Film Experience || Howl

So I was back using iMovie this weekend and decided to finish one of my videos which has taken a long time to finish (considering the fact that I started it at the beginning of November). This was supposed to also be a creepy video - a lot like 'Dystopia' - and I think achieved that by using a small supply of clips from different films. 

Hope you guys enjoy!

Film Experience || Sail

Anyone who has seen my blog will know that I am a big fan of the Maze Runner series and what better way for me to show that than to make a video for it. I'm learning new things on editing with iMovie every time I use it and hopefully will be getting some more new editing software soon! Compared to my other videos this probably seems quite short but it took a while to edit. I put a layer over the top of this (like I did in my previous video 'Dystopia') which can be read as:

LVL 8 WCKD PERSONNEL ONLY

MISSION DEBRIEFING

 I hope that you enjoy the video!

Film Experience || Media Team

As part of the media crew at school I have been helping make videos for the school.

Jess, Katriona and myself first filmed the advertisement for the school production of 'Bugsy Malone':

Next, the media team filmed and edited the amusing Children In Need video for our school's assembly to raise money. The whole of the media team filmed on this production and it was a real chance for us all to work together on a film for the first time. Jess and Katriona edited and it turned out really well:

Auditioning

Recently I conducted auditions for my characters in my opening sequence. It was extremely difficult decision but I can happily announce the results:

ROWENA HEMLOCK

Emily Thomas

SKADI STORMBORN

Harriet Firth

ALYS WEST

Georgia Bowman

So there we have it! My cast is official and now it's back to the drawing board to finish the preparation for filming!

Music for 'Black Sands'

So, now I have finished my script and storyboard I've started working on the music I am going to use for 'Black Sands'.

I've been looking for creepy, dark, calm yet mysterious music (such as the music below) but I know that a lot of music is copyrighted (such as the one below by Adrian Von Ziegler). So it has been a bit of a struggle to find music.

So after what seemed like an age of searching for copyright free music on different websites, I finally found some contenders!

Legend of Styk
(to listen to this watch the video below from 10:34 - 12:59)

Apocalypse by 'heroboard - No Copyright Music'
(to listen to this watch the video below from 25:35 - 28:50)

'Black Sands' Risk Assessment

Today I decided that I would consider the risks to my production of the opening two minutes for my short-film 'Black Sands'.

Description of risk	Possible consequences	Probability of the risk	Severity of risk	Overall risk	Contingency plan
Actor forgetting lines	Start filming the scene again	5/10	2/10	6/10	Show cast the script before filming
Falling in the river	Getting wet/drowning	4/10	9/10	6/10	Stay away from the river and watch where you step
Someone slipping over	Getting hurt/breaking something	5/10	7/10	7/10	Try and keep off wet ground and watch where you step
Disturbing members of the public	Public being slightly confused or annoyed	2/10	1/10	1/10	Try and be quiet and unobtrusive
Camera running out of battery	Not being able to film	5/10	7/10	6/10	Take a spare battery or a portable charger
Actor being ill on the day	Not having a character for filming	5/10	4/10	5/10	Make sure actors are well (if they aren’t schedule shoot for another day)
Weather being bad (rain)	Getting wet, not getting the lighting	5/10	2/10	3/10	Take rain coats, umbrellas and protective sheets for the camera equipment
Camera/equipment being damaged	Not being able to film, paying for the damage	2/10	9/10	3/10	Keep an eye on the equipment
Falling down old/crumbly steps	Getting hurt/breaking something	3/10	6/10	4/10	Watch where we step
Being attacked by geese/swans	Being bitten or attacked	4/10	6/10	4/10	Keep away from the geese/swans

Dystopian Films And Film Idents

01. Maze Runner: Scorch Trials
After having escaped the Maze, the Gladers now face a new set of challenges on the open roads of a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.

- Gotham Hill
- Temple Hill Entertainment
- 20th Century Fox


02. Mad Max: Fury Road
A woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in post apocalyptic Australia in search for homeland with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max.

- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Village Roadshow Pictures


03. Tomorrowland: A World Beyond
Bound by a shared destiny, a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former-boy genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory

- Walt Disney Pictures


04. Interstellar
A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an attempt to ensure humanity's survival

- Legendary Pictures
- Paramount Pictures
- Warner Bros. Pictures

05. V for Vendetta
In a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of 'V', plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman

- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Virtual Studios
- Silver Pictures
- VERTIGO DC Comics
- Anarchos Productions


06. The Lobster
 In a dystopian future, single people, according to laws of the City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.

- Film4


07. The Maze Runner
Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow 'runners' for a shot at escape.

- Gotham Group
- Temple Hill Entertainment
- TSG Entertainment
- 20th Century Fox


08. The Hunger Games
Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games, a televised competition in which two teenagers from one of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death

- Color Force
- Lionsgate


09. Watchmen
In an alternate 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering something that could completely change the course of history as we know it.

- Legendary Pictures
- DC Comics
- Lawrence Gordon Productions
- Warner Bros Productions
- Paramount Pictures


10. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Katniss Everdeen is District 13 after she shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by courage

- Color Force
- Lionsgate

Click here for the IMDb page

'Black Sands' Script

So I finally finished my script for my film opening, 'Black Sands'.

It's taken about a month to write because I have been working slowly on my storyboard to figure out what my characters are saying. 

Here it is:

ROWENA:

I feel the grass beneath my feet, the emerald leaves quiver and the scent of summer blooms wisp across the breeze. The chattering laugh of children playing in the cool stream is close by, the sunlight catching in their hair and daisy chains hanging round their wrists and necks. 

[PAUSE]

If only.

My name is Rowena Hemlock, I’m seventeen years old and I killed my mother. She died at my hands, and I’ll never forget that. It’s been twenty-three years since the apocalypse, leaving the world in awe of a new ice age. Seventeen years of eternal winter and, throughout my life, I have never seen daylight with my own eyes. 

You wouldn’t recognise the world we live in now. It’s a ruined wasteland, plagued by disease. Plagued by the Broken, a maddening race that will one day consume the world. They were once humans…no more. Now we’re the only hope of mankind and I haven’t seen another clan in six years…

ALYS:

Where’s my brother? 

[TURNS TO ROWENA]

Where’s Nimrod?

ROWENA:

He’s gone to Black Sands…

Film Experience - Dystopia

My newest edited film!

I am still getting to grips to grips with the film editing software on my laptop but I think this is an improvement from my last one. I have put another layer over this film which you can see which I created myself from another film. 

Please comment!

Film Company Idents

Film idents are a way of identifying the channel or film production company whilst you are watching a film or television programme. Some examples can be seen below:

1. Twentieth Century Fox

2. Warner Bros

3. 2 | Entertain

4. Dreamworks

5. Walden Media

6. Bad Hat Harry

To look at these in more detail I would recommend that you visit this playlist.

After looking at these film idents I have started thinking about my own film company ident. I always use a particular name when I make videos for the school but I don't know if I'll keep that or not.

I noticed that the film idents above are effective but simple. This showed me that you don't want your film ident to be too complicated - or too long for that matter. You also don't want to chuck every single effect you have on your computer into it as it would look awful and be way too complicated for the viewers. Something that also occurred to me is that you mustn't have too weird a noise in the background. When I was younger I used to be terrified of the THX sound - hiding behind the sofa. So, even though this film opening is going to be rated 15 (just to be safe) I don't want some creepy film ident that would freak anyone out.

Black Sands Storyboard

It's here!

My storyboard idea for my film opening 'Black Sands'!