Evaluating my own work..

As the audience, the first image we are presented is a long shot of a female character running towards the camera. She is the first actor we see, this tells us she is going to be an important character. Her body language and facial expressions tell us she is running from something or someone, this is all code for fear. The audience are thrown straight into the action with this shot and they are already left asking questions; What is she running from? Where is she running to? What is she going to do next? Her costume is very basic but meaningful, it consists of a pair of boots, leggings and a big jumper. We can see this is a man's jumper, although it is pink which is the only bright colour she is wearing.
The camera then edits to a mid shot of her continuing to run towards the camera, this is very cinematic and gives the impression she has been running for a long time. We then see the image fade to white and a black and white image of the same character with her boyfriend. This gives the impression of a flashback, the black and white separates these images from the present time. The transition is also very cinematic. Their body language; staring into each others eyes, kissing and cuddling, is code for young love, romance and happiness. We can tell they are comfortable with each other. We then see a hand held POV shot of the female looking around her from left to right in a sweeping movement, the area around her is quite quiet, we see a collection trees and greenery along one side and a bridge to the other, we are in quite a secluded area. This shot gives the impression that the audience are seeing exactly what she is seeing. We are put right into her position, right in with the action. The next image we see is another flashback, using the same transition and colourings this keeps the continuity. This time we see the character with another female, assuming by their body language this is her best friend. The pillowfight, smiling and laughing to eachother is all code for friendship and happiness.
The camera edits here putting us back in the present time, we see a long shot of the female walking towards the middle of the bridge. Her body language is code for nervousness and fear. She isn't standing up tall, her head is not held high and she is holding and playing with the bottom of her sleeves. She stops in the middle of the bridge looking over the edge, this tells us she has reached the end of her journey, this is where she was going. Again we are presented with a flashback, this time with her boyfriend. We see a long shot of the two of them holding hands and walking down a road this is telling us they are in love.
The next image of a close up reveals the girl's face properly for the first time, we see her facial expressions. We can see she is calm but nervous at the same time, her expressions are code for this.
The audience then witness a scene with her best friend, which again is a flashback. The activity taking place is a typical 'girly' scene, sitting having a conversation with a mug of hot chocolate. This is the first scene where we see any type of conversation take place. We cannot hear the dialogue but we do not need to. They are laughing and smiling which is code for happiness and therefore we know nothing bad has yet happened.
But the next flashback we see is the female character with an older actress, this tells us that they must be mother and daughter. Both their body language and facial expressions are quite rigid and tense, this is code for awkwardness and uncomfortable. The facial expressions of the mother tell us they are having an argument, her body language also, she leans forward, we can tell she is shouting. This time we also cannot hear the dialogue taking place but again it is not needed.
We now see an image, in the present time, of the character looking from side to side across the bridge and over the side. This is probably the first time we sort of have an idea of what she is thinking about in her head. She is seeing how high the bridge is and how far down is the drop. The next flashback gives the audience is big help in understanding what she is thinking. The camera starts with a close up of the female kneeling on the floor upset and holding onto the same jumper she is wearing in the present time, which we can now tell is her boyfriends. The camera zooms out to reveal where she is, in a cemetery. This tells us she has lost him, we don't know how or when but she has lost the most important being to her. She is also holding a piece of paper which she leaves by the headstone, this tells us that she has proably wrote something for him. Her body language is code for scared, alone and facial expressions are code for loss, fear and upset.
When the camera edits back to the present time this is the first time we really see what she is planning. The audience are presented with a wide low angle shot the the female standing on the edge of the bridge, this tells us she feels above everyone and everything else, she feels in control of her life for the first time. She is the one in control of fate. Her arms are the only thing keeping her there. This zooms to a close up where we see her face, she is breathing heaily, we can tell this as we can she her breath in the cold weather. She is looking around her, scared. When she looks down her expressions are code for fear, she is so scared about what she is about to do but feels she has no other way out.
The next image also relates to this, another flashback. We see her sitting on the floor in a tucked position. The mise-en-scene tells us we are in her bathroom, there is a towel above her head and a mirror to her left. We see her first attempt at suicide here, the camera is at mid shot and we see her pick up a pair of sissors as she cuts her wrists. This edits to a close up where we can see her facial expressions which are code for pain and hurt.
From here the audience see a series of flashbacks which get shorter and faster as they go on. This is a very cinematic effect, something seen in other films like this. At the end of this the audience are presented another mid shot of the girl on the bridge, which finishes the opening sequence. This is as far as we get to see of her journey, we do not know how the film is going to end, if she is going to jump or if she isn't.

Evaluation

Media evaluation

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Mood board..

I created a mood board of the inspiration I used to create my film product. The films I featured all involve love and romance but also loss and heartbreak. These films are of a similar genre to mine but all with completely different story lines. I added a few of my favourite actors and actresses who I love to watch in films and are a personal inspiration of mine. The words I have used create a mood and feeling that I want to come across in my product, they all relate to my film and are all involved in some way.                 

Comparing to my prelim..

I think I have progressed very far since creating my preliminary task, it was very basic only involving high angle, low angle shots and the 180 degree rule. I did not even have to do any editing when i imported it onto the computer as I did it all on the camera. Therefore when I was editing my final piece I struggled to start with as I had never used an editing software program before but I very quickly got the hang of this. In my final piece I used many more camera angles such as close ups, extreme close ups, mid shots, long shots and hand held shots etc. I also borrowed a tripod from the school as to steady my filming and allow it look for professional.
I preferred working on my own for the final piece (as I was in a group for the prelim) as I did not have to wait around for anyone, I could get on and do things when I wanted to. I feel this also pushed me further as everything is purely my own work and I could not leave anything down to someone else. I was able to use my spare time to film edit and create my product.

Soundtrack..

For the first trial of creating my film I wrote a voiceover script and recorded this to have as my soundtrack playing throughout my film but when watching back and creating my final product I realised that it didn't quite work. It sounded far too 'lousy' and 'messy', you could hear far too much in the background and when reading back over my questionnaire I saw that almost everyone said they expected to hear music in the opening sequence of any film. Therefore I searched around for some copyright music and found a website called freeplaymusic.com I signed up and made an account where I found a song called 'Demented Dreams' which I thought would go perfectly with my film. It didn't sound too 'soft' or too 'hard', it seemed to be just right. I downloaded this and imported it on imovie and added it to the background of my product.

The editing stage..

Importing all the clips

Making the flashbacks black and white

Adding transitions

Adding a soundtrack

Doing final checks, making sure everything is in the right order

Story Boards.

After starting my filming and uploading it to imovie I joint both my storyboards together so I know exactly where to put what.

I have chosen to use a handheld shot as the opening image as it puts the audience straight into the action, I thought the long and mid shots of the girl where something I would see in a movie of this genre. I have changed the way I am going to have my flashbacks, the black and white separates the flashbacks from the current scene, it allows the audience to differentiate between the two. The transition I originally had was something that would not be seen in a Hollywood Movie for example, instead I am going to have them fade to white which I have seen before. The flashbacks themselves show the character at a happier time in her life and are the reason she is where she is. I have chosen to have a close up of her and her boyfriend holding hands, this is a code for love and friendship. The shot of the two of them staring into each others eyes, holding hands and kissing are all code for young love and happiness. I chose to use a close up of the character when she is standing on the bridge, this allows the audience to see her facial expressions which are code for fear. The high angle shot of her at the cemetery represents her feelings; sad, low, upset etc. The over the shoulder shot when she is slitting her wrists allows the audience to be a part of the action, it lets them feel like they are right there experiencing it with her. When she is standing on the bridge I have decided to use a low angle shot as to show how she feels, she feels she can beat everything. At this point in time she feels in control.

Storyboards..

I have created some new storyboards because I am going to go out and re-film my work and hopefully make it better. I have drawn up separate boards for both parts of my filming including the flashbacks.

I have drawn them separately though as I will be filming them at different times.

My first attempt at creating my film..

This is my first attempt of creating my opening sequence and have found a lot of things that I want to change.

• The transitions are not something you would see in a Hollywood movie, for example. I think I will keep them black and white but have them fade to white first as this is something I have seen in films of this genre.
• The hand-held footage at the beginning is too 'shakey', although it gives across the thought of running it is far too messy.
• The fact that we see the character fall from the bridge gives away the story of the film and rather than looking like an opening sequence it looks like a short film which is obviously not how this is supposed to come across.
• The voiceover I used does not sound professional enough, you can hear far too much in the background. Also when looking back over my questionnaire I can see that music is something people expect to hear so therefore I think I am going to find a soundtrack I can use or create my own.
• Also, I was only going to re film certain bits but due to some certain changes e.g. having my hair cut, I will have to re film all of it as it will be non consistent.