Recce Filming

Today we went down to Brighton to film our recce and plan out our locations. Unfortunately, we had problems with the weather due to the storm so we worked our way round the house instead planning how we could film each shot inside the house.

First we made a note of all the shots inside the house and then started to do a recce of each of the shot. For this we had to take it in turns to be the subject of the shot whilst the other played with the lighting to see what it looked like on camera and made note of the best lighting for each shot. One problem that we  faced was that it was very difficult to make it the lighting look natural as when we used the overhead lighting there was too much light and when we didn't, it looked too much like an artificial spotlight.

On the second day it was still raining, so we began to test out a couple of shots with the real actress so that me and Bea could properly have a look at the lighting together without having to switch in and out of the camera. We also continued to recce lighting in other parts of the house.

W.H.

Storyboarding

After finishing our shotlist, we decided it would be better to have a mapped out visual plan of what we are going to accomplish in the trailer. We therefore split up the shots to start drawing the storyboard. After we have drawn this, we plan to scan them in and animate them to create a basic idea of what the trailer will turn out like.

W.H

Colour, Mood & Tone

We would like to show a clear divide in moods throughout the trailer of when Grace and Isaac are happy together to when their relationship faces problems and inevitably deteriorates to the end. One of the main ways we will show this is through colour.

For the beginning of the relationship and therefore the trailer, our shots need to reflect a happier time and we will show this with brightly coloured settings (for example the coloured houses in Brighton and the lanes.) This will also be reflected in the brighter costumes that Grace and Isaac will be wearing at the beginning of the trailer.  Although I really like the colour scheme that director Wes Anderson uses in his films like ‘Moonrise Kingdom’, this would be too bold to replicate in our trailer as later we need to create a more depressing feel and this would be too unrealistic and noticeable to change from this obvious a colour scheme. However, we will be taking influence from this but just creating a more subtle colour scheme.

 

For later scenes in Grace's office etc. we want her to seem really unhappy and bored with her life so we want her shots to look grey and flat to reflect her mood. A lot of this depends on lighting and location, so we will choose a very monochrome office and light it really brightly so it looks flat and ugly.

W.H.

Trailer Analysis: Number of Shots

When writing our shotlist, we will aim to have around 60 shots for our trailer. Some trailers such as those for horror or action films use a much larger amount of shots (closer to 100), but in most of the romance trailers we have studied, the amount of shots is around 40-60. This is probably for a number of reasons. Firstly, because in romance trailers there is usually a montage or two, but rather than a fast paced action filled montage like there might be in some trailers, it would be slow paced and contain longer but fewer shots.

The trailer for 'Blue Valentine' only has 24 shots, whilst the trailer for 'Revolutionary Road' has 67 shots. This is an example of how the number of shots can range so much. Some of the differences between these trailers is that the one for Blue Valentine does not use a voice over and has a slower montage whereas Revolutionary Road has a voice over and a much faster, action filled montage, as well as being longer. The trailer for 'Dear John' has 100 shots and the trailer for 'Like Crazy' has 48 shots.

We would like our film trailer to be more like the trailers for 'Like Crazy' and 'Blue Valentine' than those for 'Revolutionary Road' and 'Dear John', because we want it to have a softer and more romantic feel rather than being fast and cheesy.

B.M

Influential Shots

When composing our shot list, we rewatched a number of trailers to look at shots that we found powerful and worked well for defining the genre and the characters. We found some shots that we thought worked so well that we wanted to recreate them and work them into our own trailer. The ones we found worked best were generally from 'Revolutionary Road' and 'Like Crazy.'

Shot 13/14 - we wanted to make it clear that Grace and Isaac lived in Brighton as the pier and the sea are interesting shots to use. We noticed that in 'Like Crazy' they also have a shot of Jacob and Anna on a beach and decided we could use this shot as an inspiration for our shot in the trailer.

Shot 16 - we wanted to show the intimacy between the couple, without revealing too much. We thought the shot of Anna and Jacob under the sheets worked well in conveying this.

Shot 20 - when showing the new flat, we liked the openness and the distance that Sam Mendes used in showing the new house in 'Revolutionary Road.'

Shot 35/39 - In the trailer for 'Blue Valentine', we felt that it managed to create a realistic and truthful portrayal of the depressive character of Cindy.

Shot 50 - For when the montage heightens, we need to show dramatic shots. This also happens in the trailer for 'Revolutionary Road'. We really liked the shot of Kate Winslet screaming as this could also really relate and link into the character of Grace.

W.H.

Shotlist

W.H. B.M.

Brighton Location

B.M.

Basic Location Planning

This is a simple mindmap to work out where we will need to film the shots that we have already planned out.




W.H.

Costume

The costume for our characters are going to be deliberately casual and normal, they will reflect a typical outfit of a middle class young English couple who live in Brighton but are not too fashion conscious themselves or aware of their appearance, whilst appearing effortlessly attractive at the same time.

GRACE

At the beginning of the film, Grace is 21 and is at university (with Isaac). She will be dressed in clothes typically worn by students, such as baggy cardigans and jumpers and jeans or simple skirts. The weather will be cold as we are filming in October and November, so she will have to also have a coat or jacket of some sort. We will be allowing Thea to wear her own clothes for the scenes in which she is a university student because she is a university student so owns the appropriate clothes.

However, when Grace grows older and gets a job, she will be dressed differently in the way that she will have more dull, grey clothes such as work suits which look slightly shabby and reflect the fact that her and Isaac’s relationship is on the rocks and they are no longer the happy, young, free loving couple they used to be.

Grace when she is young:

Grace when she is older and working:

ISAAC

Similarly to Grace, Isaac will be wearing student-esque clothes when he is a young student which will reflect his potential financial struggle that most university students face. He will get a high flying job in the city, so will start to wear suits similar to Grace’s although he will look stressed which can be reflected by his costume looking worn, and we will try and make his face look older and under lots of stress as him and Grace’s relationship starts to deteriorate due to financial and general struggles.

Isaac when he is young:

Isaac when he is old:

B.M.