Documentaries (:

now i don't like using words like forever, but i will love you til the end of today. and in the morning when i remember everything that you are, i know i'll fall for you all over again.

(:

despite how confused i have been, or how lost i have gotten there's always you finding me and saving me. - rjt.

Youtube Links (:

Preliminary Task

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lItfQQ_SVCw

Final Product

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99ZekvG59ug&feature=channel


i can't really offer you much, but i can offer you that empty spot on the carpet right next to me. i can offer you late nights of you and me sitting together. i can share with you my mind, my words, my music, and maybe i'll move you just like you move me.

Evaluation (:

The basic storyline to our product is a man off to war, leaving his fiancé at home to survive without him for a while. She misses him and writes him a letter, sending him rose petals also, to let him know. We see flashbacks of the happier times they spent together, and the final memory she has of him leaving for war. The voice over describes what is happening, just as the footage itself does.
We decided to set the scene of our film to start with. This involved a tilt from sky to grass to show the sort of area which the film will take place. We got the idea to start our film this way from films such as ‘Cold Mountain’ which starts by setting the scene first, rather than jumping straight into the action. The voice over is an idea from ‘Cold Mountain’ aswell. We took ideas from this film because it is of the same hybrid genre as ours, war/romance.
The audience immediately sees that Jenny is alone. She’s sat in the middle of nowhere writing a letter which shows that she doesn’t have someone to depend on anymore. The reason for this is given away, 30 seconds in, by the voiceover. This stops the audience having to guess and lets them focus on the heart strings the story is about to pull.
We felt that we needed a dull, drained misé en scene to portray her loss to the viewer. If the whole opening was in full colour, it would seem just like another day at the office, really normal without much going wrong. The audience don’t see much that indicates a war film, except for the fact that the planes go overhead at the beginning. The costumes are old fashioned, eg; the dresses and William’s outfits, and the curls in her hair are loose and could suggest that she hasn’t spent much time properly curling her hair and making it stay in.
The representations put across are mainly about gender roles. Our film falls into a typical war film, because the man is sent to war while the fiancé is left at home to do housework, etc. This is a predictable set up, although it could have been put across a different way. For example, we could have filmed the woman nursing people to health after war accidents, although this is another job which women are usually expected to do. The film suggests that when a woman is left without a man she is always going to be sad. This also suggests that most women get depressed without men, and can’t live without them. That isn’t true. Women would survive fine without men, and it should be left to the men to miss the women more often. Even though the film presents this, it is not everybody in the groups opinion. Fidelity/Infidelity is portrayed through the movie, as he leaves she is left and trusted to be faithful to him. She stays faithful until she hears he’s dead, which is not infidelity.
The movie we made would be shown in theatres, firstly, in the UK. It may get distributed abroad to the USA & Australia, etc. The reason for the UK having the first showing is because it is a UK made film. We always get the American films after they do, because they are made over there. The sort of distributor which may distribute this film may be 'New Line Cinema' because they distributed 'The Notebook' which is a war/romance/drama, a similar genre to ours. Another possible distributor would be 'Marimax' because they produced 'Cold Mountain', another war/romance like ours.
Our target audience was mainly women, of any age, because its a touching romance that is likely to make them cry. It may attract older women because they may have been in the same situation and could possibly relate to the storyline. We attracted this audience by making the opening emotional, drawing them in and making them want to continue watching.
At the beginning the sky to grass shot was meant to be steady but instead of re-recording it, we decided that the movement would suggest that the planes are flying overhead and moving the camera. The shot is steady in many other parts, for example; when the girl is sat writing the letter. The camera is held still giving a clear shot of what is going on. We use a variety of shots such as a mid-shot's which are throughout the footage, over the shoulder while she's writing the letter and a long-shot in the churchyard.
Our setting was chosen because we needed an old looking village which represented the way a town would look during the second world war. We decided to use a tree as their 'special place' because it was easier than hunting out a hill or something. We used the grounds of Teversal Manor to film just because it fit the place we needed, had a view which could be filmed when looking from the sky to the grass, and looked good on camera.
We decided to put all our footage in faded colour because it fit the letter we had as a voice over. The part about the sun draining all the colour from the world made it seem silly not to put the footage in faded colour rather than black & white. The parts of the letter which i wrote had the input of some love songs, and how i was feeling at the time. We edited it as a group though and cut it shorter to fit the footage rather than the feelings. We asked Eve to read the voiceover because she has a soft voice which contrasted well with the Beethoven music we used.
We used Adobe Premiere to edit our footage, which is a recent technology. In the past it would have been extremely hard to edit a movie without computers. Emily & I did our preliminary task together and due to Rob's partner leaving the class, he then had to work with us on this. From then, I learnt how to use the editing programme better. From this task, I learnt how to use the black and white feature, how to overlay music and how to add a voice over. I learnt how to use different transitions such as the 'fade in' and 'fade out', and also dissolving clips together. At the end of our opening we have a clip of Jenny and William which changes from colour into black and white, showing that the colour drains when he leaves. Her world falls apart because he isn't there to hold it together, he's like the nails holding together the wooden sticks in her life, and without him the model she's made of life falls to pieces. I learnt how to record a voice over with the gadgets in school. We plug in a microphone to the sound recorder, then use a USB cable to get the files onto the computer. This is shown in our film throughout, and it's a vital part which expresses her emotions to the viewing audience.

Short analysis of our film.
The plane noise is a good opening for the film, as it grabs the attention of those watching. For instance, if a boy didnt really want to watch, he'd be drawn in by the plane because boys, stereotypically, like that sort of stuff. The camera tilts down to the ground, where the credits appear. We immediately see that not much colour is used, which could suggest a variety of things. Firstly, it could be that the film is set in older times where nothing seems bright because of the disasters happening around. Secondly, it could just be that its a cloudy day, where everything is duller than it seems, or finally, the actual reason, it could show that the feelings are represented through the misé en scene. The main character could be suffering from a loss, or a depressive time which is reflected in the colours.
The girl, shown without much colour, has her head down writing. Her head may be down to show her feelings. This could represent the fact that she is infact dealing with some problems and wishes to keep herself closed off to the world. The music contrasts with this as it is sad and sounds like a love song which would suggest to the audience that, if they didnt already know, they are going to watch a romance.
The cover, which is on the ground for Jenny to sit on, is messed up and curled, etc. This could represent her life at this moment. It could show that shes no longer on a flat surface with a smooth life, It could show that she is in for a bumpy ride throughout this film and the audience should empatise with her. As her head tilts up, we see her, in a mid-shot, looking out over the grass, possibly looking for something to keep her holding on.
The flashback is then in colour which immediately represents better times to the audience. They notice that the colour is full and lively, just like the two lovers. Even though he's gone now, she cherrishes the memories he has given her and will never let go of them. The colour drains again as we come back to reality, with the saddened expression creaping over her face. She needs someone, him being that someone. As the voice over kicks in, the audience see why she's so upset and can put themselves in her situation, feeling the emotions her character feels. The memories come back in full colour again, showing the better times, with a voice over explaining what is happening. The pan & tilt motion in which the camera moves sets the scene, while grabbing the action at the same time. The contrast between the churchyard and the proposal is strange, yet neccisary. They are stood in a churchyard, where there is also a graveyard, and they are sharing one of the best days of their lives. This may get the audience thinking that he has died, or may die later in the film, sort of a hint at the coming action. It also suggests that life is too short. That you should live in the moment, because theres no telling when that moment will pass you by and never return again, hence the graveyard showing that life is unpredictable and death may hit you from around any corner.
An over the shoulder shot shows what is being written to her lover at war, which the voice-over is reading out. This lets the audience see, first hand, what she feels aswell as hearing about it. The fade out shows a passing of time, when Jenny is then walking to the post box. The shot reverse shot match on action shows her previous and next destinations.
At the end, she sighs which isnt heard, yet shows that maybe she didnt get to speak up in this. The voices aren't heard throughout and this may also suggest that William didnt have a chance to refuse either. It was often the case then, that nobody had a choice, it was just expected of them.
As it fades to black, the voice-over announces the film title and then the actual movie is ready to begin, as the music fades off into the darkness.


you clear my mind, you're my escape from this messed up place cause you let me forget, you numb my pain.

Who did what, updated (:

and you sound like a song i used to sing in the rain, when i couldnt seem to smile and i was wishing for better days.

Editing3 (:

The voice over we recorded at the end of Wednesdays lesson was too quiet, so we need to re-record the letter again, with the help of Eve.
We have to do it over again, because we stopped the recording after every section, but every time we started it up again, the 'SH' sound of the microphone was recorded also. We spaced out the recordings on the footage though to test it and realised we needed more talking, so we added a section to the letter.
The two extra bits read
'I've sent these rose petals to remind you of our deep and everlasting love'
and
'You make my heart content and I wont be complete until I'm back in your arms once more.'


We will record the letter as a full recording to avoid the sounds that got recorded last time (if that makes sense?) and then we will split the clips in editing.

(:!

why is it that at all funerals people cry? dont they know your not there because someone died? you're there because someone lived.

Editing2 (:

So, today we recorded our voice over, and finally got the music/noises on the computer. We had a problem last time because Emily's account had no disk space left, so we had to log onto mine to continue editing.
We needed to rewrite our letter because we posted the original. Somebody is going to get a nice surprise with rose petals in their envelope :) We had two drafts, then I have written up the final letter so its readable. We had to cut down a bit of the writing, because it would last longer than we needed. The longer draft was just some ideas I put together while Emily put the music on the opening, and while I was listening to love songs on my iPod, good times :)! Anyway, we then discussed as a group what needed to be cut out, and which sounded good. Turns out, I'm not so bad at writing love letters :)
The letter needed to coincide with the filming we did, so we had to write about the lover going to war, the tree and the proposal.
Firstly, we began with 'Dearest William' because that is how letters that we researched began in that era. The part about being alone and missing her fiancé would happen with any couple that have to spend time apart, so we decided it fit. The next paragraph fits with the flashback of the girl & William in the churchyard, as the letter mentions the time he proposed to her, without giving it away straight away that he was doing so.
The next simile describes how Jenny is feeling, after her loss. 'I feel as though the sun has drained all the colour from the world' suggests that the reason for our film to be in drained colour is because it represents her mood & feelings at the time.
The ending of the letter seems to be how people finished off letters during the second world war, promising their love forever.
We asked Eve to read our letter for us, because she has a soft ladylike voice which would balance nicely with the beethoven music we're using. Although we had a problem when recording, because i clearly cant work anything technical ;), we managed to get it done within 10 minutes. When reading, the highlighted colour change means a pause, where we stop the recording so it can be messed around with in premiere.
We ended up with 6 recordings to play around with next lesson.
When we have added the voice over to the edited footage we have so far, we will be almost finished.
GOOD STUFF :)



i gave you my heart. when we fall short, i know we'll be okay.
you're my forever, you’re my always. - oth. &rjt.

Editing (:

At the moment, we are in the process of editing our footage. We have uploaded all the stuff we filmed, cut it from 5 minutes down to 2 minutes and 26 seconds and began adding titles. We had difficulty with the titles and decided to remove them for the time being.

The footage then got converted to black and white, which made the movie seem more as we planned it. We had a small technical hitch as our computers needed updating, so this slowed down our editing for a while. When we started again, we added names of the four people involved; Robert Davis, Hayley Bignall, Emily Bacon, Jon Cooper.

The next part of editing is the part where we need to get the rose petals, post box and phone box to show up red. This is sort of a problem as the technician, Rob, isn't too sure about how to help us either.... I FINALLY DID THE TITLES!!! :) love Emily xx We began messing around with Premiere Elements and found it impossible to make only the rose petals, etc, red.

After messing around a bit more, we decided to put all of the opening in faded colour apart from the black and white flash backs. We then changed our mind and put the first two flash backs in colour to signify happier times with her fiancé, and the final flashback in black and white to signify him leaving for war, and sadness. Although now, we are having all flashbacks in black and white.

All thats left to do is add the sound, seeing as our visual editing is almost finished. We have to get hold of a copyright free plane sound, and some music which fits. We also need to record our voice over of the letter, which we have asked Eve to do.

We just downloaded Beethoven - moonlight sonata to place over our footage, and then we are almost finished.

(Y)

maybe you're here and life is really hard. maybe you've lost things in your life, those things that are really really painful. we know that probably everyone in this room lives with questions, things we're in the middle of, things that are resolving. we talk about complex issues, they're not simple, they're painful. and we dont wanna offer solutions or answers that are cheap. we've seen this really incredible thing begin to happen and we say the questions matter. the people who live with the questions, those people matter. - twloha

Filming (:

Okay so, on Thursday, Me & Emily went into Sutton to buy the costumes and props, etc. Then on Friday morning we went down Mansfield to buy the last dress. We met Jon, and came back home. I went home to fetch the tripod/script, while they went to Emily's house to get ready. At 3pm we met in the 'Canarvan Arms' pub carpark. We drove down to Teversal village in Emily's dad's car and off we went :)
So, on Friday 20th February we finally got to filming, after a few weeks of delay. We went near Teversal Manor to film under a tree, and in Teversal village to film the postbox scene. It went well to be honest, and we got done in less time than we thought.

To top it all off, I think I shouted 'THATS THE RAP' but i'm not actually sure! :)
Editing time soon :)
xxxx

you have such a pretty smile, it's a shame the things you hide behind it.

Status Update - Table (:

This table shows what we did as a group, and what I did separately. We all made our own table to show what we did, and what we were all included in. We did most things as a group, except for the analysis' and we have some blog entries which are different.
As the filming and editing progress, i'll update this table so you can see what was done by who :)

he said that you're just as boring as everyone else. nothing ever happens. things replace things. days replace days. she'll replace you.

Status Update x2 (:

So we havent yet decided on a font, but here are a few we have considered.
1) Christopher Hand
2) Journal
3) CurlyJoe
4) Jellyka - Nathaniel
5) Daisy Script
6) Inkburrow
7) Amienne
8) Brush Script MT
9) Edwardian Script
10) Freestyle Script
11) Kunstler Script
12) Lucida Handwriting
13) Mistral
14) Pristina
15) Rage Italic
16) Segeo Script
17) Vladimir Script - we chose this font, because it is in between numbers 4 and 11, which we liked best and couldnt decide on. This is sort of writing, but has a fancy edge which makes it look like text and not just scribble.














We also drew up a camera map in school, although my version of it includes the possible set change. Its not necessarily the exact plan, just a rough draft so you can see the basics.

as we grow up, we realise it becomes less important to have more friends, and more important to have real ones. - laguna beach

Status Update (:

So, basically, we had to change our plan. About 5 inches of snow arrived on the week before filming. School got shut on the thursday, and we couldnt get in on friday. This meant our filming had to be rearranged, due to silly weather conditions. We now have to find another day which suits all three of us, so we can continue our project.
We had a little hitch in planning, as we forgot the name of the place we were filming. We thought it was in Tibshelf. But after talking to Charlotte, who lives in Tibshelf, we realised it clearly wasnt. It's in TEVERSAL! (:
Our letter is written, and a copy of the script will be uploaded after filming. We need to type it up as it is hand written at the moment. This will be done asap, we promise (:
The buying of props is in progress. We still need a couple of roses, and the dresses are still in the shops. But they have been chosen. The hair and make-up will be done before we leave the house, so we dont have to take a tent or something, just so the actors look decent.
All our planning is done, and now we are just waiting for the snow to go away, and Valentines day to be over, because thats occupying this weekend. The half term sounds good though :)

inabit ;)

i cry when you leave because you are the one thing holding me together. and when you aren't here, i miss you.

Details (:

Cast/Crew

- Jenny - Emily.

- William - Jon.

- Camera man - Rob.

- Hair&Beauty Manager/Location Scout - Hayley.

Locations

- Tibshelf, Hill/Grassed area.

- Tibshelf, Town.

Hair&Beauty

- Straighteners/Curlers (Girls hair - Curly & gripped back at the front)

- Simple Make-up (Blusher, Base)

- Hair gel (Boys Comb over)

Props/Expenses.

- Girls outfit x2 (one for flashback)

- Boys outfit

- 2 Roses

- Pen, Paper, Envelope

sometimes its way easier to say you don't care than to explain all the reasons you do.

The Notebook - Analysis (:

Not truly a war/romance, but he does go to war, and so does she, so I'm doing it anyway (:! And, Can I just say, I love this film. It makes me cry every single time I watch it, without fail (:

The first thing we see, which immediately tells us we're watching a romance, is a sunset. The colours seem to run through the whole opening 2 minutes. The sepia effect is obviously used, as a hint of red is in the beginning, without too much of any other colour. The reflection of the sun in the water is beautiful. It could possibly suggest that love is beautiful, if it's found with the right person.
The sunset seems to involve yellows, oranges, blues and reds, whereas they go darker before only having a hint of red. The colours are simplistic. Nothing any brighter than a rusty red, possibly suggesting pain. It could also just simply be suggesting love.
Theres a person rowing across this river, in 6 shots to begin with. First, he's seen in a long shot from the back, rowing away from us. Then a mid shot, still rowing away. This is followed by a long shot from the side, then a mid from the side. His front is then finally seen in a long shot, then he is once again rowing from left to right in a long shot. This also allows the credits to appear on screen. They aren't added in a particularly amazing font. Its just plain white writing, showing the names of the cast, crew, and team, etc.
Doves are a common element in the first 2 minutes. They are the bird of love, like what you see on wedding invites, etc. This is another reason for the audience to know they're watching a romance. The rowing man reappears, going from left to right in a mid shot. Each shot of him has been separated with a fade, from one shot to another. It could possibly have been a dissolve, too.
For the first time, we see a white house. This could suggest fairytale, as in most fairytales the house is beautiful and white. Although, later in the movie, we find out it isn't a house. It's a home for the old woman. The two suggestions of love come together, towards the house. The rowing boat, and the dove's. They go forward, then a shot reverse shot is used to show the woman watching. She seems to be looking out and examining the river, in an over the shoulder shot.
The mid shot of the house returns, with an emphasis on the woman's figure in the upstairs window. This seems to be a point of view shot, as if the audience are in the head of the rower. Heading towards the house. The birds fly towards the house, reflecting in the window as we have a close up of the woman. The colour slowly starts to return, hinting blonde in her hair.
There isn't anything to suggest war just yet, but the flashbacks we see do. The movie is made up of living in the past of this couples life, so when going back in time its obvious that sooner or later the war is going to happen. Sorry, if this is rubbish.

& right there, for one minute, i forgot that you don't love me anymore.

Treatment - Storyboard (:

The most important bits of our movie are here in the storyboard. We had to make it atleast 20 boxes long, without a description for each. This is a better version of the first, because it was mostly stick people.

sorry, i'm a bad artist... again.

maybe we like the pain. maybe we're wired that way. because without it, maybe we just wouldn't feel real.

Shooting Schedule (:

This is the shooting schedule which we have agreed on, as a group. Looking forward to the filming of it, to be honest. It should be a good day spent in Tibby (:
But, we all know the best part of the day is going to be the end when i shout 'THAT'S THE RAP!' just cause they do it on 'mcfly; the making of transylvania' (:!

oh i swear this town gets smaller everyday. & i'm waiting for my chance. i'm going to break away. i'm so sick and tired of being told what's good for me. people seem to have a lot of ideas of who i'm supposed to be.

Shot List (:

Title: Lady In Waiting.
Director: Robert, Emily & Hayley.
Date: 23/01/09

Shot #: 1
Duration: 3 seconds
Notes ; Opening shot of the sky. Sound effects of planes flying overhead.
Cast ; N/A
Camera Angle ; Wide angle shot, worms eye.
Camera Moves ; None.

Shot #: 2
Duration: 10 seconds
Notes ; Tilt to grass blowing in the wind, music and handwritten titles appear. Slow music begins to play.
Cast ; N/A
Camera Angle ; Camera is on the floor, level with grass. Long shot.

Shot #: 3
Duration: 3 seconds
Notes ; Tilt up to see the girl sat on the hill, writing a letter to her lover.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Long shot.
Camera Moves ; Tilt at the beginning.

Shot #: 4
Duration: 3 seconds
Notes ; Close up of her looking over the hill, wind blowing her hair.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Close up.
Camera Moves ; N/A.

Shot #: 5
Duration: 5 seconds
Notes ; Close up of him giving her roses.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Long shot.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 6
Duration: 2 seconds
Notes ; Close up of her face.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Close up.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 7
Duration: 7 seconds
Notes ; Long shot of her saying goodbye to him, as he leaves for war.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Long shot.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 8
Duration: 7 seconds
Notes ; Over the shoulder shot of her writing the letter, folding it, placing it in an envelope & putting in rose petals.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Over the shoulder.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 9
Duration: 10 seconds
Notes ; Skip to her walking through a quiet town.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Long shot – Mid shot.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 10
Duration: 5 seconds
Notes ; Shot reverse shot of her walking through a small town.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Mid shot – Long shot.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 11
Duration: 4 seconds
Notes ; Over the shoulder of her posting the letter (Red colour is shown to represent death & love)
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Over the shoulder.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 12
Duration: 2 seconds
Notes ; Close up of her face as she sighs
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Close up.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 13
Duration: 10 seconds
Notes ; Shot of her walking into the distance. Voice over ends. Music volume increases.
Cast ; Still in casting.
Camera Angle ; Long Shot.
Camera Moves ; N/A

Shot #: 14
Duration: 7 seconds
Notes ; Fade to black. Movie title is written.
Cast ; N/A
Camera Angle ; N/A
Camera Moves ; N/A

take my hand across the slippery ice. i promise we'll make it. & if we don't, we'll just go down together - rjt.

Film Treatment (:

Storyboard for the opening (not final, just my ideas.)

Worst artist ever, sorry.

Treatment
The film starts with the sky, and the sound of planes going by. A girl, wearing an old fashioned dress, is writing a letter to her lover at war, and is sat on a hill/cliff. Her hair is blowing in the wind as she places the letter in an envelope accompanied by rose petals. We see flashbacks of her recieving the roses from her fiancé and then their goodbye. The rose petals are the only colour in the movie so far as the rest of the footage is in black and white. She starts walking into a quiet town, to post the letter in which she hopes to get a good reply. She then walks home into the distance.

We cut to the girl, who is then sweeping at home, when she hears a knock on the door. She opens the door to see a man with a letter addressed to her. The letter informs her that her fiancé has died at war. She then sits on a chair, with her knees pulled tightly into her chest and sobs her heart out over her loss. She feels so alone, knowing that nobody will ever make her feel the way he did, and knowing that she wouldn’t want them too. He was perfect, in her opinion, and nobody in the world would change that, even if he was dead.

Two weeks pass, where we see that she doesn’t move from the chair. She is in shock, from the whole incident and doesn’t feel like living without him anymore. She cries endlessly, hoping that one day the misery ends, and somebody saves her from it. Her friend who’s husband is off at war comes to visit, and persuades her to go out for a drink or two the next night. Jenny agrees, and prays that this is the help she asked for.

On Friday the 13th, the most unluckiest day possible, she’s out and about late at night and bumps into a man, who seems well to do. Her friend ushers her away, and leaves to give Jenny a chance. The man treats her nicely, offers her a drink in the nearby pub, and offers her a room with him for the night. She says no, of course, because she’s still grieving. The man doesn’t take to kindly to her rejection and pushes her out of the pub. His uniform clearly states that he’s a soldier, and his accent that he isn’t English. As he pushes her into the back alleyway, he proceeds to undo his trousers, and push up her dress. She gets raped. Just as she thought she had no chance of escape, a man comes to her rescue. He hits the man, and hurries Jenny off home. He sits with her all night while she calms down, and promises that he won‘t let this go unnoticed. He takes a shine to her, but keeps his distance so not to frighten her away. He leaves late that night, and checks on her daily for two weeks. He takes her flowers on a regular basis, and she can feel herself falling for him.

They become serious, but she doesn’t have the heart to tell him about her previous lover. After being together for a short amount of time, he proposes to her. She's madly in love with him, although its a different type of love than what she felt for her previous fiancé. She doesn’t feel like he's as perfect for her as her first true love was. While deciding who she wants, and whether she can live with the guilt, she visits her dead fiancé's grave. She sits for hours on end, talking to the gravestone that she picked herself. Despite the fact that its been a month or so, she isn’t over him. She never will be. She sheds a few more tears while trying to decide who to choose, but comes to a conclusion which she can live with.

She runs home, pleased with herself for figuring this out. Skipping down the road effortlessly, playing with the flowers on the bushes as she goes, picking one or two for a vase at home. She runs through the door, shuts it with a bang, grabbing the attention of her lover. His face looks confused, she hasn’t been this happy in ages. Jenny takes his hand, and announces that she wishes to accept his proposal. His face lights up, as he pecks her lips and hugs her tightly. A fake smile is pasted across her face, as a rush of guilt comes over her. What has she done? She isn’t ready for this. She loves William, She won’t forget him.

Within minutes, the news travels around the town. Its spread by a delighted man, who can’t contain his excitement for the future. Jenny is happy, sure she is, deep down. The congratulations come in like buses, as soon as one person arrives, ten more do to. A week passes quickly, many people visiting everyday.

We cut to different parts of the planning, when she’s trying on her dress, organising flowers, etc. In the middle of planning, she falls ill, and a doctor is called. The doctor does many tests, taking her temperature, weighing her, and measuring her. He confirms she is pregnant, meaning that her husband to be is over the moon. She isn't too sure, but puts on a brave face anyway, just to secure his happiness.

8 months pass, as the planning is still underway. They have to postpone the wedding, due to the war getting worse. This draws her attention back to her dead lover. This creates the feeling of guilt back in her belly. This makes her unsure about what to do. As the news of the war becomes old news, the couple decide to get married as soon as possible. Jenny starts to feel safe within the situation and the happiness her fiancé provides her with.

As the war dies down, their wedding is full steam ahead. Jenny’s belly is huge due to how far gone she is. We see a shot of the church, then another one inside, revealing her child which has just been born after the ceremony. He's beautiful, healthy, and has his fathers eyes.

We see the happy family getting settled at home, even though the girls previous fiancé plays on her mind. She still loves him, even after all this time. She feels a bit psychic, as a knock is heard at the door. Her true love is at the door, which shocks her hugely. They have a moment in which they hug, and don't let go. They are interrupted by her new husband, who doesn't understand what is going on. She can't bear to explain, so runs away leaving the two men to talk. She goes upstairs to bed to think over what is happening, and what it is that her heart wants.

The door closes downstairs, as her lover leaves to seek shelter in a sensible place overnight. She pretends to be asleep as her husband comes to bed, but doesn’t put his arm around her like usual. As his snoring echoes around the room, she pulls on her dress, and leaves the room. She goes to pick up the baby which she has learnt to love dearly, even though the father isn't the person she loves more than anything in this world.

She goes downstairs and closes the door behind her, not looking back at the life she's leaving behind. She starts walking to where she assumes her lover would have gone. She's right. As she realises how close her happy ending is, she runs into the night, in search of her one true love. She goes down a path, leading to the pub near where she got raped. The memories come flooding back, we see flashes of the images on screen.

He's outside, staring at the stars, almost certain she'd end up coming back to him. He hears footsteps approaching, and tilts his head slightly to the left, confused. He turns to face the person coming towards him, as a delighted grin creeps onto his face. Right at that very moment, for them the universe realigns, the stars shine brighter and the moon smiles. The war is over and all is right with the world.


everyone has someone in their life that keeps them looking forward to another day. -rjt.

Mise en scéne, etc (:

The setting of our media project is going to, first, be a hill/cliff where the girl is writing a letter to her lover. Then it is going to be a small, old, village. An idea for the village is in Teversal. This place seems to fit the idea of a war time movie. There is also a letterbox, which can easily help with our filming. It fits the plan we have perfectly, and can make our work just that bit simpler.

Finding WWI and WWII clothing was difficult, as most of the clothing is expensive if it's authentic clothes. We looked on ebay, google, vintage clothing sites, etc, for ideas on what our character may wear. We imagine her in a dress, rather than high waisted shorts and a blouse. Most of the dresses in this time period were made of solid colour, rather than a patterned fabric.

The lighting of the project, isn't going to be too important. Hopefully we'll film on a sunny day, although it may seem more realistic to have dark, gloomy lighting to suggest how awfully polluted the air would be due to the bombs, etc. The footage is going to be filmed in black & white, though, so the lighting won't be as visible as it would if we were filming in colour.

Music in in the 1930's was jazzy, and happy, so it gave people inspiration, and something to cheer them up, unlike nowadays. The popular kind of music was jazz. The main instruments were piano, clarinet, saxophone, and trumpet. (http://library.thinkquest.org/5255/1930s/1930introduction.html)

Maybe, if the music was like that now, the world wouldn't be so awful? If people actually believed that everything would get better because of the inspirational happy music.

Music of the 1940's was called "Big Band Swing" Trumpets, Bass, Piano, Saxaphone, and Singers were common.(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_musical_instruments_were_used_in_the_1940's).

she needs a reason to drive far away from here. she's memorized the roads and all the people she'd rather leave behind.

Intro (:

So, I didn't exactly write an introduction about what I'm doing this blog for. It's basically for my media coursework, to keep you up to date with how my media work is going. Our task is to film a 2 minute opening to a movie, the genre is our choice, everything is our choice.
Robert, Emily and I have chosen to work on a War/Romance film, which can be edited in a way which will show many techniques. We plan to use a productive set, which can accomodate the needs of our filming. Both diagetic and non-diagetic sound, in the form of enhancement, voice overs and simple rustling of the grass below. We'll use cutting techniques, mostly just simple cuts because time won't be passing very fast. The only time we may use a fade in or out is when the woman stands, after writing the letter, and leaves. We'll use match on action, when doing over the shoulder shots, mid front shots, and long shots, etc. We could also use parallel editing, to show the girl writing the letter, and the man off at war. The only problem then, is that we can't use footage recorded by another source. Damn.
I'm hoping you won't get too bored with whats going on.. lol? but i'm mainly going to type stuff about my media lesson, but maybe a bit about my life? Who knows. One thing I do find it important to write, is how much I can't wait to learn to drive, It's not really important to you, but it is to me :) And how much I'm looking forward to the future, and being away from here.
Anyway, enjoy (:

we're just teenage kids with dreams that are just too big.

Research - Cold Mountain (:

The first two minutes of Cold Mountain, consists firstly of the advertisements. A voice over comes in at 28 seconds, when the credits are still moving. Her accent is easy to distinguish as American, and she's probably from Tennessee. It sounds as though she is reading a letter because she says she's counted days, weeks, months but nothing anymore, just the hope that somebody will come back to her. There is water on screen, like in a river when the water twirls around, with a faint mountain in the background, possibly reflected. This instantly portrays the title with one simple image.

Violins kick in, as the water ripples out and the mountain disappears behind the title text. The editing includes fade out, when the water disappears, and a fade in when the men come into focus. We see a barrel rolling along the floor, which was probably filmed by a tracking shot.

Plain white, common text appears, setting the scene without an actual establishing shot. The place, which shows what the writing says, is dark, cramped and dirty. The men look as if they're working really hard for something that isn't really worth it. Their clothes suggest that the men are, more than likely, poor and forced into this hard labour. When a mouse appears on screen, this also suggests that they can't live in truly awful conditions because animals can survive there too. Even though, mice are vermin.

Outside is shown with a low, pan shot. A rabbit seems to catch the attention of the camera, and get followed to where the war camp can be seen. The mise en scéne suggests a dark time, not only in the day, but more importantly for humanity. The war's never solved anything, so they put a dullness over the world. The reason for the dark, gloomy day may also be from the bombs which are being dropped, and clouding up the atmosphere.

The field which the rabbit is followed through, seems a mess. This may represent what war is, not just a way to solve nothing and kill lots of innocent people, but a mess. As the camp comes into view more words, in the same font and colour, come up on screen. The text says that people are waiting attack, already suggesting that this film is going to be more about war than romance.


never say goodbye. because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.
- peter pan.

What makes a war/romance? (:

Narratives:
- The man usually ends up going to war, with his wife or fiancé left at home without him. She mostly misses him and tries to contact him in some way or form, meaning she either gets a good reply or bad news.
- Another common storyline is when the woman see's another man that grabs her attention, she debates between the men.
- The woman could possibly be working at war, as a nurse, and find love in a soldier who is injured, etc.

Settings:
- World War I
- World War II
- England, end of the war.

Stock Characters:
- Woman playing the wife, fiancé, love interest.
- Man playing a Soldier, love interest for a nurse?
- Male love interest for the Woman when her husband/lover is at war.

Iconography:
- Guns
- Bombs
- Planes
- Soppy Music?

Films:
- Cold Mountain
- The End of the Affair
- The Christmas Card
- Ride with the Devil
- A Very Long Engagement
- To Have or Have Not
- Crash Dive
- Australia
- Ballad of a Soldier
- The Notebook

Box Office:
- Casablanca - $1,719,913
- Cold Mountain - $173,013,509
- The Notebook - $115,603,229
- Australia - $151,352,928


Editing Techniques:
- Black & White
- Sepia
Both representing an old time movie.
- Non diagetic music - love songs.

Audience:
General audience, evoking feelings in all of the viewers. Possibly mainly for female because male's aren't interested in soppy love stories, usually.

This research has made me see that our film doesnt have to include guns, bombs, planes, etc, in the first few minutes in which the scene is set. They don't need to be included because ours is more of a love story rather than a war movie. It's set in war time, but doesn't actually involve the war as such. We need to use black and white to suggest to the audience that it's set in old time England, rather than nowadays, Because we don't plan on making fake explosions to connote war.

don't be so quick to judge me. you only see what i choose to show.

Film opening plan, So far... (:

So, we have decided on a genre for our Coursework. In the beginning, we were going to film a Sci-Fi Rom Com but that idea seemed a bit too difficult to fit into just 2 minutes of footage. Robert & I began thinking about using a Twilight idea and including vampires, but as i said, this seemed too far fetched. When we finally got talking properly, we decided on doing a War Romance.

Our main characters were going to be Sophie and James but after researching old names, they didn't seem appropriate. So we are going to be using Jenny and William. Jenny starts by sitting on a cliff/hill writing William a letter seeing as he is off at war. The letter is then read as a voice over which we'll put on top during editing. The only colour that will be seen in the filming is going to be red. Jenny puts rose petals in the envelope that she's sending to William which represents love and possibly blood. We see her walking through the town to post the envelope to William, after we see her sat writing the letter that she's reading out loud.

The only shot which we have discussed in detail, at the moment, is the camera being in the grass at the beginning. The grass will be swaying in the wind, the camera will tilt upwards and zoom in on Jenny, possibly the letter too.


we live for a better tomorrow, but what if tomorrow isn't any better than today?

Research Practice - Woman In Black (:

In class we analysed the start of the film 'Woman In Black'. The directors didn't stick to the 2 minute guideline that we have to for our coursework. The opening started with text, then went on to about 2 minutes worth of acting, before the scene was set.

The text is plain, with a simple black background. The text connotes gravestone's or death from the font. This suggests the audience may be older because it is basic and easy to understand at the beginning. Smog and shadows seem to float across the text, suggesting the film is going to be mysterious and a general thriller. The music is eerie and seems to be made up of woodwind instruments, giving the high pitched suspense music.

The opening camera shot simply shows the setting of the film. The camera pan's to get the main character in view. The shadows are used in a way which could suggest a thriller genre, although with the sun being low in the morning, it may just be a coincidence. The shot from behind the railings immediately connotes a cage or being locked in with no escape. This could be a point of view shot, as the camera is at eye level, looking out and watching from the character. The audience then get the idea that he may be being watched, this puts them on edge right from the start.


she talks about you like you put the stars in the sky.