Filming Day

I believe the filming day was good and bad. The weather was on and off heavy showers for the day. 

The first half went very well. We filmed indoors of the mother writing a letter to her son giving him updates on things going on. We managed to get everything done in a couple of hours. There was no hiccups and everything went smoothly. We then went outside to film the mother saying goodbye to her son. This went well and the wether was ok. 

When it came to filming in the forest of the son writing a letter it decided to rain after about 5 minutes. Although covered by trees and umbrellas the weather was just too bad to continue filming so we had to stop. 

We filmed him a week later and luckily the weather was ok. This went ok and eventually we managed to get things done.

The voice over recording went very well. Both actors managed to say what was needed very well in the tone that we wanted. We got a couple of recordings of each just to be safe. 

Overall everything went very well minus the weather on the first day of filming. 

Filming Location

Date -  Wednesday 8th October 2014

Time - 11am - 4pm

Location - My back garden/forest

We chose this location as we believed it would be suitable for the idea we have and the setting we want. We are going to be filming him sat leaning against a tree or sat on the logs writing a letter back home to his mother. We believed this location would be suitable as he isn't fighting but he's at war so this kind of scenery would be appropriate for the 'outdoors' look. 

This is the forest area that is in my back garden that we are going to be using. 

We will be filming on these logs as we think the background sets the scene. The son will be sat on the logs writing his letter to his mum o keep her up to date on what he's up to. He will also be writing his letter that he will seal in an envolope to give to another soldier so that if and when he gets killed they can pass it on to his mum. We see her later on receiving the news and the letter.

Interactive Media

Interactive media can come in many different types. There is the red button on televisions, apps on mobiles, tablets and smart televisions, and also websites such as youtube. They all come with their advantages and disadvantages. The red button on televisions allow people to access things such as the weather, news, lottery and sports. The lottery is probably the most common thing that people use it for. Apps on phones, tablets and smart televisions are becoming increasingly popular. Its allowing people to access catch up television such as BBC Iplayer or other services such as Netflix and now TV. Catch up tv is a very popular service as it allows people to be able to catch up with any programmes that they may have missed on television. It also gives them the chance to have unto a month to be able to watch the programme. Netflix allows people to watch newly released movies as well as some of the very old and popular movies. It also allows you to watch television series. Many people are opting to go for the option of catch up television or Netflix as it is the cheapest option available and they still get the same services. Online websites such as Youtube allow people to do a variety of things. They can search television programmes, movies, behind the scenes on filming sets, music and also just videos in general of pretty much anything they want. Youtube for me is very useful for things such as being able to search for archive footage to be able to put into my college movies they i create and edit. As well as many other people i would need to take into consideration the legal and ethical considerations of downloading videos or songs from youtube. Is it suitable for what I'm using, what are the copyright issues for the song or video? is it royalty free? if i am downloading a song or video will i be able to put my work on to the internet due to copyright issues? These are all things that me as well as many others need to take into consideration when using these kind of websites. These kinds of websites and apps are very useful and easy to access for many people with smart phones and tablets and can be accessed pretty much anywhere.  Interavtive media is used for any different reasons to many different people. It can be used in education, advertisement, entertainment and also social networking. For education it can come under two things. Being used in schools and higher education to show educational videos or for others to watch educational videos, films and television programmes. They may watch them on catch up tv or on youtube to access older videos such as things from World War 1 where it can't be accessed on catch up tv such as bbd or ITV Iplayer.  It can be used in advertisment. With many people having smart phones and playing games which is a type of interactive media, many app company will attach different types of adverts in games to try and grab peoples attention. With gaming on phones and tablets being a very popular source of entertainment this is a good way to get peoples attention with adverts, especially with less and less people watching services such as Sky and using the cheaper options such as BBC Iplayer.  Lossy and lossless are two types of compression.  Lossy is high compression that makes file types smaller. They are very commonly used with bitmap images. They eliminate any unesasary information in the file permenantly. Lossless is a low compression, high quality but compresses file types into a large size. It doesn't loose any data when compressed and also when the file is uncompressed.

Costume and props

We didn't realise until the day of filming that he didn't have the correct footwear so we had to work around this and make sure that the feet couldn't be seen.

We have been able to get hold of an 'authentic soldiers' costume from WW1. This will help create the look and mood we want for when we film the son at war. We will be using this when he is saying goodbye to his mum to go off to war. She will be doing the buttons up on the jacket as she says her goodbyes.

For the mothers costume she will have a shawl, white shirt and long skirt on. This is typically the kind of thing a low class working mother would have worn.

For props we will be using 'old looking' paper and a fountain pen. The reason we chose the fountain pen as they wouldn't of had biro pens like we have today. 

Ideas and Final Idea

Within our group we came up with a few ideas as to what we could do, where we could film and who our actors could be. We came up with a couple of ideas and developed them into one to come up with a stronger idea.

One idea we had would be to film a wife and husband writing letters to each other and at the end she would receive a deceased notice. 
The wife would be at home sat at her kitchen table writing a letter and seeing flashbacks of her and her husband together before he went off to war.  The flashbacks will be them saying goodbye to each other at the railway station as he gets onto the train.
We would then film the husband writing letters to his wife whilst he is on the train. It's going to be about how much he misses her already and how scared he is. 
We will then film him in a forest area writing another letter to his wife saying how he is really afraid and is scared of everything and he's off to fight again on the front line. It will then cut to the wife receiving a deceased note.

https://www.museumwales.ac.uk/2239/

http://www.breconmountainrailway.co.uk/

The image above is of Brecon Railway. We where thinking of filming there with the family to show them saying goodbye to the husband who is off to war. This will give the emotional feeling and draw peoples attention in as it is a young boy who is leaving his family and fight on the front line. Also this is a steam train railway so this would work as they didn't have the modern trains that we have today and they would of been a steam train similar to what is at Brecon.

This is an image of St Fagans. We thought about thinking here to show the family life at home. The working mother who cleans the house while her family are at war fighting. We would also film the mother writing her letter to her son who would be at war.

St Fagans have this row of houses show in the image below. each house goes up era by era showing what they where like back then. Another reason for us wanting to film here was because it would give us the chance to set the scene. Be able to film in an 'original' house of what they would look lie back then rather than filming in a house of today. It wouldn't give the same effect and feel as it would if we filmed in todays house.

Another location we would film at would be my house. We would use the forest area that I have in my garden. This is where we would film the husband writing his letter about how nervous and lonely he feels without his wife being there and saying how worried he is going to die and wont see his ver much loved wife again.

Final Idea

After thinking about the idea I didn't think it was appropriate for the target audience as I felt they wouldn't feel emotionally connected to it so I though about it. I came up with the idea to change it from wife and husband to mother and son. This way the so would be of a similar age to the target audience. 

By changing the idea to mother and son I believe the target audience will be able to connect to it more as the son would be roughly the same age. They will be thinking about if that was them and how he must of felt being so young. 

The idea is going to be that you see the mother and son writing letters to each other keeping them up to date on whats going on at home or at war. At the end you will see the mum receive the note to say that unfotunetly hes been killed in action. You also get to see her memories of him from when she said goodbye to him as he headed off to war.

Job Roles

Heulwen (Me) - Assistant Producer (PA)
David Griffiths - DoP/Cameraman
Scarlett Clarke - Producer
Alycia Pritchard - Director and DoP




Assistant Producer - This job role is also known as a 'PA'.  They are a member of the production team/crew and are responsible fro various aspects of the production.
DoP - This job role has the responsibilities of making sure the lighting and visual effect on set is correct as well as working with the camera.
 Producer - The producer oversees everything within the project from start to finish. They work closely with the director(s) and other production crew on shoot.
Director - The director has control over everything. They have the job of choosing cast and crew members, production design, the script and the creative aspects.

Project

We have been given the task to create a 2-3 minute educational production based on World War 1.
We where set into groups to discuss and come up with ideas on what we could do to make it educational, emotional and interesting for our target audience. We had to take into mind that the target audience is GCSE students, aged 14-16. Taking this into consideration, we had to think about ways that we could keep them interested in watching it.
I did a little of my own research within my family before we started to plan our idea. I asked around my family to find out if anyone had been in WW1. I found out that my Great Nana's father had fought in the war. I also found out what he did within the war and that the family have some of his things. This is what I found out;

From my Granddad;
William Henry Griffiths. My mothers father. He started the war in the Welsh Reg. Rank Cpl. He then transferred to the RAF.,Airman 2nd class. I know he was in North Africa in the airforce but not much else. After the war the family moved to Australia where he was killed in a railway accident. Before the war he worked in the coal mine in Cilfynydd. I've got his medals


From my Great Uncle;
Vera's father was wounded in the Dardanelles and the battle of Gaza. After recovering from both sets of injuries, albeit with loss of function in one leg, he was transferred to RFC Photographic Section, where he analysed reconnaissance photos. We have a couple of photos of him in that uniform but no other memorabilia. Vera remembers that some photos went to RFC Hendon via Philip. Perhaps he might know more. My grandfathers weren't in the war as far as I know, the Cleverley, worked in the Royal Ordnance Factory, Waltham Abbey(?) so was a reserved occupation, & the Jones (the game keeper) I don't know about.



Both of these family members are from my dads side of the family. This side of my family is very RAF and World War based. Everyone up until my fathers generation had involvement with the war.
Having being told the information on my great nan's father life I can think about how I could maybe incorporate the information into my work.
When asking my mothers side of the family there was a lot of the family who built war ships and weapons for the wars but nothing for World War 1.

I also did a lot of research just on World War 1 on the internet. I found out some very interesting facts and figures. I looked at things such as; 
1. What did women do while the men where at war?
2. What age did men have to be to be able to go to war?
3. How long did the war go on for?
4. How many British where injured and killed during war?
5. Who fought in the war?
6. Could women go to war? 
I also looked at letters back and forth home and found some very touching letters.


1. Married women took over the day jobs of their husbands and sons while they where at war. Widowed or single women, as well as married women also stayed at home being house wives. Cleaning and cooking.
200,000 women took up governmental jobs
500,000 took up clerical positions in private offices
250,000 worked in agricultural jobs
700,000 took jobs in the munitions industry.
many women did hard and heavy working jobs such as building ships, furnace stoking and factory work.
July 1914, before the war had broke out 3.2 million women where in employment. By January 1918 this had risen to 5 million women in employment.

2. The youngest a man could be to go to war was 18, although many of the younger ages would lie about their age so that they could go and fight.

3. World War 1 broke out July 28, 1914 and ended November 11, 1918.

4. When looking for information on the deaths and injuries of the British in WW1 I found many different figures. I looked at 3 websites and all 3 gave me different figures. This is what I found;
Website 1;
Britain: Deaths - 658,700
Wounded - 2,032,150
Missing - 359,150

Website 2:
British Empire: Deaths - 908,371
Wounded - 2,090,212
POW & Missing - 191,652

Website 3;
GB & Empire: Deaths - 908,000
Wounded - 2,000,000

5. The allies where; Britain, France and Russia. These fought against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

6. Women where not allowed to fight in the war as they had to cover the jobs that the men had left behind when they went to war. Also women where looked down upon during this time and where not as 'good' or as 'strong' as men so where not allowed to do what the men did and where typically housewives during this time. Although they where not permitted to go to war many women would dress up as men so that they could go and fight.


Letters
I was interested in the letters that where sent between families during the war. I found many touching letters between husband and wives and mother and son. I found a letter on YouTube and took note of it.

Dear Mam,
      This letter I hoped you'd never receive because it's just a verification of that turf black edged card you received some time ago.
      Tomorrow we go into action. No doubt lives will be lost, but if this leaves the world a slightly better place then I'm perfectly willing to make that sacrifice. Don't get me wrong though mam, I'm no flag waving patriot. No, my little world is centred around you and dad. You are worth fighting for, and if it strengthens your security in anyway then its worth dying for too.
      I want no flowers, no tears, no epitaph. Just be proud, then i can rest in peace knowing I've done a good job. Surely there's no better way of dying.
      I loved you mam.
      You where the best mam in the world.
                                                 Goodbye, Your son.
   






http://ww1facts.net/quick-reference/ww1-casualties/
http://ww1facts.net/people/women-in-ww1/
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091109100515AAfO3W6
http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/casualties.htm
http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071112042609AA9hnSz
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Her8FHd5Wtk