Costumes

Jack's Costumes:

Jack needed to have three costumes as he is featured in the film on three different days. He needed a quite casual outfit for the bus stop scene but it needed to be fitting for the weather as the scene will take place outside and we want the scenario to seem realistic. We needed a casual outfit for indoors in the scene where he first finds the remote, orders it and recieves it; this outfit could even be pajamas or just something really laid back to show that he has just been lounging around the house. And finally we needed a smarter but still down to earth outfit for when he goes on his date with Emma as he wants to make a good impression and look nice for her. Jacks overall style is quite laid back, he basically likes to wear jeans and T-shirts all the time and doesn't particularly dress out of the ordinary. His hair is not styled and he does not need any make up or special effects. The costumes that we decided on for him are as follows:

Bus stop outfit:

Casual outfit:



Date outfit:



I think we have created the desired effect and shown off Jack's personality through his costumes, he is meant to look like any ordinary man of his age and i think this is achieved; this in turn will make the film more believable.

Emma's Costumes:
Emma also needs more than one outfit as she is featured in the bus stop scene and the date part of the film. She needed an outfit similar to the nature of Jack's in the bus stop scene as she needed to look quite casual yet dressed appropriately for the weather. For the date part she is supposed to be making a good impression but also reflecting her personality through the clothes she is wearing; therefore we thought that she should either be wearing a simple skirt and T-shirt or jeans and a smart top to show that while she wants to look nice for him, she is also showing off her down to earth personality by not wearing flashy clothes to grab his attention; she wants to create an impression with her personality rather than her clothes. She generally also has quite a casual style that reflects her personality and shows what type of person she is; she likes to wear jeans, T-shirts and other simple items of clothing such as cardigans. Her hair is long and not particularly styled as she would prefer to show off her true nature than change herself to please other people. The costumes that we decided on for her are as follows:

Bus stop outfit:



Date outfit:



I believe the costumes that we have used for Emma work well and echo how we want her to appear to the audience. She looks down to earth and genuine; like she is a nice person which is how we intend the character to be.

Screen Test

I had the idea that we could film a screen test to see who had the best on screen chemistry with Joe, our lead actor. The idea came about because we couldn't decide who would be a better fit for Joe and we wanted to get our film just right; if the chemistry was not right between the two actors then the whole film could look wrong and it may have been hard for us to get our point across. We needed the two to get along and seem as if they had genuine interest in each other, however we needed them to be slightly awkward around each other as well as we need to portray a first date situation realistically and this would not be possible if the two were completely comfortable around each other and seemed like friends. For instance, we would like there to be a few awkward pauses or shaky conversation moments in our film so the conversation could not flow perfectly.
We used a TV studio to film our screen test and created a small section of a script to set the conversation between the actors off; it was literally a basic script that was a few lines long and then we tried using improvisation to see how natural the actors looked on screen, so that it didn't look fake or forced. We decided that the prospective actresses should encounter a date like situation similar to the film in which they invited Joe in and sat down to have a chat with him and explore how well they got on. This idea worked quite well as it mimicked our film and gave us a good picture of how our film might look in terms of acting.

Jen and Joe
Jen and Joe had the awkwardness that we needed in our film, they looked good together and it was believable that they could be in this situation and that they could be these characters. I also think that Jen looks more like an Emma than me and that I would not be able to give the desired effect in terms of her character as Jen is more down to earth and rooted than I am. They looked as if they really were in a first date situation and as the clip progressed their chemistry and conversation began to flow; yes they had awkward moments but they seemed to click and get on well. I think it looks as if they are developing their relationship and this is what we really need. They seem happy in each others company and look comfortable together towards the end. All in all, they give off the desired effect we want to produce with Jack and Emma as they have the right amount of friendship and distance; they seem similar but yet so different.

Me and Joe
With me and Joe, things seemed more friendly, as if we had known each other a while. We didn't have as many awkward moments but at the same time we didn't look comfortable with each other. We seemed as if there could be nothing more than friendship between us. I don't think I would fit the part well as I am quite a jokey, loud person and this is not what we want Emma to be. I don't think that me and Joe looked physically right together either, he definitely suited Jen better on screen. It didn't really seem as if we were on a first date either which is the main staple that we need for our film; for it to seem like a date situation. It looked as though Joe was just coming round for tea with a friend or something which is bad if we want it to seem as though these two belong together despite their differences. Me and Joe seemed too similar on screen to carry off the intended contrasts between Emma and Jack as one is meant to be a joker and talk too much while the other is meant to be more quiet and level headed; I therefore do not fit the criteria for the part. We both had our arms crossed at some point in the clip which showed that we weren't as comfortable with each other as the characters are meant to be. Overall the chemistry just wasn't right and we decided that it would be better if Jen acted as Emma in our film as her and Joe are a better match.

Title Sequence Research

For our title sequence I wanted to try a stop motion idea but thinking that this idea needed something to fall back on I decided to find a different type of title sequence that was similar to my original idea and that could work for our film and draw inspiration from a clip that we could take ideas from. I thought that seeing as our film is supposed to be upbeat and different, that it should feature quite quirky and happy titles. If we could use rewinding sections in our sequence it would be good but there are not a lot of title sequences that use this that I can take inspiration from, so I instead decided to look at the nature of our title sequence. I wanted our title sequence to reflect the technical aspect of our film and thought that it could possibly link to one of our viral adverts.

Enter The Void

This title sequence features a lot of different fonts that all flash up in a quick order one after the other, each different font represents a different part of the title sequence which is what I originally wanted to do in my stop motion sequence by writing each part on a separate piece of paper. The sequence is very flashy and in your face and sticks in your mind, if we did the Japanese style viral then this type of sequence would link in very well with it. It seems like a very modern sequence to me as it seems very computerized, it also seems really sped up which could work well for our film as we want to give the image of either time rewinding or fast forwarding in quick motion. Since our film will contain rather modern themes such as the high tech remote and a computer, it would be good if our title sequence could reflect this and the sequence for, Enter The Void shows modernisation well. In a way this sequence is a lot like my stop motion idea but in a more modern form. It will stick in the audiences mind and let them know that this is not just any other boring film, it will get them excited and hyped up. Our titles wouldn't need to be as long as this but we could definitely do something similar on a mac. 

Being Erica TV Series

 

If we wanted to create a more human title sequence, we could do something quirky like the opening to, Being Erica. In the sequence, the title character opens the door to her life and looks at all the different doors that represent the different chapters in her past; she even enters one before looking back on all the roles she has once played. It would be good if we could create a sequence similar to this as it is definitely very different and interesting and in ours we could show Jack literally looking back on all the mistakes he has made and wishing he could have erased them and then this would lead onto the point of our film in which he finally gets a remote that can allow him to achieve this wish. In the show, Being Erica, the character actually gets to go back in time and has the chance to change the things she regrets; this is similar to the point of our film which is why a similar title sequence could work too. This sequence is very upbeat and makes you feel happy which would let the audience know that this is going to be a comedy and a cheerful film and not a drama. It is also very interesting and makes you want to learn more about the series; as it would make you want to see our film. It would be a memorable title sequence and it would be something that the audience could relate to as everyone at some point has wished that they could change a mistake they have made. I think it would fit well in our film and would compliment the plot well.

What we could take from these

I think that if we combined the two ideas we could make an effective title sequence, we could use the idea of the doors representing the mistakes in Jacks past like from the Being Erica title sequence but on each door we could have a different font or colour, and towards the end of the sequence the camera could show each door in quick succession to speed up the sequence and make it seem like Jack has made a lot of mistakes. This in turn would echo the fast pace of the Enter The Void sequence. I think it would be good to try this idea as it would definitely link in well with the themes and ideas of our film.

Stop Motion Title Sequence Research

For our title sequence I wanted to try using a version of our logo to expand on and create into the actual titles, I thought that using the scrunched up piece of paper with our company name on it instead of creating a whole separate title sequence could save us time and look quite sleek and professional. I had the idea that the piece of paper could crumple and then flatten again so that it would seem as if the person writing the titles kept making mistakes and starting again. This is basically the idea of our film which I thought could tie it nicely in. The writer keeps making mistakes and erasing them; effectively starting on a clean slate and every time Jack does this in the film he is also starting on a clean slate. The titles would sort of echo the point of the film and subliminally let the audience know what the film is about. This idea could also give new meaning to our name, 'Blank Page Productions', as the person keeps starting on a blank page, this shows that our name does not just mean that we are out of ideas or anything, but that we keep coming up with better and new ones. To create this sequence, I would basically film a piece of crumpled paper being flattened and crumpled again and use this over and over, each time adding a different piece of text from the titles.
I looked at a stop motion clip on Youtube that uses post it notes to gather ideas.

I thought that this clip was very well done and interesting and it keeps you wanting to watch it as it is not like any ordinary clip as it features something that you can marvel at and keep fixated on. The clip does feature a person which my idea wouldn't however I could incorporate my hand into the scene to give it a human touch. The fact that this clip involves paper and is done so well means that my idea could be carried off if I found the right way to shoot it. This clip is more complex than I intend mine to be, but it reflects the chaos the person has of achieving his deadline just as mine would reflect the themes in our film. I think overall that this clip shows that stop motion can be done well and look professional just as I would like my idea to. 

Viral Advertising

For the 2008 film, Dark Knight, the viral advertising used created a kind of alternate reality game whereby the whole world could witness and new fans could be drawn in. Some of these methods included:

• gatherings of Joker, Batman and Harvey Dent fans
• scavenger hunts around the world websites that let fans ‘vote’ for political offices in Gotham City
• hidden phone numbers and websites in the queue lines of The Dark Knight roller coasters at Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Great Adventure
• Gotham News Network has links to other Gotham pages such as Gotham Rail, a Gotham travel agency, and political candidate's pages.
• a fake web page was set up for Gotham Cabs, a website for Gotham News, and even the subway in Gotham City.

Each of these methods created a buzz around the film and were brought into the mainstream culture by word of mouth, ultimately resulting in a widespread knowledge of these campaigns as well as the hype about the film itself.

Below is a video detailing the viral campaign for Dark Knight in its entirety, demonstrating the effectiveness it had on the awareness of the film.

Pictured below is a small group of fans dressed Jokers, demonstrating against Harvey Dent in the fake election.

The idea of an alternate reality game, in which aspects of the film come to life, is an idea which hugely benefitted the profit of the film at the box office, as well as making a memorable viral advertising campaign. We could use a similar idea, whereby the idea of our remote control being real could be incorporated into a fake advert. This would allow people to wonder about the great idea behind having a remote that could rewind time and possibly be therefore interested in watching our film after being exposed to the idea.

A website was created for the campaign, using The Joker's tagline 'why so serious?' at whysoserious.com

Pictured above is the fake news campaign being recorded for the fake website of the fake election of Gotham City. We could do exactly the same thing with our remote control having an advert and even it's own fake website.

Although the Dark Knight film mainly appealed to existing Batman fans, new fans were founded through the hype of the extraordinary campaign. As our film would be a new film and not have an existing franchise to fall back on, it would be harder for us to create a buzz for our film as we would not have the existing fans to entice the new fans. Although it would be harder, it would not be impossible because the remote control idea would appeal to everyone; everyone has had moments when they wish that they could rewind time. Perhaps the film itself and romantic-comedy genre would not appeal to everyone, but if we could expose as many people as possible to the advert, we have a good chance of extracting possible fans of our film.

Script - First Completed Script

Title Sequence - Font for title

Together, we wanted to generate a font for the title of our film, "Rewind". We came up with the idea of some of the letters being displayed backward, as when our character Jack rewind's time, we see actions play backwards. The font would match with our production logo and have a handwriten feel. We also wanted to incorperate the logo's associated with rewinding and play/pausing as these are the features of the remote Jack uses. So we each focused on a task each.

Amy's Task - Generate a title digitally
I concentrated on creating the graffics on the computer. First I made some quick sketches of our ideas with idea fonts. Here are my notes:

Then I found an appropriate font from the list I found for the Production Logo. I choose to use "appleberry" which had a fun, quirky and handwritten quality. It matches well to the font of our Production lgo although it is slightly different. I then used software called 'ArtFontsLite', to flip the 'R' and 'E', and complied the image together using 'Paint'. I used a lower case 'i' so we could replace the dot with a symbol.

Then I found two symbols online, one for 'rewind' and another for 'play'. I replaced the hole in the 'R' with rewind, to be in sync with the backwards lettering, then the 'play' symbol as the dot for the 'i'. The logo could be easily altered or changed in the future, but it gives us something to work from. Here is the draft. We could use either, depending on what colour we use as a background.

Jade's Task - Stop Motion title
I thought that for our title, we could expand the sequence from our logo, into the actual sequence. For the actual title of our film itself I thought that we should have the first two letters, 'Re', backwards to symbolise Jack rewinding his mistakes and then have the last four letters, forwards to reflect the scene being played after the rewind. My idea was to create the entire sequence on paper and write each section of the sequence, (such as the actors names, distributor name and so on) on flat pieces of paper and then crumple them up to split the sequence into sections. I also thought that it would be a good idea to have a drawing of the remote on the piece of paper that states the title of our film as it would look as if the writer was creating a blueprint of some kind.

This is a rough sketch of my title idea, I wanted it to look quite rough and just as if it was a basic sketch because it needs to seem like the beginnings of an idea in order for it to get crumpled up. The drawing features the buttons on the remote we will use and has arrows that indicate what these buttons are, this allows it to look more like a blueprint.

Shooting Script - In Progress

Here is the start I have made to the shooting script. We will use this as a guide for a some practice shots involving a pulling focus medium shot, and a series and quick, snappy jump cuts.

01 – Location - Doorway
Shot No.	Shot Type	Description
1	MEDIUM SHOT – Gradual Zoom In	Jack stands center screen. He is facing the door and holding flowers, which are also in shot.. Camera has a gradual zoom as he speaks, looking into the camera.
2	CLOSE UP – Jack’s Profile	Jack’s face in profile from the right. He looks straightforward at the door, still rehearsing. At the end he looks down at his flowers…
3	CLOSE UP – Match on action, Jack’s hands and flowers	Match on action to Jack’s hands holding the flowers. Gesturing as if handing them to someone.
4	MEDIUM SHOT	As shot 1, minus zoom. Jack’s speech continues looking into the camera. End in freeze-frame.  Voiceover plays.

02 – Location – Bus Stop
Shot No.	Shot Type	Description
1	MEDIUM SHOT – Gradual Zoom Out	Emma is in center screen. She is stood at the bus stop, waiting. Jack’s voiceover is still playing.
2	MEDIUM SHOT – Pulling focus	Jack in profile, Emma should be out of focus in the background. Jack looks across to her and smiles. Focus pulls to Emma who is looking at Jack and smiles.

03 – Location – Jack’s Living Room
Shot No.	Shot Type	Description
1	MEDIUM SHOT – Low Angle	Looking down on Jack. He is sat looking at a computer screen, scrolling, with a bored expression. The main lighting should be provided by the computer screen, creating an isolated feel. Jack’s voiceover is still playing.
2	MEDIUM CLOSE UP –Jack’s Profile	Jack’s face in profile. He finds something interesting and his expression changed.
3	CLOSE UP –Computer Screen	Shot of screen, mouse moves and clicks on a button which say’s “BUY”.
4	MEDIUM CLOSE UP – Jack’s Profile	As in Shot No. 2. A doorbell rings off screen and Jack looks left.
5	CLOSE UP – Jump cut	Jack opens a door.
6	CLOSE UP – Jump cut	Jack’s hands to the left of the frame, a delivery persons to the right. The delivery person is holding a box. They quickly hand it to Jack.
7	EXTREME CLOSE UP – Jump cut	The seal on the box and Jack’s hands are visible. He uses a knife to cut the seal.
8	MEDIUM SHOT – Low Angle	Looking down on Jack’s hands as he opens the box, and riffles through the packing materials. He should dig in an exaggerated fashion, spilling the material onto the floor.
9	EXTREME CLOSE UP	On packing materials as they spill onto the floor.  Fall onto the lens and cover up part of the screen.
10	MEDIUM SHOT – High Angle	Looking up at the box and Jack. He has reached the bottom. A light should be coming out (as if) from the box. He puts his hand in and brings out the remote, and as he does, angelic music plays, stopping and starting with his movement.
11	CLOSE UP – Jack’s face	He is looking down at the remote, and his hand brings it up between the camera and his face, looking amazed. Voiceover continues.

04 – Location - Doorway
Shot No.	Shot Type	Description
1	MEDIUM SHOT – Jump cut	Back to Jack in center screen at Emma’s doorstep. He is facing the door. He is continuing to practice, then drops the flowers, sighs, and bends down in the shot.
2	MEDIUM SHOT – Low Angle	Looking down on Jack in profile as he continues to bend grabs the flowers and starts to stand up again.
3	MEDIUM SHOT – Now behind Jack.	Shot from behind Jack as he straightens up, Emma opens the door, shocked to see Jack stood there. She speaks.
4	MEDIUM SHOT – Jack	Jack in a slight profile, he speaks back.
5	MEDIUM SHOT – Shot-reverse-shot	Emma in a slight profile, she questions Jack.
6	MEDIUM SHOT – Shot-reverse-shot	Jack in a slight profile, he replies.
7	MEDIUM SHOT – Shot-reverse-shot	Emma in a slight profile, she questions Jack.
8	MEDIUM SHOT – Shot-reverse-shot	Jack in a slight profile, he speaks and starts to hand over the flowers. A swipe noise could be added in post-production.
9	MEDIUM SHOT – Match on action	Emma in a slight profile, as Jack’s flowers are handed to her, he awkwardly takes them. She speaks.
10	MEDIUM SHOT - Jack	As in Shot No. 1. Jack looks stressed. His hand goes to his pocket and takes out the remote.
11	CLOSE UP - Remote	Jack puts his finger on rewind. In post-production the scene should replay backwards until he is about to give her the flowers, he pauses. Throws the flowers over his shoulder, followed b a freeze-frame. Voiceover then plays. Then TITLES.