The Purpose of Consent Forms

It is important that we receive consent forms from our actors as it confirms that they have agreed to act in our film. Although verbal agreement can also be obtained, a consent form can be kept for future reference. Without a consent form, there is no evidence that our actors have agreed to be filmed, and would be the equivalent of a professional actor not signing a contract. This would leave the character usage and film production purposes uncertain for the actor, meaning that consent forms are an important factor to creating an ethical and organised filming process.

It is important that the filming conditions are clear and that the actor has read and fully agreed to being filmed. It also ensures that any actor included is happy for the footage of them to be used as necessary to complete the final product.

Charlotte Morrison

Episode Flowchart

Creating a flowchart for the first episode enables us to have a better understanding of our soap opera and it's story lines, and therefore know what specifically to include in our soap opera trailer. The layout and clear spacing allows us to see each individual story line, along with connecting lines to show which story lines cross where. The character's story lines intertwine which appears in soap opera trailers and helps us to think of ideas of linking all the characters together. The boxes highlighted in red are the scenes from the first episode that we will use in our trailer.

By completing this flowchart, we now know that the arrival of Rachel Mannings, the new character to the town, will be a good central focus for all the characters linking their stories together.

Charlotte Morrison

Trailer Flowchart

We've created a flow chart for the sequence of our trailer to allow us to visually organise and structure how we want our trailer to run. The characters are linked with at least one other character in the trailer, and are connected with arrows to show that there is a relationship between them.

(click to enlarge)


As a group, we've decided that making one character the focus of the trailer would be the most realistic way of linking the characters together. We've chosen Rachel Mannings, as her brassy personality and bad attitude make it easy for the characters of Mill Lane to share a hatred for her.

Rachel's entrance to the soap is a perfect example of Todorov's narrative theory of equilibrium. In the trailer, the residents of Mill Lane all have their problems and little dramas, but are generally peaceful and live in a state of equilibrium. This is portrayed through the natural and high key lighting associated with the existing residents before they are aware of Rachel's move to 'Mill Lane'.

Rachel Mannings is the disturbance of the equilibrium, and already begins to create conflict between the characters upon arriving at 'Mill Lane'.This conflict between the local residents and Rachel is the recognition of the disturbance, and the locals are able to realise that her moving to 'Mill Lane' will disturb the tranquillity of the countryside and will affect their happiness and lifestyle.

Notice how the lighting is low key when Rachel is visibly in the frame, and how the residents of 'Mill Lane' react to her arrival.

Devon Dalton

Locations for Filming

Since our soap opera is based in a rural area, we needed to find several locations which would be easily accessible for us and the cast.


LOCATION IDEAS

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Confirmed location 1 is the corner location for the shot including the broken down car, the farm girl character and the mechanic. The reason the location is ideal is firstly it is rural; secondly people’s properties will not be in the framing of the shot and thirdly has a corner where we can park a car without intruding over drivers.

Potential Location

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1. Confirmed Location

This picture shows the wall we wish to use for the over the wall conversation between older characters. We are debating the location above this picture (the gate) as it may be easier to get a good angel and have our driver drive past.

Potential Location

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2. Confirmed Location

2. Confirmed Location

This location will be used as an establishing introductory shot. With a wide choice of angels we can choose which position is the best to connote the show is rural.

2. Confirmed Location

Potential Location

All dismissed locations were dismissed for not being green enough. Though rural in location, we want a happier feel to the introduction (of the trailer) to our soap. Brown (the dismissed colour) connotes dullness and boredom, a colour we must avoid.

Further considerations on locations:

Whiles scouting locations it quickly came clear that environmental sound is a key issue when gathering locations. Some potential locations that were very appealing had to be ruled out as they were too close to busy roads which will damage the sound continuity of our piece.  

However, to completely avoid the issue of environmental sound disruption we have decided to add a sound track to our piece cutting out any issues that could falter our sound continuity.

Another factor we had to consider was lighting. Rural roads like the image directly above has no street lights, which means it isn't ideal for filming in November time as it gets dark early. To solve this problem we plan to film on an early start and use all natural daytime lighting.

                                                                              Scott Collins



Ideas on Lighting

Devon Dalton

Draft Shotlist for Trailer

Shot List

This was the first shotlist we created. To do this we used Microsfot Excel and created a table. Its a basic shotlist so that we know what we need to film, where the scene needs to be and how long it should be. We will be able to use a shotlist when filming and editing.

Scott Collins

Final Trailer Shotlist

AR = Mr. A. Roy
RW = Mr. R. Watts
SH = Miss. S Hammoudi
BTP = Bob Thurgood-Phillips
CB = Charley Boughen
JH = Joanna Hyde
STP = Stuart Thurgood-Phillips
CM = Cathy Morrison
CC = Christopher Constable

Devon Dalton

Equipment Information

When we come to filming our soap opera we will be using a variety of different equipment. I am going to research into the equipment we will be using, what shots we will use them for and why they will enhance our piece.

The Camera

Most of our trailer we be filmed using a Canon FS11, this is a simple camera that is easily portable. This is helpful to us as some of our shots are rather awkward, for instance the shots from inside the car. This will be made easier with the size of the … camera. This camera is also useful as it has a lot of features that are easily changed for instance light exposure is easily changed. This will be helpful as we won’t have to edit as much later.

The HD Camera

We have access to a HD camera and as we want to create a really good final trailer we will use the HD camera as much as we can, although saying this we don’t want to mix the HD image with the normal image from the other camera. If it is possible at the time we may use the HD camera as it will enhance our piece. But as a group our main interest is creating an informatics and enticing trailer for our new soap.

The Tripod

A tripod is a piece of equipment that has three legs and holds the camera at the top. The tripod can change in height easily. We will be using a tripod throughout the soap opera piece as it will keep the shot steady, making it look more professional. We don’t want to create a trailer that looks wobbly and home made therefore the tripod will help by keeping the camera still when we are filming

The Dolly

To aid the tripod we will also use a dolly. This is simply a piece of equipment the three legs of the tripod attach to so the tripod can be moved smoothly. This will be used mostly for tracking shots. It is hard to use the dolly on most surfaces as you have to find somewhere that is smooth and does not make the dolly move up or down.

Final Cut Express (editing)

After filming we will have to edit our piece. To do this we will use the programme called Final Cut Express, as we have the access to a Mac we have the choice of using either iMovie or Final Cut Express. As we have experienced iMovie before and also created our last piece of work on Final Cut we thought it was best to use Final Cut as the final film opening we created turned out well. We also now have the skills to use Final Cut Express and as a group we decided the programme is better. iMovie is quiet basic and is good for creating short informatics videos but Final cut has a wider range of transitions. The sound is easier to use on Final Cut as is the fonts. As font is a major part of our trailer we wanted to create a piece that really grabbed the viewer’s attention and showed the information well. This is why Final Cut Expressed will be used to edit our piece.



Emily Wallace

Auditions

These are the auditions for our characters over the course of 2 days. After these auditions, we were able to select the appropriate actors we felt would be the best to star in our piece.



Unfortunately, footage was lost of our other auditins but because we had seen them act, we knew that the were good for the part. These characters included Jennifer Ward (Safie Hammoudi), Charlie Collins (Angus Roy), Edith Jones (Catherine Morrison) and Barry Brooker (Robin Watts).

Charlotte Morrison

Audition Information

This is the email we sent out to the actors we wanted to audition for our trailer. We also sent this out in registers in letter form to let the actors know. Our auditions were held on the 5th of November, allowing us plenty of time to deliberate on our choices and ensure that all of the actors would be available for filming. The auditions were held in various locations around the school for the students at sixth form and teachers, as well as at home for those with busy schedules.

Charlotte Morrison and Emily Wallace

Character Profiles and Casting Research

These are the characters and details of the sort of casting we will be looking for, the general look that we want for the final castings and the results we wish to achieve.


Rachel Mannings - Essex Girl

Rachel's 19 year old character has a determined personality who likes to get what she wants. She can be aggressive and nasty but also puts up a front holding back her sensitive, innocent side. Her favourite colour is pink, loves MTV and she hates those without a sense of fashion. A definite city girl, she detests animals and prefers to go out than stay in. We will be looking for someone who can pull off both sides of the character realistically though the nasty side will be shown predominantly throughout the trailer. As a guide, the character is a lot like Kat Slater from EastEnder's as she's feisty but also a kind person and so we will look for an actor to play a similar role. The actor will also have to be able to flirt and wink as this is required in the trailer. Preferably, the actor will live close by, have the ability to drive and will be attractive with long hair or will have the ability to look like a stereotypical Essex girl.


Harriet Collins - Country Girl
As an 18 year old, Harriet's character is the opposite to Rachel as she appears sweet and innocent on the outside but has an inner bitchy, nasty side to her character. However, she is a general attention seeker who loves male attention. Like Rachel, her favourite colour is pink and she loves the car her parents gave her for her birthday. Though a little behind in lessons, Harriet aspires to be a vet. In casting we will be looking for someone who looks innocent, preferably with blonde hair to connote this, and has the ability to flirt and act nasty effectively. A similar character to Harriet's would be Rachel McAdams from Mean Girls (2004, film) as she appears flirty and nice but can be horrible behind people's back and it will be these qualities that we look for when casting Harriet. It would also be a bonus if the actor lived close to our filming locations.

Marcus Brooker - The Pub Owner's Son/Homosexual

Marcus' character is a little quiet and reserved, hiding his homosexuality from his father who wishes him to take over the family business and manage the local pub. Marcus is around 17, deciding his career paths and would much rather be a hairdresser than a pub owner. In his spare time, Marcus takes interest in things such as football but enjoys watching reality TV shows and his favourite film is Love Actually. He is also adopted which opens up the ethnicity of Marcus' character since he is not biologically related to his parents. As a guide, we will be looking for someone similar to Christian Clarke or Syed Massood from EastEnders as they are homosexuals represented in an area similar to our setting. They are both kind and caring characters which is what we will be looking for in Marcus' character. Furthermore, we will be looking for an actor who can successfully portray a reserved character  and someone who lives nearby for filming.

Ryan Parker - The Mechanic

Ryan is a flirty, mischievous character who has two main interests: cars and women. He is in his early twenties, attractive and he knows it and is therefore slightly arrogant. His current love interest is Harriet but he just loves the attention. Ryan's character also enjoys playing football, going to the pub and chatting up girls but hates people who don't know how to have a good time and, when casting, we must ensure that we find someone confident and out-going in order to play this part. His character is also similar to that of Sean from EastEnders as he shared the same flirty, charming personality and is also attractive so we will use him as a basis of what we want our actor to be like. It would also help if the actor casted lived close to where we will be filming.

Jennifer Ward - The Pregnant Woman/Girl Next Door

Jennifer's character is a secret seductress who appears innocent and friendly on the surface. As a carer, she's always willing to help people, especially those in need, and is a well-rounded person. However, Jennifer's secretive side reveals that she's pregnant but does not know who the father is: Barry or, his best friend, Charlie who is married. She enjoys going to her yoga classes to take a break from life but has a short temper. As a middle-aged woman, we will be looking for an actor of that age of any ethnicity to ensure verisimilitude for the audience. For the trailer, the actor will have to show worry and tension without making it obvious and so we will look for someone who has good body language and facial expression. The character of Tanya Branning from EastEnders is a good guideline as she has a similar personality to Jennifer. 

Barry Brooker - The Pub Owner

Barry is Marcus' father and is oblivious to his son's sexuality and desired career choice. He spends most of his time at the pub chatting with the locals and having a few pints himself before going home and putting his feet up... or going to visit Jennifer. Barry's character is nice, friendly guy who enjoys going shooting with his best friend, Charlie, who he has known since childhood, watching football and complaining about everyone else. However, he does have a tough side and a zero tolerance policy on drunk teens. In his late 40s, Barry is thinking about the future and hoping that Marcus will take over the family business and so we need a suitable actor of around the same age to Barry's character. As his son is adopted, the actor can be of any ethnicity to ensure verisimilitude for the audience though it would benefit us if they could easily access the filming locations at the time we need them. A character similar to Barry's would be Grant Mitchell from EastEnders. They're both pub owners and have similar personalities, ideal as inspiration for our pub owner character.

Charlie Collins - The Farmer

Charlie's character is in his early 50s and the owner of the farm at the end of Mill Lane. Best friends with the pub owner, Barry, he enjoys hunting with him as well as working on the farm with his wife, Susan, and daughter, Harriet. However, he does not approve of Harriet's love interest, Ryan, seeing the arrogant, nasty side to his character that Harriet does not. Charlie also enjoys spending time with his neighbour, Jennifer, helping her with her garden and fixing things around the house. Generally, Charlie is an honest, stern and sincere man but also has his fun side which comes out after a few drinks. He enjoys attending horse racing events, taking walks and writing and refuses to watch reality TV shows. As a guide, we will use the character of John Barton from Emmerdale in order to find the perfect actor since he's also a dedicated family man but with an adventurous. It would also be preferable if he lived near our filming location for convenience.

Simon Claude - The Priest

Simon's character is friendly to those around his middle-aged year group and especially enjoys helping the elderly and homeless. He is a generous man and has high values, disliking those who have sex before marriage, affairs or who just cause general trouble for those around him since he has to hear about it at church. Simon likes taking his dog for walks, watching 'The Jeremy Kyle Show' and painting when he isn't at church or helping at the homeless shelter helping out. Though he has had a few girlfriends in the past, he is looking for that special someone to spend the rest of his life with. For Simon's character, we will be casting someone who looks genuine but also has good facial expressions in order to show his distaste for Rachel as she passes in her car. As an example, the character of Ashley Thomas from Emmerdale would fit this role as he is a good samaritan. The actor would also preferably live near our filming locations.

Edith Jones - The Old Woman/Wise One

Edith's character is the wise woman who always seems to know what's coming next. At age 70, she's seen her fair share and has learned from experience and watched the others in Mill Lane make the same mistakes she has even with warning. Currently, Jennifer is her carer and, in return, she is helping Jennifer come to terms with her pregnancy, advising her on what to do next. Similar to Dot from EastEnders, Edith's character is sweet and funny though is not afraid to stand up to people when she thinks someone is wrong. Preferably, the actor playing Edith would be of an older generation so that it's more realistic for the audience and is close to our filming locations.

Charlotte Morrison