Audience Test Footage

Planning Documentation - Cospe Tunnel Permission

Due to the location in which we want to shoot, we had to get permission to leave school during daylight hours to allow us to take some of our scouting location shots. As this part was my job I sent an email to a SLT within the school to gain permission. Below is that email:

Planning Documentation - Delegation of Roles

We have delegated roles between us for the next set of task on our two minute production. Below is the list of group members and the tasks in which they will be doing:

Delegation of production:

- George:
o Health and Safety
o Permission
- Edd:
o Props
o Costume
o Make up
- Jordan:
o Scouting Location
o Lighting
o Casting

Film Planning - Meeting 7: Storyboarding Continued

We have now decided to change the order of 4 of our frames in our story board. Below is the changes and the now added timings to each frame

Film Planning - Meeting 5 / 6: Storyboarding

The images below are of our inital Storyboard we did over two meetings together. They contain the shots we are looking to create however the timings are absent due to the possibility of changes to orders, if this happens it will be updated in a later post.

Film Planning - Meeting 4: Post Audience Test Review

We spoke about the problems with a ‘street race’ film due to location. Younger males in the test group wanted more action within the film however after reviewing the reasons given we tried another group with different ages.

The results from this was that a race documentary that focused on a more human element.

Final idea motoX:

General synopsis:
- Flash backs to getting to the final (footage from Edd, sepia)
- Walking down the tunnel
- Tough Journey
- Family dies Funeral
- Final fade into white after Edd kicks the bike over.

Film Planning - Meeting Three: Target Audience Test 1

We discussed what questions we would ask the audience and get their feedback on what they would like to see in the sub-genre we are.
The questions are:
• What would you like to see featured in a racing film?
• What kind of style would you like to it to be (Doc, Action/Theatrical)?
• How would you like the film to be opened?
• What kind of racing would you like to see?
• Who would you want as the main character?
• Would you prefer it to be more realistic?
• Would you prefer a film that you could relate to?
• What are the key points you would want in a film?
We have decided to each find three people from our PP to be apart of the test audience. This will take place next Monday.

Film Planning - Meeting 2: Initial Idea's Details

Meeting Two
Here we are discussing about 2 or 3 of our final ideas in detail.
• Emotional Race documentary:
o Maybe on a past driver
        o Including day to day life
        o Maybe an injury that stops them from racing (Wheel chair)
        o Long takes, slower pace, less cuts
        o Acoustic instrumental non-diagetic soundtrack
        o Flash backs (blue tint) – Home movie like
        o Flash Forwards (gold tint) – Cuts from a child playing
• Underdog story:
       o Love interest – Not much shown, rival used to date.
       o Fast pace cuts  - Dramatic action, build up with non-diagetic sound throughouT
       o Troubled past/ background – Looked down, no money from parents.
       o Good vs Evil – Rookie vs Pro
       o Theatrical – Emphasis action, not necessarily realistic
• MotorX Final Race:
       o Flash back to starting career at young age
       o How he got there
       o Finish with gate drop
       o Walking into stadium
       o Close ups and medium from behind tracking, use of many shots emphasising driver

Film Planning - Meeting 1: Brainstorming

Film Planning - Outlining Dates

Here is an inital schudule of group meetings, however this is not final. We may meet more often then outlined, but this will be updated on the blog if and when they happen.

Meeting NO. Date Notes
1 9/11/2015 Introduce the group video and brainstorm initial ideas.
2 10/11/2015 Decided upon two or three of the ideas and go into further detail.
3 11/11/2015 I am possibly absent, however, this will be used to plan and organise the first        audience test.
4 16/11/2015 Do the audience test on the two or three final ideas.
5 17/11/2015 Idea finalised. In depth plan including reasoning. Start story board
6 18/11/2015 Continue story board.
7 19/11/2015 Finish story board, and plan final audience test.
8 20/11/2015 Conduct final Audience test.

Motorsport Opening Conventions Consolidation Post

As my research below shows, all the films have...

Indents at the beginning of the opening scene, usually at the bottom of the corner over the film in the background. All use CU and to show facial expressions of all the drivers. These are things we will use within our film.

Conventions of Motorsport Openings: Days of Thunder

Film Name: Days of Thunder
Director: Tony Scott
Year of Film: 1990
Total Awards: 1 Oscar nomination
Box Office: $82,670,733 (USA)

Overview:

The clip shows the testing of an ex-open wheel racing driver in a stock car, they use this time to see how fast he can go on laps before considering signing him.

Camera angles and their preferred reading:

• Shaking LS of the car - This instantly connotes a racing film that will be high octane. The use of shaky camera is to connote to the audience that the car is travelling fast around this track.
• MS of the crew in the pits - This is to start introducing us to the characters that will be in the film. It also shows their faces waiting anxiously to see how well he does.
• CU of driver - This is to show the concentration of the driver as well as show the costume he is wearing. The costume connotes professional racing as he is in full protective gear.
• SRS between crew and driver - These shots are used to show the audience the facial expressions of key characters in the pit lane, while contrasting their anxiety of the driver with CU of him concentrating and in full control.
• MS of two drivers speaking - They use a SRS here also to show the tension that is rising between the driver and his new rival due to him being faster than he is.

All the sound is diegetic in this clip. It mainly has loud engine noises no screeching rubber, all icons of Motorsport.

The costumes of the drivers also connote Motorsport as they are all in protective clothing of race suits and helmets.

There is a faster pace of editing to further emphasis the speed of the movie and the Motorsport genre.

Conventions of Motorsport Openings: Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift

Film Name: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Director: Justin Lin
Year of Film:2006
Total Awards: 4 Nominations
Box Office: $158,468,292

Overview:

A teenager becomes a major competitor in the world of drift racing after moving in with his father in Tokyo to avoid a jail sentence in America.

Camera angles and their preferred reading:

• CU to show match action - This is to show the two characters interacting with each other over their cars. The shot matches the diegetic sounds of him calling him about looking at his 'girl'. The close up shows the audience from the start who is the 'Jock' and who is the 'normal kid'
• Over should shot - This is during the conversations to show the props of the cars too the audience and what each car the driver has, to indicate the wealth and type of character.
• CU of facial expressions - This shot it to show the audience roughly what the character is thinking to the current situation
• SRS to the crowd of 'Jocks' - This is used to suggest to the audience that the character is under a lot of pressure from his fiends to act the way he does. 
• XLS of crowd gathering - This connotes to the audience of a school fight where everyone adds to the pressure for violence.
• Low angle CU to show the wrench - This wrench is not only San icon of the Motorsport genre, it also is used to suggest the idea of violence in a school environment.
• SRS during more dialogue - This is used to show how each character responds to the other and the crowd and what they are likely to do, this gives the audience the sense of being part of the crowd.

The costumes of the characters are used to distinguish the types of character from one an other, the purple jerseys are used to connote the jocks who are the popular kids at the school, the basic clothing of the main characters is to suggest to the audience he is a 'normal' kid who has no outstanding qualities but fits in.

All the sound is diegetic and the use of engine sounds are a music motif to Motorsport. 

Conventions of Motorsport Openings: Senna

Film Name: Senna
Director: Asif Kapadia
Year of Film: 2010
Total Awards: Won 2 BAFTA Awards with 14 other wins and 17 nominations
Box Office: $1,612,430 (USA) (12 August 2011)

Overview:

A film documentary of the Brizilan racing driver, Aytern Senna. The start of the movie introduces us to him and some of his early footage of racing.

Camera angles and their preferred reading:

• Home hand held footage - This is used to not only be informative to the audience using actual footage, but it also connotes home shot film style of shooting. This gives the audience more of a personal connection with the character as they get to experience his childhood.
• MS of Aytern Senna - This shot is used to start giving the audience a look at Senna during his days racing in F1, this also allows the audience to start building a connection to this character.
• CU of Aytern Senna - This shot is used to show his facial expressions while on the track. The emphasis of facial expressions is to further allow the audience to begin building these connections.
• Tracking of Camera during tracking footage - This again used home footage with shaking camera but the use of tracking Senna as he passes other Karters suggests that he is a good driver on the track.
• POV - This is to show (as the voice over speaks) Senna coming out of a corner, this is to give action to the words of the interview that is happening over the clip.
• MS of interview after being signed - This shows how excited his family is for him suggesting to the audience that this is not usual from this type of person.

Both indents of universal, working title and studio canal appear at the start of the film, as well as over the footage of the film between cuts.

The non diegetic sound used throughout the film opening is a voice over from an interview between Senna and a interviewer. They use this to highlight some factual infomation of Senna as well as giving an insight into the type of character Senna is.

Iconography Of Action Genre