r-williamson

[r-williamson]

Trailers

Budget and Location Rece

[r-williamson]

I got a few family members to view my animated title sequence, and asked for their opinion of it, in order to receive feed back on my title sequence; including what to improve and what needs to be improved.

Feed back I received;

The title sequence was fascinating as to the main footage of the memories, showing an insight into what the film will include as well as into the details of what the story could contain.

However the title sequence could also have be slightly longer, with the used of more of the main footage, as the memories, to add more details as to what the story within the film is about.

The music fits in well with the atmosphere conveyed through the footage included in the title sequence.

The words appeared in an interesting way, the letters appearing and disappearing in a random order to create the titles in an eye catching manner.

#titlesequencemiskinmedia

[r-williamson]

Editing is one of the last parts of a production, which is a part of the post-production process in any production, however although it is post production, it is important for any editor to be involved with the entire process of the production, from the script and story boards (Knowing the story, reading through the story board as well as the script with the director and the producer, so the editor has a clear idea of what the idea is behind the production, and as to what the director and producer expect in the editing) through the filming (being on the set during the filming of the is also equally as important as being involved in the pre production as well as the post production, as the editor is able to get a sense of the light and colours used in the shots, the types of shots used, and the atmosphere and emotions that are portrayed not only with the script and the characters and but also with the setting and layouts of the set) right through to the actual editing where the editors work properly starts; editing is a part of the entire production, regardless of the type of production, however the really editing of the production starts from the viewing and organising of the rushes right through to the final touches of the production, ensure it up to the best standard, clear and consistent, as well as being visually appealing to the audience. The editing process isn't just the editor or a group of editors, the director and producers often work very closely along side the editor during the editing process, to ensure that the director and producers visions are conveyed across from the story to the final piece. While trying to keep to the vision of the director and producer of the production, the editor has to ensure that the footage and audio are editing together, showing their vision, conveying the story well enough for the audience, and making sure that it is visually appealing. However editing isn't just about arranging, cutting, syncing and modifying the footage and audio on the timeline in the editing software so that it looks visually appealing to the audience, but it is also equally important as it is for the edit to be visually appealing, as it is for the footage to be arranged in a way that it conveys a story across to the audience, whether the edit is for a television program, a film, a commercial, a corporate video, or even a music video, whatever the edit is for, it should have a story or progression, which allows the audience to be impacted in the desired way, to make people remember it, and that is so important in editing, ensure that the way it is edited coveys the story or progression throughout the editing, into the final edit. And although the editing is about conveying a story, and ensuring the production looks as visually appealing as possible when it finally comes out of production after all the pre production, filming and the post production where all the editing takes place Editing still remains very much all about the audience, although all aspects of the production are competed with the knowledge of who the target audience is, the editing is about convey all the effort with even more emphasis on ensuring the production is for the audience, remaining true to the story or progression of the production idea and making it visually appealing to the audience, as well as the audio helping to set off and highlight not only the story, but the edit and everything that went into the final piece, each part; the audio, the idea and the visuals of any edit are just as important as each part, and should all perfectly complement each other working together as one.

For me personally editing is about telling a story in a visually appealing way, in order for the audience to follow and more importantly feel the emotions of the video and although not everything that is editing has a clear story line, but everything has progression. Using the visuals along side the audio to compliment each other perfectly, so that the visuals don't take over from the audio in the same way that the audio doesn't take away from the visuals, the right balance, using both the audio and visual to create a story and emotion. An edit should convey emotion, atmosphere, not only through the various shots used,in different paces, how the shots are placed one after the other, but also using colours, bight colours against dark colours, action next to an inaction shot, or placing a cowed shot with another cowed shot, choosing to place a contrasting shot against one and other, or to place similar shots together.

With the editing of any productions comes a huge responsibility for any editor as they are at the helm for the piecing everything together, not only piecing it together but they have to do it in such a way that the director and producer approve of it and it is fit for the audience, with all parts of the production, the pre production of the initial idea, the story board and even the script, as well as the filming, the best shots are used, the shots are cut together properly, and right through to post production, not only is it the editing, but it is ensuring that the sound and effects are all working perfectly together, complementing each part perfectly.

Before the editor starts the importing, transcoding, editing and decoding of the footage in the post production process, the editor is generally (often more so in big films) are involved in the pre production and filming right through to the post production where the editor really start to work even more so on the actually editing process of the production. The editor is involved in the production from start to end, to get a sense of the story and the energy of the shots, although during some big films the editing is needed to begin before the filming has finished, as the editing takes a long times to complete, so the sooner it begins the sooner it will be complete.

Importing footage onto the computer from a memory card, or downloading stock footage if it is need for the edit, is ideally placed into a specific folder for the editing of the footage and possibly the stock footage, which will help when the footage is needed for the transcoding. Transcoding is used to ensure the footage will match the sequence; when transcoding the footage it should be Apple ProRes 422, quality of 100%, de-interlaced, 25 frames per second, and have the frame size of 1080 by 1920 on custom settings, so that it is ready to be taken into final cut pro and edited. 

Once the footage is in the imported into the editing software, it is important to organise the rushes by renaming them to find the clip that is needed without having to search for it, once the rushes are renamed, they should be sorted into bins.

Initial assembly is when the key considerations are taken into account before the editor can move onto the actual editing of the rushes or audio, important aspects are looked into in detail along with the director and producer of the production from the idea it can be a time consuming process but it is one that has to be don't before the next step can be made, that is putting anything into place on the time line; looking through all the rushes and listening to the audio, gaining a clear idea of the different shot types, the colours used, and the pacing of each shot, the action, characters, subjects, many considerations to be taken into consideration before any shots or audio can be arranged on the timeline. The initial assembly is syncing the audio and rushes together, so that the image and sound both have the correct timing, in time with each other. As well as arranging the shots together to create a map or sketch, an idea of what the editor, director and producer see as what the final edit would look like once it is fully edited. These initial edits that the editor maps out for the final edit is often saved for alter reference as the editor continues to edit.

The rough cut is the first proper edit of the the production during the post production process, where the edit is starting to be finalised, with the shots put together in a much more organised and ordered manner on the timeline, however it still has a roughness to it, and is still far from being finished. The shots may not flow well together between one and other in the rough cut but it does start to resemble that of the final edit, yet it still contains a lot more more changes still to be changed and amended as the post production editing process continues to be improved.

So the rough cut is just the same as that of the first edit, however the slight difference is that the first edit has been accepted and approved by the editor, the director, as well as the producer, with the changes that need to be made are discussed and considered by the editor, the director and the producer. And although there are still quite a few changes that are still needed to be made, there is a clear structure to the edit, it just need to be more refined.

After the first edit then comes the fine edit, this is when the changes discussed and considered by the editor, the director and the producer start to take effect in the edit. With more of the details of edit are coming to light, showing the initial idea of the director and that producer. The structures and rhythms of the edit are now more visible in the edit, the edit is citing more into the initial idea, with a clear progression, and fluidity from each cut making it more visually appealing the audience and coming even closer to the final edit, with the changes made that were considered and discussed with the first edit, as well as the final cuts are made.

With the final edit agreed by the editor, the director and the producer, the final touches are put into place, with the sound affects added to the edit, the music added to the timeline. As well as the visual effects added to the footage in the final edit, as well as touching up the footage to make it as visually appealing as possible. Colour correct is a key part of the final edit, which is adding filter which is used to alter the overall colour of the light, the light colour is measured mainly on a scale known as colour temperature.

Once the edit is completed, including the colour correction completed, the completed edit is recoding which is the last step of the editing process, where as the transcoding that was used earlier in the editing process, before the rushes were actually editing the transcoding enabled the footage to be edited in the sequence with the same settings, but once that the edit is complete, it needs to be recoded for it to be able to be shared.

Editing is a crucial part of any production, and a very big responsibility, as it is where everything comes together as one, and has the important task of conveying the initial idea of how the story lead into the entire production, bringing the story to life; in not only a visually appealing, but the audio must work at its best to complement the visuals, as does the visuals have to complement the audio, in such a way for the audience to be able follow the story and feel the emotion and ever relate to the story.

[r-williamson]

Press Confrence

Questions prepared for the press conference 

I had planned out several questions to ask during the press conference, open questions, about the industry and their production company, hopefully with enough planing to have enough that some one wouldn't have had the same to me. I had questions that had not been asked during the press conference, but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ask it, although I did keep my hand up, hoping to ask a question throughout the press conference. The two members from the production company, shared their experiences of working in their own company as well as working for a company, showing different things that has worked on for different production before a lot of well thought about and interesting questions were asked during the press conference, giving an insight not only into the industry and their production company. I would have like to have had the chance to be able to ask a question during the press conference, as I had thought considerably about the questions I had prepared for it.

[r-williamson]

Dean Cundey

They work along side the production designer, with creating sets that mean the lighting and camera positions are accessible to the scene meaning that when it comes to carefully lighting each scene in the film it is possible rather than depending on fixing it in post production. As it is easier and less time consuming to do things in front of the camera, rather than having to go back to the footage and fix it later in post production. The director of photography in any film has to work with the editor to ensure the material is good enough to be edited into the final cut of film, and ensuring the editor has the right pieces and parts of the film to be able to edit it together in the right timing to fit the story telling.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Cameras and Lenses;

Panaflex Cameras and Lenses by Panavision 

VistaFlex Cameras

Panavision Primo Lenses

The Panaflex Platinum is a sync-sound 35 mm motion picture camera, capable of from 4 to 36 frames per second forward and reverse in 1⁄10 frame increments, and is crystal-controlled (crystal oscillator; creates an electrical an electrical signal with a precise frequency.) at all speeds. With a focal-plane shutter (a shutter positions immediately in front of the focal plane of the camera which is directly in front of the image sensor.) it can be adjusted from 50–200° while the camera continues running, either by using an external control or manually. While the movement is essential for this camera the Platinum's dual registration pins are full-fitting meaning it has a more precise grip on the film during exposure giving it more sharpness to the film.

VistaVision camera with motion control was used for the filming of the life action scenes that had to be composited with animation.

Visual Effects;

Industrial Light and Magic was used to integrate the 2D animation characters into the live action footage which was used on the blue screen for effects on the Toontown.

Cinematographic Process; Spherical 

Spherical cinematography process is the use traditional lenses rather than an Anamorphic cinematography process which is optically stretching or squeezing the image. Basically the lenses used were all spherical lenses which are normal lenses.

The animation was all cel animation which was hand drawn animation placed over the life action.

There was a pull focus from Jessica a hand drawn animated character to where she is looking in the back ground which was live action.

The inter action between the actors and the animation meant that the cast who were involved with the animation characters took a miming course to prepare them for the role, teaching them to mime realistically giving weight and shape to the animated characters without them being in the scene. Animatronics were also used in the production to ensure life like and accurate movements were given to the characters which also helped the actors react the situations and the animator to animator the characters over the footage.

Eye light, is used well in this particular film, the light is shone to create a white light into the characters eyes which gives life to the character. The light is shone into the eyes of the protagonists which shows early on who the protagonist of the film is and who the antagonist of the film is as he has no light shone into his eyes.

Flubber

Cameras and Lenses;

Panavision Cameras and Lenses

Cinematographic Process; Spherical

Spherical cinematography process is the use traditional lenses rather than an Anamorphic cinematography process which is optically stretching or squeezing the image. Basically the lenses used were all spherical lenses which are normal lenses.

Computer generated images were placed into the live action film to create the character of flubber. During the live action filming Robin Williams had to inter act with blank air as if the flubber was in front of him, to help with the bringing it to life the visual and sound cues were given to Robin Williams off screen while he was acting in his scenes with flubber.

Parent Trap

Camera;

Panavision Panaflex Platinum,

Panavision Primo Lenses

The Panaflex Platinum is a sync-sound 35 mm motion picture camera, capable of from 4 to 36 frames per second forward and reverse in 1⁄10 frame increments, and is crystal-controlled (crystal oscillator; creates an electrical an electrical signal with a precise frequency.) at all speeds. With a focal-plane shutter (a shutter positions immediately in front of the focal plane of the camera which is directly in front of the image sensor.) that can be adjusted from 50–200° while the camera continues running, either by an external control or manually. While the movement is essential for this camera the Platinum's dual registration pins are full-fitting meaning it has a more precise grip on the film during exposure giving it more sharpness to the film.

Cinematography process; Spherical

Spherical cinematography process is the use traditional lenses rather than an Anamorphic cinematography process which is optically stretching or squeezing the image. Basically the lenses used were all spherical lenses which are normal lenses.

The footage of Lindsay Lohan has to be filmed twice and placed on top of each other, as Lindsay Lohan was both Halle and Annie in the film as the characters are identical twins. To ensure the twins were identical they filmed Lindsay Lohan as Halle then as Annie and placed the images digitally into the scene so that it would appear realistically as though both the characters were there together.

[r-williamson]

Process

I started with brain storming ideas, then creating a collage of the main character. Then looking at videos that would relate to the character and the collage I created. With the videos selected I took a screen shot of the starting shot to each video to crop then add into the collage. Once the collage was complete I exported it.

With the collage and videos imported into a video editing software, I started a rough cut putting the videos in order of how I want them to appear, once I had all the videos in the ideal order I exported them as one video, to import into a different editing software, specifically to add the titles to each video.

I had to add the text separately, each letter, to create the effect I had in mind. I found the best font, for the idea and used different bright colours for each letter. Once I had each letter in the text timeline, I had to adjust the time for when the letter would appear on the screen as well as how long each letter would remain in the screen. This was time consuming, but created the best effect, that I had wanted, I had to do each individual letter for each video that had a title, expect the main title for the name of the movie. After I finished applying each title to the videos, I had to export the video with the titles.

With the exported video I placed it back into the original video software I had been using. I had the titles for each video, except the main one for the title of the movie. I had a bank screen, with simple words, that needed to look more like the idea of the film. So I created flashes of light, to make the text appear and another to make the text disappear. With the effects and text on the blank screen, I was still unhappy with it, as it seems bare and uninteresting unlike the other videos. I looked at different backgrounds but didn't think they fit in well enough, so I decided on using a picture. I found a picture of a cinema screen, which I then had to composite the video of the text onto, so it would look as though the titles were coming up on at the start of a movie in a cinema.

The titles complete, I had to add in the collage to the video, somehow, to link all the videos. I cut the videos, into each individual video then added the collage in between each video, but it still needed to link the videos to the collage, to make it flow better. I finally decided on using zoom, I started with the collage, zooming into a screen shot of the first video, then once it had finished zooming back out to the collage, I repeated this for each video zoom to and from different screen shots of the individual videos.

#titlesequencemiskinmedia

[r-williamson]

Evaluation

After everything we learned in the classes I didn't feel as though I could produce the animation I had hoped to be able to do. With my idea no longer manageable with what I learned and the time I had, I was left unsure of what I would do. As my title sequence was for my script idea I went into the main themes of the idea and how I could use them to come up with an idea for my title sequence. Going with the theme of memory and reflection, I thought about how I personally reflect on memories and how I can always remember them; photos and videos, watching videos, looking through photos, and how I created a collage on my bedroom wall of pictures, tickets, posters and other memory provoking images and items. This was my inspiration, looking at the main character and their personality and life I looked at what would be their memories and important aspects of her life, displaying them in a collage. I looked at videos I had and how they fit into the character, so I selected videos and started to look at how I could fit them together. Using the collage I had created for initial ideas, I added the first shot of each video into the collage. Using the collage as the main shot I zoomed from the collage to the image and back out to the collage, repeating this to show the titles in each video. Once I had my new idea I work really well on making sure that I could ensure that my idea would work to the best I could make it. I liked the new idea I had and it worked well. However I would have much preferred to have used a lot more computer animation, but I didn't feel I had enough to create what I had initially wanted, although I did use more computer animation that I had first thought I would have used for my final idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvCVaaDdbLw&feature=youtu.be

#titlesequencemiskinmedia

[r-williamson]

Key Framing

An animation technique is used both in computer animation and traditional animation as it allows the artist to have complete control over the animation. Key framing is when the key frames of the animation that show the transformation of the object or character, once these key frames are in place tweening is then used to create better movement and flow between the key frames.

Pose to Pose and Straight Ahead

Pose to pose is used in creating key poses for an object or character, then tweening them into intermediate frames to make the object or character appear to be moving from one pose to next pose, this technique is used for traditional animation. However in computer animation straight ahead animation is used which is where the poses are not planned out as they are in pose to pose, therefore the animation is more free. Although a combination of both techniques can be used in an animation.

Slow In and Slow Out

The movements of a human body, as well as most objects, needs time firstly to accelerate and then to decelerate. Therefore to make an animation look more realistic more drawings are needed at the beginning when the object os accelerating and end of an action when it is decelerating, which allows more emphasis on extreme poses.

Arcs

Natural actions such as walking more often than not follow an arc, this is conveyed in animation by following the arc movement creating realism within the movement, most animators sketch or template the arc as a guideline then remove it later once the movement is animated. However the exception to movement in arcs is mechanical movement which typically move in straight lines.

Render Queue / Rendering

Once an animation sequence is completed it can be added to a render queue ready to be rendered. Rendering is when the files (graphics) are converted into a final viewable file or formate to be either uploaded or saved. Rendering can also be used in 3D animation; using the colours and shading of the graphics to create a digital image look three dimensional and solid.

Layers

Layers are used on top of each other to create an image with several different graphic or to make something appear to move and importantly are used to creating staging in an animation, to create a background and foreground.

Compositing

Compositing is used to combine all the different layers of the animation to create a composition which is all the layers in an animation together, so that the image becomes one, rather than separate images on different layers.

#titlesequencemiskinmedia

[r-williamson]

Title Sequences

Monsters University

The music used in this title sequence is very prominent, the instruments used are very strong and powerful, they hold their own, the music instrument style is as if the schools marching band were playing the schools songs.

Bright colours are used against a black back ground which creates a bold contrast capturing the attention of the audience, this is important as it is a film aimed at families and a younger age group. 

There is a lot of movement and animation used in the title sequence however the animation is more simple than that of the actual movie. The movement in the title sequence is all lead, each movement is lead on from the last, something trails into the next, it creates a ripple, each action create a reaction.

Alice In Wonderland

The dark night sets the mood of the film, poor visibility, not being being able to see the full picture. The Big Ben is visible in the sequence with the clock face very prominent, this is a big clue to the film, clocks and timing are a big part of the film, the white rabbit, march hare and mad hatter all have pocket watches, with the white rabbit very conscious of time.

The music for this title sequence is of quite a quick pace, with choir harmonies which along with the fast pace of the instrumentals it helps to create tension for the film.

Pulling back across the land scape going into the titles, the gradually disappearing as it backs away from the text.

Flubber

Main feature of the film is clearly present in the titles sequence; science and mathematical symbols and signs fly around the screen, coming to the foreground to create a credit, using the signs and symbols to spell out rather than using normal letters. The use of the mathematical and scientific symbols give the audience an in sight into what the film will include.

Quite a quick pace of music, however light and upbeat, with a clear beat running through the music, there are no vocals used in it, it is just solely made up of instrumentals.

One Hundred And One Dalmatians

Up beat fast paced music is played over the titles sequence, this creates a good mood surround the film, however there are point in it that creates a light anticipation and tension, as the music is helded for just a couple of seconds.

The audience is almost instantly shown what the main theme of the film will be within the second animated sequence. It uses primarily black and white for the animation with the exceptions of the text used to create the actual titles in different colours. The colour of the animation is faded across the screen to bring the cloud into it, however the colour isn't added until the final couple of sequences. The complexity of the animation gradually begins to build up as the title sequence starts, as by the end the animation has gone from simple Dalmatian spots to a scene, ready for the actual movie.

Finding Nemo

The titles for Finding Nemo are a good visual of what is in store for the audience when watching the movie. The titles are under the sea, with darkness, and the moon reflecting down on the water, which gradually turns into lighter blues with the sun rather than the moon, this sets the mood and theme for the film subconsciously for the audience.

The music for the titles sequence is a very simple instrumental, although it may be simple it is still powerful, a calming, slow score, it fits in well with the calmness of the water.

The text fades into and out of the background in time with the movement of the background which is of the sea rippling.

#titlesequencemiskinmedia

[r-williamson]

Music Videos

Emil Nava

Artist

- Jessie J

Song

- Thunder

Genre

- Synthpop 

- Pop power

Dull lights and very minimal light are generally used, which creates a shadow effect in the shot, except in the close ups of Jessie J's face, brighter lights are used. However flashes of lightening crashing down around in the background eliminating the shot. Although the light used is mainly white there is pink and blue light used in the video

The lights used in time to the beat, with the flashes of lightening and use of other lights flashing.

minimal colours used, with the coloured lights used occasionally

minimal video, focuses more on the lyrics and vocals, rather than using a lot in the video to represent the lyrics, it is focused more the the artists and the vocals, their representation of the lyrics.

over lays faded images on top of a main image, showing jessie J clearly standing in the centre of the shot with faded shots almost as shadows of  jessie j moving around her main position in the centre.

Video

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCM-aRqvbHI&feature=kp

Elliott Sellers

Artist

- Christina Perri

Song

 - Human

Genre

- Pop

There are very minimal lights used in the music video, however it is still well lit but with little. The lights are used to show parts of Christina Perri's body with the mechanical parts, as the lights flash you see the parts which are mechanical.

Christina Perri starts in the video as a robot in a plain white room, using cut aways and flashes of light show the mechanical elements of her body, to represent that Christina Perri is a robot, showing the mechanical cogs working, different parts of her body made of metal and cogs working as she moves. But as the video progresses the Christina Perri transforms from a robot into a human, with the mechanical parts gradually disappearing and her tattoos start to recover her skin, showing that she is a not a robot but a human, as the lyrics imply.

The music video has a story to it, but it doesn't take over from the lyrics and the meaning to the song, as the story is directly linked into the lyrics and their meaning.

video

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5yaoMjaAmE

Jonah Hill

Artist

- Sara Bareilles

Song

- Gonna Get Over You

Genre

- Pop rock

- Doo-wop

Sarah Bareilles music video for Gonna Get over you is directed by Jonah Hill's, which is he's debut music video.

Different to the previous videos Sara Bareilles has done for past music she has released as Gonna Get Over You is her first video where she has been choreographed to dance in, beginning on her own, she gradually builds a flash mob to follow her around the supermarket.

It is a very light hearted video; full of bright colours, from the aisles lined with different products as well as lots of different items hanging from the ceilings such as piñatas. Each member of the flash mob she creates has a different personality that is show in the video, adding to the comical and light hearted side to the video.

Video

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUe3oVlxLSA

[r-williamson]

The Memory Game Trailer Script

INT.Savannah's House.Day

SAVANNAH wakes with the ringing of her alarm clock. Blurry eyed and half asleep, Savannah slips on her pink fluffy bunny slippers. Then shuffles out her room, and down the stairs into the kitchen. CRASH Savannah drops the frying pan as she tries to get it out of the cupboard.

SAVANNAH

Shh

Savannah places the pan down onto the oven top, then walks over to the cupboard and pulls out flour and sugar and places them onto the kitchen work top.

MUM

Morning!

Savannah yawns as she shuffles over to the fridge to retrieve the milk, eggs and butter from the back of the fridge.

MUM

Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine this morning.

Savannah puts all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and starts to mix it all together.

SAVANNAH

Groans

Mum

What is all this?

Mum walks over to the work top and looks at what Savannah is mixing.

SAVANNAH

Pancakes!

Mum

What is it all for?

SAVANNAH

Where's Dad?

MUM

Still asleep...

SAVANNAH

But you're going to be late!

MUM

Well if you had actually let me finish, I was about to say we are being sent on a trip to the US this afternoon, so we have this morning to...

SAVANNAH

Wait!... What?! It's your anniversary, and... and what about me?

Mum walks over to Savannah to wipe the flour of her face.

MUM

(Softly)

You can look after yourself, and besides you wont be on your own, you have Digsby.

Savannah walks past Mum over to Digsby in his basket, and picks him up. Then looks into his eyes.

SAVANNAH

Looks like its just me and you then...

mum

We won't be long...

Mum kisses Savannah on her forehead.

MUM

Now go and get ready or you'll be late.

EXT.Streets.Day

School bell rings to signify the end of Savannah's school day. Savannah riding through the sunny streets on a bubblegum pink bicycle, with the wind catching her hair as she cycles through.

INT.Warehouse.Day

Savannah stands in the doorway of an old dusty derelict warehouse with the sunlight pouring in behind her. Savannah proceeds to gradually walking in vigilantly, and with great caution, she ventures in unknown to what awaits.

EXT.Industrial Estate.Day

Blacked car with all blacked out windows pulls up to the entrance of the industrial estate as Savannah is walking out of the warehouse. Savannah happily runs out of the industrial estate to the car, and opens the car door.

SAVANNAH

Hey guys!

Savannah gets into the car.

INT.Interrogation Room.DAY

Savannah sits at a cold metal table with an empty chair opposite her, in a enclosed, dull room, with a single light. Confused and scared of what is happening Savannah frantically looks around the room for any answers.

EXT.sky.Night

Rain is pouring down, as the clouds continue to roll in engulfing the stars, crashes of thunder fill the night sky, with the occasional flash of lightening eliminating the sky.

Int.Savannah's new room.night

Savannah sitting curled up in the corner of her room, wrapped up in an old blanket, with tears streaming from her eyes.

SAVANNAH

I'm sorry...

INT.SAVANNAH'S NEW ROOM.Continuous

The reflection of Savannah looking out the window, as the rain continues to hits the window and run down it, as Savannah's tears roll down her cheek.

Ext.Streets.Night

Savannah runs through the streets as fast as she can, with the street lights flickering an orange light eliminating her as she runs under them.

INT.Headquarters.Continuous

Savannah standing at the back of a dark office, holding a flash light, flicking through a steel filing cabinet desperately looking for her files and her parents files.

INT.HEADQUARTERS Lab.CONTINUOUS

Savannah walks over to the worktop in the laboratory where a single vial is in the center of the work top with a small label with the words 'Memory Serum'. Savannah reaches out and grabs the vial from the work top, placing it into her jeans pocket.

INT.Lewis' Flat.DAY

Savannah perfectly happy and smiling, blissfully unaware as to what had previously happened.

INT.SAVANNAH'S NEW HOUSE.CONTINUOUS

Savannah in a small kitchen, facing the big window looking out high across the entire city; standing at the oven top, cooking pancakes, Cracked eggs and spilled milk cover the work top. Savannah is smiling and happy as she flips the pancakes high above her head.

Ext.Park.Day

Savannah takes Digsby out for a walk in a big open park, on a perfect sunny afternoon with not a cloud in the sky.

Background people are buzzing around, walking dogs, riding bicycles and roller skating.

INT.SAVANNAH'S NEW Room.DAY

Savannah sitting on her bedroom floor looking through an old battered cardboard box, full of her possessions, she pulls out an old bottle of perfume, and begins to spray it around her room.

Bright white flash

INT.HEADQUARTERS Hospital.Day

Savannah lying asleep in a bight white sterilized room tucked into hospital bed, hooked up to lots of different machines, including a heart monitor quietly beeping and a drip attached to her left hand. Lewis siting next to her on thr right, anxiously waiting for Svannah to wake up, but struggling to stay awake.

EXT.Park.Day

Savannah sitting with Digsby at her feet, besides Lewis on a park bench, on a perfect day. Looking out over the hill, beyond the green tree tops to the city full of sky scrappers.

Lewis

'You've already made them proud... You know that don't you?'

#WritingforTV&FILM

[r-williamson]

The genre of The Memory Game;

-  Adventure, as the story is a journey of finding not only who the protagonist is but who their parents are, through difficult and trying times.

-  Sci-fi, the protagonists are scientists, who’s experiments are ground breaking innovation into the body and specifically the brain and mind.

-  Family, the main theme of the film entirely based on just how important family really is.

The target audience for The Memory Game;

-  Teenagers, the protagonist is a teenager, and it shows the problems an every day teenager would face, as well as the unusual things that the protagonist does.

-  Family, the film has the theme of family running all the way through it and the importance of family to the protagonist. 

The Unique Selling Point for The Memory Game is the memory serum;

-  An experiment that targets the memory part of the mind responsible for memories,

-  It can target just the bad memories,

-  Control the bad memories to the extent of erasing them from the mind entirely,

-  Even with the ability to stop any new bad memories from staying in the mind.

Tagline;

Savannah; a young teenage secret agent, has her entire world comes crashing down around her when all that she had fought so hard to protect is lost in a blink of eye. With nothing left and no one or nowhere to turn to, how will she come to terms with what has happened in order continue living her life even with the constant reminder of what had happened. But when she finds an unexpected experiment, that could change it all, will this be just what she needs or will the consequences leave her worse off? Will she ever be able to live a normal life again? 

Ideas and Inspirations

Is it possible to actually single out the bad memories that are held in the brain and just erase them entirely, and even shut that part of your brain down so you never have to remember any of the bad ever again, would that bring eternal happiness, or would it just make you naive to the world and what is happening around you.

Synopsis

Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events

Genre; adventure, comedy and family.

Target Audience; families, children.

Three children; Violet Baudelaire, Klaus Baudelaire, Sunny Baudelaire lose their parent to a house fire, they struggle with the new lives they are put into, with Count Olaf the antagonist ruining the chances they have to find their new life.

Character; Natasha Romanoff (The Avengers (2012)) This character has a lot of power and strength in her personality however there is a clear sense of vulnerability. 

The main setting for the Memory Game is in a small suburban town;

-  The perfect place to grow up,

-  Not close enough to the city to get caught up in the bustle of the city,

-  Not so far out into the countryside that you are secluded away from everything,

-  A small community, where almost everyone knows each other. 

Synopsis

A young secret agent, has an almost perfect life, supportive parents, the best pet dog, a cool job, all that seems to be not so perfect is school, and the fact that the reason she has a job is because someone is trying to get to her parents top secret work. After a year of tracking down the man trying to steal her parents top secret work, she finally comes face to face with him for the first time, but the meeting wasn’t exactly what she though it would be. When Savannah leaves the warehouse where she met her enemy a blacked out car pulls up and she gets in, and taken to the secret agent head quarters. This is when she is told the news that would bring her entire world crashing down around her. Savannah is placed into the care of Lewis, a secret agent, someone she has worked with, and someone her parents were close to. Confused, alienated and alone, Savannah takes drastic action, breaking into the head quarters to find not only her file but her parents, she just needs the truth, unprepared for what she would find, she goes into panic and fury, destroying everything in her path, until she finds the vile. Savannah drinks the vial of memory serum. She is unaware of what has happened the previous day but she is now perfectly happy and living her life for now anyway. When the flashbacks kick in the reality of what has happened hits her and is all to much. The next thing Savannah knows she wakes up in the head quarters hospital in recovery. Aware of all that has happened Lewis decides it is time Savannah knows everything and a few days later Savannah learns it all and is given the chance of a life time to discover not only herself but who her parents were. 

#WritingforTV&FILM

[r-williamson]

Antagonist

Name: Unknown

File Name: Bandit

Age: 41

Occupation: Unemployed

Appearance:

Dark hair, 

Tall,

Well built.

Characteristics:

Strong willed,

Evil.

Ambitions:

To get the world’s leading scientific innovations.

Beliefs:

The world is in debt to him.

Background:

Decided to go after the scientific innovations due to a midlife crisis stemming from his fortieth birthday, which he had believed everyone had forgotten.

#WritingforTV&FILM

[r-williamson]

Protagonist

Name: Savannah

Age: 16

Occupation: Secret Agent

Appearance:

Long blond hair tied up with a bow if on a mission, or clipped back with a bow when not working,

Big blue eyes, 

Tall,

Athletic build.

Characteristics:

Strong willed,

Confident,

Family orientated,

Fitness freak.

Likes:

Family,

Her pet dog Digsby,

Animals,

Her job.

Dislikes:

Dishonesty,

School.

Ambitions:

To always protect the things that mean the most.

Fears:

Failure.

Secrets:

She’s a secret agent protecting her own parent from someone trying to steal their life’s work, which would be catastrophic if they got taken,

Very insecure and vulnerable under the front she puts on.

Beliefs:

Family is the most important thing in life, and come before anything.

Relationships:

Normal relationship with parent, but probably closer than most,

Good working relationship with her co-workers at the Secret Service,

Doesn’t get along with other student or teachers at school.

Background:

Lives at home with both her parents, and pet dog Digsby, in the ‘perfect’ suburban town,

Currently studying at school for her GCSE’s,

Perceived as a dumb blonde by those at school.

#WritingforTV&FILM

[r-williamson]

Story Research

Memory

The Hippocampus is the region of the brain located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain, which is primarily associated with memory.

It is the part of the brain that is involved in the forming, organising and storing of memory. It is important in the forming of new memories and connecting emotion and senses such as smell and sound to specific memories.

The Hippocampus has important roles in the function of the body;

- Consolidation of new memories

- Emotional responses

- Navigational

- Spatial orientation

The Hippocampus is the first part of the brain to be affected with memory loss and disorientation when someone suffers Alzheimer Disease. However damage to the Hippocampus can be caused by oxygen starvation, Encephalitis and Temporal lobe epilepsy, which cause memory loss and disorientation as seen in Alzheimer Disease but in severe damage to the Hippocampus can cause Anterograde amnesia which causes an inability to form or retain new memories.

Senses

Smell is the strongest sense to invoke memories, as unlike any other sense we possess an unusual wiring of the brain, as the olfactory nerves go to two destinations in our brains; one in the frontal cortex where we recognise a scent and the second limbic area of the brain dealing with emotion, motivation and types of memory.

However vision is our strongest sense.

Amnesia

Repressed Memory

The inability to recall information, usually due to a traumatic or stressful event. The memories are still stored in the long term memory; however the ability to access them is impaired because of personal defence mechanisms. 

Lacunar Amnesia 

The loss of memory about one specific event.

Drug Induced Amnesia

Premedicants are drugs such as Midazolam and Flunitrazepam are the main drugs used to induce amnesia however stronger drugs such as propofol and scopolamine are also used. The injections are used to permanently eliminate or substantially reduce the memory of a short time frame, however once the drug wears off memory is no longer affected.

Companies Research

Walt Disney Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Walt Disney Studios alongside Jerry Bruckheimer have produced many films, such as Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest, which was the first Disney film to cross the $1 billion mark for the global box office. With Pirates Of The Caribbean the audience is aimed at a slightly older age than most Disney films, however it still appeals to the younger ages as well as families. However another film released by Walt Disney Studios with Jerry Bruckheimer was G-Force aimed at a younger audience, yet still appeal to a wider audience than just the young audience. Most films released by both companies together have a specific audience that it is produced for however, the films are very universal, open to all audiences with an interest in the genre, subject or company.

#WritingforTV&FILM

[r-williamson]

The Memory Game

(Adventure, Sci-fi, Family)

How will a confident, independent young secret agent cope when her entire world, everything she has fought to protect gets taken?

Savannah; a young teenage secret agent, has her entire world comes crashing down around her when all that she had fought so hard to protect is lost in a blink of eye. With nothing left and no one or nowhere to turn to, how will she come to terms with what has happened in order continue living her life even with the constant reminder of what had happened. But when she finds an unexpected experiment, that could change it all, will this be just what she needs or will the consequences leave her worse off? Will she ever be able to live a normal life again?

SAVANNAH is a strong headed, confident young secret agent. Of high independence, a key aspect of any secret agent. But bellow the service she is loveable, bubbly young girl, whose family, come first, before anyone.

It will be set in a small suburban town, the perfect place to grow up; not caught up in the bustle of the city, but not out in the countryside away from everything.

Act one

SAVANNAH wakes up to the sound of her alarm ringing, earlier than most mornings. Getting up still half asleep she drags herself down stairs to start cooking breakfast. Half way through cooking her MUM comes down stairs to see what Savannah is up to. Her mum informs Savannah that she was going on a trip with her DAD to continue on an innovation into memory. Savannah isn’t pleased with the idea of them going all the way to America.

Savannah enters a dusty derelict old warehouse that has been abandoned for at least the last twelve months. This is where she finally confronts her arch enemy; someone she has been tracking down for three years, and now she has come face to face for the first time. He’s standing at the back of the warehouse in the shadows.

Savannah leaves the warehouse; leaving through the gates, a black car pulls up, and savannah gets in. LEWIS and JAMES; two secret agents she has worked closely with, sit in silence driving Savannah to the headquarters of the organisation.

They all go in, taking Savannah to the interview room, via the conference lecture hall, where there is a presentation taking place about a new innovation into the memory, to try and find the head of the organisation. The head of the organisation takes Savannah to the interview room, to sit her down and tell her the news no one ever wants to hear – Savannah parents have both been killed in a suspicious house fire.

Act 2

Savannah is placed into the care of Lewis, someone she works well with, and an old friend of her parents. A new life, with new people in the city, away from everything and everyone she knows. Stuck in place she feels alienated in, and with too much time on her hands, she starts to think and dwell on all that has happened. Creating questions in her mind about all that has happened.

With all the questions running around in her mind, it’s time for her to take action. She waits until the dead of night to break into the headquarters in search of her files. Ransacking through all the filing cabinets she finds her file. Not what she wanted to read, her worst nightmare is realised. The enemy she had confronted earlier that day, the day that changed her entire life is the main suspect in the house fire that killed her parents.

Overcome with what she has read, frustration, fury and depression takes over, she starts to destroy everything in her view. Until she makes a discovery; memory serum, the memory blocker her parents were working on, before they got killed. A sign, she was meant to find it. With the guards comes closer to the room she’s in, she stuffs the vile into her pocket and gets out. 

She gets back home and takes the vile of memory serum, causing her to pass out. Lewis comes in, in the morning to wake her up. She can’t remember anything. With this chance to start fresh, she is determined to make her life better. 

She sets out to start a new life. Waking up early and making breakfast, which invoke flash backs from the morning her parents died. Shaking it off she continues. Taking her dog Disgby out to the park, she gets more flash backs, struggling to get to grips with the flash backs, confused by them, she returns to Lewis’ flat, where Lewis has left an old battered cardboard box with the last of her possessions, including the perfume her mum used, and had given to Savannah the day they died, spraying it on her wrist she sent into full flash backs. Overwhelmed with the flashbacks, she bursts out of her room, out of Lewis’s house and starts to head back to her house, but can’t cope with it all she passes out. Lewis knew what had happened, and followed her, knowing what was going to happen. Lewis puts her into the car, and drives off.

Act Three

Savannah wakes up in the headquarters medical centre, with Lewis sitting beside her bed, waiting for her to wake up.

A week later she is taken to the park, where she had spent great memories with her parents. Lewis sits down with her and discusses everything that has happened and tells her what her parents done before she was born as well as all the things they done when she was in their lives. He shows pictures and tells her stories of people and places they met and saw on their travels. Lewis has arranged her to take a trip to meet the people her parents knew and places they went.

#WritingforTV&FILM

[r-williamson]

Commissioning Process

The commissioning process for script writing is the second part of the process in the script writing process; after the composing of the idea, researching in to the idea, and creating of a proposal, and before the production of the script. The commissioning idea is primarily the proposal and pitching of the script idea, in order to select a company or individual who will produce a media product from the script idea you have pitched, there are two ways to do so; either directly to a company or creating it to be shown to the company through an agent.

There are may roles during the process for commissioning a script.

Agents act on behalf of a writer; managing business, financial and of contractual matters. They hold an role in the commissioning process of a script is to work with the script writer and companies; creating appointments and opportunities for the script writer to pitch their script idea to the company.

A commissioning editor’s role is rather like that of a buyer, part of their responsibilities are to look over scripts to see which ones are worth getting commissioned.

Corporations-

A corporation is a company that releases a certain amount of films, that generates income from the box office revenue and sales of the film.

The director is responsible for the interpretive aspects of production; they will supervises the production including the; acting, staging, and lighting. They are also required to realise the writer’s conception.

Independent Production Companies produce films outside of the major film corporations; which makes them good when it comes to creating low budget films that larger companies may not be so interested in producing a low budget film as may not produce as much profit.

Producers are the main players in the television, film and video industries, working closely with directors and other production staff they will oversee each of their projects they are working on from conception through to the completion and may even be involved in the marketing and distribution processes. Producers will also be in charge of arranging funding for each project and are responsible for keeping the production within the allocated budget.

Script editors work as part of the camera department to make sure that the production has continuous verbal and visual integrity. They observe every shot closely and take precise and detailed notes to provide directors and editors with an authoritative reference to ensure that when different takes and scenes are finally edited the production does not contain continuity errors.

The writer is who comes up with the idea for the script then produces it into a script to pitched to a company who may chose to put it into production.

The first stage of any commissioning process for a script is first coming up with an initial idea. A simple idea or an in depth idea, throughout the commissioning idea you will work on it developing it further.

Research the idea you have, the audience you are looking to target, the genre you are writing it to fit in. Use both primary and secondary research, look on the internet or in books for information you may need, such as technology, jobs or time periods, then also use people you trust to give you a completely honest response.

Writing the script is next step in commissioning a script. When writing the script it is extremely important to write in such a way the that the convocations flows well, naturally, but not in the way that people are constantly talking but so that the conversation drives the story forwards.

A proposal is needed for the idea to be commissioned. The proposal needs to consist of the title, log line, synopsis, and the three acts. The proposal will be what you will use during the pitch.

best fit your idea making them more likely to take on your script and take it into production.

Considerations that need to be taken into account before trying to pitch you script to any company or agent to pitch, can be though through well with research, primary and secondary.

Audience; look into films that are familiar to the one you have an idea for, and what the audience is they have aimed their film towards. Who will be your target audience, who do you want to be watching, and why this audience is correct for your script idea. The importance of knowing the target audience is knowing the potential demand for the production, whether there is room on the market for it.

USP; the unique selling point of the film, what makes this film different from all the rest, in order for it to stand out and sell to the audience it is written for.

Genre; what type of film or program you have written fits into a category, such as adventure, action, family, thriller and many others.

Key considerations that need to be taken into consideration when deciding which company is to commission your script idea.

Whether your want an independent or mainstream studio to commission your script. What to take into consideration to think about when deciding between an independent studio ad mainstream studio is that the budget for a film or television show will be lower than that of a mainstream, which also means that the budget for advertisement can be limited compared to that of an mainstream film. However an independent gets is more likely to get a better critical success, where as a mainstream film would have more of a commercial success.

The filmography of a film company whether it be an independent or mainstream studio is an important aspect to look at when deciding which company to pitch your script to. Look for studio that have similar films to that of yours, look for the genre and target audience of films they have produced, as to whether they are of similarity to the script you are looking to commission.

There are also alternatives to pitching your script idea to a company.

Competitions can be an opportunity for script writers to have their scripts read by industry professionals, with the chance of it being commissioned by a company.

The internet is a great place for your script idea to get noticed; publishing it on lists and books for the industry world to see and read.

Such companies such as ‘The Black List’ gives un-commissioned script writers the chance for their scripts to be seen by industry professional as well as having the chance to enter the scripts into a competition for a specific company that is giving a writer an opportunity. Entering a script into a competition, any competition with a company backing it, is not only a great opportunity if your script is selected but also to get your work seen by an industry professional even if it is not selected.

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