Props List

7.12.2014

Props List

When looking back through our storyboard we came up with a list of props that we would need in order to film our sequence, theses included;

• One of the main things that we would need would be a beam as that is the main apparatus that we would be using within the sequence.
• A chalk bowl.
• A tracksuit that the gymnast can take off before she begins her stretching.
• A duffel bag that she can be carrying into the gymnasium.

Our props list at the moment isn't very long, this is down to the fact that we wanted to create a very simple sequence with not too much going on in it so most of the focus in on the gymnast and the tricks that she will be performing.

With the help of Crerar in our group, she put together a set of images to remind us what exactly we will need;

Location Research

4.12.2014

Location Choices

Once we had decided on our final idea we then began to look at possible locations as which we could shoot the video.  We wanted to film some of it in a gymnasium as, being a sequence about gymnastics, we wanted to make the set up as realistic as possible and we didn't think we would be able to get that by working in the studio.  When looking into possible locations we had a list of criteria which we had to follow in order to make a final decision, this included;

• A short drive to the location, maximum around 1 hour.
• Somewhere where we would be able to get the gymnasium to ourselves for one day.
• Somewhere that had seating in the wings that we could film from.

Luckily, a girl called Crerar in our group, trains for GB in a gymnasium called Bulmershe gymnastics club that was only about an hour away from school.

She asked her coach if it would be alright if we could film there at some point and he gave us permission to do so.

Another good think about his location is that the gymnast that we will be using also trains at that same gym so she will be familiar with the equipment and her surroundings.

For the other part of our video, we have decided to film it in a dark room, with a lot of different camera work and lighting, so we decided that we would just use the studio room to do this. 

The way that we decided the day would work is that we would probably start the day off filming in the gymnasium, get the shots that we needed there.  We came to the decision to start with this because in the morning the gym is least likely to be crowded with people as most of the people who train there would be at school.

After filming in the gym we would then make our way back to school in the afternoon to film what we needed to film in the studio.

Cast List

3.12.2014

Final Cast Decision

After looking through our criteria Crerar went away and looked through photos of some of her gymnastic friends and came back to us with a girl that she thought met what we wanted.

Our gymnast's name is Emily and she is 17 years old, she trains mainly on floor and beam, exaclty what we were looking for.

One of the differences is that she is a slightly stronger build that what we initially had in mind, but she isn't overly muscly, and still could pass as looking rather vulnerable.
In the end we decided not to go with the idea of having a male cast member as we thought it would be cliche to have a man watching do her gymnastics.
We decided that it would be more effective to just have the sound of a door slamming to portray the idea that someone else may have been there, but not actually seeing the person creates more tension.

Character List

3.12.2014

Character List

In our prelim we decided to only have one person on camera within our title sequence.  We discussed who it should be, discussing many possible people to take part.  Luckily within our group, Crerar does gymnastics for the GB team, this benefited us as she was able to talk to some of her team-mates and we managed to get someone that was available to take part in our video.

Before we made our final decision we had to discuss age ranges of the girl to take part, and what sort of gymnast she should be;

• We thought that she should be between the ages of 15-18, so she is still relatively young, but not too young.
• We also decided she should be quite a petite build who was good at floor and beam as they were the two main apparatus that we would be using. 

To begin with we were also thinking of potentially having a male character involved within the sequence. We were thinking of maybe having him watch her do the gymnastics the whole time but she only realizes that he is there at the very end.  I wanted the man to look like;

• Middle aged, around the ages of 35-50.
• Quite scruffy looking, unshaven and in tattered clothing.
• Quite slim, with a very promient jaw line, 'scary' features, and piercing blue eyes.

Opening Title Sequence Research

9.12.2014

Some gymnastic videos

For my research into our sequence I began by looking at some video of gymnasts from movies, TV shows and professional competitions.  Our main idea was to have the gymnast on a beam in out video so I mainly looked at video involving gymnasts on a beam.

Clip from 'Make it or Break It'

'Make it or Break it' is an american TV show first premiering on ABC Family in 2009.  It follows that story of aspiring young gymnasts hoping to make it to the olympics.  I used to watch this program quite a lot, so when my group decided to do a gymnastic sequence I began looking into clips from this program.
This particular scene stood out to me due to the vast amount of different camera angles and editing that has been used.
When watching I made a mental note of different camera angles that I thought would look good for out sequence, these included;

• Birdseye eye
• Close-ups, having one main feature in focus.  In this clip they had a foot that was the main focus of one shot.
• Worms-eye, the complete opposite of the birds-eye, giving a bit of contrast within the sequence.
• Slow-motion, gives the viewers a better idea of the tricks that the gymnast is doing.  Also helps to create suspense.

Along with the camera work, I also got some ideas of sound that we could use within our sequence;

• The diegetic sound of the people cheering in the stands. I thought we could use this in our sequence, but turn it into a non-diegetic sounds when the gymnast is in the empty black room.  The idea behind this would be that what she is hearing is in her mind, and she is hearing it even though it isn't actually in the gym with her.
• Along with the audience cheering, there was also some non-diegetic music which helped to build the suspense within the scene.

Research Into Thriller

Research for Thriller: 10,000 hours

Due to the fact that we wanted to make our thriller about a highly qualified gymnast who suffers with psychological problems I decided to look into the 10,000 hours idea.  An idea that if an individual does 10,000 of something then they will become an expert in that field.

I then looked into the idea that if an individual does 10,000 hours of something then does that mean that they are obsessed or just extremely dedicated.  If an individual does something for too long then they may not know how to do anything else, and they become too focused on one thing. 

As is the case in the movie 'Black Swan' the individual becomes so obsessed with her dancing that she struggles to tell fantasy from reality, and doing well is all she cares about and she therefore becomes willing to do anything to achieve her aspirations.

Opening Title Sequence Research

Slow Motion Gymnastics

When discussing as a group different ways of shooting the elements that our gymnast would be doing, we thought it would be a really good idea to have some of them in slow motion. To see how this would look I went onto YouTube and found some clips from different videos.
What I personally really like about the slow motion is that the audience is really able to tell how difficult what the gymnast is doing is.