Final Products - Ancillary Tasks

Poster

Magazine Cover

Production Schedule

Location Release Forms

Release for the use of Grundy Park - E Mail Confirmation

Conversation with Nichola Needs about the use of Grundy Park, gaining the confirmation and release to film within Grundy Park as long as I get the permission of all individuals that will be filmed.

Talent Release Forms

Photo Shoot Plan

A lof of planning went into how I was going to represent my characters and how I was going to get their individual personalities across to the audience.

In regards to make-up, I decided to keep everything natural, with next to no make-up actually being used.  I wanted to make the shots that I got in both the poster, magazine and overall trailer, as realistic as possible.  This in mind, I kept Anthony's make-up non existent as I didn't think that it was necessary.  As for Marie I just decided to put some lipstick on her to brighten up the face as I thought it would make it look a little lighter when she was filming scenes of herself looking sad. Other that this small aspect of the shots and scenes, I didn't think that any other form of make-up would be necessary.  This was to enhance the idea of verisimilitude and to make it more realistic overall.

The lighting for the majority of the filming and all of the photographs that I am going to be taking for both of my ancillary tasks are going to be done using natural lighting.  As I am going to be doing this in a park and am shooting on days that are hopefully going to be very sunny, the lighting should work out really well.  If I have any lighting issues and to to source light from somewhere else, I am going to continue shooting with the light that I have and then edit my photographs in photoshop to make them a lot brighter, increasing aspects such as the exposure and brightness.  In regards to filming and the lighting, if natural lighting isn't in abundance then I am going to cancel shooting and continue another day as I don't want to sacrifice lighting, simply because I want to get it done.  For all of the other scenes that are inside, I am going to try and use as much natural lighting, through aspects such as windows, in order to match the lighting as best as possible.  If this doesn't work then I am going to have to use artificial light, simply from a lightbulb as I don't have any professional lighting available.  This however, will still work as I can change the exposure and various lighting aspects within the camera to make it look like natural lighting.  This is something that I think will actually work out a lot better than I am expecting.

The costume for both the photographing and the filming is going to be the same, except when filming inside, when coats will not be worn.  I decided to let the actors choose clothing that they would normally wear so that I could capture a realistic idea of the two different people.  I thought that this would work a lot better than if I were to decide what they were to wear.  It should hopefully make them feel a lot more comfortable as well and therefore, I will get better shots.  Hopefully the outfits that they are both wearing will work well together, if not, I will make one of the actors change so that there is some form of linking colour scheme between them.  I think this is important if I want to get the audience to see the connection between the two characters.

I am going to use a number of different shot types mainly focusing on long shots and medium shots.  I am also going to experiment with some close-up shots to highlight the sadness and loneliness of the characters.  I may also include some form of establishing shot, so the audience can get a feel for where the entire trailer is set.  I'm not sure whether this is going to be an important factor when it comes to creating my trailer as it is not 100% necessary.  However, i will get an establishing shot for experimentations when it comes to the editing process. I am also going to do over the shoulder shots to show a conversation.  I am going to do this because I think that it is one of the best ways to show a conversation between two people.  It also shows a close connection as the characters tend to look very close together in the shots.

I have looked a lot at influential imagery, especially for the poster aspect of shooting.  I wanted to make sure that I could highlight the relationship between the two characters in a unique and efficient way.  I did this through researching films that include an 'unlikely frienship' and then continued to look at the posters for these films to see how other people showed the relationship effectively.  The main poster that highly influenced me is the film poster for 'The Intouchables'.  I really like the way that it has been put together with the character positioned very close together, filling up the majority of the page.  This is the main influence that I got for shooting my own poster images.

In regards to what influenced me when filming, I thought a lot about the film The Blind Side, because I liked the way that they were able to get the two characters overcoming their differences in order to form a friendship.  This is the same in the intouchables, which is also why I decided to look further into the poster for the film.  Both films are incredibly heartwarming which is something that I would like to replicate in my own work.  Both of these films have had a lot of influence over how I am going to do certain aspects of both my ancillary tasks and main tasks. 

Facebook Comparison Findings

It is clear that the majority of my audience preferred option 1 over option 2, despite it being a very close vote.  9 people preferred option 1, with a close 8 preferring option 2.

Risk Assessments

Site Plans

The majority of the shooting is going to be done in this park near to where my nan's house, which has been circled on the map as a comparison.  The red line that I have indicated below int he image, is the general path that I will be filming along.  This is the plan of the entire area, to get a good idea of the type of scene that will be in the background of my shots.  I wanted to make sure that there was a significant area of trees in the area, which is located where the beginning of the line ends, as if you're travelling away from the house circled.  As well as where the trees are positioned, there is also the bench that I used to take photos for my ancillary tasks.  I am going to be doing some shooting around this area as I think that it is important to include aspects of the ancillary tasks in the main tasks.  I am also going to use it as the meeting point of the two characters in the trailer as I think that it is a good example of how people and 'unlikely friends' generally meet. 

The next two site plans are for the two houses that I will be using.  The first image is the layout of the ground floor in my nan's house where a lot of the filming with the two characters will be done.  The second image is of the house where the young boy lives and will be the first floor of a three story house.

The next two images is of the school that I will be filming outside of.  I plan to just film along the path that I have given a street view of, with the school in the background, because I think it'll look effective.

Location Scouting Sheet

Location 1 - Park

For this location I need to decide which park I am going to use for the majority of my shooting.  As this is a very important part of my overall trailer, I think that it would be a good idea to look at the various aspects that are available in each park.  I am torn between Loughton's Park, located near Loughton Leisure Centre and Grundy Park, located in Cheshunt.  Both of these parks have various aspects that I like, but I'm not sure which one would be better for shooting.

Loughton Park

• There are features such as a more developed park including swings and climbing frames that would be better for showing a park environment.
• There are not many paths leading to and from the park which might be an issue as this is where I wanted to film my two characters meeting for the first time. 
• It is closer to where I live, which means I can get there with no hassle, which would be more efficient when it comes to any difficulties in the editing process. 
• There are more facilities surrounding the park, however I will not need to use them so I'm not sure how this would benefit me and I think that it would hold me back and the actual park is fairly small. 
• The park itself isn't that big, which means I would be limited to the area in which I could film.
• There is no large scale green field, which is something that I wanted in the film, or at least partly in the film.

Grundy Park

• There is access to a lot more paths that would be good to film along, especially for the scene where they meet for the first time.
• There is an interesting path that sits in between two lines of trees that would be the perfect location for where they meet. 
• The park is far away from the paths, which means I would not be able to include it in the filming. 
• There are benches that I could use for the photo shoot aspect, which is something that is highly appealing to me. 
• There is more opportunity to get long shots, due to the general park being much larger than the park in Loughton. 
• A lot further away that Loughton as it is located in Cheshunt.  It is at least a 20 minute drive, which I guess isn't that far, especially as I have my own method of transport (car).

Overall I think that the pros for Grundy Park out weigh those for Loughton Park, which means I am going to be using Grundy Park for my main location.  I think that this will look really good and I think that the general layout of the entire area is going to look a lot more effective than if I were to shoot in Loughton Park.  Grundy Park is also a lot less busy so I wouldn't have to worry about getting other people in the shots. 

Location 2 - Marie's House

This location was fairly easy to decided as I knew that I would have access to my nan's house, who is playing Marie.  I thought that it would be a good idea to use this house instead of another more suited because it reflects her character.  This is because the character is very much relatable to the actual actress herself.  As I kept her hair, make-up and costume the same as what she would actually wear on an everyday basis, I thought it would only be fitting to let her have her own house as her house in the film.  The layout of her house should work out really well as there are lots of different places that I can set up my tripod and camera in, in order to get a variety of shots that will allow me to experiment with angles and close-ups. 

Location 3 - Anthony's House

This location is only going to be briefly used to show Anthony at home and how his parents act like he doesn't exist.  I decided to use my own house for the location of Anthony's house, because I can easily navigate around my dining table to get the shots that I need in order to show the over the shoulder sots that I am hoping to achieve.  I think that this is going to be a slight challenge to get the shots that I am precisely looking for, but hopefully it will work out exactly as I am planning.  This location is also being use to show Anthony going through his everyday chores that he is left to do on his own.  This was another aspect that made me want to use my own house for shooting this, due to the fact that I know where I can set up cameras, in order to get effective lighting and angles.

Ancillary Tasks - Resultant Images

Title Ideas - Magazine Cover

Photo Shoot Call Sheet

Developing Branding and Analysing Company Logo

These are the two variations of logo's that I created in order to put on the from of my poster.  I wanted to create two seperate logos so that I had a choice.  I think that they both have their perks and I think that I am going to decided which one looks better, when it comes to actually creating my poster.  i personally like the top logo but with the bottom logo's colour scheme, as it will blend in more with whatever I create. 

This was the first logo that I created and I think that embodies a strong logo that gets across the name of my production company really well.  I like the use of font, which I have kept consistent throughout both of the logos that I have created.  I warped the writing so that it would bend along the circular edge, making a better looking image overall.  When I was creating this particular image, I wasn't really thinking much about the colours, when putting it with the poster.  I realised once I got it in that the colour scheme was completely off, which is why I decided to create the logo below.  However, I changed the blue colours in this logo and made them more appropriate and I think that this is the logo that I am going to be using. 

I prefer the way that I have managed to make this logo look as I warped the type a lot more efficiently than when I previously edited it together.  I also prefer the colours that I decided to use in this logo, with a simple black and white theme continuous across the entire image.  I also think that the way that I made the banner across the middle a white see through colour, adds to the overall look of the logo and makes it look a little more 3D, rather than it looking slightly plain.  I thought that this would be a good idea to do, as the colours do not stand out that much, which meant I had to do something else to make it just as important as everything else. After looking at existing logos such as Warner Bros. in particular, I liked the idea of the banner which is why i decided to go with this effect. 

Existing Logos - Warner Bros.

After looking at Warner Bros. as deciding that they were one of the most important companies that I needed to look at in order to get a good understanding of the drama genre, I thought that it would be a good idea to also look at the logo.  I think that looking at this logo in particular made me make important decisions when it came to actually create my own logo.  I liked the way that the banner in this image presented the name of the actual production company, with a more simple logo in the background, which is something that I wanted to try and replicate.  I think that when I was creating the second logo,  had this in mind and wanted to try and use this technique in my own way.  I personally think that in the Warner Bros. logo, there is too much writing and it distracts slightly from what they are trying to get across to the audience.  With this in mind, I thought that I would just put one word on the banner in my logo, which I think I managed to do really effectively.  even though I didn't follow the ideas of Warner Bros. logo exactly, I think that I have managed to interpret the idea in my own unique way. 

Main Influences - Ancillary Tasks

Skeleton Layouts

Poster - Layout Research

I like the first poster due to the way that the characters are one behind the other.  I also like the way that the characters are both smiling showing a mutual enjoyment and happiness which I think would work replicate the main idea in the film really well.  This idea would essentially represent the friendship between the two characters that we are going to be likely to see if we are to watch the film. 

I really like the way that the second poster has been laid out, with the two characters being shown in a relatable environment, enjoying each others company.  I think that this would be a good way to show my own characters, as it seperates them from the rest of the people around them, which I think is very effective. I also like the positioning of all of the writing.  It draws the audience into the idea of the film and gets them more in the know of what the film is about, through the title that is very large on the poster.  I also think it works well with the characters name presented at the top of the poster so that we can see it, but not so much that it takes away from everything else.

The Blind Side poster is also effective because they have managed to show the characters relationship without being shown their faces.  We work everything out from their body language which I think is very effective.  I also like the simpleness of the text on the page.  The very basic title and actor name accompanied by the strapline at the top of the page is designed to draw in the audience as people are generally more attracted to the idea of a true story as it is usually somewhat more relatable. 

Magazine Cover - Layout Research

I chose to look at these magazine covers as a form of research for my own magazine cover, as I thought that they highlighted well how I want to contract my own.  As they all feature two or more characters, with my own magazine cover featuring two, I thought it necessary to look at how the likes of top magazine company EMPIRE, decided to position their characters so that they can still capture the audience's attention and also getting across a lot of information.

I like the way that in the top two magazine covers, they have chose to put two of the heroes looking over their left shoulders at the audience, facing away from the other character on the page, leading the audience to believe that they are the villain, or someone who shouldn't be as important.  The use of this technique to the audience, makes you think that they aren't as good as the others but are also still important to the film that is being shown.  This is a good way to show this, if there is a clear villain and a clear hero, however this is not the case in my own trailer.  This is why I think that it would be a good idea to follow the likes of the third magazine cover as it represents a lot better the equality between my characters.  The way that there is a form of hierarchy in the importance of the characters would be a good way of separating the main character from a second main character of less importance.  I think that if I was to present my characters in this way, then I would have then one behind the other but in a back to back fashion, so that I could place features such as the cover lines around the profiles of their faces.  I think this would be a good way of presenting the information in the magazine as you are drawn into both features at the same time.

Target Audience of Ancillary Products

Media Timeline of Magazine Covers

Media Timeline of Posters