Production: Storyboards

The storyboards in which I drew gave a slightly detailed overview of what to expect within our film. This storyboard I tried to explain underneath what occurs in the film and what happens around the shot as context. As the drawings aren't the best, I tried to explain it a a lot better and in detail underneath.  We have indeed changed the last scene of the film. Instead of going to the lagoon as we planned in the initial idea. We decided to stay in the location of the first scene of the prank call. The rest of the film is explained in the storyboard. However, a quick overview should be included. The stalker approaches the house at the desired time of 02:04am. This time is when the doorbell rings, they both wake up and go to find out the cause of it. However by the time they get the courage to go downstairs to check, the stalker then tries the back door, to be unlocked still from when Danny came in earlier. they both see and here the stalker come round the side to the back. The same voice from the call says the quote "you should't have made that call Danny, or you Tom". The same quote from the prank call so the audience knows its the stalker. By the time they turn around, the hand of the stalker covers the mouth of Danny and the screen goes black, a sort of cliff hanging ending, as well as a jump scare.

This is the ending in which we changed, due to timing reasons and also because it follows the story a lot better.

Planning: Media Consent

For us to gain full permission to have our actors filmed on camera, we have used a media consent form that we need to get our actors parents to sign. As 2 of our actors are under the age of 18, we will need signature permission from both of their parents in order to film them and post the trailer on the internet for our media coursework. Jack Addis, playing the stalker is over 18 therefore needs no permission consent forms as he is an adult.

The consent form will include the date that we plan to film on and locations of filming so that they will easily be able to find us incase of emergency. As well as this, we will give the numbers of each of us, therefore can put the parents at ease incase of an emergency. If for any reason we aren't able to collect a permission signature from either of our actors parents then we would need to postpone our filming days until we have found a replacement actor. We have been provided with a consent form by the school which our actor Nicole will need to sign as she goes to the same school that we do; this consent is required by the school. This is because we plan to edit the trailer during school time so we will need to have permission from her parents to do this on the premises.

One of our actors, Christian, is Diabetic. Therefore we have left the equipment he needs to keep his blood sugars at the correct level in a suitable yet easy to get to place in the house. Therefore incase of an emergency, the help is there when in need. We have given this information to his parents, so they are informed that Christian will be safe when performing in our short film. Even though Jack Addis (stalker actor) is 18, we have still informed them that Jack will be filming on the Film day in need of him. This is so incase of any emergency with Jack, we have his parents to call us as they have our phone numbers too. Jack still lives with his parents, therefore we thought this was important information for them to put them at ease as well as the actors under 18.

For myself, the location of the filming will be mostly done where I am living currently. Therefore I am close to my parents incase of any emergency with me. However I am over 18 so therefore not a requirement as well. But the slight problem, one of the other actors can quickly and easy retrieve the help within seconds.

Planning: New Title For Film

For our title, after many discussions with peers and the chat between both of us, we have decided from the original initial idea, that we will change the title of the film to "Phone Alone". This is a good title we felt, as it was easy to say and also catchy, instead of "The Phone Stalker" or originally at the start "The Prank Caller".

Planning (Titles): Text Messages

The video in which we will use to gain the knowledge to produce a professional text message pop up on our film. (Using After Effects) Source: Youtube.

In our film, we will be involving the phone of Danny receiving a text off of the stalker in which they jokingly prank called, not thinking anything of it. For this, we will be gaining knowledge from the source of Youtube, in which we can use After Effects (Adobe) to create a effect on our film to a text message being alerted on his phone, in which the text pops out of the screen for all the audience to see it.

Planning: Equipment and Software

For the equipment within our media we have chosen to use the best and most available equipment we can at the time of filming, trying our best to make the most professional and effective short film we can. This is the reason behind the equipment we have chosen.

For our first piece of equipment, we have chosen to use a Nikon DSLR D3300. Providing us with the best 1080 HD recording options for our film. Adding the impact of focus to our short film and the variety of options to use while filming e.g zoom.

We have chosen to film with the Magnus PC-7451. This tripod will provide the best stability on our film when we need it. We provide us the ability to use a variety of different shots with its high and low angle change, and can easily pan with it as well. The grip on the tripod will make sure the shots we film will have steadiness and create a professional outlook.

The lighting in which we will use for our film  will be the LED380 Barndoor Video Lights. These lights are mostly used for interviews therefore extremely professional. This gives us the light if we need to make those exact shots that we want. 

This SD card will give us the opportunity of filming a vareity of different shots without the worry of running out of storage. As it was provided by the school it was a easy option for us to choose.

To edit everything on we have chosen to use the Apple iMac 21.5inch. It has a 4k retina display which allows us the best ability to edit and watch back footage on. It is a reliable piece of technology so we will know that we will be able to save everything on the machine we are using.

For editing on we will be using Adobe Premier Pro CC 2015. This piece of editing software is a very professional piece, providing us with the best possible outcomes on our film. It has many various examples of making your footage and other aspects to you film very professional.

For out titles and text bubble effect, we will be using Adobe After Effects CC 2015, as this will provide us the ability to create realistic animations within our footbage and create professional titles to use.

Planning: Costume For Danny

Danny (Jimmy Upstone) costume:

Jimmy is the also main character in the short film, portraying one of the 2 teenagers in trouble with prank calling a psychopath. This we feel in an easy choice as we are teenagers ourselves so found it reasonably simple to dress him with everyday clothes. Heres some of the ideas:

Costume: The pictures on the right portray the sort of costume that our character Danny will have while in the short film. As Danny will be travelling on his bike from his house to Thomas's, we will need a coat to be added for a style for him to wear due to the cold temperatures on English winter months. We feel the simple styles and colours such as a navy t shirt, black jeans and new balance shoes for a scene with him taking his shoes off will be a sufficient style of Danny to wear. Without taking away his role in the character, the simple colours will portray him as a simple teenager without any care in the world. As certain types of clothes can portray certain things, we felt that this style of clothing will show him to be a 'normal' teenager and a stereotypical 'boy'.

Hair: We wanted this character to have the suitable 'normal' teenage hair. This was easy due to the fact of Jimmy already have the suitable blonde hair for a teenager to have and portray to the audience. However, due to the different filming days, we will have to schedule the filming so all haircuts look the same, as this will confuse the audience and not make much sense just like with Christian.

Planning: Communication

In order to communicate details about the schedule for our filming days such as; time, date, we have decided to create a Facebook messenger group chat so that we will be able to tell our actors about the filming stages that they will take part in as they develop. 

We have decided to use this method of communication as we think that it is the most readily available method of communication for myself and my filming partner and our actors. Although we have made sure that the chat is set onto a private setting so that no one else other than the people in the chat can see any messages put in. We have done this for the safety of ourselves and our actors because no one will be able to know private details such as filming days and locations. 

Also the group messenger chat will allow for us to communicate information of any last minute changes on filming days if there are issues for filming such as weather. This will allow for our actors to come to filming fully prepared and informed about the day. Just incase we arent able to communicate any messages through the group, we will make sure that we have each of the actors personal phone numbers so that we can contact them individually with any changes. 

An example of the group messenger that we have created: 

Planning: Costume For Thomas

As part of the mise en scene, costume is a huge factor in our trailer as it convey's certain characters characteristics through their appearance. Here with these blog spots I will be showing you the costumes of what we are deciding to use on the characters too create a figure and appearance for them to show their age, which can be relatable for the audience of 15+.

Thomas (Christian Hunt) costume:

Thomas is the main character in the short film, portraying one of the 2 teenagers in trouble with prank calling a psychopath. This we feel in an easy choice as we are teenagers ourselves so found it reasonably simple to dress him with everyday clothes. Heres some of the ideas:

Costume: The pictures on the right portray the sort of costume that our character Thomas will have while in the short film. We feel the simple styles and colours such as white t shirt, sand hoodie and a pair of black jeans will be a sufficient style of Thomas to wear. Without taking away his role in the character, the simple colours will portray him as a simple teenager without any care in the world. As certain types of clothes can portray certain things, we felt that this style of clothing will show him to be a 'normal' teenager, who is always 'up for a laugh'.

Hair: We wanted this character to have the suitable 'normal' teenage hair. This was easy due to the fact of Christian already have the suitable blonde hair for a teenager to have and portray to the audience. However, due to the different filming days, we will have to schedule the filming so all haircuts look the same, as this will confuse the audience and not make much sense. 

Planning: The Member Roles

For our short film and what we will be doing to contribution to our short film I will list below as we have decided our individual roles we will undertake in the creation of our short film:

Jonathan Randall

I will be filming the scenes of the film. This is a big role to undertake as it's important to get every scene correct and in focus for the best possible outcome and for the short film to look professional. However, I feel my ability to film and sustain a cosistent filming style can be succeeded through the filming days. As well as this, joint with Jimmy I will be editing as well as all the after effects and titles, as we both will be creating this to get the best result from both our contributions.

Jimmy Upstone

Jimmy will be acting as well as directing in the short film, as he knows what the best way to portray scenes and the storyline through his A* experience in Drama GCSE and AS Level. Aside me, Jimmy will be also contributing to editing as well as the after effects and titles with me.