Production Diary – Part 1 Essay, Mood board, Short comparison with another film, Film synopsis, Storyboard, Character Profiles, Script for your opening, Theories, Genre, Camera angles, still-images, Institution, Script analysis.

Essay • Today I wrote my essay based on the question

‘Discuss the ways film openings draw in their audiences’

• I feel that my essay was successful as previously to constructing the essay I researched all of the key film theories. By doing this it enabled me to apply them in my essay, therefore developing my knowledge as to why certain theories are used in certain genres of films.

• This task will help me when constructing my own film opening as I will now be able to apply some of these key theories, therefore I will be appealing to a certain age group.

Mood Board• Today I created my horror movie mood board, by

doing this it allowed me to research/consider what costumes, lighting, actors, make-up, props and settings go into horror films.

• This therefore has made me have a clearer understanding of all things horror and I can now offer more to the audience on genre based connotations when I come to create my horror opening.

Short comparison with another film • Today I compared my potential opening with ‘The

Purge’. From doing this I saw the similarities and differences between the two films and way in which I could improve my potential opening to get it to be more like an existing film opening.

• This will help me when I come to make my final film opening as I am now aware of all of the connotations/elements which make up a popular horror movie.

Film synopsis • Today I planned my film synopsis, this is helpful as

I have a stable concept/idea to focus in on. This is helpful for when I come to make my final opening as I have an idea already in mind and changes will be easier to construct as a result of this.

Storyboard • Today I planned my storyboard with 12 different

scenes, by doing this I now have a clearer view of what I want to happen and how I want this to come across throughout my opening.

• This was very useful as it made me think about what the audience would like to see in the opening and how I could go about doing this in an effective/successful way.

Character Profiles • Today I have put together suitable character

profiles for my horror film. By doing this it gave me a clearer idea of what costumes my characters will need to wear in order to fully represent their genre character in my film e.g. the popular one.

• This will help me when constructing my opening as I have a clear view/connotation of how I want each of the characters to be in order for them to give off the horror genre connotations to the audience potentially watching my horror opening.

Script for your opening • Today I put together the script for my opening,

doing this enabled me to reinforce the characters roles and how I want to present them once I begin filming my final piece.

• This also allowed me to consider what makes a script and how to format it correctly when making my own.

Theories – 4/9/14 • Today we looked at the theories of Claude Levi-

Strauss, Roland Barthes, Propp and Todorov. From looking at these four different people and their opinions on what films are made off, I now understand why certain features go into films and how they are used for affect.

• Todays lesson will help me when constructing my own film opening as I can use some of the research found in my opening.

Genre – 8/9/14 • Today we looked at Andrew Tudor and the ‘chicken

and egg’ dilemma. From looking at this I now understand what genre consists off and why different cultures might think differently about culture signifiers whether its to do with religious/personal views/opinions etc.

Camera angles – 12/9/14• Today we looked at six different camera angles

and why/how they are used in films.• This was very beneficial as it reinforced what I

already knew about why camera angles are used to create affect.

Still images – 15/9/14• Today we analysed two still images, one from

‘You’ve Got Mail’ and the other from ‘The Shining’.• This task was very useful as it made us look

deeper into the images, therefore enabling us to interpret more connotations.

• From doing this task I've learnt that you shouldn't assume the genre of the film from quickly glancing at a still image as there is a lot more you need to take in e.g. lighting, setting, actors etc.

Insulation – 18/9/14• Today I compared a high budget film to a low

budget film. • From doing this I've realised why different

companies have different budgets and the affects this can cause on the film in various ways, e.g. the actors who act in the film, the props used and the location of scenes.

Script analysis • Today we analysed different genres of scripts and

picked out the key elements and discussed why they were used.

• This lesson was very beneficial as I've learnt key features used when analysing a script and how to apply it to my own script.