Behind the scenes day 3

Filmed by: group
Edited by: Eman Al Sulaiti

Behind the scenes day 4

Filmed by: Nour Mohamad Ali, Ramsha Nasir, Sasha Castillo
Editing by: Sasha Castillo

Behind the Scenes: Day 2

Although I was not able to be here on this day of filming, my team made it feel as if I was by including me throughout their journey throughout their day of filming. They took many videos behind the scenes in order to show the process of what its like when the cameras aren't rolling or what doesn't get cut into the film.

Filmed by: Group
Edited by: Eman Al Sulaiti

Behind the Scenes: Day 1

For day 1, we filmed in the boxing ring therefore we placed a camera in a position where all movement could be seen and all progress of filming and acting could be tracked throughout the full time we filmed.

Filmed by: Group
Edited by: Sasha Castillo

Communication

This is the communication between us four in order to be able to coordinate and make plans to be able to film certain scenes. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it however the girls proceeded without me in order to film what was needed and kept me involved in the process.

Production Schedule

Credits to Nour Mohamad Ali

	Production Schedule
Day	Location	Description
13 November 2016	QGym	Film boxing scenes
23 November 2016	School	Editing boxing scenes
09 December 2016	Ramsha’s house	Film scenes with mother
12 December 2016 9 January 2017-6 February 2017	School School	Edit scenes with mother Put entire film together and in order

Casting Choices

BoxerlProtagonist: Eman Al Sulaiti
Mother: Keyona
Other boxer: Nour Ali
Referee: Ramsha Nasir
Coach: Jacob Gay
Child: Eman's sister

Plot summary

"Our film revolves around a female boxer who has overcome an unfortunate past. The boxer was raised by her mother, as her father had passed away in her early years; her mothers years of mourning had turned her into a bitter, abusive parent. Upon discovering the realm of professional boxing, the girl became enthralled and would one day have her debut fight; that day is the present in which the film is set. On the day of her televised match, her mother contacts her in the first time in years under the guise of a caring, guilty mother who would do anything to clear to her conscience, the mother tries persistently to become a pat of her daughters life, only to exploit the luxuries of her success. The daughter is shocked at seeing her mothers phone number on her phone screen on the day of her match - and memories of their past plague her. She is faced with making the decision of turning her mother away: shutting her out once again; or to accept her, along with her abusive nature - which would be extremely detrimental to her and the world she has spent her years building."

Written by: Eman Al Sulaiti

Shot List

Credits to Eman Al Sulaiti

BBFC Ratings

15 – Suitable only for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a 15 rated video work.
 

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language.
 

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail). The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting.
 

Language

There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification.

Nudity

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. There may be nudity in a sexual context but usually without strong detail.
 

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Threat

There may be strong threat and horror. A sustained focus on sadistic or sexual threat is unlikely to be acceptable.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but the depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.

Location Planning

Credits to group work

Makeup Moodboard

Credits to Nour Mohamad Ali

Film Title Analysis

For our first option, we have a simple block screen with big bold red letters. This would be an effective film title as in the film opening, red is a symbolic colour. The big bold letters emphasise on dramatic powerful effect, and leave little to the imagination as it makes a statement.


For our second option, we have a cloudy black and white background with detailed letters on top. I believe this is the most effective film title because it is dramatic and symbolises the dramatic life the young girl in our film opening goes through. I think this whole combination of detailed letters and a dark, gloomy, depressing background is effective in the way it shows our movie title while also including symbolism.


For our last option, we have a video type of film title screening, where a person walks across the screen and the film title appears. Although this is creative, I don't believe it pairs with our movie well as it would seem less dramatic and dark compared to the previous two. I believe that with the other two options a statement is created and it somewhat foreshadows the plot of the movie with its dark features. This option simply states the movie title in a creative yet not effective way.

Production Company Logo



Our production company logo is as shown above. It is a black background with a roll of film with the word 'JCENA' printed in bold letters, and under it sits 'productions.' We made the logo as follows to make it seem very elegant yet simple. The logo makes a statement yet is not too much. I like our logo a lot and believe it is an accurate representation of our work: elegant and sharp.



Credits to Ramsha Nasir

Film rough draft + Practice shots

Workload shared between Ramsha Nasir, Nour Mohamad Ali, Eman Al Sulaiti, and myself.

Film Title Draft

Credits to Ramsha Nasir

Test Shots

Filming: Sasha Castillo & Ramsha Nasir
Editing: Eman Al Sulaiti

Black Heaven - Costume Making

Al credits to Eman Al Sulaiti

Storyboard

Drawing credits to: Nour Mohamad Ali and Eman Al Sulaiti

Editng: Groupwork

Props Planning

Credits to: groupwork



Genre Mindmap



Credits to: Groupwork

Costume Planning



Credits to Eman Al Sulaiti

Moodboard



Audience Research - Questionnaire



All in all, our questionnaire proved our primary beliefs to be true and allowed us to continue with our original idea of the film.

Make Up Video

Before we began shooting, I decided to test make upon the protagonist of the film, Eman, in order to make sure we knew what we were doing and to make the appearance as realistic as possible and add on to the costume and ambience of the film. Practicing the make up beforehand allowed us to save ourselves time and cut to the chase when we began filming as we knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

Make up: Sasha Castillo
Filming: Ramsha Nasir
Editing: Eman Al Sulaiti

Audience Research — Focus Group

This is our video interviewing a few students after having them watch two film openings. Every student chose their favourite and having chosen their favourite we had them answer questions based on what they watched. From this task I learned more about what our audience is looking for in order to catch their attention and keep them hooked on the film. Nonetheless, our video also allowed us to improve on our editing skills and work on the actual process of learning how to film at different angles with different backgrounds and lightings. Overall, the focus group video helped us for the film itself and what we should have in the video and how to work on the practical things of the film opening as well (filming, editing, etc.).

Filming: Sasha Castillo, Ramsha Nasir, Nour Mohamad Ali
Script: Eman Al Sulaiti
Editing: Sasha Castillo, Ramsha Nasir, Nour Mohamad Ali, Eman Al Sulaiti

Soundtrack Analysis

Gone Girl

In terms of its soundtrack, Gone Girl uses a variety of short and long songs, instrumentals, and sounds to add to the ambience of the movie. The soundtrack itself includes 24 songs. Everything used in the film is slow paced and more peaceful. Often the uses of these sounds tend to come off as ominous and threatening as it foreshadows   future events to occur to add the the plot of the movie. In addition, the sounds and music paired with the sconces in the film often juxtapose the events occurring in the movie. For example, in one of the scenes where Nick and Amy fight, the music slowly and lightly playing in the background is actually a happy and joyful song that completely contradicts the events we as the audience are seeing. Nonetheless, the movie also uses non-diegetic sounds throughout the movie such as narration and almost all of the music to show the we as the audience know more about the plot and can piece the events of the plot together before the characters in the movie can themselves. In addition, the movie uses popular songs which supports the movie in order to gain a wider and broader audience. The use of these songs add to the more modern world environment of the movie. Lastly, in terms of soundtrack and editing, the sounds and music used in the movie are placed in such a way that movie flows perfectly with its soundtrack. The music stops, slows, fades in and out, and speeds up at such precise moments of the film which allows the audience to interact with the movie more. For example, in a few scenes that are more fast paced and mysterious which include music, the music is edited in such a manner where it stops when something sudden happens, it slowly fades in when the sudden action has ended, so on and so forth. In one of the sciences where Amy and Nick are fighting, the music builds up and cuts silent at the scenes peak, where Nick is angry and yelling. 

Title Sequence Analysis

Movie: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

For the analysis of an opening sequence I chose Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. This movie is in my genre, action, and it's opening sequence is very intriguing and keeps your attention the whole way through.

It keeps the same font through out and the transitions themselves are non linear as it introduces characters and shows different shots to form a synopsis of that character before showing the name of the actor portraying this character. Nonetheless, the sequence is paired with stereotypical suspenseful music and the shots of this sequence go along with the beat of the music. There is a reccurring theme in the sequence, which is fire. The other thing that also stays consistent is the way the names of the actors/actresses are put on the screen. They're shown as if someone where typing them onto the screen.

Introduction

Introduction

1. Eman: Editor, director 
2. Nour Mohamed Ali: Editor, storyboarding 
3. Sasha: Editor, director
4. Ramsha: Editor, camerawoman

Studio Name: JCena Films

Film convention openings

-Key credits

-Key events

-Production Company

-Director

-Flashback

-Narrations

-Action scene

-Title Sequence

-Soundtrack

Film Opening Analysis

Film Opening Analysis

Movie: Allegiant

2. Allegiant

Genre: Action
Allegiant begins with opening credits. The editing is futuristic and very robotlike, as it is pixelated and is paired with eerie music. The music it is paired with makes the opening scene seem as if there is something about to happen. Nonetheless, the movie begins with narration. It is a lady speaking with an authoritative tone of voice as the movie rolls along. The first thing we see after the credits is a building being constructed along with a dirty wall. This wall may easily stand for the things being put in the way and may foreshadow future events that are to occur later on in the movie. The narrating voice has an echo to it and gives the movie a sense of mystery. Anyways, apart from the voice, the camera is moving downward from the building and opens to a long shot view of a field with a a skyline view and a huge group of people moving toward the camera. Behind the people there is a car that begins moving toward the camera and eventually reach the camera before the group of people do, and cut off the people from walking any further. The wall we had previously been shown is actually a gate that is being closed down by those in the car that zoomed in front of the group of people. As predicted, the closing gate cuts the people off and is the first obstacle we see in the film. Once the gate is all we see on the screen, there is a cut to an overhead view of a deteriorating city that seems to be shot with a drone and shows destruction, sadness, and gives an aura of suspense, mystery and misery. The camera moves smoothly along at a high angle to show two characters climbing one of these miserable buildings. With what we have seen so far, it is evident that the movie is taking place in a rather old place with futuristic ideas. It is almost as if the ideology of the future is taking place in a setting of the past. The scenes are presented in linear order and do not jump around, rather show the full view and zoom into details, e.g. like the overhead view of the city and the zooming in of the two characters. these characters are portrayed as bold and brave people as the first impression we have of them is given by the fact that they are climbing an old building. Nonetheless, the scenes move along slowly and so far there is no build up to a climax event, nor any sign of future build up.  

Film Opening Analysis

Film Opening Analysis

Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Genre/hybrid gene:  Sci fi, Action, Adventure 

The opening scene of Star Wars begins with the title of the movie shown on a galactic background, followed by incoming shots with dim lighting and spastic shots of zooming ships. the shot cuts quickly to the same type of dim lighting and quick bursts of quick lighting showing storm troopers in a uniform line. The lighting gives and illusion os suspense as it seems something is about to happen and the random burst of light lighting up the room engages the audience to see what happens next. In one of the burst of light, the room is lit up and the storm troopers are shown to be standing still. The way their bodies move and the way the room is lit up it makes it seem as if they are in one of the spaceships that were shown to be zooming through in previous scenes. The screen turns black and opens up again to a panoramic view of a dark area. As of right now, the opening scene has been multiple quick shots that cut to different scenes to give an aura of darkness and suspense. Along the shots there is a recurring colour scheme of dark colours such as whites, blues, and black. Nonetheless, the music paired with these shots gives a feel of thrill and rush as it is quick beats. All of these things put together gives the audience a reason to keep watching and engages them to keep watching more. Every scene makes the viewer ache for more. 41 seconds into the film there is a change of scenario with the same recurring theme of darkness, but now the colour scheme has changed and there is human interaction. The first thing we see a close up shot of two hands meeting with an object enclosed in a leather case. The scene begins calmly, the first words said being, "This will begin to make things right." This beings to show that the movie is opening in a state of danger and uncertainty, and the goal to be attained throughout the movie is making thins right or resolving what is going on.  The calmness of conversation is interrupted by an abrupt outburst by R2-D2. There is an attack where the clip turns to a lot of action and rage. At this stage in the opening, we have seen that the movie begins in the desert at night. This gives an illusion of the themes of darkness and loneliness, isolation. The scenes we are seeing are very powerful and give a feeling of curiosity as viewers who have not seen past movies are confused and intrigued as to why these events are occurring. However, the scenes in these first 2 minutes are fragmented and jump around to different scenes all occurring at once to lead up to the attack where all of the scenes meet to coincide with each other. As stated before, the movie opens slowly and there is not much action but leads up to a faster, action packed pace. Lastly, there are a lot of close up shots and panoramic shots used in the opening scene. 

Mindmap Specific Genre





Credits to Nour Mohamad Ali

Preliminary Task - Video

Preliminary Task - Video

Preliminary video evaluation

For our preliminary video, we all went in blindly to complete this task with no previous experience in film. We made many mistakes which allowed us to learn for our future filming.

Our video was about a rebellious student who sneaks into a teachers office in order to steal test answers from the teachers computer. In order to portray different personality types, out actresses used specific body language and dressed a certain way to mimic stereotypes. For example, the student was dressed in a leather jacket to keep a sense of "coolness", and she was  cautious yet fast and attentive to her surroundings as she went to take the answers. Nonetheless, she presented herself with a sense of carelessness towards everything. On the other hand, the teacher is dressed more properly with a suit jacket and presents herself more elegantly and mature.

As for our shots, I do believe we got the general idea of the shots and how they need to be shot down pack, yet we must work on our editing and take into consideration the different lightings, sound, and other general factors when we film.

All in all, I believe we did a good job and we learned the basics. Over time before we start filming I believe as we research more our skills will be polished to make our end result great.

Film Techniques

Match on Action: 

Refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action

Shot/Reverse shot:

Where one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character

180 degree rule: 

States that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another . When the camera crosses the line and the shot becomes a reverse angle.