Risk assessment!

Location
Stage: The stage is around a meter of the floor so there is a danger of falling off it especially if a dance routine is taking place. In order to prevent this we will film safely and inform actresses of the dangers before we start. In the case that this incidence occurs and if the injury is minor we will take the victim to the first aid room, if the injury is more serious we will alert staff and await instructions to call the emergency services.

Floor: The floor on the stage and in the dance studio may be slippery so this could cause an injury, to prevent this we will make sure the actresses wear ballet shoes and not slippery socks. Again if the injury is minor we will take the victim to the first aid room, if the injury is more serious we will alert staff and await instructions to call the emergency services.

Backstage: It may be dark backstage so we will need the lights on when we are not filming so the actresses do not slip over.


Equipment and props:

Cameras: Cameras can get damaged, in order to prevent this we need to carry our camera equipment safely. We must ensure the camera is not attached to the tripod when carrying it around and that the camera and equipment is not left lying on the floor as a trip hazard or to be damaged. Also when we are not filming we must make sure the lens caps are on so the lens do not get damaged. We will have two cameras when filming so this applies to both.

Tripod: When carrying around the tripod we must fold in the legs and carry it upright over our shoulders so it does not hit anyone. Also we must not leave the equipment on the floor as it is a trip hazard.

Lighting: We may use lighting so we need to be careful of that if used because if broken the lights will leave glass which is hazardous to everyone, also some lights can get very hot and set fire so we mustn't leave them on for long periods of time, or leave them lying around for people to trip over.

Pills: We will be using fake pills so they look like the performance enhancing drugs our charter takes, of course these will not really be performance enhancing drugs just paracetomol etc. but we still need to make sure the main character doesn't actually swallow these. Also if making a whole film we would state in the credits at the end of the film that the drugs we used in the film were not real or damaging to the actress.

Sound, music and sound effects!

As there is no narrative or dialogue in our opening the music is going to be essential in keeping the audience interested. I would like the non diegetic music to be classical but dramatic. The sound needs to move with the story line as this will make the opening more dramatic. We have decided to have no narrative due to our questionnaire results which showed many of our audience suggested narrative/dialogue wasn't an important feature in their opinion to an opening, this will help us target our audience. We need to take into consideration the style of music we want to use because of our Ballet link which stereotypically uses classical music, should this be challenged in our opening?

The first piece of music i have found that i think will be effective in our opening is by Thomas Newman and it is used in the soundtrack of the film American beauty.

I especially like this music because of how it starts slowly and builds up. Its subtle and sweet but also seems quite mysterious. I think if reflects the sound if the deep sea, its very calming and this may be a good contrast to the main characters stressed life style. Finally i think the music is awfully sad and this may help to show how 'Chrissy' feels.

The second piece of music i have found that is equally effective is a piece by Alexandre Desplat its called Childhood, i feel the music is quite dark and equally as sad as my first piece of music. And the smooth continuous sound of the violin builds the tension of the piece.

The next piece of music i have chosen is not one i want to use for our opening but its a great example of how the music can really build in tension and suspense and effect the audience emotionally, and this is what i want our non diegetic music to do. Its my favourite soundtrack ever and i think its amazing! It is from the film inception.

                                           

Script/Shot list!

There is no dialogue in my film opening however there is still lots of stage directions so these will be included in my script.



-Fades from black to reveal close up shot of ballet dancers feet rehearsing their ballet routine. Camera pans around the dancers down the line showing reflections in the mirror. Non diegetic Classical music starts to play just as titles appear: Realist pictures present, a simple media production.

-Long shot of main protagonist and extras stretching in mirrors. Titles appear: Actresses names.

-Long shot of dancers practicing performance. Titles continue rolling then main character (Chrissy) leaves dramatically with kit bag.

-Over shoulder shot tracking main character rushing down dark hallway.

-High angle shot of main protagonist washing her face in the sink and reaching for pills.

-Long shot showing extras getting ready backstage

-Close up shot of face on the brink of tears she blinks and a tear falls then her eyes open widely.

-Point of view shot showing the audience from the stage.

-Long shot of stage to reveal main protagonist under the spot light, camera zooms in.

-Tracking around the action medium shot creating a feeling of disorientation around the performance. Lighting should be dark and actresses need all to be in costume.
-High angle shot to reveal main protagonist fall and the extras rush towards her.


Order sequence:
Close up shot: ballet shoes
Long shot: stretching in mirror
Long shot: practicing performance
Over shoulder shot: Chrissy walking down hall way
High angle shot :Chrissy washes face in sink
Long shot: extras getting ready
Close up shot: face on brink of tears
Point of view shot: show audience clapping
Long shot: reveal Chrissy on stage under spotlight
Tracking shot: the performance
High angle shot: Chrissy in foetal position on the floor

Storyboard!

 Story board of film for opening sequence:

Costume, Make up and prop list ideas!

Location shooting!

Main stage

We have decided our film opening we need a stage for our performance, the main stage in our school in our opinion is suitable and will enable us to have a large dance space and dramatic back drop.

We also hace to consider lighting on set, these two images show the difference between full light (below) and spotlight (above) which as a group we considered to be the most effective. However we also have to take into account for filming purposes

Backstage

This part in the opening sets the atmosphere and tone building tension therefor we want to use a dark setting to create a stronger sense of mood.

Dance studio

I think the dance studio is a suitable location for our opening as it makes the story realistic and believable seeing as our film is based on a ballet dancer. The mirrored wall will be very effective when filming. If we are filming in the evening it will be easy to create a dark setting.

Toilets

In our story board we have shown our main protagonist getting ready for the big show. This involves her taking pills as this is a key part of our opening because it sets the genre, Therefore the location needs to be realistic and believable. The lighting is good however the angles we ant to film at may be difficult because of the mirrors (which might show us in them).

Location strengths:
As our film genre is social realism the codes and conventions say we should use real settings to make the film more believable and relatable, therefore a school is ideal. its also very convenient for us all to film as a group in school, in spare and media lessons. This will make sure we meet our deadlines.

The stage and ballet studio have great lighting resources that we can alter to our specific needs. Also the space is large and gives us various angles to film from.

Weaknesses and how we can overcome them:
One of our weaknesses with the location is at the moment the toilet location as they are school toilets and may not always be free for us to film also they can get very messy. Furthermore they are very open and this means it will be hard to create a spooky, mysterious effect with lighting and we will really just have to film in certain types of the day. Finally the school toilets have large mirrors and it may be hard to film without capturing a glimpse of us and the tripod from particular angles. However we can over come this by using a hand held camera.

Set design:
We would like a plain preferably black to keep with the dark theme, and to enforce the message that the dance/dancers is the most important element in out opening.

Pitch!

Pitch for realist pictures

A misunderstood teen is pursuing her parents dream of becoming a royal ballet dancer. She is feeling the pressure of her elite dance lifestyle and turns to performance enhancing drugs to cope with the high expectations of her parents and coaches.

 She constantly battles with the comparison between her self and the perfect ballerina. Deadly consequences follow as she fights to cope with her addiction and her end of year exams. Chrissy reaches breaking point in the middle of the most important performance of her life. She fatally falls, Symbolising her cry for help the story reveals her shy and secretive personality. However her caring parents notice her struggle and suggest she attends a support group with other dancers, this is when we are introduced to Ben who has found freedom in contemporary ballet as an expression of his Asperger's disorder. They immediately hit it off, building a strong relationship, tension and excitement help Chrissy overcome her fears and starts to let go of the idea of 'perfect' as they work together to get through to the ballet academy finals.

We intend to use a cyclical narrative so the audience begins where it all ended.

Character profile!

Name: Chrissy                        

Gender: Female



Age: 17



Physical appearance: Average height, thin, blue eyes, brown curly hair.



Costume: Gym/ballet outfits eg. leotard, tutu etc.



Speech: Well educated (posh tone) but shy and quiet, She is from a upper class posh London background.



Personality: Withdrawn and shy. She can come across moody. She is driven and motivated to achieve and extremely competitive. Her personality changes from optimistic, youthful and exited to pessimistic, tired/overworked (exhausted) and depressed. She is secretive and doesn't open up to friends or family. She is mysterious, dark and misunderstood.



Likes: Ballet and everything to do with dance, she is very driven by physical activities and is determined to do well (her only way of expressing her feelings). This is her only passion and this is why she's so motivated to do well and put under huge pressure to achieve. She has no free time as its all taken up by her ballet training (So has no time for other hobbies).



Family: She is a only child with extremely pushy parents who may come across as irritating and smothering but actually they only have her best interests at heart.



Relationships: She gets on well with her fellow dancers but never opens up to them. To her they are always seen as competition and a threat, however she's always polite to them but generally keeps herself to herself. She loves her parents but is pressured by them constantly.

Black swan analysis!

The Black Swan is a psycho-drama, it focuses on the competitive world of ballet, taking the audience into the rapid decent of the ballerinas madness.

                                         

(The music from this Youtube clip is not included in the film, however its the best clip to show the cinematography of the film)

Pitch:  BLACK SWAN follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter's professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Inspiration:

As you can see from the clip above and the clip in this article (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Movies/black-swan-psychiatrists-diagnose-natalie-portmans-portrayal-psychosis/story?id=12436873) 
We have been influenced heavily by the Black Swan for our film opening. I watched the Black Swan for the first time recently, I loved the darkness of the cinamatography and thought it was something we could include in our opening. Our costume ideas have also been influenced by this film, I loved how they wore black or pink to symbolise the personality of the characters.
The performance on whole (the dancing scenes) I thought were fantastic! I loved the use of spotlighting on stage during the performance, its a very easy technique to use to highlight the main protagonist and to make sure they are not lost amongst all the other dancers. I love the films simplicity in the performance scenes the colours used are predominantly white or black and again this helps the audience to differentiate between the good and the evil characters.

Sound and editing:
The dramatic classical music used throughout fits with the classical ballet theme.
Fast pace editing-this makes you feel dizzy and disorientated. It reflects the main characters (Nina) confused emotion.
The non diegetic music used in the film moves with the film as it conveys different emotion and reflects a sudden change in mood.
The non diegetic music is quite loud which makes the audience feel tense, also i think the volume seems to rise and fall in time with the dramatic story line this all helps to keep the audience captivated.

Mis en scene:
The whole of the film is very dark its filled with dark scenes with black connotations, dark costume, props, scenery, lighting etc. to help keep with the dark mysterious tone of the film.
The colour black connotes death, bleak horror and mystery whack are key themes in the film.

Our theme

As our film genre is Social realism we have decided collectively to focus on the social issue of drug abuse and using drugs at a young age. This is because we are interested in the issue and how it effects individuals. Researching into this theme will be interesting and captivating, and will hopefully result into a successful film opening.

We would like to combine this issue with the theme of social and class pressures. Possibly looking into the media images that influence the young generation.