We are were going to film the flat scenes this weekend but it's the last week of term and we cannot take the tripods out even though we have video cameras of our own.
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We've narrowed the soundtrack down, we are going to use songs only from British, indie bands, preferebly bands from Birmingham like Ocean Colour Scene and Editors. But if we can't find any suitable songs then we will have to look at british, american, australian etc songs for our soundtrack.
We're only going to use about 10-20 seconds of the songs, depending on where they should be placed. Like the fast choruses could be placed during the happy montage scenes and the sad, slow parts of the songs could be used to help the audience distinguish that something bad has happened between Lily and Vince.
It's still quite a big list but we won't use all of these songs, and may only use a few seconds so you won't really notice it. Some of these songs may be playing in the actual trailer (diegetic sound), like on the radio/tv and not necessarily added afterwards.
Today we went to film some scenes that don't directly relate to the main storyline, such as the aerial view of Birmingham to set the scene, birds, traffic, leaves and ducks. Our actors weren't available to film today so we are going to film the flat and park scenes next week. Or the week after that. It depends whenever they have some free time. In the meantime, we are going to think of some more scenes, and some dialogue between our actors.
First we were filming outside the Bullring, over looking the markets. There was already a film crew there, so its lucky we got them because our trailer is a mockumentary. Lucky. =D We interviewed two girls about how far they'd go to save their relationship. And we were looking for more people to ask but couldn't find anyone who'd be willing to be interiewed.
Then we went to the 14th floor of Moat Lane Car Park where you could see the whole view of Birmingham and we filmed the trains, traffic and the birds flying. The weather was abit gloomy which made it seem miserable but these scenes are going to be cut down to a couple of seconds anyway.
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This is a trailer for a U.S indie movie, Paper Heart, and it follows a girl named Charlyne who goes on a journey to find out more about love in the form of a documentary, so its sort of like a mockumentary. But along the way, she falls in love. We are trying to go for the similar look with our trailer, a documentary into the lives of a troubled couple. =)
It stars Charlyne Yi, who wrote the movie and Michael Cera whohas starred in films like Juno and Superbad.
A mock/documentary is not common in Hollywood films, and because our trailer is for an indie film, then we're going for that quirky look that makes it different from a typical love story.
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Today, we went to the City Centre to start filming a few scenes for our trailer. We only had to film about 5 scenes which are going to last about 20 seconds of the trailer but the weather was really miserable, and there were so many people in town even though it was a Sunday afternoon. But we got the shots done and we're happy with them. We filmed in Centenery Way, Broad Street, German Markets, coming in and out of shops, and we wanted to film by the waterfall but it was closed off for some reason. There were too many people around who kept coming in front of the camera though. :(
We have booked the cameras for this weekend and the next and we are going to start filming the outdoor scenes, like Lily and Vince looking around the German Market and talking and walking around Centenery Way by the big wheel. These shots are going to going to be used for the quick montage sequences that show Lily & Vince's happy times.
We made a list of all the shots we are going to do and then categorised them into different lists for 'Indoor', 'Town', 'Park' etc so its easier to organise the filming. The shots we are going to film at the weekend won't require the actors to say anything because they'll be used in quick montage sequences which will be in sync with the music so we haven't written a script or anything for it.
Then, next weekend we are going to film the indoor flat scenes and the scenes in Cannon Hill Park and then bring them all together and reorder them. Hopefully it'll be sunny when we film the Cannon Hill Park scenes because our film is a 'summer' film so if its raining then it doesn't quite fit, but we'll just have to work with what we've got. We're not trying to make it look totally professional, but we are going to try and best to make it look as realistic as possible.
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We sort of altered our idea because there wasn't a 'backbone' to the trailer. Also, our previous trailer idea was linear, and indie film trailers often don't do that. Our new idea is based around a couple who are trying to save their relationship and go to huge lengths to save it. So they go to a relationship cousellor and try spells and crazy things like that.
The other idea was just not realistic enough to do in 3 weeks, what with Pierre's seminar in a huge hall and having a car driving into the distance. It was getting too much so we simplified it, and the backbone to the story is just that they're trying to save their relationship but the trailer doesn't go as far to tell the audience if they end up getting together or not. (:
Music British indie/rock bands like Razorlight, Bromheads Jacket, The Maccabees, Magistrates, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay & You Me At Six. Initially we were going to use music from bands like The Killers, Panic!at the Disco, The Fray & The Raconteurs but we decided against it because they're too well known and everyone uses their songs. Flourescent Adolescent by the Arctic Monkeys is also well recognised, but maybe we need at least one song or tune that people recognise easily so that they want to come and watch the whole movie. We want the trailer to feel very British, not 'Americanized' so we are trying to keep the music limited to some popular bands like Coldplay but mainly fairly unknown, indie musicians like Magistrates and Local Natives, who haven't really gone mainstream yet because often when bands go mainstream, their style of music changes to something that pleases the US kids more because everyone wants to 'crack' the US these days. Also, indie music is also more original because the musicians aren't trying too hard to please alot of people; they're making music because they want to and enjoy doing it. But we're not going to fill the trailer with music, we're going to narrow our list down and maybe just use instrumentals of some songs, intros and choruses.
On-screen Graphics/Artwork Because our trailer is for an indie romance film, the editing will be different. We are going to add onscreen graphics taking inspiration from films like How To Be, Away We Go and 500 Days of Summer when photographs and illustrations are merged together to the film appear different and interesting. These film posters are not just photographs of the protagonists with the name of the film, as are most hollywood posters. Indie films tend to be more creative with the artwork too.
Actors We have already cast the main characters but we may still need 'extras' but we have spoken to the performing arts students and they said they won't mind stepping in. Lily - Abbie Vince - Ian Pierre - Nick, an AS student. Although, he's great at acting camp, just how we wanted Pierre to be like. :D Abbie is Ahlam's youth worker and her boyfriend, Ian said he wouldn't mind starring in it as Vince aswell. Plus, since they're already a couple it'll be easier for them and for us as they can improvise the scenes rather than use writing a whole script of exactly what each person should say and do.
Props We're going to need a poster, leaflet and book cover to show how famous 'Pierre' is, like self-help books and their cheesy titles like 'Love Is True' or something. The leaflet will be just a smaller, simpler version of the poster too. I'm going to make the poster and book cover, based on something that looks like this using Photoshop.
Lighting Its a 'summer' film, so we are hoping the weather will get better. But if the weather doesn't, then we'll film all the inside scenes first. The lighting will vary, so bright, high-key lighting for the happy scenes and dark, low-key lighting for the scenes when something starts to go bad.
Locations City Centre - We can film in areas like Centenary Square, Broad Street to make the most of the nice buildings but we're not going to film in front of places like Primark or anything because there's just too many people bumping into you left, right and centre. Frankfurt/German Markets - We are going to film some of the couples' 'happier' times there. Cannon Hill Park - Its a summery film, Cannon Hill Park is one of the nicest parks around here and we can film lots of stuff there, like when they're feeding the ducks or going to get an ice cream or just sitting on the benches. Vince & Lily's flat - Our actors said it was ok to use their flat for some of the indoor scenes.
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We booked the photography studio today to get Nick's/Pierre's photoshoot done for the poster, leaflet and book cover. We used high key lighting and a white backdrop aswell. I haven't properly edited these photos because blogger completely murders the quality so they'd just end up looking worse. The type of book cover I'm going to make is something like this but more...'cheesy' and humourous to make it apparent that Pierre is abit of a diva but there's more to him than meets the eye.
So our idea is basically a Romantic Comedy about a two people who are 'handpicked' to fall in love by a mysterious love doctor, Pierre. But since the Love Doctor is very famous for his crazy antics that seem to work, no one questions him and the two people, Lily and Vince do find themselves falling for each other. However, when the relationship tries to turn sour, they find Pierre and tell him to 'fix it' at which point he comes clean and admits he's not really French and is a fraud. He also turns out to be gay....and Welsh. The penny finally drops and Lily and Vince realise it wasn't the spell that made them fall in love after all. Mind over matter.
It is also going to be an British indie film, so the shot types are going to be very abstract and different to conventional Hollywood romantic comedies. Also, because its a trailer for a British Indie movie, the script will not be as slapstick as Hollywood comedies and its the type of film where you have to really pay attention get the joke.
TO DO LIST Pierre's photoshoot for the book cover, poster and leaflet. Decide exactly what scenes we're going to film and how long they will last. Plan out what to film and when. Take the camera out. And hope for the best. =]
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Today, we met Eldina who is Norwegian student from a town right in the south of Norway called Fredrikstad, I think.
In Norway, people do watch Hollywood movies. But sometimes there are Norwegian subtitles for those people who don't fully understand English aswell as being dubbed in Norwegian, but Eldina prefers them without. Most people in Norway learn English in school anyway, so they can understand English/American movies properly.
She prefers to watch Romantic Comedies and sweet movies that have a happy ending like The Proposal and Twilight (♥) and a Norwegian crime drama called 'Män som hatar kvinnor' which is Swedish for 'Men who hate Women' and is translated in English as 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.' It's based on a series of books called the Millennium Trilogy by Karl Stig-Erland Larsson. He was the 2nd top selling author in the world last year. Eldina doesn't really like action and sci-fi movies but that doesn't mean she hasn't watched a few, like Transformers and Star Wars. =]
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Soooo we decided to change our idea from a crime drama to a romantic comedy because it was just getting too big and too hard to do in the time we had and it was just too much politics. (: Our new idea is an indie British film but is different to other well-known romantic comedies and the films that inspired us were films like 500 Days of Summer, How To Be, Away We Go and Paper Heart.
500 Days of Summer is a boy-meets-girl film and is in a non-linear narrative so it's not a typical beginning-middle-end film. Its not in order but audience know which of the 500 days it is. It also skips some days too, so the typography/graphics don't come on screen consecutively, day 1, day 2 and so on. Some days aren't mentioned at all because it would take too long to show what happened in each day.
The title is a play on words because the female protagonist's name is Summer and the story follows the 500 days that the male protagonist knows Summer. It is also released in the Summer and is a film set in a summery location in the city. Tom is the male main character and he works in a greeting card company thinking of designs and text that goes inside the card. Summer is his boss' new assistant and he falls in love with her immediately but she doesn't believe in idea. The film begins with a disclaimer: "Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely accidental ... Especially you, Jenny Beckman ... Bitch." suggesting that it is based on the co-writer, Scott Neustadter's real-life romance.
This is unconventional because its in a non-linear format and because it doesn't have a happy ending. Most boy-meets-girl stories do have happy endings where the couples get together in the end but the narrator at the start does say in the trailer, 'You should know up front, this is not a love story.'
The trailer starts with the moment Tom and Summer first talk to each other in the left when she comments on his music. It starts with a medium close up and then a long shot when she walks out of the lift. This is to show the first time they talked to each other as the film is about their relationship. And then the 'Fox Searchlight' comes up as the music starts. It is upbeat music - the intro to 'Us' by Regina Spektor and the visuals show the two main characters when they were younger whilst the narrator says 'This is the story of boy meets girl' and introduces the characters about what they thought love was.
It also uses typography and graphics on screen, mainly blue on black, to show what day it is and to show that it was the 'Official Selection Sundance Film Festival'. Towards the end, there's a quick montage sequence of their happy times and then the name of the film is shown. After that, some movies put another scene at the end which makes people want to watch it, like a funny scene in comedies or a final action scene in a sci-fi/action movie. In this one, there's a conversation between Summer and Tom about Sid and Nancy who are infamous for their relationship which didn't exactly end too well.
Summer - "We've been like Sid and Nancy for months now." Tom - "We have some disagreements but I hardly think I'm Sid Vicious" Summer - "Noooo, I'm Sid." Tom - "..Oh, so I'm Nancy?"
This is intertextual to Sid & Nancy's explosive relationship and suggests its Summer who's leading Tom on, and we know that. But Tom doesn't, and its up to him to learn it the hard way because he insists Summer's the one for him.
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State of Play is a 2009 political thriller which follows a reporter looking into the death of a young woman. Its a film adaptation of a 6 part episode that was shown on BBC One in 2003 and has been condensed into a 2-hour format. Then as the reporter helps to unravel the story, we see that its not a simple murder mystery case as there are many twists. Many well-known stars are cast like Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren to pull in more people to watch the film.
The trailer is related to our idea because it relates to the journalists point of view of following a story/case and there are many quotes mentioned in the trailer like 'The newspaper can slant this in any which way they want to' and 'Good reporters don't have friends, only sources' suggesting that newspapers tend to exaggerate the truth of what really happens. It can result in a conflict in which the reporter has to decide between doing whats best for the newspaper or whats best for the case.
The film is related to crime because in the first few scenes the audience see someone firing two shots from a gun to something on the floor but the camera doesn't show it. Then the crime scene is shown with the police cars and journalists which help build the picture that its a murder mystery.
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ALI //
2 October 2009 at 10:08
Velkommen!