Pub or Car Scene?

We have filmed our first scene in a local pub. This was originally supposed to be our opening scene, where the protagonists are discussing their actions when our antagonist arrives and starts his monologue. However, when filming the scene we encountered a number of difficulties such as the high amount of mirrors in the pub which did not help at all. It was also very dark, and the noise from the other visitors and staff was far too loud.

Because of this, we have decided instead to have the opening scene in a car. The protagonists will discuss their plan in the car, but it will break down. One of them will then have to get out to try and fix it, where they will encounter the antagonist. The antagonist then gets in the car and the monologue is spoken in there.

Filming in a car will create a number of difficulties, one of which being the lack of space available. We will have to investigate ways around this, and plan our shot lists accordingly.

Filming

We have been filming a scene where the three protagonists are running away from the antagonist, and regroup once they have lost him.
We filmed this by using a convertible car and a shoulder rig. One of us would kneel (safely) in the back seat looking behind us with the roof down. We would then drive the car slowly with the characters running behind us. This was very effective in getting the shot we needed and the shot itself was very smooth.

Audience Research

This research has been compiled with data and information from the BFI. I will look at data conducted through exit polls for a number of films, an organise them into categories that relate to our project.

Sources of Information

Part of our project is to create a support product, in our case a radio trailer and a magazine article. We need to look at how audiences find out about films in order to assess if our choice is appropriate.
The following data is for the film 'Frank':

As you can see, magazine articles score the second highest overall ,with 13% of all people surveyed hearing about the film through this medium. Radio is around mid table at 10%, which is still good enough to justify our decision. We don't want to create an article and a poster, as that would be too similar and posters scored much lower than both the radio and magazine options in this survey.

Why People Watch the Film

In this set of data, I will look at what makes people go to the film that they have watched. In this case, the data is from the film 'Kidulthood' by Noel Clarke:

As you can see, the overwhelming majority of people surveyed said that the story is the reason that they went to see the film, with 36% of the vote. Factors such as the genre of the film were also popular answers, with this one getting 23% of the vote. This is data that will be useful to us, as we will know what to focus on when making our support products.

Overall, the audience is influenced heavily by the support products, and therefore we must utilise this influence fully, in order to create a successful end product.

Licence Request

We have filled in a Licence Request for Warner Music Group to use the song 'Can't Stop', by Red Hot Chili Peppers in our film.

Planning Difficulties

We have experienced some difficulties in getting our actors to all be available at the same time. We had originally planned to film on the 15th of November but one actor could not make it, so the whole day of filming had to be cancelled. Hopefully this will not happen again, however we have decided that if an actor is persistently absent, we will have no choice but to find a replacement, as we need to start filming imminently. We are currently deciding of our next date for filming.

Soundtrack

We have sent an e-mail to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in order to gain permission to use the song 'Can't Stop' in our film.

Location-Verney Junction

We have decided to change our location for our railway track scene. I have found a location that is very suitable, and although it is slightly further than the one we had originally decided to use, it is non-operational and therefore we can have unlimited access to it at any time. The location is Verney Junction.

It will take about 50 minutes to drive to this location, which is slightly longer than if we were to drive to Chinnor. If we go there for the day, it will be worth while.

According to Track Maps, this section of line is non-operational between the Stop Block Gates, as can be seen here:

 Verney Junction is around where the red dot close to 'Claydon (ACOL)' is on the map. 

The location is perfect, and from these pictures taken from Disused Stations shows how the line is overgrown and in a dilapidated state:

This scene is, to some degree, a post-apocalyptic one. This fits in very well with the treatment of our film, and the run-down and abandoned feel to this location will work well with the way we want our antagonist to act.