Sound and Music

The first sound heard in the clip is the voiceover of the judges hammer and him saying "Savannah McCoy I sentence you to 50 hours of community service". We used our media teacher to do the voiceover and simply banged something on a table to achieve the sound of the gavel. Our teacher spoke into a microphone that was connected to the camera, this meant it would be a lot clearer and wouldn't have as much noise. We then imported the sounds into our trailer in iMovie, we had to extract the sound from the clip as we wanted it separate to put it at the beginning of our trailer. We removed the muffled background noise by using 'Noise Reducer' in the AudioFX part of editing in iMovie. We decided that we wanted the voice of Mr Go to have a slight echo and to be deeper, therefore we edited his voice using the Pitch Changer and moving the toggle slightly nearer to the 'Monster' setting to make it deeper. We added the echo effect by using the 'Atrium' setting in 'Reverb' editing.

The second part of the sound in the clip is our music. We made our soundtrack using Garageband. It starts off using Delicate Piano 15 as we thought this sound was fitting to our the genre of our trailer. We timed our music by playing it along with our trailer in iMovie, this way we were able to get the music changes in time with the clips in our trailer. We made the next sound, called Delicate Piano 07, start when the first title came on screen, as we thought that it added drama to grasp the viewers attention. We the had Delicate Piano 18 and RnB Beat 09 start at the same time when the second title appears. We liked the beat as we thought it made our trailer seem more contemporary and appeals to a younger audience. We turned of all the sounds except for the beginning Delicate Piano 07 when she falls on stage as we thought the beat should stop when the trailer is on slow motion. This was because we wanted to draw attention to her falling and make the trailer more intense. When the shot of her receiving the shoes comes on screen the music then starts back up but without the RnB Beat. This lasts until the final shot of her dancing professionally on stage which has just Delicate Piano 15 playing along, as we felt it should be quieter to draw attention to her dancing.

We think all of the sounds in our trailer make it look professional because we matched up the sounds to compliment the genre. We also spent a long time making sure each sound and tempo change fitted with the clips shown on screen. We feel that the music is very catchy as we have been humming the tune all the time, even out of lesson time! Therefore we think other people our age will enjoy it just as much as we do.

Believe - 3rd Cut

This 3rd cut includes some trial titles. We used iMovie's 'themed' titles to create the poster effect shown. Because we wanted to have some phrases summing up the theme and plot of the film, we had to think about how we could do this when we were unable to enter text into the theme. We decided to open up Photoshop CS3 and create an image of a black rectangular background, with white words saying the phrases we wanted to entice the audience with about the plot of the film. We then saved the image and re-opened iMovie and imported the image into the title scenes. Originally we liked the way the poster title theme looked as it showed the rougher side of the film of Savannah's character who had originally committed the crime. We also really liked the way this particular title scene panned across the 3 posters and zoomed into them to play the clip.

At 1.07 the main title of 'Believe' is displayed. We created this on iMovie using the option of 'clip movie'. This meant that we could have some text, in this case 'Believe' in a font we had downloaded off the internet to fit the theme, and also one of our original movie clips playing in the text. To find a suitable clip that we hadn't used already we went into the 'trash' in iMovie. Here we found lots of clips that we had cut as they were not exciting enough for a teaser trailer, and some of which were simply repeated shots from when we filmed a scene a few times to ensure we had a good shot. We chose a cut shot of Lauren (playing Savannah) spinning in her bathroom to insert in the text in this title scene, as her legs spinning from left to right of the text gives a similar feel of a ballet dancer spinning through the text. We also liked how the clip in the title scene continued on through to the next clip, as straight after this title Savannah is dancing on stage and spinning across the stage, similar to the clip used in the text previously.

Finally the title of 'In cinemas 2011' appears against a black background. We have used the same text in this as in the main title to show continuity, however there is no effect on it as it is simple and to the point.

The final 10 seconds of another title saying 'Believe' upon a background with a picture of ballet shoes was another trial title scene which we found on iMovie. We liked the fact that we could use an image in the background and the title panning on from the left, however we did not like how a subtitle appeared in the bottom left hand corner saying the word 'believe' again, as we did not want it displayed twice or it may confuse the viewers into thinking the title of the film was actually 'Believe Believe'.

Believe - 2nd Cut

The main difference of the 2nd cut from the 1st, is the length of shots. In the 2nd cut we have cut most shots down again, to make sure the audience doesn't get bored watching too many longer clips where not much is happening, as this would not make an effective teaser trailer if the audience is not excited by it.

Also, in this cut we have added in the 5 seconds worth of black screen at the start of the trailer, where there will be a voiceover to introduce the audience into the plot of the film.

We have also cut some shots completely, such as the close up of Lauren (playing Savannah) being seen by Emily (playing Eleanor) and the ballet teacher. We cut this shot out as we thought it did not look professional and also didn't give anything extra away to the audience, just emphasised the same point as in the shot before that Lauren was embarrassed that the ballet dancer and teacher had caught her watching them practice.

Another shot we have cut down is of the ballet teacher saying "from the top Eleanor." We decided to cut this down to simply "from the top" as we thought the way 'Eleanor' was said was quite comical as although we wanted the ballet teacher to be well spoken, this was slightly over the top.

We have also shortened each shot of Lauren practicing at home, as we wanted to create more of a montage effect from these clips, so just cut about half a second of each, to give it a faster more flashy feel.

Believe - 1st Cut

This is our first cut of Believe, using all the scenes originally planned for and set out in the order of our storyboard. When filming we ensured we got long shots of each scene to make sure we had enough quality footage of each, so we have already cut down many of the shots a little in this first cut. We shortened each shot filmed to make sure we had the best part of each, as trailers only show the best parts of the film to advertise it to possible viewers, however in this cut we have not yet added in any title scenes, and as the length is already 1:24 we may have to cut more clips down to make sure the length stays at around 1:30.

Location Shots

This is a picture of our main school hall. As our trailer is based at a ballet school, we needed a spacious area with a plain backdrop to film against as it was too difficult to try and film at an actual ballet studio. It also meant it was available most days after school for us to film.

This is Lauren's bathroom. We filmed the shorter shots of her practicing at home here as it gave it an authentic homely feel to the shots. We were also able to use the large mirror for the Billy Elliot style shots which are filmed in the mirror.

This is Lauren's bedroom where we also filmed short shots of her stretching and practicing her ballet moves.

Importing and Editing

Importing and editing this year was a lot easier and faster than the same time last year. An obvious reason why is because we have experience from last year's projects and knew how to use iMovie and the features effectively.

To begin with we plugged the camera into the usb port into the computer and opened iMovie. We then clicked import and pressed play on the camera to start importing the footage. As we watched all the footage for the first time we cut each clip using the apple key and T key. This meant that we had each clip and scene filmed separately so that we could immediately start playing around with the order of clips and cut the clips that we knew we had no chance of using due to technical faults or unbalanced and badly framed camera shots.

Filming Session #2

Our second filming session took place on 5th of October 2010. We filmed this in the main school hall, as a lot of it was supposed to be taking place in a ballet studio and on stage, meaning we needed a large space for it. We had originally planned to use the drama studio, as it is a big black painted room with hard floor so would be suitable for the ballet scenes. It also had a spotlight in which we wanted to aim at Lauren in her final scene when 'perfoming on stage', however we got around this problem by using a slightly more difficult to use spotlight in the main school hall instead. In this filming session we filmed the majority of our shots, meaning we needed to be organised and know what order we were filming in to ensure the actors did not have to hang around waiting for us to decide who we needed first. Because we were using 3 actors in this filming session: Lauren playing Savannah, Emily playing Eleanor and Mrs Smith playing the ballet teacher, we ensured that we filmed the scenes involving Mrs Smith and Emily first, as they were in the least shots and therefore we didn't want them to have to wait around.

The filming went really well. All actors performed without getting distracted, meaning the whole process was a lot faster, and the shots looked good. As we were filming on the school hall stage, we decided to remove the front blue curtains and also some equipment at the back of the stage. We also pulled across the black curtains and placed a CD player at the edge of the stage to show they were practicing with music.

One problem we found was that once filming a few scenes we thought that Lauren playing Savannah was actually slightly better at dancing than Emily playing Eleanor, which may have caused the viewers of the trailer confusion as Lauren was supposed to be the amateur who was just learning to dance, but finally at the end of the scene was a pro at ballet. We decided to film a few shots of each character dancing, and when it came to the editing stage we would simply have to cut the parts of Emily dancing her best and Lauren dancing at her worst to portray their true characters.

Filming Session #1

Our first filming session took place on the 2nd October 2010, from 2.30pm-4pm. Our main aim of this filming session was to film the shots of Lauren (who plays Savannah) practicing ballet at home, after being inspired from seeing Eleanor dancing at the Ballet School she is sent to clean. Overall, the filming went really well. We ensured we filmed each shot a few times so that when it came to the editing stage we would have enough footage to go on if there was a problem with one piece. We also made sure we used a range of shots, from mid shots to low angle shots, so that when edited these would look effective in a montage together.

An improvement for the next filming session is to ensure we know exactly which shots we are due to film and in what order, so that we can set up the camera into position quickly so that the actors do not have to wait around whilst we decide which shot to film next.

Filming Schedule

This is the filming schedule for our trailer, displaying all the days when we are planning to film, and which shots we will film on that day and where. We have also included any costume we will need to bring for the day so that everything is fully prepared and we don't have to panic on the day we are filming by gathering forgotten belongings. This filming schedule is very important as it means that we are exactly aware of which shots we are filming when and where, so that we will not waste both our and the actors' time by being unorganised.

Screen Play

INT. BLACK SCREEN

JUDGE:
(bang)'Savannah McCoy I sentenece you to 50 hours of Community Service'


INT. BALLET STUDIO - NIGHT

SAVANNAH:Enters the ballet studio and begins mopping the floor.

ELEANOR:Gives Savannah a dirty look for interuppting her dance.SAVANNAH:
Makes an apologetic face but carries on mopping.BALLET TEACHER:
Says 'From the top'ELEANOR:Begins her dance again, while Savannah watches on in the background.

INT. BALLET STUDIO - DAY

SAVANNAH:
Enters ballet studio with the bucket and mop.ELEANOR:
Is leaving the studio and pushes past Savannah as they walk through the doorway.SAVANNAH:
Whilst cleaning on stage she pauses for a moment and begins to dance.BALLET TEAHCER:Sees Savannah dancing as she walks past the door and is surprised at how good she is.

INT. OUTSIDE - DAY

SAVANNAH:Does a little twirl in the road as she is walking home.
INT. BATHROOM - DAY
SAVANNAH:Practises dancing infront of the mirror

INT. BEDROOM - DAY
SAVANNAH:Stretches out her legs and tries to do the splits.

INT. BALLET STUDIO - NIGHT
SAVANNAH:Is dancing on stage and she falls and crashes to the ground.
BALLET TEACHER:Enters the stage and gives Savannah a pair of ballet shoes.
SAVANNAH:Smiles.
INT. BALLET STUDIO - NIGHT
BALLET TEACHER:Helps Savannah by putting her hair up in a bun for her audition.
SAVANNAH:Dances on stage for her audition

Storyboard

We have drawn out a storyboard for the shots in our trailer. Although we know this may change, it was vital to have some sort of plan so that when filming we were able to follow some guidelines, making the whole task much easier and less time consuming once we had got to the location. Our storyboard consists of 30 shots, some of which are title sequences. If our teaser trailer is 1 minute 30 seconds long, 30 shots gives an average length of about 3 seconds for each, which is what we are hoping to achieve because the film is a dance genre, so we need the trailer to be flashy, short eye-catching clips to grab the viewers' attention and persuade them to go and see the film.
We have then created this animated storyboard using iMovie, and cut each shot to the length we would like it to be in the actual trailer, to give an idea of the length and feel of the trailer before filming. We think the length of scenes works well, however we may change these once we have filmed the footage and we can truely see what the trailer starts to look like.