CONSTRUCTION: MAKING THE DOLL

When we decided to use a rag toy in the final image of our film, we talked about getting the right kind of toy; (something that looks hand/home made, for a young child). We found that toys we already had weren't right for us and so I decided to make the toy from scratch. I used an old pair of socks and some stuffing. I cut and stitched the socks into a basic body shape, then added the stuffing, ensuring that the limbs remained limp and raggedy. Finally I added the head, upon which I hand sewed blue wool to act a hair. I drew on a simple and child friendly face with a fabric pen to complete the toy.

EDITING: TITLES

Today we explored and researched different titles we could use for our film titles. We liked these ones:

"The A D Sign Film Festival" We found that this title was effective in conveying the genre of film but it was hard to make out what is written and thus loses some of its impact on a viewer.

"Philippine Horror Fims" We liked the font used in this title, but felt it was slightly to over the top for our style of film and might distract from the story.

"Se7en" We espically liked this title and liked the idea of combinding letters and numbers, it also provides a sense of something psycotic.



We found that the darker and more edited titles were the ones we liked most. Although as are title options are limiting we have to adapt our titles accourdingly.

CONSTRUCTION: RECORDING THE NURSERY RHYME

We decided that to add an intresting and original element to our film opening, we would encourperate a nursery rhyme, sung by Georgina herself. We recorded it onto soundcloud and then copied it onto Imovie. As we have decided to call our film; "Hush Little Baby" we felt it fitting for her to sing the hush little baby nursery rhyme:

Hush, little baby, don't say a word

Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird

If that mockingbird won't sing

Papa's going to buy you a diamond ring

If that diamond ring turns brass

Papa's going to buy you a looking glass

If that looking glass gets broke

Papa's going to buy you a billy goat

If that billy goat won't pull

Papa's going to buy you a cart and bull

If that cart and bull turn over

Papa's going to buy you a dog named Rover

If that dog named Rover won't bark

Papa's going to buy you a horse and cart

If that horse and cart fall down

You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town

Hush, little baby, don't say a word

Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird

If that mockingbird won't sing

Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring

So hush little baby, don't you cry

Your Mama loves you and so do I .

This song works well as it is long enough to be played over certain scenes, it also has the ability to sound quite menacing and chilling. The final verse also works well for us as it sounds as if it is actually the woman talking to the child she has taken. 

EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS

Today we explored what sounds and music we could use in our film opening. We decided to use a montage of war noises, which include: gunfire, shouting and machine noises. We chose to place this noise over the montage of war images to convey a sense of tauma, as well as showing the memory is still inside her head.  It also makes a connection between the womans break down and her time spent photographing war zones.  We also incorporated a child's giggle over the compilation of shots that have the woman and doll in them. This creates an unnerving and distressing atmosphere.

CONSTRUCTION: LITTLE GIRL SCENE

As this scene requires a young girl, and we decided to use Amber's younger sister. Amber filmed this scene outside of her house in a local field and along her road. The scene consist of the woman watching the girl playing in the grass. The camera was placed behind a tree looking over to the young girl as if from the womans perspective. This shot worked well as it creates an unnerving atmosphere. It also immediately indicates that the woman is doing something she shouldn't. As the child needs to be separated from her mother we decided that she should be on a scooter so that she could ride away from her mum, and/or be putting the scooter away in the garage alone. We see the girl ride her scooter towards the camera and into shot, it then cuts to a shot of her putting the scooter into the garage and walking away. Both shots are very effective as they show the child isolated and vunerable.

RESEARCH: DECIDING ON A SLOGAN

We decided we wanted a short slogan to place on the poster and promote our film.
We wanted something that captured the theme and conveyed a sense of enigma.
There were a number of good suggestions, such as:

• Hush, now baby girl  
• Come back, little one 
• Down will come baby, cradle and all
• Innocent dreams 

We felt that these all were good but they didn't have a strong enough effect and impact on the audience. Whilst researching for ideas on slogans, we looked at the lyrics of the song "hush little baby", as this is the title of our film we felt that it would work well to have a line from the song as our slogan. Right at the end of the song the last line is:

• "Your mama loves you and so do I" 

We found that this fit perfectly not only to our plot line, but also to the sense of suspense. It almost seems as if it its the woman talking to the child, brainwashing her. By putting this on our film poster it provokes audiences to try and understand it, this then leads to people discussing it which generates buzz and intrigue around our film. 

CONSTRUCTION: RE-FILMING.

Today we re-filmed a section of the opening of our film, where the woman storms out of the doctors office, in a violent rage. We also re-filmed the section where she is rummaging  through the war photos and she rips up the child photo. This indicates she is in a manic state and is angry and troubled by the image of the young child.

We decided to re film it as there was an issue with continuity, as it appeared that the woman changed clothes between each shot. We also got feedback back it was not clear that the woman was strongly effected by these images and her past as a war photographer. With the re filming we hoped to add more shots showing both the womans face and the photos; showing her reactions to the them and her rage as she rips one to pieces. We also wanted to add an additional shot showing her grief and the begining of her breakdown:

RESEARCH: SUITS OPENING

We researched the film openings, we came across the opening of Suits which is the opening to a US tv drama show. We liked the editing style they used in their opening title sequence. For example they film the two men walking towards the building, they then split this clip into two or three parts. They then slow down the first section to around half the normal speed, and make the second half, either normal speed or slightly sped up. This is effective as it makes the action dis-jointed, it also builds up tention in the shot. We thought that this would be good to use in our film. We decided to use it in the scene in the park, with the swings. 

CONSTRUCTION: RIPPING SCENE

We filmed a shot of the woman walking across the room tearing up the photo and dropping a piece of the photo onto the ground. This showed her despair for the situation and her desperation to change her fate. We split this clip and slowed down the beginning in order to prolong the shot and create suspense and tension.

CONSTRUCTION: PANNING SHOT

Today we filmed the scene which shows that the woman is a war photographer. We placed a bundle of  actual war photos along a horizontal desk, along with a Cannon camera; in order to suggest that she, herself is the photographer. We decided to use a pan so that we could show all the photos and then come to focus in the one important photo of a child. This photo is significant as it illustrates the womans fasination and obsession with children, it also shows her devestation in hearing the news about being unable to concieve a child of her own, as she rips the photo up.

This scene was difficult to film as the shot was too high to use a dolly, so amber had to ensure she used a steady hand in order to get a good an in focus shot. She also had to move the camera from left to right slow enough, so that the audience gets the full impact of the scene.

CONSTRUCTION: THE GETTING RESULTS SCENE

 Today we filmed the scene where the protagonist receives the devastating news that she will not be able to have children. This scene is vital to our plot line as it acts as a trigger for the protagonists mental health decline. This scene is has a voiceover of the doctor explaining the situation. During this we have a selection of different shots that show the protagonists reactions up until it all rises up into the woman losing it and banging down onto the table and storming out. We start off with a over the shoulder shot, from the doctors perspective showing the doctors laptop, on which there are charts, to set the mise en scene appropriately. This shot also shows the woman rocking back and forth, her head then falls into her hands, showing her devastation and anger. she then smacks her hands against the table generating a loud bang, a worms eye view shot shows her storming out the room and down the corridor.










 

CONTRUCTION: FILMING THE DOCTOR SCENE

 Today we filmed the scene where the woman storms out if the doctors office and through the corridor. We decided to place the camera on the floor in the right hand corner, genorating a worms eye view shot. This allowed the door and corridor to the doctors office to be shown. We then had the woman storm into the shot. This is effective as the womans feet are the biggest and most dominant thing in the shot; this illistrates her power and anger. Her feet are almost frightning for the audience to watch.

CONSTRUCTION: THE REVEALED DOLL

Today we filmed the scene whereby we reveal the first glimpse of the doll to the audience. We made a build up to the big reveal in order to create suspense and an ominous atmosphere. We did this by having the woman slowly open up a cupboard and then panning down to show an old, battered suitcase. There is then an over the shoulder shot to show her opening the case up, this shot type is effective in portraying a sense that something is wrong as it is not exactly clear to see what happening, this makes the audience feel as if they are spying on the woman and they must remain hidden, adding to the suspense. Inside the suitcase is something covered in a blanket, a mid shot then shows, the woman picking this thing up and pulling down the blanket to reveal a dolls face and slowly the whole doll. This was effective as it prolongs the reveal of the doll making it have a stronger and longer lasting impact on the audience. It also highlights upon the dolls importance.

CONSTRUCTION: WAITING FOR HER RESULTS

Today we filmed the scene in which the woman is anxiously awaiting her fertility test results in the doctors waiting room. We know this as there is a voiceover playing over the action. We also show her anxiety and distress through her hand movements we have an over the shoulder shot of her twiddling her thumbs. Also we have a worms eye view shot of her kicking her feet together nervously. We also added a heartbeat noise in editing, to these shots to really enhance the idea of her worry and stress.

EDITNG: THE FOOTAGE

Today we edited some of our film footage. We focused on what effects we could put onto certain sections. We chose two merge two clips together creating a visual effect. This helped to create a eerie atmosphere and give a sense of unease. This also helped to communicate her mental state, as she is not thinking straight and her mind is chaotic.