Evaluation Pt. 1

Question: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
https://soundcloud.com/tolani-onanuga/evaluation-pt1

This is part one of our evaluation of our title sequence project,in this audio we discuss what we believe we have learnt from filming our preliminary task to now finishing our final task.

Group

Filming journal summary

Due to our film being an independent film we left a lot of our filming to convenience hence why we had a very unstructured and arbitrary meeting schedule. Luckily for us we were able to find locations such as Goals where the boys would get free access into on Tuesdays however, this also limited us as it meant we had to wait an entire week to film there again. On top of this we were also lucky in the sense that all the boys played for football clubs including Kallums younger brother who plays the younger Jack. This was advantageous as it meant we were able to collect footage of football matches with our actual actors without having to worry about costuming or props as it was all already there as they played their matches. This also had its limitations, we faced a lot of difficulties trying to film these matches for instance at Kallums little brothers match we didn't have parental consent from all of the parents therefore we couldn't film. Also at Jacks match he ended up getting injured less than 10 minutes into the game so we weren't able to get much footage. One thing I am proud of is that we didn't need to use any existing footage and every scene in the title sequence we filmed ourselves however I will say that in future I would definitely not rely on leaving things to convenience as things may not always go to plan.

P.S.

For our evaluation we chose to answer some of the questions as a group as we feel like we could all make different contributions when answering the questions as we all we had different roles in which we learnt and discovered different things. I will mark the ones that we did as a group by adding a caption that reads group and mark those that I did alone with a caption that reads individual.

Filming: Day 16

In addition to the scenes we shot at White Hart Lane yesterday we  also filmed younger Jack looking at a poster of White Hart Lane to show that it was his dream to play there growing up.

Filming: Day 15

As filming is coming to a close, we have just been filming little details that'll help establish the narrative. Yesterday Jack and Kaan went to White Hart Lane to film jack in front of the gates. This will establish the setting and the stadium where jack will now be playing with his professional team. We took over the shoulder shots so you could see jack looking up at the stadium gates.

Filming: Day 15

Today Kallum filmed younger Jack watching tv in his living room. He was watching a football match and was cheering as the team he supported scored. This was to show that Jacks enthusiasm for football and as a little boy he'd watch so fixated on the game and wishing he would be playing on the field too. 

A problem we faced with this is that our protagonist is meant to be from a poor background however Kallums house possessed features such as a flat screen tv and expensive furniture so it isn't convincing at all that Jack is from a working class background.

Title Sequence: First edit

This is the first edit of our title sequence. I like the cinematography as i feel there are some elements of rawness which is the type of ambiance we are going for as it is a kitchen sink drama and we are trying to achieve a high amount of verisimilitude. 

However a criticism is the lack of titles which we intend to add in later. It'll help in creating a house style for our film. Another criticism is that it lacks in explaining the narrative which is essential for our title sequence as it is, as well as being a title sequence, meant to show the beginning of our film. 

As you can see it is very short. We need to film more scenes, preferably football scenes and images that will help in understanding the narrative. 

Filming: Day 14

Kallum was able to film his younger brother doing kick ups and dribbles in his garden in order to add more clips of transitions of Jack from younger to older. We also need to film older jack doing these exact same tricks to show the development in skill. We will show the growth of maturity and social class by either filming Jack in a more professional looking location or in better, more sophisticated clothing. 

Filming: Day 13

 Kaan was able to film some scenes in his house as he has various football tops and trophies. He created a set up making his room  dark and lights were shone over the trophies making it stand out very nicely. However, instead of just a pan left shot of the trophies , I advised him to take close ups of particular trophies and maybe tilt up and down whilst panning across instead of just a straight horizontal line to make it more exciting and raw.

1st viewing: feedback

After our first viewing to our class we got feedback from other students and our teacher.

The main feedback we received was that there was no sense of narrative. Because our title sequence is meant to set up the storyline, leading into the main plot of the film it is important that it tells the story unlike other title sequences that may be quite abstract. As a result of this feedback we plan to film more football related shots as well as shots that establish the different settings. Another interesting idea we could do to make the narrative clearer is adding dialogue so the audiece will know exactly what is going on.  Or better yet we could include images that will be intergrained in the title sequence whilst telling the audience what is happening e.g. newspaper reports.

Filming: Day 12

Today we went back to the dance changing rooms. We hung football tshirts on the pegs all around the room to create mise en scene. We placed the football shirt with the number 10 directly under the light to show importance as it was jacks t shirt number for his school football team when he was younger and his number now that he's signed. We did a pan around the room showing all the shirts until finally stopping at number 10 where we did an over the shoulder shot with jack looking at the shirt.

Filming: Day 11

unfortunately our plans for filming throughout the weekend fell through starting on Saturday when the tripod we rented out was faulty so we tried to film jacks football match with a handheld camera. The footage came out very fuzzy and shaky so we couldn't use it. On Sunday Kallum's mum was going to film Kallum's younger brothers football match as he plays the younger jack in our film. Unfortunately due to lack of consent from the other kids and their parents playing in the match, we did not have permission to film. We have come up with a new filming schedule in which we hope to get all the footage we will need by next Friday. 

Soundtrack

The soundtrack we finally decided to use is very orchestral, with simple piano chords at the start. Then violins come in to quicken it up and then even more violins and drums. There is then a short break in the music followed by rumbling of the drums that introduce the crescendo of the soundtrack making it reach its loudest and most atmospheric point. I'd say our soundtrack is very inspirational and fitting to our film because the very simple and almost timid beginning of the song correlates to the attitude of our protagonist at the beginning of his journey and then he grows and grows until finally reaching his crescendo which in our characters life would represent him signing his football contract and becoming such a well respected sportsman and most importantly finally, achieving his dream.

Editing

Yesterday I edited the new footage we got of Jack walking into the changing room. I managed to cut out bits of the film that were shaky or blurry as well as adding fade ins and outs. Today we will attempt to use a new software called 'Motion' which is an editing programme that will enable us to add exciting effects and movement to our titles and credits when they appear on the screen.

Filming: Day 10

Today we will film on our schools huge football field. Conveniently Jack had to teach a year 8 PE class so we will film the kids playing a football match as if it was young Jack playing football in his unprofessional football club before the fame with all his peers.

Welling School football pitch

Filming: Day 9

Today we went back to the dance changing rooms and filmed Jack taking all his new shiny football equipment out of his expensive training bag. We laid it out in a line and filmed across the clothes so titles can appear on them.

The camera was sometimes out of focus and blurry therefore we may need to redo some of the scenes.

First Screening

In preparation for our first screening, we had to edit our title sequence as well as adding post production features such as the titles and credits. We had to pick and choose which footage we'd include and in what order to ensure the narrative was as clear as possible to our audience.

Filming: Day 8

Kaan, Kallum and Jack returned back to Goals in Bexleyheath to film Jack taking some shots into the goal. It replicated the footage we got of Kallum's little brother who plays young Jack, taking shots into the goal. This makes for a nice effect as it shows his growth and progression

We will need to return back to goals one last time to shoot both the boys playing in a match scenario with other boys.

Filming: Day 7

We went to the changing rooms in our schools dance studio. They were a lot cleaner and new looking than our football changing rooms so it shows the progression in his career and lifestyle.

We filmed the same type of tracking shot that we did in the football changing rooms, however instead of scruffy football boots Jack was wearing smart loafers as it isn't long after he's just signed his football contract. 

We brought additional lighting to the changing rooms to make scene brighter than when we shot in the football changing rooms which was quite dark to show that Jack has left that dark period of his life and entered on a lot brighter and happier

Filming: Day 6

For our title sequence we are going to be showing contrasts between Jack as a young boy with a dream to Jack grown up and fulfilling his dreams. Jack, Kaan and I designed this contract as if it was made by younger Jack fantasizing about one day signing a football contract. We made sure our handwriting and drawings were messy and immature so it seems like a young boy did it. We are also thinking about maybe incorporating some credits onto it.

 We filmed a boy in the younger years that had blonde hair like Jacks to sign the contract so we could get an over the shoulders shot which will replicate the footage taken of older jack signing his real football contract.

Filming: Day 5

We found a new location to film Jack signing his football contract. We went into the computer room, cleared a desk and put it in the centre of the room. Because there were still computers around the room, to avoid making the setting not look like a convincing office/meeting setting, we did an over the shoulder shot of jack signing the contract and also a birds eye view shot of the contract which we captured by Kaan standing over jack on a chair

Filming: Day 4

Carrying on from day two of our filming to establish setting, today we filmed some shots of our school changing rooms. This was the perfect location to film as it resembles a football changing room. The floors are muddy and dirty which further connotes the inadequate upbringing of our protagonist. Unfortunately, for legal reasons we could not shoot the children entering the changing rooms without parental consent, we would've used this footage to show all the other boys secluding young Jack as they entered because they don't like him due to him being poor.
I like that there are a lot of clothes and backpacks hung up and around the changing room as it makes it more convincing that the changing room is in use by many school boys, all who would be in Jacks year group.

Filming: Day 3

We used this contract, which we got from google after searching 'football contract template' , and used it in the scene where Jack is signing his contract. This is a good action prop and helps with the mise en scene of our title sequence as it looks like a real football contract making the scene more convincing

Filming: Day 3

On our third day of filming we wanted to get the scene of Jack signing his football contract. We thought the library would be a good place to do this as there is a high table and a long table in front making it look somewhat like a board meeting. 

clip from the filming, bookshelves seen in the background

However when filming we realised surrounding areas causes miss en scene issues as items such as book shelves and other tables and chairs got in the frame. This made it difficult to pass the setting off as a meeting and not a library. Because of this we reshot the scene filming just jacks hands signing the contract. This way we get the shot without getting the background in the frame as well.

Also the camera was on the manual setting for lighting instead of auto thus the footage coming out very dark.

We will find a different location to film the over the shoulder and moving shots of jack signing the contract, preferably in a room that has no disrupting objects and items in it so it will look realistic.