we're finished!

we're finished! yaaaaay, im so proud of us and of our film. Just a quick note to say love you all wolverines, its been hectic but great! lets have a good presentation tomorrow

goodnight!

lucy xx

bit of research added.

Nearly done now! we're in the edit room as i type this getting all the finishing touches done. Alia and tom are putting the sound with the film while charley is finishing the menu. Sam is uploading a few other sounds that will be added throughout to make the film better. And seen as there is no word document on a mac (not pleased) im just editing this blog and finishing my workbook. Everything is fitting into place, the editing tom has done looks great and alias sound editing works really well. it is all down to charley and sam for recording such good shots and sounds. im really proud of everyone and i cant wait for others to see it. safe to say we will all be gutted if other people dont like it as we've put so much effort into everything. its been really hard with the concept change and being without a very valued member of the group for a few weeks. shooting days have been hard and we've all complained but i can honestly say ive had the best group of people to work with. 

Enough of the soppy stuff, just popped on to put down a few of the songs that will be included in our film as these are the pinnacle of the whole piece. 


This song is from the dvd menu slideshow etc.



This song is from the beginning of the piece, and the first flashback where the couple are happy.
This will be played by charley on the acoustic guitar.


This song comes from the 2nd flashback where the couple are in the car arguing.


This song is for 3rd flashback where the couple's relationship has broken down..



This song is at the end where the main character is walking off





This song is from the dvd menu slideshow etc.

yes we have a lot of songs but they fit really well !
nearly there, im excited!
love lucy x

Progress !

So we're pretty much on a roll with our filming and editing now, which is good seen as we only have a week to perfect it ! The picture editing is well underway although the sound editing has been stalled somewhat. I have been thinking of some of the films that we relate to through our short film. One of the park scenes we have shot will be edited in the style of this scene from the film "Thirteen".This ending scene from the film shows the main character spinning around on a roundabout.

 

The background is sped up and the girls emotion is clearly shown in her face. There is also a freeze frame to emphasise this which we may use. Although this film doesn't really relate to ours, the film styles are similar. We use shaky camera shots for the car to evoke the sense of panic which is also apparent in this 'Thirteen' film. The song in the park scene of our film is also slow while the picture is fast creating a contrast.

Although we still have more to do, we are confident of the ideas we have so far and the time it will take to finish. The sound has been stalled, however, and this is affecting some scenes and how we are editing them. This has been a major problem as sound is an integral part of our film. But we hope to resolve this as soon as possible. We are working well as a group and are constantly in contact. Up the wolverines ! 

lucy.

problems, problems problems !

So we have had massive problems regarding where we were filming. I emailed meadowhall train station, then got told to email the South Yorkshire Travel Service. I had to forward this email to about 4 people;

Hello, I am a student at Sheffield Hallam University and have been referred to you by Meadowhall supervisors to ask for your permission to film within the Meadowhall train station next week if possible. I study Film and Media Production and will be working within a group of 4 other students. We will only need to use a small part of the station, we won't take up room with our equipments and will keep them out of the way of other passengers. Also we will obviously begin filming at a time after the rush hour so as not to disturb everyone else and we don't need to film on the train. Although I am asking if we can film from Mon 23rd March to Fri 27th March I am sure we will only need one of those days, 2 at the most. If you could get back to me as soon as you can, I do appreciate how busy you are but thank you for taking time to read this email.
Thanks again, Lucy Hirst.

This was sent a week before i finally got a reply from a man from the travel service. His reply was ; Lucy,

Thank you for your email below which has been passed to me for my attention today

In order for me to respond could you please provide further information as to the proposed purpose and nature of your project and what it actually involves?

for example:

What is the purpose of the film and what will it be used for
Is there any commercial or material gain accrued as a result
Can you demonstrate compliance with data protection legislation
etc.

The time scales within your email below are not achievable.

Before permissions can be granted we would require full details of the activities proposed and completion of risk assessments for such activities for our review and consideration

I’m sure you will appreciate working alongside a high speed rail line requires stringent safety controls to ensure the safety and welfare of customers, staff, visitors, and contractors.

Should you wish to pursue your request, and are able to be flexible with your time scales please provide the information requested above along with any supporting information you feel appropriate to the Transport Executives Interchange Management Team at Meadowhall.

As we didnt get this email back before we had arranged to film, we decided to try and film quietly in the Sheffield train station to get a bit done. However, we were quickly discovered and kicked out, leaving us without any good film. We then had to think on our feet and decided to film the majority in the street instead. This really did throw the whole filming up in the air and we had to come together and find a suitable spot. I suggested a street near the shop Decathalon which was quiet. We then took out the sound equipment, camera recorder and digital camera. The filming took a while and we were all exhausted by the time we finished but we had really great fun and used a lot of different techniques. Now on to more of the sound recording !

lucy

x

the idea explained a bit better..

Since i am awake at stupid o'clock (thats 3 in the morning) i thought id explain the whole of Alias idea and how much we got done at tuesdays meeting. Alia explained that her pitch was about a man running for the train and missing it (we decided on meadowhall train station). He then sits down in the station to wait for his train. He can hear music around him that flashback to pivotal (pivatal?).. IMPORTANT moments in his relationship with his girlfriend.
On tuesday, me alia and sam all expanded on this idea tremendously. We included the process of symbolism by including daisies throughout. This way we can keep continuity but it also makes the viewers understand the strain of the relationship.
The 3 ideas for the flashbacks were :

• when the man sits down at the train station there is a busker on the floor. He is playing a song on his guitar (hey there delilah/wonderwall, for example) There is a picture of a daisy on the buskers guitar. The camera zooms in on the strings of the guitar until blurry, then zoom out to the guitar of a different person in a park playing the same song. We can then see the couple pushing each other on the swings and laughing together. He then gives her daisies from around the grass. The man pushes the girl and she jumps off the swing. This coincides with the thud of someone slamming their bags on the floor next to him in the train station. This also cuts off the song and emphasises the flashback and transition back to the station.

• the man then looks at the person rudely and puts shuffle on his ipod (we didnt decide which song yet) and looks at the picture on the front. There is a daisy on the screensaver and the 24 hour clock is then zoomed into. it is then zoomed out on to the clock on the dashboard of the car. the music is fast and loud as the couple argue while the man is driving. there is daisy air freshener hanging from the mirror to emphasise the daisy continuation. the arguing gets louder until the car comes to a screeching halt. This also ties in with the screech of the train as it flashes back to the present.

• we then didnt quite decide on how the music in the last flashback is played. maybe he could play another song from the ipod but turn it up loudly then pull out his earphones because the person beside him is annoying. he then sees daisies on the seat next to him and starts picking off the petals. as they fall to the ground the pavement where they are about to land turns into the carpet of his dorm room. the girl is packing away her stuff as the song plays in the background. no words are spoken so the song has to be really emotive and fit the scene. As the girl leaves the door slams which coincides with the annoying person beside him kicking the vending machine. He then looks up and sees his train coming. he stands up and gets on it. As he does this we see him trampling on daisies and his feet just step on the train.

Sorry about the really long post, just needed to write down all what we discussed from the last meeting, love lucy x

Progress: Sound

As a group we have discussed all the possible ways we can connect sound to the piece through the songs that flow through it. Together we have narrowed down the song list to evoke the emotions felt by the protagonist in each section of the film. In discussions this week we have also discussed possible problems that may occur through sound editing when the flashbacks appear. However, everyone has had effective ideas on how we can solve these problems through Sam the Sound Recordist (Safe Tings).
Overall, the meetings so far have been effective and i'm glad everybody have been confident enough to voice ideas and opinions, it can only make the piece stronger and better and more enjoyable to make.

Im truly guttered (beyond belief) that i will miss the making of our piece but i completely trust the group to make it as fantastic as possible!!

Come On Wolverines!!!!

Alia x

ideas

The ideas that we discussed in class were Toms idea which focussed around humour and the journey through the life of film. Alias idea was discussed on the day of the pitch. It is a journey of a relationship between two people through the process of flashbacks and symbolism. Alias pitch was chosen and we have had three meetings that have all gone really well. The pitch was discussed in length before we presented it but it still came across as underprepared. I personally thought it was not prepared and presented how we wanted it to. It appeared that Toms idea was expanded by himself but we all agreed on the films. We are working really well as a group and i enjoy the meetings we have so i was disappointed it came across that we werent working together. We gell really well together and im looking forward to shooting week.

wolverines out, lucy.