Making props- young Nancy's dress

This is a picture of the dress we made for filming. An old blue dress, we sewed on pink patches to make it look old-fashioned and worn. Amelia also wore the dress with a shawl.

Organising props

Props- what do I need?

1) Young Nancy scenes

• Old dress (make)
• Shawl
• Tights
• Shoes

2) Teenage Nancy scenes

• Saddle/bridle
• Jumping equipment
• Stable clothing
• Lead rope

3) Old Nancy scenes

• Television
• Photo frame
• Horse DVD
• Glasses
• Remote control
• Armchar

Shooting schedule

Shooting schedule from GeorgiHonnor

What must I consider before shooting?

•  I must film the horse shots first, as I need stills for a photograph prop in old Nancy's scenes
• I will need to consider clothing
• I must look at what props I will require
• How I will film a young cast, with other commitments
• Create a filming schedule that considers my cast's availability

Finalising location...

Location investigation 5- country footpath

I took this video when investigating my location. Not only is this location close to my school, and my younger cousin's, it has a style and trees to film through. This means that everything I require for this certain scene is in one place, making filming much easier. It also makes getting my cast and myself there easier too. I took this video at a simmilar time I would expect to be filming. The lighting is perfect.

Here are some pictures...

Location investigation 4- stables

This location is where our cast member TJ lives. It is in Lullingstone, by Eynsford and has both stables, a menage and is surrounded by fields.

This makes it a perfect location, with the added benefit that Tj already lives there. This means that we would not have to organise transport for the horse.

Location investigation 3- stables

This stables has both a menage and 55 acres of fields...

However at the moment due to weather conditions the ground is very wet and the fields are too muddy for filming. Although it seems like the perfect location, we do not have time to wait for the fields to get better due to filming deadlines.

Location investigation 2- Old Nancy's house

This location is that of our actor's Bette's house. This location would be particularly easy for both us as the production company and the actor- Bette. This is because it is not too far away and our actor already lives there. During our location trip we took these pictures of our possible location...

Location investigation 1- Old Nancy's house

I first found an image of the location online using Google street view...

This is where the scenes would actually be shot, however getting our cast to be able to make the journey to this location on a day on which we are all available could prove difficult.

 Here are some images of the sitting room. This location does have a mantlepiece on which we could put the horse photo on.

Location

Now I've found my cast my next step is to find locations as to where my film can be shot.
After studying my storyboard I have come to the conclusion that I will require the following locations...

1. Stables with fields and a menage
2. Country/rural footpath complete with Stile
3. Old Nancy's house

I will now look into possible locations for my opening title sequence.

Finalising cast

Casting Tj's owner- Sam

It came to our casting team's attention that TJ's (Tye's) owner was also a good rider, as well as having light brown hair.
Being Tj's owner she is very confident in riding him. This would make it easier in filming. It would also help with availability as both Tj's owner Samantha and Tj himself would both be there at the same time. This would make organising a filming schedule a lot easier.

This is the casting video for Samantha Bint; aka Tj's (Tye's) owner...

She is also a skilled horse rider...

Casting teenage Nancy

Here are some videos of some teenage riders that we cast for the role...

The two teen actors featured, are good riders, but have blonde hair. Which is not perfect for the role. This could be overcome by them wearing a brunette wig.

Casting Old Nancy

Casting old nancy moore from GeorgiHonnor

Young Nancy Moore- young actors

As detailed in my earlier post, due to the simplicity of the part of 'young Nancy Moore' in my opening title sequence, casting means simply finding someone with the right look.

Luckily my young cousin Amelia not only looks right for the role as young Nancy, eight years old and available for filming; but has previous acting experience. This lead to the decision that Amelia Clark would be playing the role of young Nancy Moore.

Here are a few snapshots and an actor profile that helped us decide that Amelia looked right for the part...

Casting Young Nancy Moore

In our opening title sequence, young Nancy Moore is required to jump off of a stile and then walk down a lane/footpath. This means that in our opening title sequence she will not be required to talk.

Unlike production companies who can hire child actors from agencies for the parts in films I will have to ask family and friends, or possibly friends of friends if they've got or know of an eight year old girl who can play young Nancy Moore.

This means that when casting young Nancy, she'll need to be capable of doing little more than jumping from a stile. This makes casting very simple as all I shall need to do is find a girl with the right look for the part.

If I were casting the entire film, however, Nancy would have to be capable of a lot more and be confident around horses etc.

Finalising casting choices- Tye

We have made a group decision to cast TJ as Tye in our opening title sequence. This is because he not only had the right look but did everything that was asked of him during the casting process.
Here are a few pictures of TJ, some of which were taken during the casting process...

Horse casting-recalls-Echo

This video is from Echo's recall...

We like Echo because...

• She has a really nice jump
• She can hold herself nicely
• She acts calmly in various situations

However...

• She can get over excited at jumping
• She hasn't got the perfect 'markings' for my opening title sequence

Horse casting- recalls- TJ

After the elimination process we decided that both TJ and Echo were our favourite two horses. This is because they both behaved well in...

• Crowds
• In front of camera's
• They could also jump well
• They're genuinely well-schooled

For the recall we asked the horses to perform a jump...

This is TJ...

We like TJ because...

• He carries himself nicely in canter
• He is Skewbald (one of the colours listed in our casting brief)
• He picks up his feet well over jumps
• And is calm enough for children to ride him

casting horses- videos- elimination process

As i described in my earlier post casting horses can be difficult. This can be seen in the video below...

Whilst casting this stocky Haflinger Kenny, he threw off his rider by bucking.

This second video was taken by my production partner Charli. It is of me riding a horse that could be cast as Tye. Although the instructor say's "well done" the horse was being very strong and difficult to control. This lead to the decision he was not suitable for the role as Tye.

This third video is that of Splodge, again my production partner took this video. Filmed during a horse show it showed us how he'd behave in a busy setting...

However, I was riding him in this clip and a small child was unable to control him in the same setting. This eliminated Splodge from the selection process.

Casting Tye

Casting in itself can be a difficult process, particularly when it comes to animals-especially horses. It has been very difficult finding a horse that matches our character profile as well as being able to do everything we ask of it without getting scared in the presence of camera's. This presentation explains exactly what we want from Tye as well as meets 4 possible horses for the role of Tye; Splodge, Snip, TJ and Spirit. The presentation looks at why they are/are not capable of the role...

Character profile- Tye

This mind map created on 'bubbl.us' shares some key information on Tye including looks, age, personality etc. This will help me in the casting process.

These pictures show the sort of 'look' that I can currently picture as Tye...

Character profile- Teenage Nancy Moore

This mind map created on 'bubbl.us' shares some key information on Teenage Nancy including looks, age, personality etc. This will help me in the casting process.

These pictures show the sort of 'look' that I can currently picture as Teenage Nancy...

Character profile- Old Nancy Moore

This mind map created on 'bubbl.us' shares some key information on Old Nancy including looks, age, personality etc. This will help me in the casting process.

Character profile- Young Nancy Moore

This mind map created on 'bubbl.us' shares some key information on Young Nancy including looks, age, personality etc. This will help me in the casting process.

These pictures show the sort of 'look' that I can currently picture as Young Nancy...

Character profiles...

Before casting I will need to create some character profiles. This will help me in my casting process as I know exactly what I am looking for.
Character profiles could include things such as...

• Age
• Looks
• Character/temperament
• Occupation
• Likes/dislikes
• Links to other characters
• Key points of the storyline of which they're involved

I will make character profiles for the characters that appear in my opening title sequence rather than that of the whole cast as listed in the treatment. This is because I will only need to cast those appearing in my opening title sequence. This means that the characters I shall be making character profiles for are...

• Young Nancy
• Teenage Nancy
• Old Nancy 
• Tye

My opening title sequence narration paragraph

I created this animated character to present my narration for my opening title sequence...  

It says...

"They say every summer has a story; but the story I want to tell you cannot be found in a book. My story is true, I was there and remember every moment. Although the memories may now fit into a small, rusty box or a photo frame, I can still feel the warming breeze of that never ending summer that changed my life forever."

Narration research- Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron

"The story that I want to tell you cannot be found in a book. They say the history of the West was written from the saddle of a horse; but it's never been told from the heart of one- not till now. I was born here in this place that would come to be called the Old West, but in my mind the land was ageless; it had no beginning and no end, no boundary between earth and sky. Like the wind in the buffalo grass we belonged here, we would always belong here. They say the mustang is the spirit of the west, whether that West was won or lost in the end; you'll have to decide for yourself. But the story I wanna tell you is true. I was there, and I remember it. I remember the sun in the sky, and the wind calling my name, in a time when wild horses ran free."

Why do I like this narration?

• It's emotive
• It involves the audience; "you'll have to decide for yourself".
• It's in first person narrative
• It gives background context

 What have I learnt from looking at this?

• I must create an emotive piece as to engage the audience. I could use direct address to the audience to personalise the narration and create a bond between the protagonist (Nancy) and the audience member.
• I must provide some information about the story/context to help the audience understand.

Narration research- Marley and Me

This is an extract from Marley&Me a book that again is written in first person. It-like the film Spirit's narration uses descriptive and emotive language.

 

I like this extract because...

• It uses a lot of descriptive language
• It is similar to my own as although in first person it talks of an event in the past
• It talks about the "woods" and "trees" similar to my own narration

What have I learnt from this extract?

• To use descriptive language as it can help the audience begin to build a picture

Narration

My final story-boarding task is that of the narration. I need to decide on exactly what is said by old Nancy.
As I have said on an earlier post this short paragraph that will be heard on my opening title sequence must be gripping to the audience. It must have a declarative, story like tone as well as using figurative language to describe to the audience. I will soon begin writing but first I will conduct some research on...

1. First person book openings
2. Narration in film

Final changes to title presentation...

I created this small storyboard on Pixton to show how the film's title will be presented... Teenage Nancy trots past the camera (close up) and after she has passed the camera pans and then zooms into the poster we created. At the moment the poster looks like this... 

It has a 'good' and a 'bad' side to represent the two different world's that Nancy and Fred come from. At the moment it is in black and white (as to look old). The edges of the poster could be tea-stained and will be pinned up on the tree with drawing pins.

Where will the shot appear?

It will appear just after she walks off on Tye. Before she canters. This means that the title is near the beginning of the film, this is similar to other independent films opening title sequence's that I have researched.

Testing title presentation...

Before deciding finally on which way we would present our titles we tested a few ideas...

 We tested...

• Painted horse shoes
• A logo type poster
• Fruit patterns (similar to Napoleon Dynamite)
• Writing on fruit
• Writing out of horse grooming products

Storyboard- title presentation

Title presentation by georgihonnor on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.
 This video explains the fact that as a group we have decided that our favourite ideas are those of writing on the horse shoes and hand-drawing a title that looks old, and that is in black, grey and white. These two 'home-made' styles link well to the independent nature of our film. We concluded that we will now develop a logo that incorporates both ideas. This could be a black, grey and white horse-shoe in pencil including the title and drawn on screwed up yellowing paper, for example.

Title presentation and placing- ten different ideas

This presentation goes through my ten initial ideas for logo presentation...
All of the ideas are different and could appear at different times throughout the storyboard depending on which one that we chose. This means that at this time I can not comment on the placing of the title.

Final name decision and presenting the film title...

We have concluded the renaming process and decided that our film will be named...
Walks of life
This is because of the double meaning and the very positive audience feedback.

I made this word cloud...

It says...
Our next step is to decide on how this film title will be presented. I created a few posts including a presentation earlier on my blog looking at possible ways of presenting the title itself but will now need to make a final decision to include in my storyboard. As a group we have already decided that the film title will be presented in a creative way. This could mean that we draw-up some initial ideas of possible creative shots and presentations of the title and evaluate whether they are possible of achieving with our limited resources and when working with horses.

Evaluating possible film titles including audience feedback...

Film renaming meeting...

I took these notes during a meeting with my production-partner. We looked at aspects of the films and in particular idioms and sayings and how they influenced the film's title and how we could use them to name our film. We decided this as we thought idioms get people thinking a bit more, make them remember the name of the film and are often intriguing as they get the audience to think what the film could be about.

As a group we have finalised our final title choices/options to...

1. Walks of life
2. Off the beaten track
3. Fortune favours the brave

Evaluating renaming...

We have made a group decision to rename Crackerjack (the horse) to Tye. We came to this decision as it means 'meadow worker'. The meaning of the name links directly to the horses purpose as gypsies own horses to help them work the fields. The name was also popular with our target audience, which is key.

My next step will be to rename our film into something that is more intriguing than "Saving Crackerjack". The name change of Crackerjack to Tye obviously too calls for a name change of the film.

Renaming Crackerjack

As a group we decided on our final name choice to be out of...

• Tye
• Tim/Timmy
• Jack
• Charlie 

I will now look at the meanings of the names and get some audience feedback on their preferred choices...

I created this notice-board to present my information on the online software Padlet.

Renaming crackerjack...

I created this presentation during the renaming process...

Presenting my film title creatively

I could write the films title along a log/jump the horse jumps...

Or possibly on the horse's saddle cloth...

Such as...

or...

Film title

New tasks...

The presentation I just created showed me that there are a few more tasks to complete surrounding my storyboard...

1. Creating a film title and what it looks like
2. Creating the titles themselves
3. Deciding on exactly what is said by the narrator

 These will therefore be my next three tasks.

What else will be included in my opening title sequence that is not on my animated storyboard?

I created this presentation to talk about other things involved in my storyboard/opening title sequence that were not included in my Pixton storyboard.

Final storyboard- animated

Part 1... Part 2... Part 3... Part 4...

Second storyboard-animated

After creating my storyboard changes on 'Pixton' I decided that I will recreate my entire storyboard using the same software. This is because...

1. The images are clear
2. It is easy to use
3. It provides an alternative storyboard that is somewhat easier to work with
4. I can create my opening title sequence characters on it
5. I can edit the exact movements of my characters
6. I can chose settings
7. It is quicker to use as I am not having to draw out the setting over and over again
8. It uses colour which makes it more visually pleasing

Storyboard changes

After discussions about changing our storyboard I created this storyboard on the online,animated, comic software 'Pixton'. This shows the shots I'd use to show a transition in time in my opening title sequence. The first two images are that of a longer shot of teenage Nancy jumping from her horse and then young Nancy landing after jumping from a Stile (fence crossing). The second two images are that of a closer up shot of the same thing. It is likely that in filming I will film both a close up and long shot of these particular shots and then determine which works best during the editing process.

Teacher feedback

My Media Studies teacher has told me that...

• I must continue to and make sure that all of my posts are fully evaluated.
•  Match my blog to the creativity of my work. As currently my blog's layout isn't very creative.  This can be altered by changing colour and background.
•  The background of my blog could possibly be something hand-drawn by myself or an image of my final storyboard.

New storyboard

After looking at our storyboard, we decided there were some changes necessary.

Storyboard details

What my storyboard does not detail and what I shall write here is that...
- When the photo frame is picked up that is when the narration starts.
- The photo frame must be in the shot with the television to signify that it has an importance in the scene.

First drawn storyboard

This is the first storyboard my group created. It emulates that of "No country for old men" as it uses simple drawings without colour, yet details of the camera movement and angles. It also details dialogue references, music/score and effects where applicable.

Logo development

I used the simple software 'paint' to develop my logo...

This is a starting point as I will now develop my logo on photoshop.

Developing my logo

After speaking to more people it became evident that initial idea 5 was the most logo-like and was the most appropriate for my opening title sequence. I will now begin to develop the logo.

Which logo does my audience like?

I provided this sheet to a large group of people and got them to vote for their 2 favourite logos. It appears, however that this survey was unsuccessful and not any of my logos had a clear majority vote.

My next step will to be to develop both my group member and I's two favourite logos and then get my target market to vote again.

Logo initial idea 5- sketch

Logo initial idea 5 is much more 'logo like' than any other of my initial ideas. It uses black and white making it appear modern but also uses red which is a popular logo colour choice as it immediately attracts the eye- which is what I found out in my colour psychology research.

This logo is simplistic yet effective and appears like a camera lense.

The font differences show creativity and difference within the production team as well as being more 'visually pleasing'.


This logo could be easily developed on Photoshop.

Logo initial idea 4- sketch

This logo again uses black, white and minimal colour. Although it uses a sans-serif font it still appears modern and creative. The use of the 'H' to be the starting letter for both "Honnor's" makes the text more logo-like.

This logo could be easily developed on Photoshop and the 'H' could be in different colours depending on the target audience of the film.

I like the idea of making the 'H' in this logo both blue and pink much like the '&' in initial idea 2, again to show that the films are for both a male and female audience.

The use of two different fonts shows creativity as well as differences amongst production team members.

Logo initial idea 3- sketch

This logo again is black and white and uses minimal colour making it look very modern. Both 'Honnor' and 'Honnor' are written in the same font making both production team members appear equal. The blue and pink '&' shows that the films are not simply 'male' or 'female'.

Logo initial idea 2- sketch

This simple logo is again black and white which looks modern as well as clear. It is common for many companies to have logo's similar to this; simple and basic, yet modern. It could easily be developed on Photoshop.

Logo initial idea 1- sketch

This logo is black and white so it looks modern and is easy to read.
It uses both serif and sans-serif font so has both a modern yet older feel to it.
The varying font style/width/size makes the image appear more of a logo than simply text.

Initial ideas

Before deciding on a final logo I will need to create a few initial ideas taking into account my colour and font choices. I will need to note both their strengths and weaknesses as well as looking at how I could possibly develop them. It would also be a good idea to get my audiences opinion on the logos.

Finalising font and colour choices

After conducting research on various colours and fonts and their connotations and effects on the audience I have decided...

Exploring font/typography...

I created a Prezi presentation as I investigated the connotations of fonts, both serif and sans-serif fonts and the effect of text being bold.This is important as there is going to be some form of text on my production company logo.

Which colours will work well together?

Which colours work well together is a key question I must consider when designing my logo. This is because my logo must be visually pleasing.

This 'colour wheel' outlines which colours are complementary.

These are...
Red & Green
Blue & Orange
Yellow & Purple

Other colours that work well together are...

Black & White

or...

Black & grey

Psychological effect of colour on my audience

After looking at the connotations of colour I decided it was important to look at the effect those colours could have on my audience.

"Colour psychology" is a study of colour on the moods of people and states that these colours have the following effects...

Exploring colour connotations

I created this video almost as a moodboard to explore the connotations of colour. This will influence my decisions for my logo ideas.

The video I created looks into the connotations associated with different colours, but what I really must know is the effect on my audience. This will be my next task.

What I've learnt from looking at logos of similar companies (video evaluation)

This video I made on the website 'Goanimate' details what I've learnt from looking at other independent film company's logos. This has helped me to understand what is expected of logos from a company of a similar level to my own... (independent and small scale). What I've learnt from looking at independent film by georgihonnor on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.

Analysing independent film company logos

I looked at 8 different logos from very small scale independent film companies logos. Being similar to my own company I could identify what is expected of mine.

Logo research presentation

I created this presentation when researching logos. It records all of my research and concludes my evaluations...

Production company logo...

A requirement of our opening title sequence is that of a logo for our production company "Honnor & Honnor".

This will require me creating some initial ideas. However, before creation I must...
- Conduct research on other logos
- Specific research on logos of smaller companies (similar to my own)
- Look at possible fonts/colours/styles and the connotations with them and in turn the effect of that

Final name survey...

I created this basic survey to help decide the final production company name...

I can now confirm that our final production company name is "Honnor & Honnor".

Naming our production company

I created this Prezi which records part of the naming process...

Storyboard- production company logo and name

My research showed me that the majority of opening title sequences feature the production companies logo and name. This is something that I said I would also include.

Before creating my storyboard I must design and create a logo for my independent film production company.