Venue/ Location List (inc. Photographs)

Rainbow Park (Melling, Merseyside)

A large proportion of our filming was shot at a public park in the village of Melling in Merseyside. We believed this location was suitable due to its relatively remote location and quietness, which other locations during the planning process we discovered did not include. On the photograph above it shows the park's main entrance this was not the exact location of our filming. The exact location of our filming taken place towards the centre of the field through the second set of gates, shown on the photograph above. In this location we found playground equipment - which fitted in the storyline - plus, the setting in the village of Melling gave us a family location, which the storyline's plot revolved around.

Country Path (Melling, Merseyside)

One of the main scenes within the trailer is filmed on a country path on the northwestern side of the village of Melling in Merseyside. This location was chosen due to its remote location - so we could film without the distractions - and because its rural location which fits with the storyline and the other locations which we have decided to choose across east Sefton. The photograph above shows the entrance to the path from the main thoroughfare in the village; the location we choose to film the 'walk out of the shot' scene however was further down the path away from the noise of the traffic.

Balls Wood Park (Maghull, Merseyside)

The vast majority of our filming took place at our main location, Balls Wood, which is a public park on the eastern edge of the town of Maghull in Merseyside. During the planning process, there have been different locations which we have discussed for our main location, but after careful consideration looking at the storyline and characters, we have decided to use Balls Wood. In the photograph above you can see the woodland area, this is where the majority of our filming has taken place including the 'RUN' on the tree scene, as well as the 'running towards the gate' scenes which together make up a large section of our trailer. It is a quiet location, but at the same time a family location, because of its large playground as well as the houses lining the western boundary of the park. 

Production Log (inc. Prop and Costume Lists)

During the planning and filming process, we decided that we would plan when, where and what would be done on the various days which we were filming. We recorded what props, actors, costume and equipment we would use when filming. This became very useful during the filming process, as we had a guide to show us everything we were supposed to be doing. Below I have listed the various factors involved, as well as other notes which I thought were important and should include;


Friday, 21st October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - Andrew Keller, Nicolle Abbott, Sabrina Malhotra
Costume - School Uniform, Black Coats, Dark Trousers
Equipment - Video Camera, Storyboard Notes
Other Notes - N/A

Saturday, 22nd October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - N/A
Costume - N/A
Equipment - N/A
Other Notes - No filming taken place on this day

Sunday, 23rd October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - Andrew Keller, Nicolle Abbott
Costume - Casual Clothing
Equipment - Video Camera, Storyboard Notes
Other Notes - N/A

Monday, 24th October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - Andrew Keller, Nicolle Abbott, Chris Kingsbury, Sabrina Malhotra, Joseph Caldon
Costume - School Uniform, Black Coats, Dark Trousers, Cargo Pants, Short Sleeve T-Shirt
Equipment - Video Camera, Storyboard Notes
Other Notes - Our costume choice depended on what role a person was given (actor/ camera crew)

Tuesday, 25th October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - N/A
Costume - N/A
Equipment - N/A
Other Notes - No filming taken place on this day

Wednesday, 26th October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - Andrew Keller, Nicolle Abbott, Sabrina Malhotra
Costume - School Uniform, Dark Trousers, Black Coats
Equipment - Video Camera, Storyboard Notes
Other Notes - N/A

Thursday, 27th October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - N/A
Costume - N/A
Equipment - N/A
Other Notes - No filming taken place on this day

Friday, 28th October 2011
Props - N/A
Actors - Andrew Keller,  Nicolle Abbott, Sabrina Malhotra
Costume - School Uniform, Dark Coats, Black Trousers, Cargo Pants, Short Sleeve T-Shirt
Equipment - Video Camera, Storyboard Notes, Timer
Other Notes - The filming of our 'walk out of the scene' shot didn't go to plan, and a timer was used to make sure that the 'walk out of the scene' took the required timing which we decided on in planning, and did not go over or under this desired time

Saturday, 29th October 2011

Props - N/A
Actors - Andrew Keller, Nicolle Abbott
Costume - Casual Clothing
Equipment - Video Camera, Supplement Storyboard
Other Notes - The last two storyboard sheets were changed, so this footage was not used

Sunday, 30th October 2011

Props - N/A
Actors - Andrew Keller, Nicolle Abbott, Sabrina Malhotra
Costume - Casual Clothing with Darker Colours
Equipment - Video Camera, Storyboards
Other Notes - N/A

Postmodernism Theory

Below is a diagram which showcases the four different threads connected to Postmodernism theory;

Postmodernism deliberately rejects the idea that there is a high and low culture. They tend to avoid rigid genre distinctions. Rathet than conforming to genre distinctions, postmodernists took a preferenve of the following formats;

• Pastiche - a mixture of different forms
• Parody - a spoof vertsion of a genre
• Bricolage - use of the materials available depsite the intended purpose
• Irony - when there is tension between what is said and what is meant

Vladimir Propp Theory

• 8 character roles or spheres of action (character and action being inseparable)
• 31 functions always highly predictable such as the villian being punished at the end of the story

• The Villian
• The Hero
• The Donor
• The Helper
• The Princess
• The Father (the King who rewards hero)
• The Dispatcher (who sends hero on his way)
• The False Hero (usually good looking and a coward)

Claude Levi-Strauss Theory

Argued that meaning in narratives is based upon binary opposition (or conflict), he was less interested in the arrangement (syntagmatic) of the narrative (or order) and more in the deeper meaning (paradigmatic) of themes.

Binary opposition are things like;

• Men v Women
• Earth v Space
• Science v Nature
• Good v Evil

Queer Theory

Queer theory is the field of gender studies that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of gay and lesbian studies, and feminist studies. Although many people believe that queer theory is only about homosexual representations in literature, it also explores categories of gender, as well as sexual orientation. It is not only concerned with sexuality but also with identity. It sees gender as constructed socially, to some extent through our association with the media.

An example of this threory is in the children's television programme 'Scooby Doo'. Three of the five main characters have defined roles which have been set through queer theory. These include;

• Fred - Leader, Male
• Daphne - Female, follows Fred, and is a Girly Girl
• Velma - Brainy/Nerd, Intelligent, Lesbian

Queer theorists analyse texts to expose underlying meanings within and to challenge the notions of 'straight' ideology. They generally challenge the idea that what appears to be straight is in fact a subversion of homosexual desires.

Detailed Analysis of Two Film Posters

In this post, I am going to analyse two film posters from which advertise a film from two different distinct genres - one being from the set film 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two', and the other being a poster which has been as part of the marketing campaign for a film in the same genre as the film which my group have created our trailer for, for this I will be using the poster from the British science fiction/ horror film '28 Days Later'.

Both of the film posters which I analysed adhered to the codes and conventions which I have looked at in a previous post, as they both contained a main imge, a release date, a slogan and the most important feature - the film's name. Both of the film posters although from different genres stick to the same basic design of featuring a title with the billing block as well as the release date below, although the Harry Potter slightly wonders away from this by not placing a title whatsoever on its poster and instead just placing a quote from the text, which is used in synergy on the film trailer.