Editing Process

I used imovie to edit my film. After shooting my movie for the first time, I got home and realised that the majority of the footage was unusable, because the wind was too loud and the dialog was impossible to hear. I tried for a while to over dub the voices with my friends, but that proved too difficult, so we filmed again the next week.


The first thing I concentrated on was getting the shots the right length in my film. Cutting them is easy on imovie, because you just move the little T bar thing and press apple T, which will cut the footage in half wherever the bar is. (First picture is scene in full, second is scene cut in half.)




Once I was happy with the length and flow of the scenes, I started focusing on the audio. I wanted music that would be appropriate with both the lyrics and the "feel" of the song, so I looked up domestic violence songs in google. My first two choices were Bad Wisdom by Suzanne Vega and I'm okay by Christina Aguilera. It took a while for me to get a hold of these songs, so in the mean time I used Turning Tables by Adele to fill in for both songs.

Once I got both the songs, I realised that Turning Tables actually fitted the ending of the film better than I'm okay. I liked the dramatic sort of feel it had, it seemed to drive the point home of my character being abused. The lyrics are also appropriate for the subject matter. "So I won't let you close enough to hurt me." Bad Wisdom talks about a girl going to the doctor's because she's been acting oddly and her mother thinks she's sick, but in reality she's been sexually abused. The music, by contrast is almost peaceful, which suits the beginning of the film which is innocent as my character bikes up her friend's driveway.

I wanted the music to fade at the right moments, so I went in the audio part of imovie and controlled the volume there. The volume is represented by little lines that move up for louder and down for quieter.

I found that in some of the scenes the volume was too low for the speaking. As you can see in two scenes in the picture above I doubled the audio to solve this problem.

Finally I decided on the freeze frame at the end of my film because I envision the next scene following Sarah's character at school, where she can't stop thinking about Molly. I think the freeze frame works because it leaves the viewer to see how Molly is feeling. Even though she acts angry at Sarah and blames here, she's really just scared. In the full length movie this would be the last time we'd see Molly for quite a while.

I also think the shot works well because of the framing in the background of the two trees.

I'm  annoyed about the camera work in this scene, because my tripod got stuck when I was filming it, which is why the pan upwards is incredibly shaky. We didn't have time to fix it though, because my grandma's gardener arrived just after we filmed this shot. 

Film Evalution

The first time I tried to shoot my film, the sound did not work because of the unusual amount of wind on that day. At first I was really annoyed, because I envisioned myself spending hours attempting to do voice overs with my friends, but once we decided to just re shoot, it ended up being a great opportunity to revise camera angles and improve on the acting. The second shooting had much better camera angles than the first, especially because I used more depth of field and shifted the focus rather than just having it looking at the scene in general the whole time. I ended up using the biking footage from the first filming anyway.

I think the shots were quite well done for the most part in my film. I liked the symmetry behind the trees in my Grandma's back yard, and they framed the people well. My over the shoulder shot could have been done better, because I didn't have the steady cam function on, whcih made the camera quite shaky. The issue with the steady cam functiuon though is that it uses up the battery at twice the speed.

Exam Evalutaion

I think the exams went okay. Andby okay I mean I probably passed, which is okay by me. I felt prepared for the genre essay, though I probably should have done more study for it. The representaions essay I found a bit more difficult, because I felt like we had only covered one part of the topic. I spent about a half hour- 45 minutes on each one, because I always finish super early in all my exams, and it's lame.

I need to do mroe work on memorising quotes and dates for my externals. Yeah. This should be longer, but it's not.

Various Tasks.

Task 4: Crew and Talent
Sarah: Georgia Scott
Mrs Samuels: Alison Budge
Molly: Deanna Stoddart

Task 5: Production Schedule
On the 6th of August I will be filming my movie at my Grandmother's house all day. I have already checked with her that this is okay, and my actors have all said they should be free.

Task 6: Art department
The costume used in my movie will be simple clothing that the actors already own. I will ensure that Deanna's character wears her hoodie. The only necessary prop is a pair of sunglasses that Deanna already owns.
Deanna will do her own eye make up.

Task 7: Locations, Permissions
I am filming the entire thing at my Grandmother's house. She has given me permission to do so. She lives in an oldish house with a river aorund the back.

Treatment

      Sarah is biking up a long driveway. The camera watches the wheels go past with a low angle shot. She reaches the end of the driveway and puts her bike down, resting it on its stand. The camera follows her over her shoulder to the door to a house. There is a shot of her hand knocking on the door. Molly's mother answers the door, and the camera avoids her face, shooting over her shoulder at Sarah's face. Mrs Samuels says "Sarah, we haven't seen you in a while. How are you?" She replies "I'm good thanks, Mrs Samuels. I was wondering.. Is Molly around?" The camera shoots over Sarah's shoulder and shows Mrs Samuels' face in shadow.
      Mrs Samuels says "it's not a good idea for you to see her at the moment. She's... got a lot of homework to do." The camera returns to filming from over Mrs Samuel's shoulder, before cutting to filming from outside the house, looking at Sarah's profile. Sarah says "Oh, okay... Well... Will you tell her I came 'round?" Mrs Samuels begins to close the door and says "Yes, I'll do that. Have a nice day." Sarah replies "You too..." in a manner that suggests she thinks the conversation is unfinished.
      She waves uncertainly and walks out of the door alcove. She begins to walk back down the driveway, but stops suddenly. A high angle shot sees her looking over her shoulder to see if Mrs Samuels is there, and then she walks quietly around the side of the house. The camera follows her through a rose bush covered path. She walks into the backgarden, that has a river down the front. An establishing shot from behind Sarah shows us the back of Molly's hooded figure sitting throwing sticks into the river. Sarah walks carefuly down to stand beside Molly. The camera films them sitting beside eachother.
     Sarah greets Molly. "Hey, Molly!" Molly doesn't even acknowledge that she is there. She sits looking forwards. She is wearing a hoodie jacket and dark sunglasses. Sarah says "You weren't at school yesterday." Molly replies in a monotonous voice "I was sick." The camera films Sarah from the front as she awkwardly sits down beside her. "Are you... feeling any better?" Sarah asks. "I'm fine," Molly replies. She still hasn't looked away from the river.
     Sarah attempts to put her arm around Molly and asks "How are things with your Dad?" Molly shoves her arm off angrily and says "He's not my Dad." Sarah looks away and throws a rock in the river. "I know, sorry... Does he... Does he still..." Molly turns and looks straight at Sarah. "Does he still what? Does he still beat me?" Sarah looks down at her feet. "Look." Molly takes her glasses off and reveals a black eye. The camera jumps from a close up of Molly to looking at the two of them straight on. Sarah's eyes are wide and shocked.
     "Molly, we have to tell someone," Sarah says in a concerned voice. "No." Molly puts her glasses back on and stares straight ahead of her again.
 "But Molly, they can-" Molly interupts her and says "Just leave." Sarah sounds hurt "What?" Molly says in a harsh voice "Go. Away." arah stands up slowly, and walks up the hill. The camera watches with Molly in the foreground, and Sarah blurred in the background. The focus shifts to Sarah, who looks back once, and then continues walking away.

Script

Sarah: Georgia Scott
Mrs Samuels: Alison Budge
Molly: Deanna Stoddart

Sarah is biking up a long driveway. The camera watches the wheels go past with a low angle shot. She reaches the end of the driveway and puts her bike down, resting it on its stand. The camera follows her over her shoulder to the door to a house. There is a shot of her hand knocking on the door. Molly's mother answers the door, and the camera avoids her face, shooting over her shoulder at Sarah's face.
Mrs Samuels: Sarah, we haven't seen you in a while. How are you?
Sarah: I'm good thanks, Mrs Samuels. I was wondering, is... Is Molly around?
The camera shoots over Sarah's shoulder and shows Mrs Samuels' face in shadow.
Mrs Samuels: It's not a good idea for you to see her at the moment. She's... got a lot of homework to do.
The camera returns to filming from over Mrs Samuel's shoulder, before cutting to filming from outside the house, looking at Sarah's profile.
Sarah: Oh, okay... Well... Will you tell her I came 'round?
Mrs Samuels: Yes, I'll do that. Have a nice day.
Sarah: You too...
Sarah waves uncertainly and walks out of the door alcove. She begins to walk back down the driveway, but stops when we hear the door closing. A high angle shot sees her looking over her shoulder to see if Mrs Samuels is there, and then she walks quietly around the side of the house. The camera follows her through a rose bush covered path. She walks into the backgarden, that has a river down the front. An establishing shot from behind Sarah shows us the back of Molly's hooded figure sitting throwing sticks into the river. Sarah walks carefuly down to stand beside Molly. The camera films them sitting beside eachother.
Sarah: Hey Molly!
Molly doesn't look at her, and stays silent.
Sarah: You weren't at school yesterday.
Molly: I was sick. She is deadpan and unenthusiastic. She stares straight ahead.
The camera films Sarah from the front as she awkwardly sits down beside her.
Sarah: Are you... feeling any better?
Molly: I'm fine.
Sarah puts her arm around Molly uncomfortably.
Sarah: How are things with your Dad? Molly shoves her arm off.
Molly: He's not my Dad.
Sarah: I know, sorry... Does he... Does he still...
Molly: Does he still what? Does he still beat me? She turns and looks straight at Sarah, who looks down at her feet.
Molly: Look. She takes her sunglasses off and reveals a black eye. The camera jums from a close up of Molly to looking at the two of them straight on. Sarah's eyes are wide and shocked.
Sarah: Molly, we have to tell someone.
Molly: No. She puts her glasses back on and stares straight ahead again.
Sarah: But Molly, they can-
Molly: Just leave.
Sarah: What?
Molly: Go. Away.
Sarah stands up slowly, and walks up the hill. The camera watches with Molly in the foreground, and Sarah blurred in the background. The focus shifts to Sarah, who looks back once, and then continues walking away.

Concept for film opening.

I am planning on making an issue based film opening on domestic violence. I want to make the opening shocking. I will either have happy music at the beginning contrasted with the serious content later on, or no music with exaggerated sound effects (loud footsteps and opening doors etc).
Plot:
A girl goes to her friend's house. When she knocks on the door it is partially opened by her friend's mother. (She keeps the chain on the door.) The camera angles will be carefuly selected so that we can't ever see the mother's face. The mother tells the girl that her friend can't see her because she's got too much homework to do.
The girl decides that she will sneak around the back of the house to see her friend anyway, and finds her sitting in the garden with a hood over her head and glasses covering her eyes. They have a forced conversation for a while until the girl asks about her stepfather.
Her friend takes her sunglasses off and reveals a black eye.