What is Storyboarding

A storyboard is a visual plan that helps to visualise the final product of a film through art and design. Instead of starting a story board, we learnt the importance of them and how to do them efficiently and well so that when we do make them we will be clear on the requirements. Their importance of them before filming includes: helps to plan and organize, allows you to try consider each shot, helps visualise the film (useful for me as I am a visual learner) and after filming it helps the editor see the final film and guide their choices, making it far more efficient than the editor guessing and having to re-edit different moments.

(Here is an example story board from one of the most iconic sequences in film - the shower scene, Pyscho)

Things I need to include:

- Shot number

- Location

- Action

- Shot/ Movement

- Sound

- Lighting

- Transitions

We were then shown what template we would be given for our story boards and where to fill out the information listed above on the written part of it, as it is just as important as the drawing. If our drawings aren't as detailed then we would have to write more but if we draw detailed shots then you would be able to write less as there is more visual detail.

A big tip that we learnt was to not start immediately, but to plan first. This is because it is a lot of work so you need to be clear on your shots and try to n
ot forget anything as it will remove the order of the story board.

This video demonstrates ways to draw storyboards for people that can't draw very well which I find very useful as I can't draw. This video has shown me that I don't need to be a great artist to get the point across and clearly communicate what I want in each shot. This video also reminds me that I don't have to draw to create a storyboard, I can roughly film one or I can't use a digital software to create one.

Location Research

(Daisy Sewell-Knight's Blog Post)

 

I've been having a look at potential venues to hire. At the top of our list is the Dorking Wanderers stadium in Dorking. I had a look at booking the pitch, it's an all weather 3D pitch which means even if the weather is bad when shooting we won't have to worry about the pitch being water logged. 

 

It's £50 to book the whole pitch for every half hour before 4 O'Clock. After 4 its £65 for every half hour. However, if we only book half the pitch it's £30 for every half our and £35 after 4 O'Clock. This is obviously quite pricey but we could perhaps email them and discuss pricing as we're not using the pitch for actual football training, this would of course also depend on how busy they are. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a list of the facilities;       

                                             The drive from Hurtwood to the stadium is about 20 minutes so that would take up roughly 40 minutes of our day. There is a carpark at the stadium that is very easily accessible and has plenty of room. 

 

                                    I did also had a look at St John's primary school in dorking because they have a 3G multi weather Astroturf pitch that they hire out. The surroundings are not ideal as it makes the team seem of a lower rank because it's not 

Here is the info from their website;

                                   The drive is roughly 20 minutes from school so the same distance as the Wanderers stadium and would only take 40 minutes of our day in total. The school has a small car park at the front that is easily accessible.

 

                                             

I Had a look at Surrey Sports park, they have 6 grass pitches, 3 floodlit all-weather pitches including 2 3G pitches and 1 astroturf pitch. They have no info on pricing on their website but you can email for information on hiring the pitches. 

 

 This is the carpark info;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The journey from school is about half an hour, so the furthest of them all making the round trip an hour in total.

 

 

Other Examples of Football Sequences

Frederick Pape's Blog Post

In today’s lesson we went off in our groups to research different elements of our project separately. My task was to research different football films to see the opening sequence is in comparison to our ideas. The films that I looked at were football factory there is only one Jimmy Grimble and gold 2. The first two that I watched didn’t resemble our idea at all there was no football in the opening title sequence for Jimmy Grimble it was just introducing the characters and for football factory it was all about fight setting up the hooligans of football as they called it. Go to however was one similar to our ideas but it didn’t seem to be an original piece it seemed to be well I gathered a clip from a Real Madrid game against Barcelona. They were good opening scenes them selves but didn’t really help me on my task together new ideas and more information on how to shoot our opening title sequence. They were there more set up which is what they’re supposed to do but, ours features more action more local football. To be honest I don’t think a film like the one that we plan has been released or at least one with the same opening title sequence.

The BBFC + Film Certificates

BBFC - British Board of Film Classification

They have a set of rules and regulations for what is allowed to be shown in films and they also set the age certificates. If an audience member has an issue with the content or age certificate, they can complain to the BBFC and have it investigated. This has happened with films before such as The Joker and Logan were complained about because there was too much violence for 15 year olds, one of the most complained about films was The Woman in Black. This was because it was a given a 12A because it didn't actually contain sex, violence, heavy drug use etc. but as a result BBFC changed their regulations to consider the tone for the audience. No film in Britain released in cinema or on DVD can't be released without being checked by the British Board.

Classifications for mainstream films: U, PG, 12A, 12, 15, 18

(This information has been taken from the BBFC Classification Guidelines)

Universal - available to everyone  (often given to animations)

Parental guidance

Requirements:

- no dangerous behavior that children are likely to copy, especially if it is glamorised

- no discrimination

- no drugs (or must carry an anti-drug message along with it)

- mild bad language only

- no nudity or sexual content

- sexual activity can be implied but there should be no explicit content of it (only through mild references and innuendos)

- minimal threat and horror and should not be prolonged (fantasy and comedy genre may surpass this)

- violence should be mild to moderate without details

12 and over can watch the film without an adult and 12 and under can watch with an adult (only awarded for cinema)

Requirements:

- dangerous behavior cannot be promoted or glamourised

- discriminatory language must not be encouraged

- drugs misuse should be infrequent and not glamourised

- moderate foul language and in some cases strong language is permitted depending on the context

- nudity is allowed but it must be discreet and sparse

- sex is similar to nudity in terms of visual content but sexual references are allowed moderately

- sexual violence or threat can be mentioned verbally but not graphically depicted

- moderate amounts of physical and psychological threat are allowed (includes horror sequences)

- even if the film includes infrequent disturbing scenes the tone of the film should not be

- moderate violence is accepted without dwelling on details

 Must be 12 or over to buy this film (only awarded to DVD)

Must be 15 or older to watch this film

Requirements:

- dangerous behavior is permitted but should not dwell on the details that can be copied (suicide, self harm etc.)

- display of easily accessed weapons is dependent on the context

- there can be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language but it must not be endorsed

- drug taking can be shown but the whole film must not promote it 

- strong to very strong language is permitted but is dependent on the context

- no nudity restrictions but strong detail should be brief or comical

- sexual activity can be depicted but without strong detail

- there can be strong verbal references to sexual violence but displays of strong forms, such as rape, must not be prolonged or detailed

- strong threat and horror is permitted but not a sustained sadistic focus

- strong violence is allowed but the injuries inflicted shouldn't be dwelled upon

Must be 18 or older to watch this film

The belief is that adults should be free to choose their own entertainment, however, exceptions are likely to be:

- when the film has been created through the commission of a criminal offense

- when material or treatment appears to risk harm to individuals through their behavior to society within the film 

- more explicit images of sexual activity in the context of sex work

The BBFC must consider a lot of different factors when putting age certificates on films. This includes things such as violence, sex, self harm, obscene language, criminal activity, if children in a film are present; how they would've been treated etc. Most importantly, actions that children are likely to recreate, such as: lying on trying tracks, jumping from a heights etc. Context is important for the BBFC tot consider, for example, animated films such as The Lion King or The Incredibles can get lower age certificates as it can be distinguished as seperate real life. The format release also affects the certification, DVDs often have stricter limits because younger children can get away with buying films certified for older ages. It is common for production companies to re-edit the film and send it in to have re-assessed if they aren't given the certificate they were looking for.

What rating I think that our coursework would get:

In my opinion I feel as though this film would get a 12A rating. This is because the action is based upon football and has nothing to do with sex, violence, drug use, self harm or criminal activity. Although it may include obscene language at points, it would not be overdone and with an adult present I think it would be okay. Additionally, this would expand our audience and make it available to families, a film fathers would take their children to for example. Later on in the film, there is themes of terminal illness such as cancer but I feel as though this doesn't challenge the requirements for a 12A certificate.

Real Life Stories Research

Dorking Wanderers:

Founded in 1999 by Marc White and his friends, the team started in the 16th tier of British football, as of now, they are only 2 promotions away from the Football League. Renting out a council pitch for 50 pounds and practicing on a Saturday, the team started in the 5th Division of the Crawley and District Football League. After playing one season, they transferred to the West Sussex Football League which had four divisions and a premier league - all before intermediate football. The Dorking Wanderers have had 11 promotions, just under Birmingham's record of 12. This rapid increase has lead to a constant need to upgrade the club's facilities, the first ever change being to rope off the pitch, but in order to meet the next season's stadium requirements, they are about to build a new stand and terrace at the club's Meadowbank home. Marc White works as the club's manager and is active at every team training. Additionally, he is the club's founder, owner and chairman. As a result, majority of White's time is taken up and spent at the club. He prides himself on the idea that the club wasn't made for monetary value and it still isn't, he has spent so much of his own money on it that he wants it to succeed and despite being noticed by clubs as high as Premier League 2, Marc only wants to move up with DWFC.

Examples of previous 'giant-killing' stories:

A 'giant-killing' story describes when small town teams that have moved up the leagues beat larger teams - "when the underdog beats the strong favorite" - Wikipedia. This article describes different examples of giant-killing teams and how they reached their success - "The Greatest FA Cup giant-killing feats of the 21st century"

Sound in Film Workshop

Initially, we quickly ran over the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sound being sound that is from the scene we are watching, heard by the characters, and non-diegetic sound is sound that the characters can't hear (eg. soundtrack). We then discussed the types of layers in sound:

‣ Ambient sound - often tells us where we are, location and uses general sounds heard in that type of situation (eg. supermarket - beeping of scanners, light music, chatter etc.)

‣ Dialogue - conversation between actors/ characters on the set

‣ Foley sound - recording of sound effects, recorded in post-production, they often use similar sounding things rather than the actual sound (eg. horse hooves sounds are usually made with coconuts)

‣ Voiceover - mostly non-diegetic but can be diegetic if someone was writing a letter and as it was being written there was a voiceover of what was being written.

We also discussed theme music, being a recognisable melody for example in a series of films like Star Wars, and a leitmotif. This is a recurrent theme throughout the musical composition that is associated with a particular person, idea or situation.

Task:

To record a soundtrack to go with the master edit from our last workshop - creating a cohesive atmosphere through sound.

For this task I used GarageBand on my laptop and utilized their most suitable tracks for my sequence.

User 942845807 · Master Edit + Sound

Feedback on Our Shot List

(Daisy's screenshot on the right)
In this meeting, Luke and Adam gave us feedback on our shot list and the ideas we came up with during the week. The most important piece of feedback was the time that our ideas would take to film and how difficult it would be for our first shoot, but also because we have a day to film. Other issues we came across was: how would we establish it was starting at half time, is not having another team going to be a big issue if we need to include wide shots for variation? 

We came up with these solutions as a team:

1. How to establish the start of half-time

Muddy uniforms

Commentator dialogue

Walking onto pitch, tracking shot from behind on feet, soundscape of breath/ muffled shouting etc. to add to the atmosphere

2. Other team

Change out players into different kit (not entirely, can't only film from knees down if necessary)

3. Continuity issue of the transitions

Clear and organised planning 

Instead of having this as our only transition we will have them written down if we can use them, if not new will have alternatives

4. Time constraints

We discussed the idea of replacing the training with the protagonist getting ready or training alone in the early morning. This will add more interest and variation compared to the match as the training and match will appear very similar when edited together. 

5. Who is the main character?

We decided that we wanted an older player (late 20s) who knows they won't make it anymore but just wants the team to succeed because of the effort they have all put in.

Master Scene Method Workshop

This workshop introduced us to the idea of master coverage when creating a scene/ sequence. This idea demonstrates that the whole scene is shot from each position and usually uses a wide shot to create the master shot. Then, coverage shots (from other angles) are used to edit different perspectives in - the scene is till filmed from beginning to end for the coverage shots.

My task is to shoot a sequence using this method. This is how I will do it:

1. Film a wide shot (the master)

2. Coverage shots (mid shots/ close ups)

The important part of the method its to film the entire scene from each perspective, this means I may end up with interesting shots that I hadn't planned but work well for my sequence. Additionally, it will help with my continuity editing a that may be an issue here. 

I felt was though this method was really useful as it gave me extra shots that were good such as the final shot of my dog turning to the side. However, I definitely could've framed up some of the shots better considering I used my sister as the actor in this short sequence.