These are copies of the timetables of our cast. Duniya and I printed these out in order to be able to contact our cast especially the year 9s because some of them didn't carry phones on them and they didn't check their emails. We would go in their lessons and pass any messages that they needed to know.

This is the copy of our shooting schedule. We followed this on both days of Production. The wo main locations were the TENNIS FIELD/TREE and HISTORY 4. Therefore we booked both these locations for both days because if there were any shots that we didn't finish we could carry them on the next day.

This is a copy of the call sheet we created. It had all the details every member of the cast and crew needed so they knew who eachother were, the roles they played and numbers to contact them.

Question 4

When making my film i used many different types of technology. To plan my film I used blogger.com in order to show my work and show my developmental stages. I used this to keep a record of everything I had done so far. I also used emails and telephones in order to keep in touch with cast and crew and in order to organise auditions and rehearsals. We also used digital cameras in order to take pictures of what we were doing so we could put it onto our blog. Blogger was the only new technology to me in the construction stage however I found it quite easy to use. I managed to put a background on my blog representing the genre of my film, Mock Horror. In research, the internet played a big part in the technologies i used as i gained a lot from it. The internet was used in order to research other films similar to my own as well as researching cinematography. I also used my blog in the research stage as i posted all my research onto this. When constructing my film the main technologies I used was the camera, sound equipment and editing software. Although I did not use the camera or the sound equipment as I had the role of continuity, i did spend a lot of time using the editing software. This was new to me, therefore took some getting used to, however, once I had used it a few times it became clear to me how to use it. While editing we noticed a mistake made in the camera, there was a jump in the scene on the field however, there was nothing we could do about it. In the evaluation stages of my film i used the internet in order to research marketing.

Question 3

My audience feedback has aided me a great deal in improving my film and turning it into what the audience would like to see. As a media student I know that my main aim when making a film is to please the audience because without them, I will have no one to view my film. Taking this into consideration I knew that the feedback I would receive would be very important. After creating a pitch for my film we presented it to class members who fed back to us that they saw similarities between our film and ‘Son of Rambo’ and ‘The Goonies’. This encouraged us not only to watch these films to get an insight into how these films portray their characters but also take pieces from the film, develop it and make it our own. We then included more clumsy behaviour from Rodney and an ‘I can take on anything’ attitude. This is similar to the main character from ‘Son of Rambo’. We also gained from feedback that our original ending was a bit of an anticlimax and a let down; therefore we changed it to something more interesting to children. We changed Mr Vamping having a Halloween themed lesson to actually revealing himself as a vampire. This was much more interesting and gained more positive feedback. From the feedback on the pitch, I learnt that in order to make a good film, the ending must fulfil desires of audience and if they are not happy with something it is essential to change it until gaining positive feedback. I also learnt that observing other films which relate to my film help a lot in developing my own characters and adding different characteristics in order to make them my own. We also received feedback from our script. In the first draft of our script we used blackouts while Rodney runs to the class room late, yet after feedback from fellow class members who were not too fond of these blackouts we felt we needed to change them. Feedback showed that blackouts did not fit in with the fast paced, hyperactive, comical mood we were trying to portray therefore we thought it would be much more effective and pleasurable to the audience to replace the blackouts with quick cut shots teamed with typical ‘late’ music. We wanted to create humour at every opportunity possible. This was well received from class members. Through this I learned that despite being adamant that you have a great idea, it is your audience and your audience only that can decide this. We have to take into consideration that it is them that will be watching your film therefore it is them that should decide what looks best. We then moved onto making a collage on ‘The world of my film’. We included lots of words from magazines we felt related to our film for example ‘dark secret’, ‘fantasy’, ‘gullible’ and ‘bullies’. We also included images of vampires and schools. This was not understood by classmates when we presented our collage to them as they felt confused at what our story was actually about. They also said it gave the impression of being too serious which was not what we aimed to show. After receiving this feedback we did I second and final draft of the collage bearing in mind we were trying to portray the fun, Halloween side of our film. We added lot’s of oranges, blacks, yellows and purples in order to show the Mock Horror side of Halloween getting the message across to the audience that our film is not serious, it is simply a children’s Halloween film. We also added images of cartoon pumpkins, comical cartoon vampires, a little boy in boxing gloves with a comical expression and other various cartoon images. We felt this gave the message of a light-hearted, fun film for kids. From the feedback on the collage I learnt that it is easy to go off into different genres when trying to portray something in my film, therefore I must be aware that in order to portray my genre only I must include a lot of obvious things which relate to Mock horror for example music, cartoons and colours. After the collage we made posters promoting our film. The first poster we made had a purple mist surrounding the edge of our poster to create a mysterious illusion and reflecting the genre of Halloween. This however, was not received well by fellow classmates and they fed back to us that we should remove it as the poster looked too busy and cluttered. After removing this we changed the idea of the poster completely and put 4 different images in the 4 corners of the poster. We felt this represented the childishness of our film and was favoured by classmates. From this I learnt that posters with a minimalist style can be the most effective.

Question 2

I feel that the combination of my main product and ancillary tasks is quite effective in promoting my film. The posters are mainly purple, black and orange linking into the theme of Mock horror as it does not give the impression of our film being too series. This also suits the characters presented in my film for example, the class idiot with his clumsy character. The font used in our poster is very spooky and scary, however at the same time is very childish and immature. This fits in with the plot of my film in which the spooky atmosphere is played down with humour so as not to scare children. The images of Rodney on one of the posters also fit in with the comical genre as Rodney is pulling various different funny faces creating comedy. The title sequence of my film represents s the childishness of my film as does the film. Instead of using computerised graphics to create a title sequence, I scanned an A4 piece of paper onto the computer filled with doodles and cartoon drawings which links into the school environment and children’s films. It signifies the immaturity of my film and directly targets my target audience of children. After researching marketing of films through film posters I found that the main aim in making a film poster is to show a ‘narrative image’ which sums up the whole film through one image. I feel that our poster does this well through the pictures of Rodney pulling strange faces at the camera. Not only does this sum up Rodney’s personality but also shows the plot of the film, a young boy who is quite clumsy but in strange circumstances believes he can save the day. This is supported by the fonts and colours which suggest immaturity. I would not locate my posters in places such as sports centres and billboards as these are not likely to be taken notice of by children, however, I would be more likely to locate my posters in places such as school canteens, bus stops and cinemas. These are locations in which children regularly visit and are likely to come across.

Question 1

The theme of my film was Mock Horror, aimed at children. In order to target my audience and make my film enjoyable I used codes and conventions similar to other children’s film of the same genre. One of the films I used was ‘Home Alone’. I chose to use parts of the little boy’s character for my own main character ‘Rodney’ as he seemed very appealing and loveable, yet mischievous and portrayed the image of a typical young boy. Although I new these characteristics alone would appeal to a young audience, I developed Rodney’s character by making him very clumsy and appearing to his classmates as a laughing stock. Not only do I feel this added humour to the film but it also made Rodney more realistic and easy to relate to. I also spent time observing the children’s T.V series ‘Mona the Vampire’. From this I used the typical setting for a film aimed at children and set my film in a school. This allows the audience to relate more to the storyline despite it being quite unrealistic as it is a familiar environment to them. I noticed from ‘Mona the Vampire’ that props were a vital part of representing the genre of Mock horror to the audience, therefore made using typical props relating to Halloween an important part of the film. I understood that some things needed to be made obvious for children and by using Halloween decorations in the classroom scene; it was much clearer and easier for them to understand the genre and the plot. From watching T.V series such as ‘Grange Hill’ I observed the attitudes and personalities of younger characters and I noticed they all had a very modern, up to date approach. I decided to make my characters very modern in order to make them easy to relate to. I developed this however, by including slang in some of the dialogue, something all young people are aware of. For example in the scene where Rodney is thrown into a bush the other characters chant ‘Bang out Rodney’ meaning ‘Beat up Rodney’. By using this slang I have developed the typical modern attitudes of young people appearing on T.V and gone one step further in trying to connect with my audience. I do feel that the representation of social groups was quite typical in my film. There were typical characters you would usually find in a children’s mock horror film including the bully, the followers and the class clown. I felt this suited the film despite the stereotypical characters as it provided pleasures of predictability. Bearing in mind my target audience are children I did not want to complicate my film too much. It was simply a light, comical film for children and I believe that some of the main enjoyment in the film the film came from these stereotypical character, therefore chose to include them. After creating s plot for my film, I realised through researching that it was very similar to the recent film “son of Rambo”. Again, I made my character “Rodney” very similar to the main character in this film, especially the “I can over come anything and take on anyone” nature of this boy which applied perfectly in my film. This created humour and trigged emotion in the audience as Rodney was petrified as a lovable character. I challenged Mock horrors and children’s films in the ending of my film by giving the implication that what the audience though was fantasy could in fact be reality. I felt that his left my audience leaving shocked at the twist, however satisfied too as this is not what they were expecting.

This is the 3rd draft of our poster which our classmates liked however we recieved feedback that the poster should include a credit block.

This is the second draft of our poster which we presented to classmates. They commented on how they liked the layout and fonts and colours as it all realted very well the Halloween theme. We did however, recieve some negative feedback:
-Matts head does not work well at the top as it seems to be very random and in the middle of nowhere, it looks quite strange.

This is the second draft of our poster which includes a Tagline and names of cast. We used the tagline 'Let's hope you, your carrot and your garlic save the day eh!' as it is actually a line from our film as well as creating humour and showing immaturity for a younger audience. We recieved feedback from classmates telling us that our poster looked too busy and cluttered therefore we would have to rearrange certain things.

This is the first poster Duniya made using Adobe Photoshop. We used a faded, purple border around the edge of the poster in order to create a spooky, mysterious effect. Purple is also associated with mock horror. We situated cartoon eyes and vampire mouth at the top of the poster in order to create a comical, cartoon style aimed at children as it is something that we thought would catch their eye. It also shows the halloween side to our film. Rodney and the Vampire is written in the center of the poster as it is one of the most important things. We chose to write it in a spooky styled font in the colour Red. This would attract our target audeince of children as well as showing it is not seriously scary and has the theme of 'mock horror'. We then put images of our cast at the bottom of the poster onto a orange background (main colour associated with halloween). We had each character strike a pose which represented their character in an obvious way as it is targeted at children. Rodney is the biggest image as he is the main character surrounded by our 'possey'. The fact that their are 3 children on the right pointing and laughing at Rodney suggests the film will be very comical, however the fact that Danny is situated on the left of Rodney shows he holds more importance in the film. Rodney strikes a comical 'fighting pose' as if he can take anything on so the audience gathers he is a bit of a 'geek' and made fun of. The images of the characters has a cartoon effect on them to blend in with the rest of the poster and the theme of the film.

Feedback:

After showing this poster to fellow classmates we recieved feedback that we needed to add title, credit block, tagline and credit block.

I think we could use eyes at the top of our poster to represent Mr Vampings eyes, however, i would replace the red with purple so it is not to threatening as our story is only mock horror

While searching for fonts suitable for my poster on halloweenfonts.com i found one which i thought suited our fim poster. The font style is very 'spooky' yet childish. I also found the colours very well related to our poster as the purple, red and black all relates to the theme of halloween we are trying to portray through our poster.

I found this font whilst researching on the internet and think it would be ideal for our film poster. It has a very spooky feel to it with the red and black but at the same time the font indicates immaturity and 'scaryness' for kids.

I chose the film poster of 'Son of Rambo' to look at for inspiration for my own film poster as I get the same feel from this poster as i would like my own poster to have. I like the fact the boy is in the foreground in a silly costume with goggles and a 'weapon'. This immediately tells me that this is an immature, young, foolish boy who believes he can 'fight' and take things on by himself. His funny costume creates comedy and shows the gullable, stupidity of him. This is exactly how i would like Rodney to be portrayed in our own poster. I would like him too to be in the foreground with his garlic necklace and carrot stake. This gives the same impression, however, with a halloween edge. I would like my film to be thought of as 'Son of Rambo' -Halloween Style!
I would use more blacks and oranges in my film to portray the theme of mock horror and halloween for kids.













I also found inspiration in the film poster for Mock horror 'Hocus Pocus'. From watching the film i know that this film is very 'halloweeny' and spooky but it is intended for children and young people. From the poster i can tell this straight away from the colours used (black and purple). What also caught my eye in this poster is the black background and purple border around the edge. I had previously had an idea to use this in my own film poster, however, i wanted to make the purple border misty and smokey to create mystery as well as showing the target audience of children. This is something i will take into consideration when i do my film poster as i think it works well as proved in the film poster of 'Hocus pocus'. We can also tell from this poster that the 3 main characters in the main image are evil but in a light way. For example, it is evil on a childrens level. Their quirky, posed facial exporessions also give away some humour behind the characters which is how i feel Mr Vamping should be portrayed in my poster.

I liked the eyes on the book cover for 'The Demon Headmaster' as it gives a freaky, spooky feeling when you see it. I would like to use this idea for Mr Vamping as i feel having his eyes on the top of the poster would be very effective if teamed with some comedy too.

Whilst working on our poster we began to think of some ideas for our tagline:

-Not all teachers bite
-What if vampires were real
-Rodney bites back!
-Not your average halloween

From an exercise in lesson we gained feedback from our class members after we describes to them the world of our film:

We are making another simple kid story featuring a young, gullable, annoying little boy. This hyperactive boy is intended to entertain, create laughter to children based on his stupidity and naievity. The simplicity of the film is something we want to get across through our poster as well as the childish theme of pranks, fun and schoolboy fun. Some of the main themes we want to portray through the poster is haloween, mock comedy and immiturity clearly stating our target audience of children between the ages of 6-12.

Feedback:
black background, speech bubble surrounding title, Mr vamping in background, SChoolkids laughing at Rodney, red writing, 'Foolish bravery', pumpkins, orange, purple, black, shadow of Mr Vamping, silhouette of buildings with Mr Vampings eyes on the top, fangs, blood dripping.

I designed my poster this way as i feel is shows the main messages and ideas we were trying to get across. I used Mr Vamping in the foreground in an exagerated pose with his hands above his head. This shows that it is not a horror which involves death and an evil vampire, it merely shows the comical side of the story as well as the theme of 'mock horror' for kids. I also situated Rodney behind his desk with a terrified expression on his face. Not only does this show the comical, 'stupid' character of Rodney but it also links in with the School theme as he is wearing uniform attracting children also at school. I put the title in spooky red writing in quite a childish font once again to show the scary theme but portray nothing too serious and show the fun side of the film. I used the colour blue for the background as i feel it matches the atmosphere of the film. It is not too serious but still a mock horror.

Feedback on my poster from discussion with group:

-Typography of title is good- Shows moch horror.
-Body language is comical- shows themes
-Setting is established through costume- School uniform-attracts children(Target audience)
-Rodney should be in the foreground as he is infact the main character
-Need to use more colours that connotate with the Haloween theme e.g purple, black, orange
- Could include symbol of fangs and eyes
- Need to incorporate the message into poster- Fantasy can be reality, anything is possible
-More comedy needed
-Not too scary for target audience of children.

The film poster for 'Drop Dead Fred' uses a close up two actors in order to show they are the main characters. From the position of the two we establish that the man who appears to be hanging upside down has a very quirky, crazy, fun-loving nature and we gather from his mishchievious facial expression he will provide comedy in the film. This aids the promotion of the film as it catches the attention of people who are attarcted to comedys aswell as showing its genre. The other woman in the poster appears to be very shy and modest and even worried at what this man will do next. She looks as though she is fed up of the him which is supported by the title of the film. This attracts people as we are able to gather that the man is the trouble maker and the woman is very prim and proper and the complete opposite of him. We are intrieged by the two together as they do not seem a suitable match. Underneath the main image we are presented with smaller versions of the main positioned in comical poses which as well as giving the genre of comedy away, it creates laughs for the person looking at the poster. If they find the poster funny, it will encourage them to actually view the film. The title of the film is then positioned underneath the main image in a childlike, immature font in a childish yellow. This represents to the person viewing the poster the comical genre of the film and engages the target audience of family. This helps promote the film to its target audience. The 'o' in 'Drop' is a childs drawing of a face which shows us the immaturity of the man hanging upsideown in the image. This would create humour therefore entises fans of comedies.Along the top of the film poster alliteration is used 'Unusual. Uncontrolable. Unleashed. Unreal.' This cleverly grabs the attention of the person viewing the poster as well as remaining in their head. It is positioned at the top therefore is one of the first things that will be read, intreiging the audience into knowing more. Another thing which promotes the film is the use of actor 'Rik Mayall' in the main image. By putting him in the centre like this he will attract the most attention and as he is a well known actor and quite famous for his comical roles he attracts a lot of people who are fans of him to watch the film. This is the unique selling point. From this poster we can see that comedy is promised if we watch the film. The tagline in this particular poster is 'He makes the trouble, she takes the blame.' This is a catchy sentance which indicates that there will be a lot of humour in Rik Mayalls characters antics and watching the serious looking woman next to him take the blame will be quite funny.














This film poster promoting Drop Dead Fred is quite similar to the previous one however there are some slight changes. Instead of using a lilac colour, it has changed to a bold red colour. This immediately stands out to the viewer of the poster catching their eye. Despite red being quite a harsh bold colour, it is teamed with very chidlish colours like yellow and green which promotes the film as being a comedy and for families. It also targets other age groups as the red is intended to catch EVERYONE'S eye. The tagline of the film is written at the top of the page and as there is minimal text we feel as though is is something we should read. 'Dishes, realtionships, wind. This guy breaks everything'. This sentance creates humour to the reader of the poster and teamed with the image beside it shows the comical genre of the film. This promotes the film to whoever likes comedys or would prefer to watcha comical film.

Location Recce New Pp

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Halloween Theme
Pumpkin - decoration and bucket style (for Rodney to step in)
Halloween Banners - for Scene 3
Fake Blood - For Mr Vapming, need to be careful because some fake blood leaves staines
Fangs - 2 sets of fangs, for when Mr Vamping is holding one in his hand and one in his mouth
Garlic and strong string - To make the Garlic Necklace
Carrot - Which needs to be shaven into a stake like shape
Other props:
Rucksack - For Rodney, perferably big
CostumeCape - Must be black, for Mr Vamping
Suit - Black trousers and white shirt, no jacket is needed but a wasitcoat would be preferable

28-09-09

On Monday we made a plan to find all of our cast for our film. We searched on the school register in order to see photographs of students in the school. We then picked out a number of students who we felt had the appearance to fit the roles of Rodney, Danny, Dannys friends, Mr Drackson and Mr Vamping. We then found the time tables of each student in order to locate them. After finding them and giving them a brief view of what we were asking of them they agreed to meet us at break so we could fill them in properly. We took down their phone numbers and email adresses and then at a later date we contacted them and asked them tocome for auditions on Tuesday 6th.

After recieving the feedback on the first draft of our script we decided to change the beginning of our film. Instead of using blackouts they would be replaced by quick cut shots. Not only would they fit in better with the fast, comical music but also fit in with the theme of comedy showing Rodneys clumsy, dopey nature.


Scene 1:
Through quick shots – RODNEY tripping over pavements kerb and banging his head as he opens the door. (Speedy music)
RODNEY runs though the corridor and into the classroom but his rucksack handle gets stuck in the door handle and he falls backwards. The class laugh.

- the blackout at the start while rodney is rushing in - why do you want to use the blackouts? Prehaps better just fast camera whips? Watch various similar moments in other films and dont forget to blog about this !- perhaps cut down on what teacher says in scene 1? but no so bad if you dont want to do this either-i like the way scene 1 ends - very funny- the rest seems good to me. i like the slo mo while he comes in with the carrot stake - hilarious ok so go ahead and storyboard carefully making sure you use loads of interesting shot sizes and anlges etc. watch other things before you do this. good work guys !

Scene 1

Through blackouts – RODNEY tripping over pavements kerb and banging his head as he opens the door. (Speedy music)

RODNEY runs though the corridor and into the classroom but his rucksack handle gets stuck in the door handle and he falls backwards. The class laugh.


RODNEY
(Panting)
I’m so sorry I’m late sir!


MR VAMPING
(Sigh)
What’s your excuse this time Rodney?


RODNEY
(Gibberish and stuttering)
I had no clean-I couldn’t find-my underwear sir….


The class laugh as RODNEY puts his head down and slowly walks to his seat.


MR VAMPING
(Sarcastic tone)
Next time Rodney, have your underwear washed before hand. Oh, and try a washing machine. They work miracles!


The class snigger.

Blackout – (Sounds) The bell rings and the class scatter out.


MR VAMPING
(Shouting out)
See you tomorrow guys and don’t forget


RODNEY comes back into class forgetting his rucksack. MR VAMPING is struggling behind a table
RODNEY
Sir, are you alright?


MR VAMPING spins his head round revealing fangs and blood dripping down his chin. Psycho music plays.


RODNEY
(Screams like a girl)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
(Runs out of class)


Scene 2

Its break time and Rodney is still running. He goes into the playground where his ‘Friends’ are.


RODNEY
(Panting)
(Gets quicker, whiney and more annoying)
Dan, Dan, Dan, Danny, Danny, Danny etc


DANNY turns in slow motion and shouts.


DANNY
(Shouts)
WHAAAATTTTTTTTTT!!!!!


Cutaway – Table starts shaking. The glass on top of the table falls and smashes.


RODNEY
(Looking up at DANNY)
(Quite)
M…Mr…Mr V…Vamping is a…a…V…Vampire!


Silence for 3 seconds.


DANNY turns back to his POSSEY. They burst out in laughter. DANNY turns back to RODNEY.
RODNEY
We have to kill him!!


Silence for 2 seconds.

Cutaway – POSSEY march down the field towards the sandpit carrying Rodney.


RODNEY
(Shouting)
Guys, what are you doing!? Come on, where in this together!


DANNY
(Looking at RODNEY with a smirk on his face)
No we aint mate


POSSEY throw RODNEY in the sandpit.

Sad music plays. RODNEY sits up whipping the sand on his face.
RODNEY walks through the media block. He stops and shakes the sand out of his hair. Music cuts.

In another class room.


MR VAMPING
I think Rodney is on to us.


RODNEY turns where MR VAMPING is talking. As he turns a ‘DING’ sound his heard. He runs to the room their in to eavesdrop.


MR DRAKSON
Don’t worry. Everyone will find out soon.

(Both teachers laugh an evil laugh)


RODNEY sticks his chest out with his fist in the air in a heroic way. Heroic music builds up.


RODNEY
(Brave, manly voice)
Not if I can help it!


Scene 3 – Next Day

RODNEY walks through the corridor on time in slow motion. As he walks into the class the music cuts and RODNEY trips over a pumpkin bucket.
The class laugh.

RODNEY stands up and is wearing a garlic necklace around his neck.


DANNY
Want a cabbage hat with that mate?!


RODNEY
No, it’s alright. I’ve got all I need.
(Pulls out a ‘carrot stake’ from his rucksack)
(CLASS LAUGH)


Eerie music begins to play and a black figure walks into the classroom.

The class stare in his direction.

RODNEY’S eyes widen.


MR VAMPING
(Pulls back the cape)
(Shouts)
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!


(Class gasp)


RODNEY
(Screams like a girl)
AHHHHHH!!!!


MR VAMPING
(Turns the music off)
Today class I have prepared a Halloween themed lesson. We are going to learn about VAMPIRES!
(Grins and winks at RODNEY)


RODNEY is pale and shaking in his seat. The ‘carrot stake’ is snapped with each half in his hands.

BLACKOUT – Bell rings and the class scatter out.


DANNY
Rodney, your such a plonker!


ON SCREEN – RODNEY walks towards the door and stops.


RODNEY
(Turning back to MR VAMPING)
I can’t believe I thought your were a Vampire Sir
(Shakes his head an leaves dragging the pumpkin bucket with him)


Through the window of the door MR VAMPING turns and looks straight into the camera. He removes the fake fangs and reveals a real set of fangs. The eerie music plays again and MR VAMPING has an evil laugh which echoes into a black out.

The feedback we recieved from our first collage proved that we did not portray the feeling and messages of our film, therefore we tried to show the immature, not serious, comical, halloween theme through our second collage. We used a lot of orange, black, purple and yellow in order to show the chidlish of our film and the fact it is a simple adventure story of a young boy aimed at children. We also used images of 'Mr clumsy', cartoon pumpkins and 'splats' in order to show Rodneys naive, clumsy character implying our film will be full of comedy for children. We want our audience to feel lost in the world of our film where anothing is possible in childrens eyes, however nothing too scary. It is simply a fun film about the world of a love to hate little boy.

We decided to fill our collage with images of vampires, 'buffy the vampire slayer', castles, a stake and a pumpkin alongside words from magazines and newspapers such as 'dark secret', 'evil', 'day and night' and 'after dark' to portray the gothic theme of our film. We felt this reflects the history and supernatural side of Mr Vamping. As our film is for entertainment purposes and is not meant to be taken seriously we decided to lighten the collage with more fun, immature images for example we used pictures of mosters from 'The incredibles' in order to show a fun adventurous supernatural side to reflect the simple world of a little boy. To show Rodneys character we used a comic image of a little boy with boxing gloves on. This shows a comic side of Rodney as he is portrayed as a dopey, clueless boy who is always the target of jokes. The boxing gloves represent him gaining his independance towards the end of the film and preparing himself to 'defeat' his vampire teacher. We also used words such as 'I'm lonely, confidence, anxiety, gullible and bullies' to show the shy side of Rodney that lacks confidence, is very nervous worried and anxious, dopey and gullible and is prime target to bullies.

Christopher Doyles masterclass in cinematography-

From watching this clip i learnt that cinematography plays a huge part in setting the mood and creating feelings in the character. Lighting, camera and the way the scenes are filmed can change a scene entirely which is why it is so important. When Doyles made the film 'Mood of love' he was going for a very lonely,iscolated energy he wanted to portray therefore he found a setting in a dark eerie road where the light was very dim and atmosphere very mysterious. The wall in the background which was falling apart gave him a sense of lonliness which he wanted for his film which is why he chose to film there. This setting played a huge part in creating the effect of loneliness and isolation he wanted.


Krzysztof Kieslowski -

He talks of how camera plays a big part in the film. He speaks about how his close ups in the film represent the heroins view point to the audience. These close ups help establish that she looks at the smaller things instead of focusing on bigger things in life. She is trying to make her world smaller. Just by using these close ups we gather all this helping to set a isolated theme where rejection is a huge element. The girl rejects everything around her as it does not interest her. She is in her own world where nothing else seems important. This could be relevant in my film as my main character Rodney is very 'in his own world' and quite iscolated. We could use this method of filming smaller things from Rodneys point of view in order to portray him in his own fantasy world where anything can happen. He could be shown as a daydreamer.


Cinematography of my own film-

I imagine my own film with very quick, sharp cuts in order to portray the 'hyperactiveness' of the situation where everything is moving along in this boys world. There is excitement and there is a very hectic busy atmospohere we would like the audience to notice. We will also use very high key lighting in order to show the innocence and harmfulness of the story.Although it has a gothic element to it and there are vampires, it is not serious, it is merely a little boys adventure where life is easy and simple and he truely believes he can take on these vampires by himself. There is a huge element of innocence and our film is purely for entertainment. The high key lighting will show this as everything seems light and 'safe'. When we shoot scenes with Mr Vamping in we have decided to use low key, dull lighting to show a dark,sinister side to him.This creates a mysterious atmosphere so we know there is something not right about him. The surroundings for Rodney we decided will always be quite messy and out of place in order to reflect his clumsy character and create a childish atmosphere to the audience.

The main character from 'Home alone', 'Kevin', is very similar to our main character 'Rodney'. After looking at various clips of the film as well as the trailer i have found a number of useful ideas i can take note of for my own film and the portrayal of 'Rodney'. In one of the scenes of the film Kevin says 'This is my house, i have to defend it'. After this we are shown a series of shots of him setting up traps and making a plan to outsmart the adults. As there is a scene quite similar to this in my film when Rodney vows to 'defeat' his 'vampire' teachers and comes in the next day prepared and with a plan i looked carefully at tips i could use to make our own film more effective. Heroic music is used throughout the scene giving a mysterious illusion of fantasy and adventure showing a little boys world where he can outsmart adults with his own courage and outrageous ideas. This is exactly what we were going for in our own film. We wanted to create a simple film of a lovable boy which is imaginative and in some parts unrealistic, however, is able to get the audience lost in this boys world with him. I deicded to also include music to show this, however, as a huge theme is comedy i chose to use heroic music to also create humour as Rodney is shown as quite a comic figure. We would like the audience to laugh at his 'dopeyness' but at the same time admire his lovable nature. There is also another scene in which Kevin is sad and lonely. He feels forgotten and down. Rodney feels rejected and upset that noone will believe his claims and he walks around the school alone. In 'Home alone' sad music is used to reflect Kevins mood and i think depressing music should be used to create empathy for Rodney in our film too. Not only does this create empathy for Rodney, but alos creates sympathy towards him as he has no friends and no one believes him. This makes him lovable and the audience will warm to him.

The film 'Queen of the damned' has large gothic elements about it, as well as being a story about vampires which is why i chose to look at it. I observed that in the film the vampires are portrayed with a sharp, sleek, smooth air about them making their character more mysterious and unknown. This gave me tips on how to present Mr Vamping, the teacher/vampire character from my own film. I noticed the dialogue and speech of the vampires was wazs very cold and deep as well as being sharp and well spoken. This gives a gothic vibe and atmosphere which would be ideal for my film when Mr Vamping is in the frame. This creates a huge contrast from Rodneys character which we wanted. The vampires in the film also seem to have a very peircing look about them as though they are looking through you. This will be very useful for Mr Vamping as it will give the impression there is something not right about his character.

I chose this childrens Tv series 'Mona the vampire' as it was about vampires and the supernatural but also because it is targeted at children, therefore it fits in with the 'non-serious', 'unrealistic' element that my film also shows. It is for entertainment purposes only. The tv show revolves around a young girl who is deluded into believing the adults in her town are supernatural creatures up to no good who she must help defeat in order to save society and the world. This is exactly what my main character Rodney feels is his mission throughout the whole story. They also share the similarity that none of their fears are correct and it is merely in their head. I decided to look at how Mona is portrayed as she is so similar to Rodney, however, i found she is a more confident character which is unlike Rodney. I looked at her friend Charlie who is her sidekick and realised he was very much alike with Rodney. I observed his body language and facial expressions and noticed that he always rubs his arm nervously and had a permanent sense of fear in his tone of voice. This would be good to apply to Rodney as he is also very shy and nervous too.

The film 'Son of Rambow' shares the theme of comedy and has two young boys as the main characters. In the film the boys peform a lot of 'stunts' for their action movie which results in them getting hurt. This is shown in a comic way however, as the boys always get straight up again after and brush themselves down. Not only does this show them as lovable, but also quite clumsy and as typical young boys. I could use their attitude to portray my character 'Rodney' as being your typical clumsy character who is always falling over or getting into some kind of mess. By showing Rodneys quick reactions when he falls over or does something clumsy at various points in my film it develops his character further, showing the audience this is a normal thing for him to do. It also makes the audience warm to him. One of the main characters, 'Will', is very alike Rodney in the fact he just wants to be known as a hero. In one scene, he bursts through the door and declares 'I've come to save you Rambow'. The camera then cuts to an old man in a womans costume creating humour as he is obviously not as heroic as the thinks. This is extremely similar to a scene in my own film where Rodney marches through the door wearing his garlic necklace and holding his carrot stake then steps in a decorative pumpkin laying next to the door. His cool image is ruined by this and he is made a comedy figure to laugh at. I notices that in 'Son of Rambow' Will is positioned very 'macho' with his hands on his hips as though he is about to save the day. This is contradicted by his small, skinny frame creating humour. I decided to use this in my own film as i think it will be very effective and funny.

Rodney


Name: Rodney Rickets

Age: 13

Birthday: 13th August 1996

Lives: 4 minutes away from school on an estate

Lives (with): Mother and Father. Both parents are over protective and smother him with love making him into a wimp. Mother is a housewife and Father is a nurse. Rodney is an only child.

Likes: Nintendo DS-Cooking Mama
Table Tennis
Ready Steady Cook
Pop Idol
Mum’s homemade Cottage Pie
Cucumbers
Baking Short Bread
Visiting his Grandmother

Dislikes: Sweets
Football-he gets hit by the ball
Girls-Cooties

Childhood: Perfect childhood. Goes Butlins every year.

Dream: Open his own Bakery called, ‘Rodney’s home made touch’.

Weakness: Very Gullible, values Friendship to much.

Strengths: Creative
Enthusiastic
Hard working

Education: Nursery-Tiny Tots
Primary-St Josephs
Secondary-Barking Abbey

Beliefs: Catholic
In telling the truth

Values: Family and quality time with them.
Friendship

Speech: Well spoken

Daily Activity: Wakes up and 7am and makes breakfast which consists of a soft boiled egg and soldiers. Studies hard at school and has lunch with grandmother. Comes home and bakes a desert. Have dinner in the evening and Father tells Rodney his latest nursing stories. Goes to bed at 9pm.

Name: Gabriel Vamping

Age: 26


Birthday: 31st October 1870
Lives: One Bedroom apartment in Limehouse.

Lives with: No one

Likes: Teaching
Blood
‘Queen of the Damn’-The book
Reading
His imitation of gothic painting-‘The Nightmare’
‘Twilight’-the film
Robert Gascoyne-Prime Minister from 1886-1892 and 1895-1902

Looks: Average looks
Fair skinned
Friendly face
Between average and tall height

Jobs: Mines in 1886
Farming Tractor Driver in 1890
Brought own land and had workers in 1894
Business man for food in 1904
Started teaching young children from 1912

Dislikes: Sunlight
Garlic
Crucifix

Childhood: Tough Childhood. Father died of disease and Mother died at birth 8years after Vamping was born, baby brother died too. Now an only child he began to beg then went into the Mines. Late went to work in Farming Transport and managed to work his way up. At 26 years old he was awoken in the night by strange noises. He searched his house finding bloody under the kitchen door. When he opened it he found a strange being feeding on rats. The being was a Vampire and attacked Vamping. Since then he has been living alone moving from place to place hiding his true identity.

Dream: To find a female vampire without having to bite them.
Weakness: Accepting his past. Regrets what happened to him because of how it’s affecting his living circumstances.

Strengths: Energetic
Ability to stop and live a new life
Hiding behind a mask

Education: In the 20th Century-Barking College-GSCE
Havering College-A levels
UEL-Teaching Degree

Beliefs: Not hurting others for personal gain
Hard work

Values: Youth
Aging
Education
Family which he never had

Speech: Changes through time

Daily Activity: Wakes up at 6am. Drives to work. Teaches his lesson and comes home to sleep. At midnight he visits slaughters houses. He kills the animal and stores its blood.

Pitch Powerpoint For Media

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My mood board focuses on the colour black and is filled with various assocoations and links to the colour. For example, I have included different countries associations of the colour as well as different connotations, poems and song lyrics refering to 'black'. I used a variety of 'gothic' images as the theme is largely represented by the colour black as well as some less heard of assocaiations to the colour. I included images of money signs as in accounting black is regarded as a sign of wealth and money. Black can also be interpreted as mystery and the unknown which is why i put images of space and planets on mymoodboard. After researching i also found that the black ring in the olympic logo represents Africa. Most commonly black is known for representing sadness and depression, one of the reasons black is worn to funerals. I included a line from the poem 'mental cases' by war poet Wilfred Owen. 'Night comes blood black'. On the other hand however, in the fashion industry black is considered as sophisticated, elegant and smart.

Pitch - first draft
Rodney and the boy who cried vampire

Rodney arrives late to Mr Vampings history lesson as he does every morning. Every time he arrives a clumsy event happens. As the lesson finishes Mr Vamping announces to the class there will be a special lesson the following day.
After lesson, Rodney returns to the classroom after realising he has forgotten his rucksack but is distracted by his teacher crouched behind the desk. As he asks if Mr Vamping is okay his teacher spins round revealing fangs and blood dripping down his chin. A terrified Rodney screams and runs out.
Rodney runs to his ‘friends’ to inform them of what just happened but they laugh at him and Danny (leader) orders the ‘Posey’ to throw poor Rodney in the sandpit. A very upset and humiliated Rodney sulks around school; however he stumbles across Mr Vamping and Mr Drackson and decides to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Mr Vamping- ‘I think Rodney is onto us’
Mr Drackson- ‘don’t worry, they will all find out soon!’

(Evil laughs)

Feeling a sudden urge of independence and courage, Rodney vows to prevent the ‘vampires’ from revealing themselves to his fellow classmates.
The next day Rodney arrives late to lesson yet again with a garlic necklace around his neck and a carrot stake in his hand. Feeling heroic he marches to class but falls over the bin. As he walks into class a dark, black figure wearing a cape walks into the middle of the classroom. As he pulls his cape back and roars the class gasp drowned out by Rodney’s girlish screams. In the middle of the class stands Mr Vamping in a vampire costume and he announces to the class they will be studying vampires today.
At the end of the lesson an embarrassed Rodney admits to Mr Vamping how his suspicions were wrong and leaves. Alone in the classroom, Mr vamping turns and takes out his fangs revealing a real pair and gives an evil laugh.


Feedback for first draft of Pitch-

Posotive feedback-

- Elements of comedy are appealing
- Rodney comes across as a very lovable character
- Simple story of a little boys world where we see things from a child’s point of view (escapism, not reality)
- Rodney is similar to boy characters from ‘Son of rambow’ and ‘The Goonies’. We are able to pick up tips on how to portray him and take pieces from different characters to help develop him.
- Everything links together making story easy to follow

Questions

How will we show Rodney’s thoughts throughout the film?
Rodney’s thoughts are shown through his actions and behaviour. We will use camera work and music especially in order to do this. The main element we are trying to show is comedy for example when Rodney thinks he is being heroic and saving the day we will use typical ‘save the day music’ in a mocking way. This shows the audience that Rodney thinks he is saving everybody but really, there is nothing to be scared of. This creates humour in a light-hearted way.

If he screams like a girl where does he find confidence to defeat vampires later in the film and why does he not just get the police?

We show character development of Rodney showing him as reliant on his ‘friends’ at the beginning, however, after being bullied and humiliated by them he gains the strength to go it alone and save the day. Although he is shown as more independent his dopey, clumsy character still remains throughout the story. Rodney wants a chance to he the hero for a change which is why he doesn’t go to the police or his parents. Our story is an innocent light hearted comedy which we feel does not need the presence of police as it is the world of film and not reality. It is just for enjoyment.


Problems we may encounter

-Costume changes (fangs).Keep costume minimal so it is easy to change in and out of. Not a lot of costume is required.
- Number of actors and use of teachers. We do not have to have a full class which lessens the number and instead of using teachers we would prefer to use students from sixth form.
- May be too long in some parts. Some unnecessary parks can be cut.
- Ending – ‘learning about vampires’. We can change to something more interesting for example in a theme of Halloween/trick or treat/Transylvania.







Pitch – second daft

Rodney and the boy who cried vampireRodney arrives late to Mr Vampings history lesson as he does every morning. Every time he arrives a clumsy event happens. As Rodney enters Mr Vamping is writing the date on the board ‘Wednesday the 30th October’. As the lesson finishes Mr Vamping announces to the class there will be a special lesson the following day. After lesson, Rodney returns to the classroom after realising he has forgotten his rucksack but is distracted by his teacher crouched behind the desk. As he asks if Mr Vamping is okay his teacher spins round revealing fangs and blood dripping down his chin. A terrified Rodney screams and runs out.Rodney runs to his ‘friends’ to inform them of what just happened but they laugh at him turn to walk away. They crowd together in a circle and mumble. Turning back round, Danny shouts to Rodney

Danny- ‘Rodney! Trick or treat
Rodney- huh? (Looks confused)
Danny- TRICK!

Danny and his friends then throw poor Rodney in the sandpit. A very upset and humiliated Rodney sulks around school; however he stumbles across Mr Vamping and Mr Drackson and decides to eavesdrop on their conversation.Mr Vamping- ‘I think Rodney is onto us’Mr Drackson- ‘don’t worry, they will all find out soon!’(Evil laughs)Feeling a sudden urge of independence and courage, Rodney vows to prevent the ‘vampires’ from revealing themselves to his fellow classmates.The next day Rodney arrives late to lesson yet again with a garlic necklace around his neck and a carrot stake in his hand. Feeling heroic he marches to class but falls over a toy pumpkin laying beside the door. As he walks into class a dark, black figure wearing a cape walks into the middle of the classroom. As he pulls his cape back and roars the class gasp drowned out by Rodney’s girlish screams. In the middle of the class stands Mr Vamping in a vampire costume.

Mr Vamping- ‘Happy Halloween guys!’

He then announces to the class they will be having a Halloween themed lesson.At the end of the lesson an embarrassed Rodney admits to Mr Vamping how his suspicions were wrong and leaves. Alone in the classroom, Mr vamping turns and takes out his fangs revealing a real pair and gives an evil laugh.