Snow - Jack and Mia

Originally, we were looking at how we were going to create the visual effect of snow. Due to the weather change, however, there is no need to create this effect. This is definitely an advantage as we want to create the 'Christmassy' atmosphere throughout the film. One disadvantage is that we are going to have to re film a shot where the family come into the drive as there is no snow but this should not be too time consuming.

With the change in weather, Jack and I thought we could add a scene where Jennifer is playing in the snow as we believe it would add to the festive atmosphere and would emphasise Jennifer's excitement leading up to Christmas day. In order to ensure that the timing is not effected too much however, we agreed that we may need to keep the scene brief.

Jennifer's letter to Father Christmas - Mia and Jack

Dear Santa,

What I would realy realy like for Christmas the most is the new DS in purple and the new Zhu Zhu pets game. I think I should get this bicause I have been realy good this year and it would be my favorite present I have ever got. Another present I would like is some new dressing up clothes. My favorate thing to dress up as is a princess so I would be so happy if I could dress up as a princess for Christmas day. I also realy want a new dolls house with a blue roof wich can fit my Barbies in. And the last thing I hope to get is a big fluffy teddy bear which I can sleep with at night.

From Jennifer :)


We thought adding that she wanted 'a big fluffy teddy bear' at the end of the letter would be appropriate as in the morning shots of Christmas day we are filming shots of Jennifer opening unwrapping a toy bear. She sounds very enthusiastic in the letter but when we film the morning scene she will not look phased by the teddy bear despite the fact she asked for it because she is still confused and disturbed by what she saw the evening before.

Audience Feedback on Poster Ideas - Frankie and Ella

We presented the two drawings of our first ideas for the film poster to a number of people, all different ages, in order to help us decide which to use. 
Poster 1 is the close-up shot of all 2 characters. Poster 2 is the shot of the parents on the sofa with Jennifer behind the door.

Here are some of the comments:

Credit Ideas - Ella and Frankie

We would like to fit our credits in with the film effectively and in a creative way, therefore we have thought of a few ideas of how we can achieve this. Firstly we have considered shooting close up shots of the labels on the presents that read the credits. We believe this would be more effective than a list of credits on a blank screen as it relates to our film.

Our second idea is a close up of Jenifer hands writing her letter to father Christmas, and in fact writes out the names of those featuring in the film, Again we feel this would be an effective and creative idea.

Titling, First Ideas - Frankie and Ella

Titling is key to creating an image and a brand for any film, therefore it is important that we plan it well and choose the right style for our film.

Below are some examples of British Christmas films and how their title is laid out. We are not looking at the film posters, only the title writing and the positioning of it in the frame.

Arthur Christmas: 2011

• I think that this titling is really effective as it is on a simple background, and the colours really stand out and create a good contrast. Also with the colours being green and red, it emphasizes the Christmas theme. 
• However, for our film poster we wont have such as simple background so this effect wont be possible, although it could work at the start of our actually film and has the potential to look really effective.

 Narnia: 2005

• I really like this title because the font is really creative and visually pleasing, whilst still creating a Christmas feel. 
• They have also used the colour red against a light background which really stands out, I think this is something we could include on our film poster and also in the title sequence of our film.
• The positioning of the title looks really good as it doesn't interfere with the picture, this is something that we need to think about when creating our film poster.

The Snowman: 1982

• The font of the title is really nice, it creates a magical feel to the poster. The colour red is also used, reinforcing the Christmas theme of the film. 

From looking at other British Christmas films, I have found that the colour red looks really effective, especially if it is placed in some empty space or against a light colour. It is eye-catching and really stands out on the page which is something that we want our title to do as it is important that it gets noticed and that people remember it. I have also found that it is important for the titling on the poster and on the actual film to be exactly the same as this helps to build a brand.

Film Poster Ideas- Frankie and Ella

We have been brainstorming a few ideas for our chosen image that will be on the film poster. We chose our favourite two shots and drew them out.
Below is a medium shot. The shot enables the viewer to see all of our main characters but mainly the young girl, Jenifer. Jenifer's facial expression and body language suggest the the twist to our plot in a subtle way.

 

Our second idea is a image of one of our key scenes. It's a long shot, allowing the characters full bodies to be seen, with the Christmas tree to the side of the frame, creating an emphasis on the chirstmas theme. The picture shows all of our characters and hints at the narrative of our film. This image is visually pleasing also, as it has lots of interesting features. There is also a space at the top allowing room for our titling.

 

Furthermore we also looked for inspiration  on the website Vimeo. The screen grab below was taken from a short film entitled 'Little brothers'. After seeing this shot it gave us an idea of having a close up of Jenifer writing her letter to father Christmas, which is a key event. If we choose to use this idea it will be shot in color with a warm coloring to it. We could also fit the titles in with this shot as we feel it would look effective.

Changes to our film - Mia Foden

During our filming, we have changed a number of shots due to inavailablity of certain props. The calendar, for example, is something which we had to change as we could not find a traditional one. Instead we decided to use a 'Peppa Pig' calendar. We chose this as Jennifer's character is 6 years old and we believed a girl of her age would have a similar calendar in reality. It is pink and 'girly' and it emphasises her age as many young children watch t.v programmes such as 'Peppa Pig'. It is important as she is supposed to believe in Father Christmas in order to emphasise the the shock and disturbance of seeing Father Christmas kiss her mother.

Through having to change the calendar we realised that we could not film an extreme close up of the number 24 which signifies that it is Christmas eve as the writing was too small. It is crucial that the spectators are aware that it is Christmas eve therefore we are going to have to find another way of making it clear through perhaps adding some dialogue in the form of a conversation between the child and the mother - for example 'Are you excited for tomorrow?!' during the scene where Jennifer is decorating the ginger bread men which her mother has made.

Another aspect of the film which we have to change is the scene in which the mother and Jennifer shop at a Christmas market. As our group have had difficulties in organising everyone involved in the filming together, we have not been able to film the scene of the Christmas market as it is a new year. Instead, we have thought of another idea. In replacement of the market scene, we have decided to film a scene of Jennifer writing a letter to 'Santa'. In order to ensure that Jennifer knows what she is doing, we need to write the letter ourselves first. We also need to make sure that social realism is maintained, therefore, we need to consider the types of presents a 6 year old girl may ask for and her ability to spell so we may purposely embed spelling mistakes within the letter as this is typical of a 6 year old's behavior.

A list of presents a 6 year old girl might ask for:

• Toys: Fluffy teddy bears, Dollies - e.g Barbie
• Possibly DVDs
• Jewelry
• Games
• Books
• Clothes
• A new pet e.g hamster
• Chocolate and sweets e.g. Smarties, Haribo
• Another One Direction T-shirt
• Sparkly princess dress
• Dressing up stuff
• Colouring pencils
• Bike/Scooter/Roller skates