P1. Scene Breakdown Sheets

P1. Photo Analysis

 Photos that need improving: 

This shot should be improved as it is disobeying the rule of thirds unintentionally. To improve this shot we could frame it so Ben is less central and more to the right. Charlie (on the left) needs to be more out of focus so we only concentrate on Ben.




The problem with this image is similar to the image above, although this time charlie needs to be positioned to the left. Also we need to make sure the flash isn't on as there's too much light on Ben, drawing the attention away from Charlie.

This shot also disobeys the rule of thirds, and when re-taking this shot the characters should either be positioned to the left or right of the frame. In this particular shot it would be best to position the characters to the left, so it gives the viewer a chance to see down the hall, giving depth to the image but also showing the amount of students there are at the college.

This shot firstly needs to be a close up shot of Ben's face, so we can concentrate on his expression and not be distracted by anything else in the background. Ben's face should also be looking left out of frame, and not directly at the camera. This means he should be positioned to the right of the frame as they're standing to the left.


This image should have been a low angle shot, therefore the audience can see it hitting the ground more clearly, and if we do leave it as a high angle shot it should be a point of view shot from Charlie. The framing could also be closer to the bag (maybe a close up shot).

First of all this shot should have been thought about more carefully as someones arm is in frame. All of the locations colours are very neutral making Ben and Charlie stand out, although the back arm ruins this as its a dark and distracting colour.








Photos that worked well:

The composition of this shot is effective. This is due to Ben being positioned in the right of the frame, which allows us to see he is looking left of screen, automatically telling the audience he is looking at something/someone. We also get to see the hallway behind him, showing how far the two boys have walked.

Although this shot disobeys the rule of thirds, it works effectively, as having Ben being framed in the middle, he is the center of attention. In this shot he is also using his power, so by everything in the frame being almost symmetrical, it gives the audience a sense of stability when Jay's in control of  his power. There are also leading lines in this shot which emphasis how far Jays power reaches (shows how far away he is from the target/camera).

By having Charlie to the left of the frame and Ben to the right, we can focus more on the bag in the middle.To make this image better, we could have framed the shot so the bag is more visible, or used a brighter coloured bag so it stands out from the dark costumes the characters are wearing.

This shot worked well, as having the character Jay being positioned to the right of the screen, we not only obey the rule of thirds, but show the audience by his positioning that he is looking at something to the left of the room. This shot also allows the door to be in frame, and as we hear the footsteps getting further away, we can tell where the invisible student is heading.

By having more of Jays hand in frame, it shows he is the main protagonist and the receptionist is less important than him. By having the paperwork to the right of the shot, this also means less of Jays arm gets in the way and obeys the rule of thirds. What worked well was that the desk was lite up, otherwise the white paperwork could have stood out less if the whites were similar.


Lastly this shot works well as the positioning of the receptionist shows us she is less significant due to her being slightly cut of from the frame. The angle is also canted, showing us there's something strange and possible sinister about the character.

P1. Improved Animatic Photos

 We made an improvement to this image by framing Charlie so he was on the far left and Ben so he was on the right. The reason this is an improvement as it is obeying the rule of thirds, where as the previous image positioned them more central in the frame. In this image we also cut out more of Charlie out, so it was obvious what the main focus was. Theres also an eye line match, as by showing the angle of Charlie's head we can see he is looking back at ben.


We did a similar change to this image as the previous one, but in this image Charlie is positioned slightly lower angled as in the situation Ben's character is remaining slightly stubborn. We also made sure the focus was out on the two right figures as they're not as significant in the shot.

This image has been improved as Ben's head was positioned in the middle of the frame rather then the side which unintentionally disobeys the rule of thirds. Also this shot is a closer shot giving greater enthisis on his face.This image could still be improved by removing the black wire from the right corner, as this distracts from the main composition.


This image is effective as it includes leading lines towards the two main protagonists. The image we previously took centred the characters which disobeyed the rule of thirds, so this time round we positioned them slightly to the left, allowing more of the wall to be shown, which adds greater depth.

 Similar to the image above, this photo was previously framed so the characters where central; so to improve it we brought them to the left. This then allows (when shooting) us to see the depth of the locker corridor and also the amount of pupils attending Merriweather Academy.


This shot is the one we've changed the most, as previously it was a high angled shot looking down on the bag, but we found it more appropriate to change it to a low angled shot so we can see more clearly the back drop to the ground. Although the feet are positioned in the middle, the bag is to the right; to make this better we could have framed the feet so they were more to the left, although we have made a slight improvement as previously both the feet and the bag were central.

P1. Rule of thirds & Image Analysis

P1. Photo Animatic

This photo animatic was done to test what the finished VFX sequence will look like - despite the poor sound recordings used throughout, it gave us a good idea.  For the final film, we will consider making the following improvements: 

- When recording the sound of people in the canteen, don't stand too close to a talkative group (as the dialogue stands out louder then the rest) 

-When recording the sound of people in the canteen, make sure we get a long enough recording so we don't have to keep on placing it on loop (this also applies for all wild tracks). 

- When filming the actual opening sequence, add more students/extras standing in the locker corridor

- Hold some shots on for longer when editing (such as the close ups of Ben and Charlie making eye contact towards the end) 

P1. Screen Shot of Photos for Animatic

P1. Properties / Set Dressing

(Production design sheets here)

P1. Researching and understanding Matte Painting

Definition:

Matte Painting is where an image is produced either by painting or photo manipulating and can be done in a digital media or a traditional one. It is used to create an image, animation or set extension which is then used in film as a background. It is used if getting to the desired location is impractical, due to the cost or schedule and if the location doesn't exist (sci-fi movies). The purpose of a Matte painting is to trick the audience into thinking they are looking at a real location; if this works then it is a successful painting.
To produce a Matte Painting you firstly make a base plate, which can either be a photograph or moving footage. You then composite images or animation on top of it to create a moving and 3D effect.


History:
In 1905 a man named Norman Dawn invented Matte painting by taking photos and paintings and collaborating them by placing them on a large sheet of glass. He placed black tape over the parts of the camera where the painting would be. This then combined live action with painting and is now known as Matte Painting. 80 years later when computers where invented, Matte Paintings started to become digitally drawn, which is a lot more common nowadays.

Matte Painting used in Sound of Music:
Here is a Matte Painting which was used in Sound of Music. In my opinion this painting blends in, as the  blues and greens in the image match her outfit. The painting is also extremely detailed, and looks as if it is a still image, which is what they wanted. This was done traditionally, as at that time there were no computers, so digital wasn't an option. The bottom image is the painting with out the moving footage included. To combine them, they green screened the background of Julia Andrews and added in the Matte Painting. The lighting was also carefully matched to the painting, and they must have had light surrounding her in the studio to give the footage a day light effect (to remove any shadows).

P1. Green Screen

What a green screen does:
A film technique / special effect which involves actors or objects in front of a block green background. This then gets edited on a software such as Adobe After Effects, where computerized graphics can be added,  such as backgrounds which aren't actually there.  This is used to create artificial backgrounds so they can film in the studio, which is more efficient as they don't have to travel saving time and money. It can also be know as a way to combine different shots and elements into one image.

The History
The first film to ever use green screen/chroma key technology was 'Four Heads are better than one' in 1898, directed by Georges Méliès. The most common colour used in chroma key technology was previously blue, but as the years went on, they realized the colour green was a better. Some of the reasons for the colour change was because digital cameras came out and where more commonly used and the green channel is the cleanest in most digital cameras today and has the most luminance, resulting in the least noise. Another reason was because blue is more commonly worn as costume, and green screens permit much less light.. In 1970 they finally decided to change the screens from blue to green, which then became widely used and famous for video editing as well as photography. 

Green Screen used in Avengers

In this scene, they green screened the background in, which worked  well and is extremely convincing as the separate footage was carefully matched.
The reason they did it was because in the scene there had to be broken skyscrapers, cars, buildings, fire and smoke, which would have cost a lot of money to build on set and wouldn't of been practical.  Also, because it was located in a city, they couldn't film on location, therefore green screen was the only option.
They did this by using a green screen in the background and later on adding in an image/painting where the screen was. This also allowed them to add smoke and fire over the top.
The reason I find the green screening effective is because the character actually looks as if he's there, due to the lighting match, colour match and realism of the painting/photo.

P1. Jay's Character Background Sheet

P1. Mike and the Receptionist's Character Background Sheet

Mikes Character Background Sheet by Robyn Wilson:

The Receptionists Background Sheet by Dayna Crawford:

Receptionist character file from dayna_crawford

P1. Location Recce Part 2

Hallway from hannahgautrey

Birds eye view from Robyn182

Reception birds eye view from dayna_crawford

P1. Location Recce

P1. Jay's Mood Board

P1. Animatic Review

My average shot length for my animatic is 3:13 seconds, meaning I have to add around 5 more shots as the maximum is 3 seconds per shot. (Hollywood's average shot length is currently 2.5 seconds.)

From watching my finished animatic, I think that we should add more camera movement in the cinematography to add more visual interest, as only 3 of the shots have movement. 

The background noise could be lowered so the audience can concentrate more on the dialogue, although there isn't any points when you can't hear the dialogue; as through out the clip the background noise (from the locker room) gets quieter. We will need to find better actors/actresses when we come to filming, as the dialogue doesn't sound convincing enough, and it needs to be more clear when the actors are using sarcasm. 

Lastly, I need to make it more clear when the visual effects occur, as this is hard to do without motion picture.

Peer feed back:

P1. Animatic

P1. File Structure