Evaluation Interview

Again, I had difficulty uploading the video of our interview with Mr Earl about Science Boys so I have included a link to vimeo were you can watch it. The interview process was actually really helpful in getting all our ideas out and discussing them properly. Also, the questions we were asked helped guide us into how we wanted to construct our class presentation about making Science Boys. At first doing the interview was a bit daunting and felt unnatural, but hopefully by then end you can see we actually enjoyed it!
http://vimeo.com/40213638?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cliptranscoded&utm_campaign=adminclip
  

Evaluation Presentation to the Class

As I have been unable to upload the video onto my blog, I have uploaded it onto Vimeo so you can watch it. Here is the link:
http://vimeo.com/40147779?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cliptranscoded&utm_campaign=adminclip

The PowerPoint presentation is already on the blog to look at too! We wanted to be as detailed as possible in why we chose to do all the things we did in our project. The presentation to the class was a bit nerve-racking as we were showing all our work to people and it's always scary how people will respond to it. However, hopefully our presentation was interesting to watch but also informative and justifies why we did what we did in our project and what we are proud of. Our presentation includes audiences, institution's, codes & conventions and how we made Science Boys which should break-down in chronological order where our ideas came from. 

What have you learnt from doing the project?

I feel that when me and Kirsty began our final project Science Boys we didn't know much about what it took to make a film. From our project we learnt the importance of careful planning and we did this the hard way through having to re-shoot our film after a poorly planned shoot. Our first shoot meant we didn't have a working tri-pod (which we realised is vital in creating a professional project) and also we didn't have a clear plan about the shots we wanted. So, when we came to re-shooting our project, we had a clear idea of what we wanted and kept it planned out and checked off the shots we wanted when we got them. Therefore one of the biggest things we learnt was about careful planning. We also learnt that you have to know the genre of film your working on really well and understand its conventions. This helped us in creating a film which we think looks professional and like a real movie. 


We also learnt that your project can look so much better if you having cooperate actors who follow instructions well. We were lucky that our actors were willing to give up more of their own time to re-shoot but also that they followed what me and Kirsty said so we could get good results. As our film is a comedy, it was important that our actors portrayed this and we quickly learnt that to make our film look and sound more professional, we wouldn't want our actors talking as the sound wouldn't be of a high enough quality due to our camera. 


We also learnt about how to use the editing software PremierPro. Initially we didn't know much about the software as we'd never worked with it before but we did have to learn through trial and error. I think though that that is the best way to learn things as you can try things out and learn from your mistakes. We also learnt from previous project on how to edit which was useful when doing our final project.


However the most important thing we learnt from our project was to to play to our strengths and not be over ambitious in our project. We decided to use a school as our setting and teenage actors as we could gain access to these things easily and a real school will make our film more realistic. Initially we had hoped to follow our actors down a corridor in one long dolly shot but after a failed attempt we realised as media students we don't have access to professional equipment and therefore were over ambitious in our first idea. Although it is important to stretch yourself and try things, in our final project we also realised the importance of playing to your strengths so you can produce a quality product. The project taught us a lot and will defiantly prepare me for any future media projects. 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your project?

From the project me and Kirsty have learnt a lot about technologies. To make our project, we had to use a video camera to film and record our voice-over as well as the editing software PremierPro. Before we started our final project, our experience with the editing software especially was limited and so we did learn through trial and error. From our first shoot which we followed the actors down a corridor on a wheelie-chair with the camera, we realised how important it is to use a tri-pod to make sure your shots are not shaky as this looks so unprofessional. Also we learn about technology during the project that with the cameras we had available, it is difficult to get clear sound; this is one of the reasons we decided to not have any dialogue except the voice-over which we could import over the action. If we had used dialogue, the sound might not have been very clear and that wouldn’t make our project look professional.

When editing our film we imported all our shots in the order we wanted them and then began editing them from there. We did require help in how to create the freeze-frames we used to show about each character and we had to be very meticulous about the timing when we put the words on screen. We had to adjust this later on again when we included the voice-over so it all matched up. In fact, we chopped some of the voice-over and pieced together the parts we wanted as the script we had wrote was actually too long for the film we had shot. However, we were glad that the voice-over was too long than too short as we know what it is like to not have enough footage to create something excellent. We learnt how to use the razor tool and ripple delete which made chopping parts of our film up easier and also helped us create the quick editing effect when the character Daniel is picking up his books and when Matt is walking out of the classroom. 

I think the most important thing we learnt about technology is that is can be very temperamental! During our first shoot, we had to end probably too soon as our camera ran out of charge and our tri-pod was broken on that first shoot. Although technology obviously helped us create Science Boys we learnt that you need to plan before hand well so that everything runs smoothly.

Who would be your audience and how did you attract them?

The audience for our film Science Boys would primarily be teenagers as they would find the humour used in the film the most amusing and could relate to the characters and situations more. There is clearly an already established fan base for teen-comedy with the success of TV programmes such as The Inbetweeners and the American science-based comedy The Big Bang Theory which have incredible ratings and fans. In fact The Big Bang Theory has 17.1 million viewers worldwide showing that there is already an audience who would be attracted to the film. We used current, indie music to also appeal to the teenage audience which similar music is used in the programme and spin-off movie The Inbeetweeners. As our protagonist group of characters are teenagers, the teen audience will easily be able to relate to them and also we had our characters dressed in modern clothing that our audience would wear. We wanted the teen audience to be able to easily see parts of themselves in the characters which is why each of our characters have a different look.

However, the film could also have an adult audience because of the use of the adult version of Ashley narrating the film. Hopefully the adult audience would be able to relate to the characters because of their own past school experiences. We have also had evidence from talking to adults that they actually also enjoyed The Inbetweeners Movie when they saw it which was targeted at it teenagers. Therefore, mine and Kirsty’s Science Boys can also appeal to adults and hopefully they will be able to see that teenage life hasn’t changed that much over the years.

As you may have seen on our evaluation presentation, we believe a lot of people would be attracted to go and see Science Boys as it a fun and light-hearted film which is easy to watch and is positive. We got a quote from the co-owner of British, independent film production company Warp Films Eric Fellner who said that cinema goers are “going out to be purely entertained. They don't want thought-provoking, they don't want difficult, they don't want dark, they don't want dramatic.” Obviously Science Boys is suppose to be very entertaining as it is comedy-drama, and it is not a dark or difficult film to watch but just a fun film to watch; therefore this should attract a variety of people. However, we know that the primary audience for Science Boys is teenagers and in particular, due to its humour and the four male characters being male, teenage boys. 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media project?

The media institute me and Kirsty believed would best distribute our film was Optimum Releasing. The company releasing approximately 200 films a year and most of them are independent British films which Science Boys is. We don’t want to try and pretend that Science Boys would be a Hollywood blockbuster as it probably would not so to play to our strengths we would distribute it as a British independent film. Optimum Releasing has released films in the teen comedy/drama genre so they know how to distribute them and are clearly willing to distribute films of this genre. However another aspect of Optimum which appealed to us was the fact that some independent British films are not released in cinemas but go straight online or on DVD and Optimum offers that too with Optimum Home Entertainment. Me and Kirsty wanted to be practical in our choice of distributor and pick a company which is suited to Science Boys. We also looked into companies which could help us (Reel Big Productions) produce the film and also provide funding: for this we chose Film4. Film4 are well known for supporting independent British films and also helping films that may initially seem not very commercial (such as This Is England which went on to have great success, even abroad.) What else attracted me and Kirsty to Film4 was the back they have financially backed other teen films which we looked into such as Attack the Block, Submarine and The Inbetweeners Movie showing that they will support teen films like ours. Film4 is interested in current topics and issues and at the moment the government, and the world, are stressing on the importance of science and understanding our world more. Clearly Science Boys shows an alternative view to a culture which is growing in interest for science (such as the success of recent science documentaries made ‘cool’ by Brian Cox.) Another important reason Science Boys chose Film4 to help it financially was because to British audience especially Film4 is well-known and trusted company and when their logo appears at the beginning of a film people think it will be a quality project; we want to show that Science Boys is a quality project. 

How does your media project represent a particular social group?

Obviously Science Boys represents the social group of teenagers and specifically ‘nerdy’ teenagers. The typical stereotypes of nerds are used in Science Boys but not to mock the characters but to make it clear who they are by exaggerating ordinary traits you might find in a ‘nerdy’ person. The boys are represented to be outcast as you can see from their individual sections that they don’t have much in common, apart from a love for science, that is why they have had to come together as friends. We tried to represent this by not having them do the stereotypical cool thing like playing football or chatting up girls etc. Our characters are studying and tripping over and trying to draw crude things in classrooms to be what they believe to be cool. Hopefully this adds to the humour for the audience. However the way we represent teenagers isn’t a negative portrayal like is common now. The ‘thug’ culture surrounding teenagers now portrays them to be violet and rude and untrustworthy which isn’t a fair portrayal. Films can be solely based around this misconception now (such as Eden Lake ) whereas Science Boys really portrays teenagers, especially teen boys, to be harmless and actually easier to relate to than some adults may think. Also by using the adult version of the character Ashley to narrate the film again shows that everyone was once a teenager hopefully showing these stereotypes that teenagers are all yobs is in fact not really true. 

How does your media project use, develop or challenge the codes and convetions of your genre?

Our final piece, Science Boys, uses the characteristics of the teen comedy/drama genre by using obvious humour which appeals to a teen audience. You don’t have to think too hard when watching Science Boys to understand the humour and the characters which is what makes it part of this teen genre. Also, stereotypical characters are used which are exaggerated forms of people the audience can hopefully relate too from their own school experiences which adds to the humour but is also a convention of the genre. In the Inbetweeners Movie you have a character that thinks/wants to be cool, a dopey one, a clever one etc and in Science Boys we also tried to adopt these common teen stereotypes associated with a group of ‘misfits’; we have the ‘wannabe’, the overly-nerdy one, the dopey clumsy one and then the group leader. We also included the freeze-frames with edited on names and personality scores which isn’t automatically associated with our teen comedy/drama genre but effects similar to this can be seen in films such as Scott Pilgrim VS the World and of course Trainspotting which gives our film and edge and makes it stand out against other ones. We wanted to do this as our story is character driven so it was important the audience immediately understood the characters so they could build a relationship and care about them as the film progresses. The way in which Science Boys challenges the typical teen comedy/drama genre is that so many teen movies are set in America about American teenagers and their experiences and humour is different to British teenagers. As there has been the recent success of the Inbetweeners Movie in Europe it shows that this may soon be a typical aspect of the teen genre for it to be based around British teenagers. 

Evaluation Interview

Me and Kirsty were interviewed by Mr Earl about our project, Science Boys. We answered questions about why we chose to have those specifuc characters, why we chose the institutions we, who we saw our target audience as etc. Hopefully this interview will gvie you an idea about why we chose to do the things we did and the areas of our project we are very proud of.

The interview process was slightly strange at first (as you may be able to tell) but me and Kirsty soon found it easier as it went on. I think it is always difficult to justify the decisions you ahve mde about a peice of work but hopefully you will be able to see how we came up with our ideas.

Video Inspiration

We used these videos in our evaluation presentation to the class to show where we gained inspiration from. They are from Trainspotting, Resevoir Dogs and Hot Fuzz.

Evaluation Presentation

Music & Voice-Over

Kirsty found the music we used for 'Science Boys'. It is a cover fo the Arctic Moneky's song Mardy Bum but it is just the instromental we got from YouTube which someone had recorded. Having just an instromental meant that the voice-over would work more effectively over the top as it wouldn't be a clash of words. Also however, it is much harder to find a cover which we could use to not break copyright laws which is actually effective enough as the original. Therefore, the instumental worked really well for us. We wanted to use a British band's music becasue our film is about British teenagers and its main audience will be British teenagers. Therefore the msuic would ahve to appeal to teenagers and be very current which we feel the Artci Moneky's work is. Also, from our research The Inbetweeners and its movie use a lot of ArcticMoneky tacks so we knew it would fit with our teen-comedy drama.

Originally our voice-over was going to be the character Matt, then we changed it to be the character Ashley who was the dominating leader character. However, when we began recording our initla voice-over the teenage voice we used from Sam Humby didn't sound effective enough or funny enough. Also, when Sam's voice was recorded it sounded much younger and we didn't think it fit the character Ashley. Micahel Wilson who plays Ashley was unavailable to record a voice-over so we had to rethink our original plan. Instead, with inspiration from Mr Earl, we decided to do a voice-over which was the character Ashely looking back on his school life and his school friends. We had to of course re-write the script and then asked Mr Earl if he woould record it for us. When editing we reduced some of the script so it would fit better with the length of each character montage clip. However, by having the voice-over being an adult looking back at school we can also appeal to the adult/parent audience who can get humour from thinking of their school days and relating to the film that way.

Overall, I think the voice-over and music really finish 'Science Boys' off anf when compared to our rough-cut which had no sound seems a 100% more professional and fits with the genre. I'm very pleased with the music we used and the voice-over scipt and the way it was said.

Science Boys: The Final Edition!

Here is mine and Kirsty's opening of the film 'Science Boys'. Hope you enjoy it....

Re-Shot Opening Credits

Due to comments on our rough cut edition of 'Science Boys' opening, we decided to re-shoot our opening credits. Previously we used a book with our credits written in by hand and flicked through the pages. However, it was a little bit boring and slow. Although we were inspired to film the credits like that because of the film 'Napoleon Dynamite' and they do suite the conventions of our genre, me and Kirsty both agreed we could make them more interesting. Therefore, we re-shot them on Friday (24th) by printing out our credits using the same font we used for the 'Science Boys' title and then stuck them on different locations around the school. We did this my shooting Helen and Kirsty running up with hoods on and sticking the credits on to things like lockers, drinks machines, chalk boards and even people (me!). It looks more interesting, has a faster pace and is quite funny too. Hopefully, when we edit them onto the beginning of what we have already done it will look very effective.

Rough Cut!

Our 'Science Boys' rough cut is finally here. There will be music on the opening credits and voiceovers when we are showing each character which we have not yet put in as this is just the rough cut (so when wathcing it, you don't require sound!) We are really glad that we re-shot our footage as what we now have is so much better, more diverse and more interesting. Obviously, this is just our rough cut so there are some changes that need to be made. What I am really proud of though is that what we have created actually looks like the opening sequence of film.

NOTE TO SIR: should we include freeze-frames of each character with their character name printed on like we saw in 'Trainspotting' or will this look cheesy?

Review of New Footage....So Far So Good

Yesterday, me and Kirsty got to see our new footage on the computer. I'm very pleased with the shot of the four boys walking down the corridor as they begin in darkness and then walk into the light so we can use it as part of our 'spoof' idea. We looked at the two possible endings that we shot: the first of the dopey character Daniel walking into the camera, the second of the character Ashley covering it with his hand. We both preferred the second as it gave us a totally black screen which we were then going to place the text 'Science Boys' over. The short collection of shots we got of each character individually look good and we have a range of camera angles in there too which we needed. My favourite has to be the one of Ashley checking himself out in the mirror as it is very comical especially when he picks up his science textbook at the end (look out for that one!)


Next week editing finally begins....

Reflection on Re-Shoot

Due to our footage not being up to standard, we had to re shoot and change our concept slightly. Instead of following the science boys as they walked down the corridor with a dolly-shot, we decided to take inspiration from the 'Hot Fuzz' opening we analysed and made the science boys walk towards the camera while it stayed in the same place. To add to the comedy, we made did some shots of the boys walking into the camera and then some where the character Ashley puts his ahnd over the camera. We hope to use this scene as a 'spoof' so the characters look like a cool gang sturtting towards the camera, but then as they get closer it becomes clear they are a group of nerds.

When we filmed this shot, we used a different corridor in B-block which was darker at the end the corridor where the actors began. This meant that at the beginning you couldn't make out their appearances so this really added to the 'spoof' effect. The shot we liked the most was the character Ashley covering the camera screen with his hand however we will ahev to look and review all the shots on the computer (hopefully, by tomorrow.)

Also when we did the re-shoot, we did small montages of each character using various camera angles. For the character Fenton, we had him working hard at a desk and adjusted a calculator that wasn't straight to make his character look very precise and orgnised. We made the character Daniel come into a room and trip dropping all his booksa nd files and then picking them back up - this was tricky and we needed to concentrate on continuity of where the books fell. For the character Ashley, we got him doing his hair in the boys toilets and then leaving with his trusty biology textbook. Finally, for the character Matt we got him drawing obscene pictures on a classroom door to show how he tries to be rebelious. The Matt section should use an action match and he goes from the whiteboard and then runs out the door.

We also re-hot our credit sequence with the notebook turnign with the credits written on the page. We had to redo this with a tripod to make it steadier than how we had originally shot it but apart from that, it reamined the same to the original shooting we did.

Having to re-shoot has really taught me the importance of a tripod! Although some of the footage we had from our Saturday filming was good, we wanted it at the highest quality we could and also we did not have enough variety of camer-angles. During our re-shoot me and Kirsty were very concious of having a variety of shots to show off our ability. We were also very lucky that our original actors were cooperative and agreed to another time to re-shoot otheriwse we may ahve had to rethink our who concept. Also, I've realised our original idea of shooting may have been over-mabicious (especially due to the lack of professional equiptemnt we have as media students) so I know that in the future, to really think about the logistics of an idea and how practical it really is for us to achieve.

We NEED Extra Footage

After reviewing our footage from Saturday, me and Kirsty realised (with the help of Mr Earl) that we need to shoot some more footage. Mainly because we need to show a variety of camera angels in our project but also because some of our shots are wobbly due to our DIY dolly. 


We will be filming some short videos showing the characteristics of each character tomorrow in our freed period and after school. Hopefully, this will give us more to work with when editing. It isn't ideal, but at least we still have time to shoot more and hopefully with this extra footage our opening sequence will look even better!

Filming Day: Part 3

We were not the only people using the school on the Saturday we were filming, there was also a band practise. Because of this, we filmed the boys walking through the double doors into the hall and down the hall first so the band could begin their practise. We talked the the man in charge of the band practise to ensure this was alright and he was very helpful letting us film before their rehearsal begun. Once this part of the sequence was shot, we filmed the corridor before the boys entered the hall as we were scared we would not have enough footage to make the film at least 2 minutes long. After this we did different versions of the boys walking through the canteen from them walking into the camera to them walking round the corridor in one long dolly-shot. After this was achieved, we did the numerous takes of them walking through A-block and into the science room. After that was finally achieve, we made them do it again focusing the camera on a constant dolly-shot close-up on each character. This is for the freeze-frames we will create when editing which will not require the whole sequence but we wanted enough so we could have a choice of footage. 


We then let our actors have a break before we went outside to film the opening sequence. Due to weather conditions, our planned way of doing the opening credits had to be altered. We planned to have the character Daniel drop sheets onto the floor while running across the yard and then the camera would focus on these sheets where the credits would be written. However, due to wet and windy weather this could not be done. We took inspiration from the credit sequence from 'Napoleon Dynamite' and flicked through the pages of a notebook with our credit written on. We wanted the writing to look like a teenage boys writing so used one of our cast members, Sam Humby. To film this we had to stand above the table where Sam sat and count so he flicked between the pages in equal intervals. We used science textbooks and calculators, pens and badges to make the table look like a set-up of where they would do work. Here is how the notepad looked with our production company name on:

We filmed this as the weather was still bad before taking our actors outside to film the final part of the sequence. The character Daniel had to be rushing to meet his friends and fall; to do this we required our actor, Craig, to actually fall and then stay in his position on the floor so we didn't have continuity errors. This meant we had to work fast as the pavement was cold and damp. We then filmed he getting up and the camera followed him run towards his friends. We then got him to use some spontaneous dialogue to try and make it as realistic as possible. We also shot the three other characters laughing at Daniel's fall and Ashley shouting at him for him, which again we used spontaneous dialogue to make it realistic. Due to continuity, Amir had to shoot outside in just a t-shirt when it was very cold so we had to be fully prepared about what we wanted to shoot before we went outside. Also, me and Kirsty had to make a decision on how were going to change the first part of the sequence and incorporate the credits. However, from previous projects we knew things never go to plan so we were prepared to make decisions on the spot and tried to get as much footage as possible so we could change things around if needed in the editing process. 


We would like to thank all four of our actors, Craig, Sam, Michael & Amir, for their time, commitment and cooperation. 

Filming Day: Part 2

As the main part of our opening sequence is the 'Science Boys' walking down school corridors we needed to have a way of filming them by following them with a smooth camera action. So, me and Kirsty made our own way of doing a dolly-shot. We used a wheely chair and Kirsty sat on it holding the camera while I pulled the chair backwards so we were in front of the actors as they walked towards us. We had a to practise a few times and it was very tricky to keep at the right speed so the camera wasn't too far away or too close. This did mean we took about 35 shots of the boys walking down the longest corridor in A-block so we could get it right. However, it did result in a smooth camera movement and let us follow our actors. We will post some footage of us perfecting this amateur dolly-shot soon. Hopefully, these two pictures will help you see what we did:

This shows Kirsty sat on the chair with the camera while and I was the one pulling the chair backwards while she filmed. When we were actually filming, Kirsty kept her arms pulled in to keep the camera steady and pointed the viewing screen up so I could see if I was the right distance away from the actors. Luckily, because we are using a voice-over and music, Kirsty was able to tell me to go faster or slower so we could get the shot right. It was very tricky and took some time for us to get the perfect shot, but the results we got are pretty impressive for the tools we had.

Hopefully from this photograph you can see how the boys were stood in relation to Kirsty on the chair. This was the beginning of the long corridor sequence; where the boys are in the photo is where they began, they then walked forward and turned down to the long corridor which lead to the science door.This meant me and Kirsty had to turn around the corner with them. This sequence is approximately 45 seconds long (depending on the pace of the actors) so was difficult to get in one smooth take which was what we wanted to achieve. We also had to find a way of propping 8 heavy fire doors open so the corridor didn't require doors to be opened. We used door stops and heavy science clamps to hold them open meaning we couldn't get the boys feet in the shot (luckily, a medium show was what we had planned and looked for effective.)  

Filming Day: Part 1

We arranged to meet our actors at our base (my house) before going to school where the 'Science Boys' opening sequence would be shot to discuss through their roles so they understood exactly how we wanted them to act to portray their characters. We tried to give each character something different to work on to make them stand out to the audience and make the audience relate to them as someone they go to school with. 


We then went down to the school where we were shooting and set up the camera and got our actors ready. We took photos of each actor before shooting so we could relate back to how their clothes and hair looked in case they changed. Here are the continuity pictures we took plus information on how we wanted the character to be acted:


Matt played by Amir Yahari

Matt is supposed to be the group leader and think he is very cool and popular when he actually is not. We asked Amir to walk as if he was in charge of the group with a slight strut like he is 'Mr Popular' so its more funny when you see them arrive to go into a science classroom. 










Ashley played by Michael Wilson

Ashley is supposed to be the character that is into fashion and popular things so doesn't believe he really should fit in with the 'science nerds', however he really does. Because of this he has a bit of an attitude and says some things he hopes will make him look cooler than he really is. We asked Michael to portray Ashley by giving some of the other characters, mainly Daniel, some filthy looks and to walk superior to the rest of his friends.


Fenton played by Sam Humby

Fenton is supposed to be a very strange character who is goofy and out-there but doesn't notice or care. He walks around looking a little confused and nerdy. We asked Sam to portray this character by bumping into a few things and blinking a lot, and Sam used fake teeth to add to the character comical appearance as well as having a calculator in his pocket and pens and also having his brightly coloured socks tucked into his jeans.




Daniel played by Craig Forster

Daniel is supposed to be our clumsy and embarrassing character who looks a bit dazed and dumb when he is actually very intelligent. We asked Craig to have a gormless look on his face, to lag behind the others and to stumble a few times. Daniel's character is also the one who falls over at the beginning of the sequence which Craig did really well and showed off how embarrassing the character is supposed to be for his friends.


Once we had taken our continuity shots of the actors, we did a rehearsal of them walking up the dining hall - which we also used as an opportunity to practise using the dolly camera we created. Once the actors knew what we were doing, we began to shoot.

Change in Actor!

Due to other commitments, one of actors (for the main character Matt) had to drop out of filming. This meant we had to recast for the part, and luckily we were able to get Amir Yahari to fill his place. We will be casting again to find someone to do the character Matt's voice-over as we don't think Amir's voice is suitable. It was really challenging to re-cast especially since the actor we had originally found fitted the role really well; however from our past projects we knew that getting people to volunteer their time to be in your film usually means they are very unreliable so we are very thankful to Amir for stepping in. 

Camera Positioning Storyboard

Me and Kirsty worked together on two different storyboards; I produced the one which shows where the camera will be placed in relation to the action or actors with the 'C' in a circle icon and Kirsty produced the storyboard of what the camera will actually see. 

Character Props & Costumes

This is what we have informed our actors to wear as their costumes for Science Boys:
Matt

• sweater & jeans
• chain knecklace
• possible football shirt
• school bag
• possible hoody

Ashley

• denium shirt
• chino's
• man bag
• barber-type jacket

Fenton

• waitcoat
• sunglasses
• jeans
• white shirt
• school bag
• long coat

Daniel

• back pack
• teans
• scruffy t-shirt
• baggy anerac
• instrument box

Target Audience

We plan to set our Science Boy movie with a rating of 15, so our target audience will range from 15 - 21. Research into the teen-comedy genre shows that it is mainly teenagers who go to see these films and our Science Boys will probably attract a more male audience. We have also taken inspiration from TV shows The Inbetweeners and The Big Bang Theory so hope to target this already established market. Our plan to is poratray exaggerated versions of school stereotypes to create humour but also so the audience can relate to the characters and scenarios. Having a rating of 15 and a teen audience, we will not have censor things out and can appeal to a teen humour which isn't as sophisticated as some adult humour!

Team Action Plan for Week 1 - 09/01/12

Detailed Storyboard including:

• camera shots/angles
• character positioning
• timing
• transitions

Confirmation e-mail to actors including:

• what they need to wear
• where they need to be and what time
• props they need to bring
• information on their character

Confirmation of shooting date must be arranged with the school caretaker so school can be opened for us on a Saturday. We have chose to shoot on a saturday becasuse we can get a lot done in one go, the light will be constant as after-school it will be too dark outside, our actors mainly come from other schools and school will be too busy on a weekday with pupils.

Science Boys Character Profiles

Based on research in programmes such as 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'The Inbetweeners' which have really inspired out Science Boys concept, me and Kirsty have created these four basic character outlines:


Matt
....he is the groups 'leader' and will be providing the voice-over for the opening sequence describing his friends to the audience. Matt wants to be cool, thinks he is a bit of a ladies man and tries to not fit to the 'science nerd' stereotype so attempts to wear fashionable clothing and use fashionable sayings, but unfortunately fails. 


Ashley
...is a very feminate character who looks stylish, but does not fit in with the 'sporty' boys and finds he fits in more with the 'science nerds'. He is the sarcastic and blunter member of the group which is where his humour comes from and he does tend to look down on the other science Boys seeing himself as superior in all ways.


Fenton
...is an extravagant character who is seen by others as 'weird'. He wears sunglasses and strange hats and says odd things but has a real passion for physics and is very intelligent. He is the quietest of the Science Boys group who doesn't see it as nessasary to talk unless it is to say something he sees as useful. 


Daniel 
...is the clumsy and forgetful character who is very intelligent at science, but forget minor things like his house keys. He will be the character who drops his belongs which will be used for the credit sequence and is always lagging behind the other Science Boys. His humour will come from a slap-stick side as he will trip and fall and bump into things.


We have sent our actors lists of what clothing we would like them to wear and any props they may be able to bring for when we shoot so they have time to find an outfit. The clothing lists me and Kirsty created were based on what the characters are like.

Week-by-Week Plan

Week 1

• create final storyboard together with Kirsty
• create voice-over script with Kirsty
• plan to film on Saturday 14th January if can get permission from school to open for us

Week 2

• maybe shoot that weekend (21st January)
• record voice-over
• may have to shoot individual video's of each character to create character montage
• create production company logo

Week 3

• begin editing to submit first rough edit on January 30th

Week 4 & 5

• continue to edit to create final film

This brings us up to the February half-term when we can review our progress. 

Initial Storyboard

Me and Kirsty decided that we would both make initial storyboard's of the opening sequence of Science Boys and then bring our idea together to make a detailed and larger storyboard which we will use when filming. Here is my initial storyboard:

As this storyboard is very basic, I have only put some idea of camera shots we may use. Together we will make the final decisions on what we want to do and how we want it to look. 

Science Boys Scenario

Me and Kirsty had a good idea of what we wanted to do for our Science Boy's idea. From our continuity project, we wanted to use the idea of making a film about British teenagers which revolves around a group of friends who are 'science nerds'. The whole film will be about how these four friends get into comical situations such as ending up in detention for a science experiment gone wrong.


However, for the opening sequence we are going to create it is just going to consist of the four friends walking through some school corridors early on a morning to reach the science room and during this journey the audience will have a chance to get to know the characters. 


Scenario Breakdown:

1. One clumsy character drops sheets and textbooks on school yard
2. The clumsy character scoops up some textbooks and runs after friends who walk into the school
3. Goes back to the dropped sheets spread across school yard and these are used to do the opening credits
4. Cuts back into the school and follows the friends walking down the school corridors while a voice-over is used to explain each character by one of the characters in the future
5. Dolly-shot used to follow the characters and freeze-frames and superimposed character names used to show each character to the audience
6. The group of friends approach the door of a science room and walk in

Distributor & Production

After looking at a selection of films to help inspire mine and Kirsty's Science Boy's idea we also looked carefully at the distributor's of these films. The one seemed to be the most common was Optimum Releasing which distributes British, Irish and American independent films which attracted me to use it for our opening sequence as Science Boys seems like an idea that would be an independent film. 


Optimum Releasing (Distributor)  
In 2011, Optimum Releasing was renamed Studio Canal UK - which you may also have heard of. As a distributor, they release over 200 films a year which are independent films and this makes them the most prominent distributor of independent British movie's. It was founded in 1999 which does make it a fairly new distributor as it is only 13 years old. Also, their work is split into three categories:

1. Optimum Releasing - this goes to cinema's
2. Optimum Home Entertainment - this is on DVD's
3. Optimum Classics - re-releases of films
4. Optimum World - this is world cinema

 Big Talk Productions
This was another name which came up during our research and was involved in films such as Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and Attack the Block. One interesting point is it works closely with Edgar Wright the director & producer we researched. Big Talk was founded by Nira Park, a successful woman, in 1995 which also makes it a fairly new production company like Optimum. Nira Park was named in 2005 'Top Ten Producers to Watch' in Variety Magazine (weekly entertainment magazine in America.) Big talk productions is 75% independently owned. Me and Kirsty will probably use Big Talk in our opening credits.

Hot Fuzz: Opening Sequence

General Information

• Directed by: Edgar Wright
• Genre: action dark comedy / for geeks
• Box office takings: $80,573,774
• Distributed: Universal Pictures
• Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent 

Watch the opening sequence here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVcOVgf_x4M&feature=related

Analysis 

The clip begins with a long shot and then a slow zoom in towards a characters silhouette walking into a modern building which has a lot of light coming into it. As the character gets closer to the camera, you get a close-up on his face and then on his police badge which displays his name "Nicholas Angel" which has immediate connotations with the audience that he is a good police officer. 

A voice-over then begins which matches with what the audience watches explaining about Nicholas Angel and his police life which is an effective way to get character information across very quickly and clearly. Fast editing and fast-paced music is also used which adds to a humorous feel and doesn't pair with the monotone narrative voice which makes the film more interesting to watch straight away as the audience will wonder how these two elements pair. Also, the quick editing matches with the quick and short pieces of action being shown about Nicholas Angel. A range of camera angles are used to show different things from low-angle shots on bike wheels, to plenty of close-ups showing Nicholas Angel's facial expressions which adds humour to tracking shots of him walking down a corridor which pairs well with the fast editing and keeps the audience constantly gripped and stops them losing interest in the film. After the montage of Nicholas's life, it goes to a conversation between him and another superior officer where shot reverse shot is used and again quick editing between the two characters to gain both their reactions which adds to the humour. 

Credit Sequence

1. Distributor
2. In association with
3. Movie title

Influence on Science Boys

I like the use of a montage of different sequence which show something about a character and as I have said before, me and Kirsty would like to use a voice-over in our Science Boys opening sequence. I also really like the use of the quick editing which keeps the pace of the film up and makes it much more interesting to watch and immediately shows the audience the film will be comical. Also, watching this opening sequence I know that we must shoot a lot of different camera angle's because this will add interest and if we want to do the faster editing it will make it look better.