19th January 2011

At this point, we have edited about a minute and a half of our film. Progress is not as going as fast as we initially hoped it would, but since we have already started the editing and we have all the footage that we need, we are not concerned about how long this will take. However, whole we were aware of how long the editing process takes, we did not realise that it would take this long.

12th January 2011

Again, we concentrated on the first edit of our film. So far, we are finding Final Cut Press ok, but it is quite a pedantic program and it can be a little frustrating at times.

Below is a list of the things that need to be done:
- Finish first scene
- Finish second scene
- Finish third scene
- Finish fourth scene
- Do End credits
- Find music for end credits (copyrighting is an issue)
- Make hallucinations black and white - Make Lucas' voice more spooky (experiment with sound FX on FCP)
- Make Roxanne’s voice sound like a phone call (experiment with sound FX on FCP)
- Tighten up editing
- Figure out how to fade black and white into colour when Lucy answers the phone
- Dub a phone ringing over Lucy's ringtone?
- Do fade transitions
- Sort out sound (delete sound where we don’t need it, make sure sound is in sync with footage)
- Export and audience feedback (film audience feedback)

5th January 2011

Now that we had finished both our poster and our radio advert, it was time to concentrate on the first edit of the actual film as our teacher decided that the best time to finish the first edit was straight after Half Term. However, we have already edited some of the film already (due to the fact that when we were unable to use some of the equipment when we wanted to, so we started editing our film so make use of the time), so this deadline of after Half Term is easily achievable.

In terms of analysing full-lentgh feature films, we chose 'Donnie Darko' and 'Memento'.

'Donnie Darko' (2001)
This film applies to our film a lot because it tells the story of Donnie Darko, a teenager is plagued by Frank, a hallucination that takes the form of a demonic rabbit. Frank proceeds to threaten everything in Donnie's life while no one seems to believe him; Gretchen is one of the few people with whom Donnie can divulge his visions. This is largely similar to our film, however we have chosen to use a person to plague Lucy to make it slightly easier for us and we feel that if we used something like a demonic rabbit, it would take away from the thriller aspect of the film and would make it more comedic.

'Memento' (2000)
One thing that we decided to take from this film is the use of black and white footage and colour and how they are used to distinguish between past events and present events. We thought that this was very effective, and we would use this to show the difference between Lucy's hallucinations and reality. We also liked the way that the plot is jumbled up, but I don't think that this would work with our film; I don't think that we would be able to use it effectively within 5 minutes without it becoming very confusing.

15th December 2010

This week, we chose a photo from our most recent shoot and made the poster. We were able to make the poster relatively quickly because we are used to using Adobe Photoshop, as we both used it last year for our coursework and we both use it in our spare time.















(Click the poster to see a full-sized version)

We decided a dark theme would be the most appropriate for the genre of the film, so we used black to add a dark edge to the poster and used white for the text to make it stand out.
the high camera angle worked well for us, as it made the character look vunerable, and the acting of Hayley was excellent, as she looks genuinely scared and looked 'trapped' by the fence by the way she is holding onto it.
We focused on the eye, seeing as it is an occuring theme in this genre of film; 2 of the film posters were looked at emphasised the eye, and the brightness of the eye contrasts against Hayley's pale skin.
Overall, we are pleased with the poster; we think that it reflects the grene well, it gives just right amount of plot away without giving away too much, and it looks professional.

8th December 2010

We decided to have a final go at our photos for the poster, and these ones turned out well. Again, we decided to do exterior shots, considering the fact that most of the film is shot outside. We didn't think that using the same costume and location as in the poster was important and the exterior of the photo isn't that important, and most of the time on film posters, the costume isn't the same as it is in the actual film. Despite this, we decided to use a costume that was similar to create the same dark and hostile vibe as the film.
Below is a link to the album: http://s1143.photobucket.com/albums/n621/rosies13/Mind%20Trap%20-%20Poster%20Shoot%203/

1st December 2010

Because of the snow, we were unable to use the facilities at school and were unable to take the photos for the poster. However, this is not a complete disaster, as this has not made us behind schedule.

After we returned to school, we were able to have a porduction meeting to analyse the situation.

24th November 2010

The second shoot, although in focus, also didn't really reflect our genre. Again, these photos look more like they belong to a mystery film rather than a psychological thriller. Even though shooting against a white background would make it easier to edit, we decided that the gloomy weather would help reflect the kind of sombre look we are trying to achieve.

Below is a link to the album:
http://s1143.photobucket.com/albums/n621/rosies13/Mind%20Trap%20-%20Poster%20Shoot%202/

17th November 2010

This week, Hayley and I wrote the completed for our radio advert. We decided that we would confrom to some conventions of a radio advert, but we would keep it largely enigmatic.
The conventions that we confromed to are:
- Keep it short.
- Give an insight into plot, but not too much.
- Include things that might attract people to see it e.g. actors that are staring in it.
- Include relevant information e.g. certificate, date of release, etc.
- Using a male voice as the announcer.

Our brainstorm of ideas on the radio advert are below:



















The script and the completed radio advert are shown below:

Mind Trap - Radio Advert Script

10th November 2010

Before the shoot, we brainstormed some ideas about our poster:


















The photos we took in the park on the 3rd November didn't come out as well as we planned, so we plan to take some more later. They were not in focus properly; this is disappointing as the shots were good, but I wasn't very experienced at taking photos using an SLR camera. These are shown below.
However, we did a rough edit of our radio advert and we have also started editing our film on Final Cut.

Below is a link to the album with the photos in: http://s1143.photobucket.com/albums/n621/rosies13/Mind%20Trap%20-%20Poster%20Shoot%201/

3rd November 2010

We managed to film everything we needed over the half term, but when we got back to school, we realised that some of the things we shot need to be reshot. Also, we may need to shoot some more content, e.g. some more shots of Lucy running, more close ups, etc.
We have arranged a third day of shooting with our Lucas actor and asked him to wear the same costume as he did before to help with continuity. We have also borrowed the same flip camera and tripod, as well as an SLR camera to take some photos for our poster. We originally planned to use a normal digital camera for our poster photos, but this will cause problems as our photos would not be as good as with an SLR camera. For my coursework last year, I tried to get away with using my digital camera, but, even though my digital camera is a good quality and has 12.2mpx, the pictures we not supported by Adobe InDesign properly. This time, in order to create the best poster possible, we have no option but to use an SLR camera.

29th October 2010

Day 2 of filming:
We managed to film all we needed to today, which included all the exterior footage. The weather was a bit of an issue; although the lack of sun was good for filming, it did mean that it was quite cold and we less enthusiastic about filming than we were yesterday, which was in a warm house. However, we were able to film all the parts with Lucas in and all the exterior shots.
I think that we could have gone to film earlier in the day when the park was less busy (despite the fact that it wasn't that busy because of the weather), but we didn't mind that a few people were in the background; it added to the sense of realism and that the world still carries on around Lucy, despite her being stuck in her own world.
When Roxanne calls Lucy, we had originally planned to have an extreme close-up on the phone so that the audience would know that it was Roxanne calling her, but we were unable to due to the fact that the sunlight reflected off the phone and it was difficult to see. In the end, we abandoned this idea and setlled for Lucy answering the phone and then Roxanne's voice dubbed over a pause.
Hopefully, we now have enough footage and we don't need to refilm any parts. But if we have to, it shouldn't be a problem because we have borrowed the tripod and camera for a little while longer and we have plenty of time.

28th October 2010

Earlier on in the week, we finished our storyboard (a picture of which is below):









Day 1 of filming:
We decided to shoot over two days so that we wouldn't have any issues with lighting because of the fact that it gets dark early at this time of the year. We also decided that we would film at my house because it is closest to Crystal Palace Park, and we planned to use this park for the exterior filming. Also, my parents were happy to let us film in my house.
Because of the fact that my bedroom is laid out in a strange way, there were times where room for the tripod was an issue, however, other than that and some laughing issues, the shoot went well. We had no option but to use a flip camera because we wanted to get the filming done during half term, and the new cameras won't be arriving until January. We decided to sacrifice a crisper picture for being on schedule, which I think was a good idea as others would want to use the cameras at the same time, so it would less of a strain on the staff in the Media Resources Centre if we got our filming over and done with. Also, it means that we have more time to ensure the editing is as good as we can make it, and - bearing in mind the Media Resources Centre only has two Macs - it means that not everyone wants to use the Macs for editing at the same time.
We managed to film all the interior shots today, which was good as it meant that all we had to tomorrow was film the exterior parts. Below are some photos of us filming:

Mind Trap - Filming Evidence