The Final Piece

After months of hard work, Jon and I have finished our opening sequence. we believe that it fits in with the conventions of the Action/thriller genre, combining mystery with action.
this piece took us lots of time out of school, and I praise Jon for his work, and Putting up with me.
Also this is another opportunity to thank Chris, and Abi for being our actors, as well as Jan Champion for allowing us to shoot in her house.

Without further ado here is our finished product.

12th December

I can not Edit to save my Life

It has taken FIVE attempts to capture the filming that we did, however after spending an absurd amount of tome attempting to capture the film, Jon and I eventually managed to finish the editing of the film. To finish, I will add the credits, as well as the Institutional logos.

We will present the film on Wednesday, and hope people will enjoy it.

Media Institutions

In all honesty, Jon and I have totally forgot which major Media institution we would like to have in our coursework.

Here are a few contenders:

Warner Bros
A subsidiary of the Time Warner company, this major Institution is responsible for some amazing actiion thrillers including the Matrix trilogy, and the more recent Batman films.

This would be an excellent choice for its track rcord of films of the action thriller genre

Universal Studios
With Films including the Bourne trilogy, and also cult thriller classics such as psycho and Jurassic Park.
This shows an obvious connections with films of both the action and Thriller films. therefore making it high on the list of choices.

Dreamworks
This company is mostly known for animated films including the hugely popular shrek films, however, it has produced some psycological thrillers including The Ring. despite its ties with Thrillers, it is not what Jon and I want for an Action Thriller.

Disney
Perhaps the least likely that we will use, the film company generally produces light hearted films for children and family use.

Spyglass

Having co-produced films, including the Sixth Sense, Spyglass would be a good company to work alongside trigger street productions.

The winner?
With Films including The Dark Knight, and The Matrix, Warner Bros is a shoe in for top spot, although Universal should give a push for top spot. Favorites for the drop are Disney, with Spyglass and Dreamworks fighting it out in Mid Table.

Filming Friday 9th December

Today, Jon and I filmed the opening scenes of the Meeting. To do this, we needed both Chris and Abi, for ilming at Jon's house.
The scenes were filmed by me, and Jon was in charge of positioning the actors so that we could get the right shots. Filming was complete in about an hour and  half. Both Chris and Abi were excellent listeners, and their acting skills shone. Jon and I are glad that they could help us.

Like last time, there were technical problems. in this instance, the camera didn't charge properly, and i had to drag a lead around all the time.
The luxury of being indoors meant that there were no issues with loud cars and the wind.

Also I would like to thank Jon's mum for letting us use her house, and also for making us hot cross buns.

Pictures to come on Monday as well as news on the editing front.

Wednesday 7th December

The fonts!!!

After some debate about the fonts for the credits, Jon and I narrowed the choices down to three fonts; 28 Days Later, Capture it, and Acid Label.

The Final Decision was to use acid label, as the sketchiness of the design would add some mystery, Also, the Title "The Meeting" is to show up aver the top of a brown envelope, the design that I found works with the mise-en-scene very well.

Here are the fonts that I suggested to Jon:

The title written in the Proposed fonts 

28 Days Later

Acid Label

Capture it

Once we had decided that we would use Acid label, I created the titles that would come up in the opening.

 Now we will decide where to put each title in the sequence.

Final Cut Storyboard editing

Today, I finished the animated storyboard, for the opening sequence. unfortunately, there were difficulties with putting the actual sequence on the blog. so a print screen will have to suffice.  

Also, today I will be searching for the right fonts for the titles and credits for the opening.

DISASTER!!

Friday's scheduled filming was unfortunately cancelled.
Both of our actors, Chris and Abi, were given extra work because of the strike day mean that they missed important lessons.
Unfortunately any filming over the weekend was unable to happen as I was ill.
Jon and I will be discussing how to pick the pace up again on Monday, and will film in the early days of the coming week.

The Editing of the first part of filming that we've made is well underway, and I just need to add the sounds to the animated storyboard, and that will be finished.

Filming Friday 2nd December

On Friday, Jon and I will be filming the scene in his house, which will involve both Chris and Abi.
This will be the last filming that we will do, and will be of James waking up, and attempting to sneak out of the house. He is then confronted by Katherine, but still leaves the house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yT5Cc950vo&feature=player_embedded

On Friday 25th November, Jon and I filmed a section of our filming. this was all done in St Agnells lane, right by the school. We filmed the part where james walks to where he meets his contact, exchanges conversation with him and then gets killed. for this, we required Chris to play james, he was very co-operative, and patient. Along the way we had several laughs, but the filming was completed, with almost every shot completed to an excellent standard in the first take.

The day didn't start off brilliantly as Jon forgot to put the tape in the camera, and it took us a surprisingly long time (being teenage boys) to realize what the flashing red light was. After that was sorted, the filming went smoothly.  Jon and I made some slight improvised adjustments to the shots that were listed on the storyboard, however, we both believe that the shots were better than what we had decided originally. at the end of the filming, we created a few out-takes, although some of them were not planned at all. 

I filmed the first few shots, and Jon filmed the shots in which i was involved in as my character.

A Big thanks to Chris for taking the time out to film with us weirdoes.

Heres some pictures Jon took:

Not sure why I'm embarrassed to be holding a tripod

Yes that is me

Chris's BB Gun Ironic that he was killed with his own weapon

Chris isn't quite sure what he is doing here

Jon obviously knew how to push Chris over the edge

He was supposed to have stopped by now

The tunnel where Chris gets Shot

The website lied about the Tunnels Five star facilities

A Deer in the headlights - apparently

The Camera we used

Chris finally throws his rubbish away

Chris is starting to get annoyed at squirrels throwing conkers at him.

A fence

Searching for the right Shot

Filming Today

Jon, Chris and I will be meeting up at one o'clock today in order to film the scenes in which James Stone (Chris Osborne) meets with his contact (me) and gets shot.
Today, we will need the film camera, a tripod, and a microphone in order to distinguish the voices of the characters from any background noises.
The props required will be the envelope, a briefcase, and also the bb gun.
In editing Jon and i will find a more realistic sound than what a BB gun makes.

There may be some health and safety issues with the location, obviously, alleyways are not the most forgiving of places, as there may be broken glass, and other such vandalism. Jon and I are careful with our choices of locations, so hopefully, the alley we choose will be without such obstacles.

The New Media Pages (Facebook and Twitter)

These pages were made by Jon, and will update people about the goings on of the production of the film opening. also, a video of the final piece will be posted online. Pages on Facebook and Twitter are great ways of raising awareness of things such as films. For example films such as Inception have Twitter and Facebook pages.

Inception Twitter Page

Inception Facebook page

The Meeting AS Media Facebook Group

The Meeting Twitter page

Character Clothing and props

James Stone

James wakes in the morning wearing plain white bed wear, consisting of a white t-shirt and shorts.
He will change into a suit, for his meeting with his contact.

James' Night shirt

James's Suit (tie does not necessarily need to be that colour)

Katherine Stone

Katherine will only be seen in a dressing gown, for when she confronts James in the living room and kitchen.

Katherine's Dressing gown

Hooded figure

The contact who James is meeting will wear black hooded clothing, and have the hood up in an attempt to look inconspicuous.

Hoodie for James's contact

Props

Not many props are required, although the few there are are important for the believability of the film's opening.

For James, we will need a briefcase, which he will take to the contact, in order to conceal the documents. 

The hooded contact will be in possession of an envelope, which will "contain"

 secret documents. this he holds out to James to distract him.

Hidden behind the contact's back will be a gun, which he uses to shoot James. Obviously, we will not have real pistol, (it's against the law in most countries, and relocate to Brazil just for the shoot would just be expensive) the gun we will use is Jon's BB pistol.

It's really obvious that it's not real

Character Profiles: The Meeting

James Stone


The Protagonist in this Story is a 29 year old administration manager, who looses his job, as the company falls into administration. As a result, he finds himself juggling his finances. An old friend from his secondary school introduces him to The Company. James's job is to deliver top secret documents government information.
When an important meeting gets ambushed by gunmen, James's wife; Katherine discovers what he is really doing, and tells him to remove his ties with the Company. However, the lack of income forces James into returning to the Company who offers him one last job which will pay him £100,000. Despite Katherine's pleas, James goes to the Meeting point ,where he is shot.

Played by: Chris Osborne

Katherine Stone

Katherine Stone is 28 years old, she is the wife of James Stone. Throughout the Film; katherine is strongly against James's connections with The Company. 

She always looks out for the best interests of her husband, and believes that the company will be the end of him. 

Played by: Abi Davis-Fletcher

Mysterious Hooded Figure

Nothing is known about the identity of this man. 

He works for The Company, and is the man who kills James.

Played by: Conor Willis (Me!)

The Meeting: Cast Members

Chris Osborne 

Age: 16

Character: James Stone

It was my idea to choose Chris as James Stone, because he is a Drama student, and myself, and Jon believe that he will revel in the role of the Hero. An ideal cast member because he has a large build in height which would be effective in conveying the idea that he can't be afraid of his work. His looks are also similar to Abi's and so, the chemistry between James and Katherine will not seem unusual

Abi Davis Fletcher

Age: 16

Character: Katherine Stone.

Abi is an ideal actor for this role as she as fantastic acting skills and although we are not being assessed on acting, it will definately help in demonstrating Katherine's raw emotions and how strong she feels for James. Jon and I worked with Abi in the preliminary exercise where she demonstrated a strong media knowledge, as well as the ability to potray emotions. Any ideas that she would be willing to express will be hugely valuable to the production process.

Conor Willis (Me!)

Age: 16

Character: Hooded Figure

I am playing the role of Hooded Figure because of my height which will convey the immense authority that the character has. My voice is also very deep and will add an eery quality to the role, my hair is an ideal length for hiding the majority of my face which will ad mystery to the role, and is necessary for using the enigma code. I am very enthusiastic about the role and am excited to step into the shoes of a villain, I think that Villains are much better to be than heroes.