Motion 5, to add 3D effects and effects that will be used in conjunction with the chroma keying screen.

External Hard Drive

We will use the external hard drive in order to backup all our work and footage. It is important to back up the work as we go along because if there is a fault with out MacBook Pro, we can simply restore all our files back to normal.

Location

A decision was made amongst the members of the group to plan to use the house of one of the members as the main set for the project. This allows for an atmosphere that is personal and allows for a more intimate relation between the audience and the character, as if they are welcomed into his home. Another reason for this choice is the window in the bedroom of the chosen house. The single window in the bedroom can represent how the character is very detached to the outside world. This location is also appropriate because the location of the house has a wide skyline. This means that there is plenty of natural and ambient light that will be available whilst filming. This can benefit the lighting of the project whilst on this set.

During the project, the character is deep in thought, remembering back to events that have happened in school. This involved him trying to fit in, by attending the gym and trying out equipment and also mistaking one girl for another when he is trying to talk to her. This is cliché and often a stereotype attached to "nerdy" people in a school community. In order to complete this scene and make it feel realistic, we decided to simply use our school facilities to create this scene. Our reasons for choosing our school are that, it has everything that we need, from the gym facilities, to long corridors, and because it is a school, the audience will feel like it is a school environment and therefore makes the project more authentic.

Another planned scene uses a shop on a street. The character walks into the shop without a bag, then after an edited transition, he walks back out again with a costume in a bag. In order to create this scene, we need to find a shop on a street, and use a wide shot in order to create the scene. The shop will be clearly described as a costume shop of sorts. The use of a shop creates the idea that he is purchasing the costume. This is also helped by the distinct labelling that the shop is a costume shop.

The final scene will be created using chroma keying. We plan on using our school's Sports Hall in order to create an environment suitable for chroma keying. The sports hall has strong bright lights on the roof which can be used to create a brighter environment for filming which is appropriate for chroma keying. This location also makes it easier for transferring the props to and from the room because of the large space that we have to work with.

Actors

Throughout the project, we will only be using a single actor in the shots. The reason for this is because in the first 2 minutes 30 seconds of any film, the scene is really set only for the main character and their friends or family. However because of the nature of our character, we can create a much more personal and intimate scene with the character and also keep the amount of people we introduce during the project to a bare minimum of 1. We will keep our chosen actor, Gavin, up to date on filming dates and ensure that he can show up on time.

Lighting

The lighting we will use in the project will mainly be ambient lighting. This helps to create a more normal scene in the project and can help the scenes have more of a personal and normal feel to them. In order to create this effect, we will have to choose to film on a day that is generally bright enough to create an ideal lighting scene, however nothing too bright incase you get glare from the light through windows etc.

During the scene using the chroma keying, we will use a dark background with smoke effects so that we can display the idea of a dark scene, where the character is effectively, "In the dark" on the decision he is making, not sure of how things will turn out. We will use a spotlight effect during editing to focus some of the light on the character to put the focus on them.




Posted By - Eoin Lavery

Storyboard Draft

Storyboard picture 1- dark empty street straight down, still long shot.

picture 2- him lying in bed thinking- Mid shot, slight aerial shot.

picture 3- him in school going up and trying to talk to a girl, tracking shot whilst walking and then mid shot whilst talking to her, shot stays on him as girl walks away and focus pull used on girl so boy is in focus.

picture 4- long shot of him walking down corridor and a boy shoving him as he walks by and all others are laughing at him.

picture 5- shots of news on tv, framed shots and then long shot of him watching it and his reaction.

picture 6- him watching superhero movies on laptop or tv, mid shot over-the -shoulder and then focus pull to poster on a wall to show his love for justice and good.

picture 7- him online ordering and looking at costumes- mid shot.

picture 8- door bell ringing and tracking mid shot of him running down the stairs collecting the parcel and signing it frantically.

picture 9- jump cut to him putting on costume in mirror and looking terrible, long shot so whole body is in and him practising with weapon in room. framed point of view shot of mum looking in room and nodding in disapproval whilst he is trying all the moves. (walking up with washing basket).

picture 10- him outside practising in the building site and falling and getting caught on things and falling and hitting himself with the nun chucks.

picture 11- over the shoulder shot of him in his bedroom looking out the window as the sun goes down, with bearded dragon on his shoulder.

picture 12- him saying things have changed, mid shot of him crouching on a wall watching men break into a car, deep focus.

picture 13- close up of him pulling mask down on new and improved costume then titles appear.