Year 12 Assessment- Narnia

1.a) When shooting the Narnia task, we considered camera shots and angles. We learnt that getting many different angles is the best idea to create good quality content as we found that long frames of the same angle may bore the viewer as they aren't able to get a range of perspectives. When filming, we tried to make sure there were two cameras filming different angles at the same time so we could have double the content that we could use when editing and to make sure that if any shot was out of focus or over-exposed; we don't have to film it again as we have other footage. Some of the shots we used were;

• Weather Shots- This is where we filmed parts of the weather and scenery to allow it to seem more real to the audience and to set the mood of the scene. This shot does have other purposes but we used this to create an atmosphere for the viewers. 
• Close up shots- This is where a certain feature or face takes up the majority of the frame. We did this in our Narnia task to emphasise certain characters emotions and allow the viewer to be drawn into the space and share their feelings and emotions with them as the scene is happening. 
• Over the Shoulder Shot (OSS)- This shot is framed from behind a person who is looking at the subject. This shot was used to help the viewers understand where people were and it allows them to understand what the person speaking is looking at. We did this shot quite a few times because we thought it would make it more interesting to the audience to feel as if they were there in that moment with the characters. 
• Noddy Shots- This is a shot of the person listening and reacting to the subject and we also did this shot quite a few times too to allow the viewer to be able to see the reaction and emotion the character felt whilst being told something.

 We wanted to allow the viewer to feel a connection to the characters and by doing these shots and a few others; this gave them the opportunity to see every emotion and the setting of where everything was to make things seem more real. We felt that doing the same wide angled shot for every scene would not interest the viewer into watching it all so the variation of shots allowed more exhilarating frames.

We played around with different equipment so we were able to get different angles and perspectives. We used tripods to keep the camera steady when filming wide angles or close up shots as we didn't want the frame to seem blurry or shaky. We also used monopod's to be able to have high perspectives looking down onto the scene. However, this was hard to film as when holding it high, we were unable to see whether the camera was properly shooting the scene and if it was in focus or not. Nevertheless, we still tried our best and one of our crew climbed into a tree to try and get the high perspective we wanted to make a more exciting angle. Furthermore, we tried to use a Steadicam when we filmed walking shots with the character in front of us as if the viewer was walking behind them in the shot and so that this wasn't so shaky like it would be if we just used our hands. Also, when filming, we tried to have a variety of perspectives and these were;

• Birds eye view- this is a view from high up and we wanted to try and incorporate this view because it allows the viewer to have an indication of where the subjects were whilst creating a dramatic effect. It's gives the audience a sense of direction and entices the audience to keep watching. 
• Low angle shots- this is a view from lower than the characters to emphasise their power and strength. It creates variety in the perspectives and stop viewers from becoming uninterested whilst also building up the characters. 
• Eye level shots - this shot is a neutral shot unlike low or high angle shots and allows viewers to see them as they would see the characters in real life. This permits them to envisage themselves in that moment and connect better with the scenes.

We tried hard to make sure we had a variety of angles and perspectives when filming this Narnia task and this is demonstrated in the film we made. We made sure that both camera's were filming different angles/ perspectives so we could pick and choose which frame we wanted when it came down to the editing. If we were to do this task again, I believe filming even more angles and experimenting with perspectives could have made our short film even better but this was hard to do since we didn't have any other cameras that could film with such good quality. 

Mise-en-scene was considered during the entirety of our filming. We watched the short Narnia clip and noted down what the costumes,makeup, setting, lighting, expression and movement was like. For the costume, we worked together to create a look as similar as we could possibly do for both Mr Tumnus and Lucy. Raygen, who played Mr Tumnus, found that he had clothing that was quite similar to what Mr Tumnus was wearing in these scenes. Even though, it isn't completely identical, we made sure the overall look was convincing to the viewers that it was Mr Tumnus. The actor who played Lucy, Isabelle, was very helpful with costume and brought in different items for our team to pick from and the outfit we picked looked almost identical to Lucy in these scenes. Having Isabelle work so well with us and help us, it made the decision so quick and easy to make which helped with the time constraints we had. For the makeup, one of our group, Beth, is a very good makeup artist and she practised in class the makeup look for Mr Tumnus. She drew illustrations of what she wanted the makeup to look like and that allowed us as a team to change or add any bits we thought necessary. By practising prior to filming, it allowed her to become familiar to the look and enabled her to gain confidence when doing it for the real thing. We wanted Mr Tumnus to look as close to the real character as we could and by having the  makeup, it only added a great effect to the scenes. At first, we wanted to make our film to look as close to the real scenes as we could so we wanted to add a snowy effect to our scenes. However, after realising how much time we had and how much time it would take to create so much snow to cover all the frames in the beginning, we realised it wasn't a realistic target. Instead, we went to a forest for the beginning shots so that it was still in a closed environment like the real scenes but even though there wasn't snow, it was still a beautiful environment and added a great atmosphere to our film. We picked from many spots to film in and we eventually narrowed it down to the forest near where we all lived or the Plantation Garden in Norwich. We decided to go for the location closer to us as it meant we would have more time to film there as it takes quite a while to get to Norwich and it would mean that we could film for as long as we wanted and without any of the public getting in any of the frames. This short clip enables you to see the environment of which we were filming: 

 Using the forest allowed us to be able to use natural lighting which was used to our advantage as this sun was slowly going down when we decided to film so it added a mysterious effect whilst still being able to see everything that was going on. For the other scenes in this short film, we used one of our members Wendy House as he had some chairs and a wood burner inside it which we thought would look quite similar to the real scene. We chose to film when it was starting to get dark as we wanted it to be as close to the actual thing and it does get darker in the actual Narnia scene so we were able to use this darkness instead of having to make it darker when editing. Inside of the Wendy house, we had many different lights that we used and as the scenes were getting darker and darker, we turned more and more of these lights off to create a more eerie effect to the scenes and to make it more realistic. For the props, we had Lewis managing these and he managed to make parcels very similar to the actual scene. Additionally, we used a flute and a photo frame of Mr Tumnus's dad. There wasn't any problems in finding props to use for this film as we all worked together to use anything anyone had and our main aim was to make everything as similar as it could be. 

When trying to find cast members, we looked for anyone that was willing and enthused to act in our short film. We auditioned quite a few people as you can see in this clip and made people read our the actual lines they would be saying as if we would be filming them in the short film. We worked as a team to make a group decision on who we thought would be the most suitable for these characters. In the end, we made a year 7 student, Isabelle, play the role as Lucy and a year 12 student, Raygen, play the role as Mr Tumnus. 

As soon as start filming, we knew we had made the right decisions of the roles that these two were given and they put a lot of effort and expression into what they were saying and doing. They put in great amount of expression into their voices and used their faces to allow emotions to come across to the viewers easily. The actors used the Narnia text we were given and made it original in their own ways. We worked together to work out where each character was in each scene and the directors gave good ideas of where the cameras should be as well as the actors. Overall, we worked so well as a team and always respected each other ideas with decisions and to improve, we could have looked at a few more locations to film to see if we could have found anywhere better but I believe the decisions we made were very effective in making our film good. 

We had different editors for this short film. Mimi Warne and I edited the first part of this task and made sure we worked together in picking out any bits we didn't like or were a little out of focus. As we had filmed on two cameras, this allowed us to have a selection of shots to choose from when editing which was very handy. We kept re-watching the scenes to make sure that everything in the shot was meant to be in the shot and that nothing was exposed or blurry as this wouldn't make our film as effective. After finishing, we showed the rest of our group to see if they thought we could change any bits of the film to make it better and by doing this, it allowed everyone to have their say on how it looked. For the second part of this short film, Mimi and I worked on it but also Sam and Thomas worked on it too on a different computer so both groups were editing the same piece. We thought this would be a good idea as it allowed there to be two different videos and it meant that our group could pick from two different videos of which they thought was the best. This also meant everyone who wanted to have a chance to edit, could and no one was left feeling like they didn't have an input into this task. To improve on the editing, we could have tried different softwares or editing styles but we wanted to go with software we were confident with and that we knew would create a good outcome. 

1.b) We all worked together on a storyboard before we made any sort of other decisions. This allowed us to understand where the characters had to be and any sort of shots that were from the real thing that we could try and use in our task. We used the storyboard when filming as it meant we didn't have to read the stage directions from the script and we were able to understand the drawings and text on the storyboard easily. This meant we could film quicker as we weren't having to stop and look at the stage directions all the time.This storyboard is displayed below. As a group, we worked well to plan all the props we needed to use as well as the costume and setting of the scenes. We made sure to plan the days we were filming a couple of days prior to actually filming it in case people had plans last minute and then we were able to change days round before it came to the day of filming. To improve, we could have discussed more in class so everyone was fully aware of what we needed to have on the set so that we could have prompted each other in case anyone had of forgotten. 

As our group was quite small, it allowed us all to communicate to each other easily and effectively. We made sure to include everyone and let everyone have a say in any decisions. Anytime anyone did have a concern or suggestion, we made sure they were heard and their views were considered as we didn't want anyone to feel as if they weren't being listened to. When filming, the actors took the directors ideas well and the directors helped if any of the actors were confused on what they should say or do whilst filming. I created a group chat online that everyone in the class was added to so that we could still suggest ideas out of school and plans for filming could be made out of class if needed. To improve on our communication, we could have wrote out mind maps or lists of peoples idea's so that when we came to making a decision, we could reflect on every idea and come to the best possible one. By doing this, we could of had backup plans in case one of our ideas wasn't as effective as we believed it would be but luckily, the ideas we had were good enough. 

To keep everything organised, we wrote down everything that needed to be sorted so for instance, casting, setting, timings and etc. We sorted out casting first and auditioned people until we found the perfect actors. After sorting out who would play the roles, we thought about where we would want to film. We were able to narrow down the settings of our film and found local places for our group to use. This meant that everyone would be able to get their easily and without having to pay money on transport or actually getting into the building or garden. We then worked out with the actors and people needed on the set to help with any lighting or camera shots, a time that we could all do. This took some time to work out as there had to be a lot of us there on the day but luckily, we were able to find days we could all do. We were highly organised and made sure there were backup days that we could film on just in case something popped up and people were unable to make it to the filming. We wanted as many as our group to be there so they were able to have their say when filming and have an input. By having backup plans, it allowed things to not be stressful and made everyone feel prepared and confident with our filming plans. 

When distributing roles in our group, we first asked everyone to say what they skills were and if they had a job they wanted to do in mind. This allowed people to be doing the jobs they actually wanted to do instead of them not being enthused about it and feeling like they had to do it. We made sure to share our the jobs equally and fairly and made sure that everyone felt confident and happy with their jobs and the things that it entitled. I was an editor with Mimi and we worked together to ensure that we could create as good outcome as we were able. Each person made sure that every person in our group was happy with the decision they were making which made our group stronger and made our outcome even better as we could all help in changing anything to make things as good as they could have been. Overall, I am very happy with the group I was in and I believe we all worked so well together to make a wonderful outcome.