Filming review

Hello:) This is Noah's post on the review:
"So, since we only spent one day filming, this will be the only installment of Filming Review: The Super Crunchy Skateboard Party Sitcom with Pratfalls / Physical Comedy and Cute Furry Animals for the International Audience.

Or we could just call it the Filming Review series.

For the lowdown on what happened on the day of filming, see the filming schedule post below this one.

Do that now.

...

You back? Ok.

So, what worked well?
The lighting was pretty much perfect all day, as was the weather. This meant shots were all clear, consistent and "cool" ~ Emily. Plus, good weather = equipment NOT being broken!

However, everything else... wasn't so smooth.

• To start off with, the camera (otherwise known as my phone's pretty good camera) ran out of charge, due to the colder temperature draining the battery much faster. So we had to use Isaac's camera, which was still pretty good. 
• Next, there was Isaac himself. While he's a good person to be around, he's not very co-operative when it comes to something like this. We repeatedly asked him to do things on film and asked him to not do things, but he did the opposite of what we said at many stops. There were also two times where he stopped for a chat with people, while we were losing valuable time.
• As mentioned in the post before, while planning, there was an emergency in Castle Mall, which severely damaged our planning time.

Nothing needs refilming really, and we even planned ahead of that by recording things multiple times, and recording some audio seperately so that if one audio is bad, we have a backup.

It did not run smoothly, at all. The reasons are listed above.

We made a few changes, such as:

• Filming the wake up scene in the food court instead of a bedroom; it was more convenient, and would add more mystery to the plot.
• Having a "suit up" scene, where he puts on his hat and gets on his skateboard DRAMATICALLY.
• We couldn't use the drone, unfortunately. So we ditched the overhead scene.

The food court idea was thought of while we planned over lunch, since we thought it could work better.

Well, there's the end of the review. Next up should be...

THE VIDEO?!"

Shooting schedule

We will film this on the 22nd of January, 2017. 

12:00- Meet Noah in Norwich, set up our equipment, and then film a few preliminary shots.

14:00- Meet Isaac, and begin filming outdoor shots. This should take around an hour and a half, as we will film all of the outdoor shots relatively quickly. 

15:30- Go inside Castle Mall food courts, and film the inside shots. These should take roughly around half an hour, as there are less scenes inside than outside. 

16:00- We will use this time to film any shots that we have missed, and perhaps some more introductory shots. 

Characters and Casting

Final character profile:

This is our original character profile, but we decided not to change anything:

Name: Zak Cheeseburger Bolts

Age: 16 / 17

Profession: Student, Professional 90's kid, World Record holder for "sickest skateboard trick" (he made that one up)

Likes: Crystal Pepsi, Skateboarding, Gameboy, Tamagotchis (even though they always die), the 90s

Dislikes: Regular Pepsi, the future

History: Born in 1980, he's always been a man of the 90s. Even in the 10 years he wasn't in the 90s, he would go on about how the 90s were so much better. He's always been seen wearing a cap; there is no picture of him that exists where he isn't wearing one.

Traits: Very open minded, but still very selective of what he likes and agrees with.

Very "cool", very popular. Slightly egotistical. Overconfident in his abilities.

Friendship Groups: He's mostly friends with anyone who shares common interests, such as those who like those cool new Japanese "Pocket Monster" cards. His close friends are also named in a ridiculous fashion, such as Hiphop McFreshster, Gnarly O'Bladin' and Lil' Weeaboo.

Cast list:

We decided that Isaac would be the actor of our main character. This is because, although he doesn't have any previous acting experience, he seems to have a good presence on camera. Moreover, he can skate well, which is quite an important aspect of our character. 

Costume:

Although we need to present that our character is from the 90's, we decided not to go too over the top. Because of this, we decided that he will be wearing some ordinary, laid-back clothes. He will be wearing ordinary 'skater clothes', and definitely wearing a cap. 

This says a lot about the character though, as in the time, these clothes would be unusual. This would make our character look as if he doesn't care about what others think. It'll also show us a lot about his character, as we can see that he is laid-back, and cool.

Final Locations

These are the places we decided to film in:

Norwich High Street:

We used this area (on the right), to film the 'spinning shot'. This shot was used to show his shock and the overwhelming sensation that he felt. We were originally going to film further up the road, but we decided that this section of 'Gentleman's Walk' would be more effective. This is because, practically, it was less busy, so was easier to film in. Also, to our right was a phone store. I think it was effective to film next to a phone, store as it helped show the modern technological advances to our character. Moreover, this area created mise-en-scene, as it was representative of the average high street nowadays.

We decided to use this high street to film certain shots. We used the hill on the left to film a shot of Zak skating down. It was useful, as the hill created the illusion of speed. 

We filmed more generic shots in areas such as the stairs to the right. These were used to create the setting, and it introduced the setting to the audience. All of these more generic, preliminary shots were filmed in areas similar to this shot. These helped to create an obvious setting. 

Finally, primarily, we decided to film the scene where Zak wakes up, inside a bedroom. However, whilst we were filming, we changed our mind. Logistically, we decided that our character could easily wake up in a different setting. Because of this, we decided that our character would wake up in the food courts (in Castle Mall). Overall, I think that this was an effective substitution, as it added to the mystery of the scene. Moreover, this was easier practically, as we didn't have to film in two locations. This also made the transition easier, as we didn't have to try and justify him suddenly being in the city, when he woke up in a small town. Finally, this added to the mise-en-scene, as it created a more believable, realistic setting. 

Casting

Zak Bolts:

Who are they?
This is Sam Rogers, my 18 year old brother. 

Why do you believe they would be good for the role?
He is of the same age range, and looks similar to our original image of Zak. Also, practically, he doesn't have a job, so would be available to film the opening at most times. However, he doesn't have any experience in acting or filming, so may struggle to perform the lines. 






Who are they?
This is Isaac Whitehead. He is 17 years old. 

Why do you believe they would be good for the role?
Similarly to Sam, he is of the same age-range to our character. Although both of our options look quite different, they are both of the same age-range, and both represent our character well. However, Isaac also doesn't have a lot of experience in filming or acting, so that may be a concern. Also, on the other hand, Isaac is more experienced in skating, so it would look better, as our character has to skate through the city. 


Final cast list:
After some deliberation, we decided that we would give the part to Isaac. This is because he was more available, and had more of the characteristics of Zak. 

Final script

Hello:)
This is our post on the final script!!!! (yaay)
"It's here...

The final script! :D GET HYPED :0

THE SCRIPT

Written by

NOAH CAROLAN and EMILY ROGERS

ZAK BOLTS BOLTS UP IN BED. HE IS IN A COLD SWEAT, AND LOOKS AS IF HE’S JUST HAD A NIGHTMARE.

ZAK:

WOAH, THAT WAS A MOST BOGUS NIGHTMARE.

UGHH, I NEED TO PLAY SOME GAMEBOY TO CALM DOWN.

HE REACHES OVER TO HIS GAMEBOY ON THE BEDSIDE TABLE. HOWEVER, IT’S NOT THERE… IT’S REPLACED WITH AN IPHONE.

ZAK LOOKS AT THE PHONE IN CONFUSION AND DISGUST.

ZAK:

WHAT IS THIS TRASH? I CAN’T PLAY MARIO ON THIS!!

HE THROWS THE IPHONE ACROSS THE ROOM.

HE LOOKS AROUND HIS ROOM. HIS POSTERS OF PULP FICTION AND BOTTLES OF CRYSTAL PEPSI ARE GONE, AND IN THEIR PLACES ARE POSTERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA AND STARBUCKS CUPS.

ZAK NOTICES A NAME ON ONE OF THE CUPS. IT SAYS “LEVI”

ZAK:

WHERE THE HECKO AM I, DUDE BRO? WHO’S LEVI?

ZAK THINKS OF ONE WAY TO MAKE SURE HE WASN’T BEING PUNK’D.

ZAK:

[SHOUTS] MOM?

MUM:

[FROM DOWNSTAIRS] YES DEAR?

ZAK REALISES THAT THIS IS NOT HIS HOME.

ZAK:

WHAT IS GOING ON...

HE FULL ON GETS OUT OF BED, STILL WEARING HIS BASEBALL CAP, BACKPACK, ETC. POKING OUT OF HIS BACKPACK IS A SKATEBOARD, WHICH HE GETS OUT OF HIS BAG AND PROCEEDS TO USE TO SK8 OUT OF HIS ROOM.

HE RUNS DOWNSTAIRS, AT A SPEED THAT NO-ONE COULD SEE HIM.

THE FINAL SHOT OF HIM IN THE HOUSE IS OF HIM SKATING OUT OF THE FRONT DOOR.

OVERHEAD SHOT (USING DRONE) OF HIM SKATING DOWN A PATH, PRESUMABLY TO THE CITY.

CUT TO ZAK SKATING THROUGH THE CITY.

MULTIPLE ESTABLISHING SHOTS OF THE CITY, FEATURING MILLENIALS DOING MILLENIAL THINGS.

ONE IS PLAYING “POKEMON GO”, ONE IS USING TERMS LIKE “ON FLEEK” AND “BAE”, ETC.

THE CAMERA SPINS AROUND ZAK AS HE STOPS, AND SHOWS THE BUSTLING CITY AS IT SPINS.

ZOOM IN ON ZAK’S FACE.

ZAK:

BOGUS.

[CUT TO BLACK]

JSRTGRFAWENJ IT'S PRETTY GOOD I THINK

We will be filming from this script, so... nice! :D

~ Noah :)"

THANK YOU NOAHHHH:))))

Prop list

This is Noah's post on the prop list:
"Hello!!

So, as with any movie, we need props. We've both had a fair share in prop making, but for this we will simply be listing pre-existing props.

- Pokemon Cards (japanese?)
- Skateboard
- Tamagotchi
- Crystal Pepsi bottle
- Numerous Starbucks cups
- Captain America poster
- iPhone
- Cap
- Backpack
- Sleeveless jacket
- Sunglasses?
- Cool trainers

That was quick.

Bye!

- Noah :)"
Thank you Buddy:)

Feedback to Final Idea 'Dragons Den' Pitch

This is our Dragons Den pitch:


We pitched our idea to Euan and he gave us a large amount of constructive feedback:

• He said that he liked our idea, and thought it was cool to focus on the representation of a 90's kid in the media nowadays.
• He said that perhaps there could be more charaters, and maybe more settings, as this will make it more interesting. 
• Overall, however, he said he enjoyed the idea, and thought that it was unique and unusual.

Location research.

Zak's bedroom:
We are unable to get the pictures of our chosen room yet, but they will be available in our final location research. We have decided to film in our friend's bedroom. This is because, the room is plain white, and we can temporarily put up posters, and starbucks cups. It is inside and well-lit, so is ideal for the first scene of our opening. 

The city:
This is our chosen location for the outside scene. It is Haymarket in Norwich. 

We have thought about weather conditions and have decided that, ideally, we would too much if it is downcast. However, for the 'high-street' scene, we have decided that film when the weather was bright. Most of the opening will be inside, so it wont matter we won't film if it is raining or too windy, as our equipment may be damaged. 

Also, the bedroom scene will be set in somebody's house (most likely) in Wymondham, so it we will be easily accessable to ourselves and our actors. The city scene will be set in Norwich, so we can just get the train 

These locations are perfect, as they are close to where we live, and they are open to film in.

 In case of emergency, we can film in either my bedroom, or Noah's, but that would not be ideal. 

All of our cast can easily get to both of our locations, as they all live in or around Wymondham. We can all travel to the city scene together (either in a car, or by train). 

Finally, we are using a mixture of interior and exterior locations. This is partly because our script is set in both inside and outside, and partly because it makes it more interesting.

Character

Hello, this is our post about character:)

"Hello!

So today's post will be about the main character of our opening! :D

Name: Zak Cheeseburger Bolts (yes we're serious)

Age: 16 / 17

Profession: Student, Professional 90's kid, World Record holder for "sickest skateboard trick" (he made that one up)

Likes: Crystal Pepsi, Skateboarding, Gameboy, Tamagotchis (even though they always die), the 90s

Dislikes: Regular Pepsi, the future

History: Born in 1980, he's always been a man of the 90s. Even in the 10 years he wasn't in the 90s, he would go on about how the 90s were so much better. He's always been seen wearing a cap; there is no picture of him that exists where he isn't wearing one.

Traits: Very open minded, but still very selective of what he likes and agrees with. Very "cool", very popular. Slightly egotistical, overconfident in their abilities.

Friendship Groups: He's mostly friends with anyone who shares common interests, such as those who like those cool new Japanese "Pocket Monster" cards. His close friends are also named in a ridiculous fashion, such as Hiphop McFreshster, Gnarly O'Bladin' and Lil' Weeaboo.

Influences: (i presume this means characters that influenced this character)

- Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan

- Marty McFly

- Dippy Fresh

(the one with the skateboard)

- Cow Pretending to be a Man

- Will Smith (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)

- A stereotype "90's Kid"

3 words to describe them: Bodacious! <air guitar>

Well, that's the character! Hope he works well... :D

~ Noah :)"

Thank you Noahhhh

Audience research feedback.

Summary of the audience research we conducted:
Overall, people think that a film opening (particularly a comedy), should not be too complex-there should be a minimal amount of locations and characters, so the audience does not get confused. Character driven openings are excellent in interesting the audience. 

What was the general consensus towards your own idea?
Generally, our audience liked our idea! We also asked somebody else, who wasn't in our video, and they also said that our idea was very good. They liked the comedic themes and thought that our character was interesting and relatable. 

What developments/changes will you be making to your own idea based on these opinions?
I think that we wont change much of the plot, or the characters. We might edit our camera angles, as they suggested some good ideas.One of our participants said that they were worried we wouldn't have enough to fill up the 2 minute time, however, when we explained the story more, they were less worried. However, in order to make sure that we do fill up the time, we thought of some 'insurance' shots. For example, we could place a camera underneath the skateboard whilst it is moving.  

Audience research video

Hello:) 

This is the audience research video:

Thanks Noah:)

The idea so far

This is Noah's post on our idea so far. 
"So... the research is done. Now, the fun stuff begins.

So, what is our idea so far?

A 90's kid stereotype (e.g. a cap, a skateboard, a Gameboy and atrocious slang), wakes up in his bed, panting and shaken, as if he's just had a nightmare. He bolts upwards, and looks around. However, he notices that this is not his room. They aren't his posters, his clothes, his TV. Confused, he calls downstairs for his family. It's not his family who respond. So, PANIC. He bolts downstairs, and tries to find out what has happens. He bursts out of the house, and runs into the city center near his house. There's a cool shot panning around our main character, as he looks at the changes around him. He suddenly realises; he's not in 1995 anymore.

Me and Emily are working as a two, since we're very likeminded, and our ideas work well together.

We want to go for a comedy. We realised that the horror/thriller genre is done to death in A-Level media, from the openings we've seen online. Plus, the best ones we saw were the ones that weren't horror or thriller, they were comedies, fantasies, sci-fi... the list goes on.
Plus, Emily and I are both people who really love a good comedy, be it two hours of atrocious puns or well thought out jokes that double up as commentaries of the real world.

The narrative style for the opening is going to be from the main character's POV (we still have to name them lmao). It'll be a combination of 3rd person view and 1st person view, with the 1st person view coming in when they're looking around the new room, and possibly when they're rushing down and out of the house. The whole opening will revolve around what he's going through. The narrative will also be fairly lighthearted, with an uncomplicated plot. Everything will be concise, and the only padding will be for jokes.

On camera, we only want one key character; the 90s kid. There are only two real characters to focus on in the whole film, and the opening will only focus on our protagonist.

We plan on using two locations, the house and the city centre.
For the house, we'll probably use either my house or Emily's house, we haven't settled that yet. We'll have to redecorate the room

For the city centre, we want to have a shot similar to this one from Captain America: The First Avenger (skip to 1:53)

The shot of him being so stunned by the new world around him would fit what we're trying to go for perfectly.

We will be using dialogue, since a big part of the character is his fairly unique speech patterns.

We may break the fourth wall, but not in the opening, since the audience needs to focus on what's happened to this character and not what the character is saying directly to them.

There will not be narration as of right now, but that's still up in the air since we could use it for comedic affect like in the Anchorman films.

We have three particular shots we want to have in the opening.
The first one is when the character is leaving the house. We want a shot from behind them, as they open the door, and light floods the room, leaving a silhouette of the character. This would quite an impactful shot, as it would show the character stuck from the past seeing this bright new world, and feeling like a shadow of the past in a world of present light.
The second is an overhead shot of the character skating down a path to the city, which we plan on using a drone for.
The final one we wanted has already been spoken about with the Captain America example.

It's funny, I started this post in 2016 and ended it in 2017.

Most excellent!

~ Noah :D"

The script!!

WE DID A SCRIPT! :D

THE SCRIPT

Written by

NOAH CAROLAN and EMILY ROGERS

ZAK BOLTS BOLTS OUT OF BED. HE IS IN A COLD SWEAT, AND LOOKS AS IF HE’S JUST HAD A NIGHTMARE.

ZAK:

WOAH, THAT WAS TOTALLY NOT RADICAL, DUDE.

HE REACHES OVER TO HIS GAMEBOY ON THE BEDSIDE TABLE. HOWEVER, IT’S NOT THERE… IT’S REPLACED WITH AN IPHONE.

ZAK LOOKS AT THE PHONE IN CONFUSION AND DISGUST.

ZAK:

WHAT IS THIS TRASH?

HE THROWS THE IPHONE ACROSS THE ROOM.

HE LOOKS AROUND HIS ROOM. HIS POSTERS OF PULP FICTION AND BOTTLES OF CRYSTAL PEPSI ARE GONE, AND IN THEIR PLACES ARE POSTERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA AND STARBUCKS CUPS.

ZAK NOTICES A NAME ON ONE OF THE CUPS. IT SAYS “LEVI”

ZAK:

WHERE THE HECKO AM I, DUDE BRO?

ZAK THINKS OF ONE WAY TO MAKE SURE HE WASN’T BEING PUNK’D.

ZAK:

[SHOUTS] MOM?

MUM:

[FROM DOWNSTAIRS] YES DEAR?

ZAK REALISES THAT THIS IS NOT HIS HOME.

HE FULL ON GETS OUT OF BED, STILL WEARING HIS BASEBALL CAP, BACKPACK, ETC. POKING OUT OF HIS BACKPACK IS A SKATEBOARD, WHICH HE GETS OUT OF HIS BAG AND PROCEEDS TO USE TO SK8 OUT OF HIS ROOM.

HE RUNS DOWNSTAIRS, AT A SPEED THAT NO-ONE COULD SEE HIM.

THE FINAL SHOT OF HIM IN THE HOUSE IS OF HIM SKATING OUT OF THE FRONT DOOR.

OVERHEAD SHOT (USING DRONE) OF HIM SKATING DOWN A PATH, PRESUMABLY TO THE CITY.

CUT TO ZAK SKATING THROUGH THE CITY.

MULTIPLE ESTABLISHING SHOTS OF THE CITY, FEATURING MILLENIALS DOING MILLENIAL THINGS.

ONE IS PLAYING “POKEMON GO”, ONE IS USING TERMS LIKE “ON FLEEK” AND “BAE”, ETC.

THE CAMERA SPINS AROUND ZAK AS HE STOPS, AND SHOWS THE BUSTLING CITY AS IT SPINS.

ZOOM IN ON ZAK’S FACE.

ZAK:

BOGUS.

[CUT TO BLACK]