07/03/2023: The group and I created a Miro mind map to write up each of our opinions on the concepts, what we liked about them and how to improve them. We decided that our favourite concept was the family business idea and the spy concept. From the family business, we liked the different stories in different timelines and we thought we could combine this with the spy concept.

17/03/2023: Now that we have chosen the concept we would like to create, I have written up a developed version of the concept. We came together to discuss if this is the storyline that we would like to go ahead with and then finalised the storyline.
We stated our ideas for the film's storyline:

• Show cyber intelligence to make the spies look advanced. Have a character with a role similar to Q in James Bond for cyber intelligence. Character tracks down targets and provides background information about them for the spies, hack into systems and gather research. 

• For the ending scene, the comic book filter zooms out to reveal a comic book. Then the credits roll. 

• The masked man could potentially be the Chief of the secret service for a plot twist. 

20/03/2023 - 21/03/2023: We have started to create the storyboard. We prepared this on the Miro mind map so we could all have a input into the storyboard development. We referred back to the synopsis to help us create the storyboard. The Miro mind map has really helped us to get our ideas across and work on the planning of the film together. 

22/03/2023: The group came together to write out the script, prepared on a word document. We all had our say on what dialogue would suit the scene, compliment the character and help to progress the story. 

29/03/2023: We continued to discuss soundtracks, we looked into spy instrumental music that can be used for the missions, as well as a classical song that has evil and dark undertones, which could be used for the Masked Man's introduction. We also continued to discuss the costume design for the other characters. The henchman will be wearing all black. The Masked Man will wear a masquerade mask, a shirt and red tie and an overcoat. The Driver will wear driving gloves and hat, a shirt and tie and a blazer. The civilian will wear a harrington jacket, t-shirt, jeans and a cap. 

I have completed majority of my contextual research in my previous project, the influences project, which was due in February. The research is relevant to my FMP so I have included it in my work. I looked into those that influence me, aesthetics, audio, genres and theories. For the influences section, I looked into directors that inspire me, researching into their techniques and their work. I want to create a visually impressive film, focusing more on cinematography than in my previous projects, therefore I have heavily researched into aesthetics to achieve this. In the audio research, I looked into types of audio, importance of sound and the effect it can have on us. I researched the genres that I would be interested in creating, which includes action, comedy and biopic. For theory research, I covered popular media theories that are shown in films, providing examples of when the theories are used. After compiling this research, I created a questionnaire based on what I looked into to get a perspective of other opinions to help me to create a film that will be an interesting watch for a broad audience.

Week 1 (27/02/23): I added to the research precursor to my FMP by looking into areas that I did not cover: Cinematographers that inspire me such as Roger Deakins and Robert Yeoman. Elements of blocking and staging to help me to carry on a scene without cutting, which can be easier for the audience to follow, and to utilise the set space. Further research into audio by covering more types of audio. Looking into more genres such as sci-fi, spy, western and noir, and analysing films from these genres. I created a proposal to outline what I have learnt since studying Digital Futures and Interactive Media, the aims of my project and how I will evaluate and reflect on my work as an ongoing activity. In previous projects, I did not thoroughly reflect on my work and most of the evaluation of my work was on the end product. I will make sure to reflect and evaluate work continuously to display my thoughts, reasons behind my ideas and the development of my ideas.

Week 2 (06/03/2023): I have come up with concepts for the film, covering the storyline and what potential music could be used for the film. For this project, I would like to have a well-thought out soundtrack as in my experience, an impressive soundtrack creates a more exciting and memorable watch. For example, Guardians of the Galaxy is my favourite film and one of the reasons is because of its soundtrack. To decide on music, I looked through my playlist and as I listened to the songs, I could see it fitting the concepts I came up with. After coming up with concepts, I created mood boards for each, as well as colour palettes that I would be interested in using to help me envision the look of the film. The group and I have started to work co-operatively and decide what concepts we like the most and build on them together. In the first week of the project and most of the second week, we have worked independently, gathering a variety of research and working on our own individual ideas to create a range of concepts that we can bring together. To develop our concepts, we have provided feedback and built on them by incorporating our ideas. Next week we will continue to build on the storyline of our idea, create a well-developed synopsis and start to create a storyboard. 

Week 3 (13/03/2023): Based on all of our ideas in the Miro mind map, I created a storyline that incorporated all of our ideas; a film about spies that are complete opposites. The second draft of the concept was created to develop characters, the storyline structure and to create important film scenes. The third and final draft of the concept is the synopsis. The second draft was developed into the synopsis by describing the important scenes in more detail, displaying the characters’ persona and building the storyline by using an equilibrium. We have not been able to create a storyboard yet but we will move onto this next week. 

Week 4 (20/03/2023): This week, we have been able to complete the script, the screenplay and the shot list. The use of Miro mind map has come in handy to get our ideas across and each have our input into the creation of the film. As well as documents, we have started to plan shots and scenes of the film to help visualise how the film could look. We had an idea to use the James Bond opening gun barrel transition for a hats off to the franchise, so we shot a clip of Charlie doing the James Bond gun draw and River edited on the gun barrel in Premiere Pro. For our idea of a freeze frame of the characters to introduce them, we filmed a close up shot of River putting his headphones on and in Premiere Pro, edited a freeze frame shot with the character's name popping up. Security cam footage will appear in the film quite a bit, therefore Charlie has designed how it would look in Premiere Pro by using a sample video and creating a cam filter to put over it. Referring back to my production schedule, I planned to do the production script but we still need to decide on locations and soundtracks to be able to complete the document. Next week, we will have a group meeting to decide on locations and music, and then we can do the production script. 

Week 5 (27/03/2023): We decided on the locations we will be using for filming and the soundtracks that would suit the scenes in the film. Therefore, we have been able to complete the production script. The only concern I have with using popular soundtracks is if there is a copyright issue, due to being on a low-budget, it would not be possible to buy each song. I will ask my tutor if we can use these songs for the FMP because we aren't earning money off of it. It would be great if this were not a problem because the film will look professional and to a high standard. Next week is Easter holidays so we will finish any unfinished work in the break.   

Week 6 & 7 (03/04/2023 - 16/04/2023): In the Easter holidays, I printed off the screenplay and annotated it, highlighting locations and writing down shot sizes for each scene. This will be useful when it comes to filming to know each character's dialogue, a summary of the scene, locations and what shot sizes the scene consists of. As well as annotating the screenplay, I also noted down the important props we will need to bring to the film set for each scene. On the production schedule, we planned week 6 and 7 to be for filming but we were too busy with our Easter plans to find a date that would be suitable for all of us. I don't think we would need the number of weeks that we had previously planned for filming anyway, I think we can get it done in two weeks. 

Week 8 (17/04/2023): This week, we started to film the short film. We filmed most of the scenes that were to be shot at my house, which included the security camera footage and Jax boxing. As well as the street scenes that were located near my house, which included the chase scene and the dancing in the street scene. Charlie has Premiere Pro at home so he edited the security camera footage, adding a security cam filter and a zoom in box for the target, so now we can film the scenes where the security camera footage appears. 

Week 9 (24/04/23): This week we were able to film the house mission at night, the Driver house scene at mine, the morning wakeup of the chase scene, the laboratory scene and Caliper base scene at college. We have filmed most of the scenes that we planned so I am certain that we will be almost done and have enough time to edit and evaluate. Due to being on a budget, we have not spend much, only on prop knives, which were cheap. However, we have luckily had access to props that would work well in the scenes by stumbling upon them at home or in the various locations that we have filmed in so it feels like everything has worked in our favor so far. 

Week 10 (01/05/23): We had the last few scenes to film so we finished half way through this week. We filmed Clint (the agent handler), the barbers, the Tokyo mission, aerobics training and the woods mission scenes. The Tokyo mission was one of my favourite scenes to film because the location looked impressive, it was at River's apartment block, which still had scaffolding present, and it followed an exciting, action packed knife fight sequence. For the woods mission, we went to Lidl to buy a watermelon for the head crush scene, which was another favourite scene of mine. The watermelon head crush was inspired by Edgar Wright, who used the method in a student film of his. On Wednesday I started to edit the film, firstly editing the introduction that shows Jax's in the woods mission and Stevie's house investigation mission, switching back and forwards between each mission. It took quite some time to edit but the other scenes that I edited over the rest of the week didn't take as long so we should still be on track with the deadline. This wood and house mission scene was particularly difficult to edit due to the constant switch between the missions but the other scenes are more simpler to piece together.  

Week 11 (08/05/23): I am still continuing to piece the different clips we have filmed to make up a whole scene and add the soundtrack in time with the actions. Once I have edited each scene, I sent it over to Charlie to add in the sound effects and special effects, who sent it back to me when finished so I could put everything together on one Premiere Pro project. River is editing the title introduction that involves a green screen, as well as making posters and editing the credits. When I have completely finished putting all the scenes together, I will colour correct the clips and add any special effects and graphics that I think is needed. I have found that I feel quite comfortable with using Premiere Pro, I think working on previous projects that has involved using the software has helped to build upon my abilities to edit, I am familiar with the different tools and effects and how they work. Jon, my tutor, gave feedback on the editing, suggesting to make the blood splatters blend in more with the background and heighten the volume of the sound effects, so Charlie and I took on this feedback and improved the film. 

Week 12 (15/05/23): I have finished editing the scenes together and the film is now complete. It has reached a duration of around 25 minutes long but when watching it, it only felt like 5 minutes, which assures me that the scenes don't drag and I am hopeful that it will receive positive reviews. This week, I colour corrected the clips by adjusting based on whether it felt over exposed, over saturated, faded, etc. I added filters over the top of the scenes to create a certain feeling and tone that I want to be perceived. For example, in Jax's training scene, it is has harsh shadows and a vignette to create a dark mood, whereas Stevie has a warm temperature and high key lighting to create a comforting and light-hearted mood, showcasing the differences in their personality. I also added captions to the locations the characters visit to give context to the audience and so they aren't left confused where the storyline is heading. To signal when there is a flashback or memory, I added a blur effect filter and with the scene that didn't work well with this effect, I added a caption of the date that the scene is set in. 

Week 13 (22/05/23): In the final week, I watched the film over and over to look out for any changes that needed to be made. Once done, I exported the film and sent it to Charlie so he could cut clips out of it and make it into a trailer. Then I moved onto completing any written work that was unfinished, evaluating the planning stage and comparing it to research, as well as analyzing the whole film for my final piece of evaluation. I also had time to create a poster for the character, Clint, which was inspired by the Matrix poster. Charlie added subtitles to the film to ensure people could understand the dialogue.