Fiction Adaptation: DAY 3 FILMING - OLDER NANCY

Today I filmed the short scene at the end of my film with the older version of Nancy reminiscing about Jack.

I made sure all my set was out before my character arrived, which wasn't a problem as the set was quite simple, I had a table with some photographs on it, a small box and some candles and accessories on the side. The main issue was the lighting, I hired out the lighting kit and it took me a while to set it out correctly as I was unsure where I wanted the lights to go.

I began filming at 11am and Heather arrived on time. I first went through the scene with her to make sure she knew what she was doing (her role was pretty small but I still wanted her to be clear). We looked through the script and I asked her to wear red lipstick as that's what the younger Nancy wore, it wasn't vital but I thought it would be a nice touch. I then made sure she was wearing the same ring the younger Nancy wore - however I soon realised a problem...
Whilst filming the younger Nancy's scene I hadn't placed the ring on her wedding finger, so the ring just looked like a dress ring. This meant I had to make it so Nancy and her 'fiancé' are just boyfriend and girlfriend, it's not a huge problem I just thought it would seem more passionate and bitter sweet if they was engaged and he died. However, I couldn't change this so just had to deal with what I had. My production assistant Vic helped me throughout the day of filming especially with the lights and moving things around.
Heathers day of filming was really great as she's lovely to work with and even teared up a little during the shoot! I believe she is the perfect character for my film as she gave off perfect emotions and portrayed the character as I'd imagined.
It only took around an hour to film Heathers scene as the scene included her looking through all the items of her past, reminiscing about Jack and then we see her sat by herself at the end of the film.

The day went smoothly and I'm really happy with the footage I have got!

Digital News Production: FARMING DECLINE RESEARCH

As a a group we wanted our main story for the Kent Life package to be about the young generation being encouraged into the farming industry - however, we thought that it would make a much more interesting and more formal news piece if we had facts and figures to back up our story discussing the decline in farmers over the years. I did some research and found a website which talks about how since the late 1930's to the year 2000 the farming industry has took a turn for the worse and declined heavily - now with farmers only being 2% of the workforce in the UK.

Source: http://www.corporatewatch.org/content/rough-guide-uk-farming-crisis-3-uk-farming-crisis-which-crisis-do-you-mean-0

I thought if we use the information I found here we can create a more in-depth and diminutional story - so it has more of a purpose. Instead of us just talking about the Cobtree Young Farmers being interested in farming, we could talk about how there is a need for young farmers and talk about the decline in farming.

It then came to my attention that we could use the facts and figures to our advantage and use graphics in our package as the researched packages I've looked at used graphics and they made it look a higher quality of a news piece.

I've decided to do some more research on the graphics/charts and find out more on how we could add this to our package.

Fiction Adaptation: DAY 1 FILMING - GARDEN PARTY

Todays was the first day of filming, and it went really well! (Eventually...)

The morning started out as a bit confusing and worrying, my actor turned up about an hour late, but that was due to trains. I was falling behind schedule a little, however that didn't last for long and the day carried on smoothly.

I got up at 7:30 and began setting out the garden party so everything was ready for my two actresses when they arrived. I set out the table, table cloth, chairs, and all the cups and food on the table. This took around 15 minutes and I was really happy with the outcome.

Jennifer Done (main actress) arrived early at 8:00am instead of 8:30am, so we began getting her ready. I picked out the blue dress for her, chose a red shade of lipstick and chose the shoes for her to wear. After she got ready I started on her hair, this is where things got stressful! I began by creating the marcel wave in the front of Jennifer's hair - this took around 10 mins as her hair is quite thin at the top and it kept coming loose. However I made sure I hair sprayed it so it would set with the clips in it. Whilst that was setting I began curling her hair. Jennifer's hair didn't seem to take to the curl I put in, so I had to change the idea, which worked in the end as I didn't want both actress' to have the same hairstyles. I began creating a faux bob in her hair, as I hadn't done this much I felt pressured incase it didn't look right. I began by separating two layers of hair and putting the bottom half into a small bun. I then used the top layer to tuck under the bun and clip it on the inside so it went into the shape of a bob. I am really happy with the way it turned out but during the day it kept coming out which i'm worried if it ruins continuity.


After Jennifer was ready, I realised that I'd forgotten to buy the milk jug for the set, my production assistant Vic went to the shops for me straight away and got it, I couldn't do anything in the mean time anyway as I was waiting for Georgina to arrive.

Georgina soon arrived and I began getting her ready. We did the same once again, choosing the shoes for her to wear, lipstick and accessories. I wanted this character to wear the hat I ordered, but unfortunately it didn't arrive in time. Georgina's hair took really well to the curl, and I clipped the side of it up behind her ear. I'm really happy with the outcome of her hair.

We began filming at 10:30am, half an hour behind schedule but I thought we'd be starting late anyway because of the hair.

We followed the filming schedule and got more than half of what we planned before lunch. I was really happy with the shots and the sun stayed out all day! I did struggle a little with finding a variety of different shots as I was in quite a tight area as I decided to placed the table under a little shelter instead of on the grass as it looked nicer.
We had a break for lunch at 12:30pm and all had some food and a talk.

After lunch we filmed one more short scene where we see Nancy leave the garden party and Georgina run after her to find she's gone. After that we was finished for the day and I was finished with Georgina as I didn't need her again. I confirmed with Jennifer another date to film and we was done for the day!

Overall, I think that the filming of the whole day went really well. The girls was a pleasure to work with and really hopeful throughout the day in terms of asking them to do shots over and over. They are also really chatty so it was no problem talking to them with ease and they both got along well which made it easier for them to talk when I was sorting things out. One problem I did have throughout the day was there was a plastic bin in the ground in the garden and I didn't think I could take it out, but Vic pulled on it and it moved, there was some rubbish and leaves under it but wasn't too messy. This did create a problem though, I had to make sure continuity wasn't ruined, just in case I filmed some shots again where the bin is directly in the middle.
I also felt stuck sometimes as I was filming under a little shelter and felt tight with the amount of shots I could have as I couldn't go past the 'line' and before we moved the bin (it looked too modern) it was hard shooting with the bin directly in shot - however after we moved it this was sorted. There was times when I was a bit unsure what to film as I needed to change some shots however I soon figured it out. Throughout the process I've learnt that practice and organisation is vital. If I hadn't have set out the table before my actors arrived and had practiced the hair styles, I would of been stuck on what to do. Next time I do this i'll make sure I go over my script before my actors arrive so I don't get stuck throughout the day even if it is for a couple of seconds as it shows un-organisation.

Fiction Adaptation: PROPS

Digital News Production: REPORTER VOICE OVER SCRIPT

With filming our PTC's done, we watched them back and found the audio wasn't too good, which left us with a problem...

Instead we decided to have our reporter as a voice over as we did research and found that it has been done before and doesn't look too bad.

I decided to write a voice over script for vic and gave him it to change bits to make it fit to how he speaks.

Although it's bad we don't have PTC's anymore, it sort of worked too as we decided we needed to make the story more news based instead of documentary style. After doing my research in the previous post, I changed the voice over so it discussed farming figures and the dropping of employment over the years. This worked in our favour because now our news piece isn't a promotional piece anymore it's also got a solid story to it about the world needing more young farmers.

In conclusion, this has helped me release that we should of planned more in the first place as our story sounds much better and news worthy now we are talking about farming employment dropping at a dramatic 200,000 farms from 1939 to 2000.

Here is the final reporter voice over script for our Kent Life package piece..

KL Voice Over Script

Digital News Production: FILMING KENT LIFE

Today Vic and I went down to Kent Life to film our news package. I was really excited to film at Kent Life as we got to work with the animals and see what it was like to work on a farm.
When we arrived at Kent Life we got told to look for Hollie Bourne, who would be escorting us around the farm. Hollie was really helpful throughout the day and showed us round the farm giving us access to all areas including parts which the public aren't allowed to see. We also got in free of charge when it usually costs around 6-10 pounds and had access to everything including a ride on a tractor around kent life which was really fun.








We filmed a lot of footage throughout the day - definitely enough to use to edit. We saw animals such as goats, alpacas, chickens, cows, sheep and many more. The farm was really lovely to us and even gave us some wellies to wear as we forgot to bring extra footwear with us! One of the woman that worked their introduced us to the Cobtree Young Farmers Club and we met a LOT of people. They was a range of people from young kids to teenagers in college. We found that the group doesn't just help around the farm, they actually have roles and work really hard to learn about how to look after each individual animal and clean out their bedding and feed them. A group member Sophie was especially helpful as she told us a lot about what she does and was really excited to be part of our news piece. The group was really nice and even had their own little uniform to wear so they was easily recognisable. We filmed some interviews with them discussing if it's what they want to go into when their older and also got some interviews with the livestock officer Alex Hadaway and the managing director Tony Reed who was also very helpful.

Throughout the day we went around the whole farm taking it in turns to film actuality and sequences of the Young Farmers Club along with footage of the animals. We also filmed sound bites such as cows mooing and chicken noises to use in the edit.
The day was a huge success, we was there for a few hours and got everything and more filmed what we needed to. The day wasn't just informational but it was actually really fun to film there and me and Vic always work well together so it was nice filming with him again.


In conclusion, the day was a huge success, however if we had to film again I would definitely make sure Charlie was with us as it was hard doing sound and camera during the interviews by myself. I'd also like if we interviewed more Young Farmers as looking back their interviews wasn't the best. Also another critique is our piece to cameras didn't turn out too well sound wise - however this did work to our advantage as we decided to change our story after filming so it is more newsy and has facts and figures about the decline in farming over time and if more young farmers are essential to the world. So therefore we would have to re do the narration anyways therefore we are having the reporter as a voice over now.

Fiction Adaptation: DAY 2 FILMING - NANCY

Today we began filming the second day of filming with Jennifer for Nancy's roles. Today we filmed the scene where Nancy finds out Jack's been killed at war, the scene where she's in the park, and a scene where she visions Jack and a lot of creepy stuff begins to happen!

As I had a lot to do today I began early and asked Jennifer to arrive at 8:30am again. However due to train troubles, Jennifer was late which meant we didn't begin filming till around half 10 as I needed to do her hair.
Whilst styling Jennifer's hair I began getting worried that it wouldn't look the same as day 1 filming and ruin continuity. However after looking at clips from the previous days work, I soon was able to create the same look (near enough) which I was happy with.

We began filming immediately and started with the kitchen scene. I was really happy with the way this scene turned out as it's quite slow paced but brings out all the emotions I want Nancy and the viewer to feel. I filmed a variety of shots to make sure I had enough coverage and close up's of Nancy's face and reaction when she reads the letter. I wanted the scene to be very powerful and dramatic so filmed Nancy falling to the ground and dropping the letter. Filming went really well and I'm happy with the shots we got!

Next, we filmed the scene where Nancy runs back to the house and finds one beautiful, rich red rose left from Summer left in her garden. However we see Nancy reacting to Jack (her imagination) and step back and crush the rose.
Throughout this scene I wanted it to begin with a pan of Nancy looking at the rose and gradually build up with tighter shots and a more abstract feel to the piece. Jennifer is very easy to work with and understood what I wanted in the piece and I feel she performed very well. It took us around half an hour to film this scene as I wanted to film it with a few different varieties of shots to make sure I could change my mind if I wanted.

The last scene we shot was at the park, it was a 10 minute walk but I didn't mind as it was the perfect place to film my scene. I made sure my actress was wearing warm clothing during the journey there and offered her a break before we left.
Throughout this scene I wanted Nancy to be very happy and excited, and finds a shiny red apple on the floor which intrigues her. For this scene I told Jennifer I wanted her to imagine she is in a field full of flowers and spin round then fall to the floor. I asked my production assistant, Vic to film some high shots looking down on Nancy to make her seem vulnerable and small as I was too short to film them. Jennifer once again performed really well throughout the day.

I'm really happy with this days filming as I got so much done and shot a LOT of material, especially for the out door scenes which I was worried about. Throughout the day I did change my mind a lot of what shots I wanted as some didn't turn out as I expected. However I am happy with what I've got and I'm going to edit this in with my footage so I am organised for the next shoot and will have this edit ready.

Fiction Adaptation: DAY 2 FILMING SCHEDULE

Fiction Adaptation: COSTUMES

For my fiction adaptation, I want it to be set in the 20's therefore need to make sure all the costumes and props look right. I did some extensive research on previous posts on what woman wore back then and how they styled their dresses - i.e accessories, headwear. I had to make sure to look for frills, lace and floral patterns.

I finally found some dresses on Ebay and in charity shops after a very long search. I found some really nice ones however even with 1st class postage they wouldn't arrive till mid December as they was posted from far away. 

The first dress I found is a blue cotton dress with frills and lace on it - which I immediately knew was right for at least one of my characters. I dressed the costume up with some beads however need to remember if I use this for my main character she will be wearing a locket. I really like this dress and think if I add more necklace and arm beads to it it will look more 20's style.

Blue dress 1

For the second dress, it's exactly the same as the first except it's in black.

I thought this would fit well for one of Nancy's best friends as a little joke because their wearing the same dress (the girls characters are very over the top). I think because of the colour difference the two dresses look different and unique which I like.

Black dress 2

The third dress I really like, however when it arrived in the post I realise I needed to buy more beads and dress it up more, as on Ebay the seller made it look really 20's style with long white flapper beads and a hat, however on the photo below it doesn't look too good.

Yellow/Cream dress 3

For the last dress I'm not too sure of but when I looked at 1920s dresses I did find a lot similar to this with floral dark patterns therefore I'm going to ask my actress to try it on to see which looks best.

I found this dress in a charity shop.

I also bought a hat for one of my characters to wear (preferably the one who wears the yellow dress) which I found on Ebay. 

(pic)

Overall, I do like the dresses for my cast however I prefer the first 1 definitely for my main character as it's very girly, petite and elegant which matches her personality. It's also the brightest dress and will make her stand out the most.

Fiction Adaptation: RISK ASSESSMENT

Fiction Adaptation: DAY 1 FILMING SCHEDULE.

I have created a filming and general schedule for day one of filming.

I've looked at the weather and found that Monday 24th November should (fingers crossed) be sunny. I decided on this day I want to film the garden party with Nancy and the 3 friends. I'm planning on giving myself 3 hours + to film the garden party, and if we do get finished before then, I will film some of Nancy's scenes at the beginning of the script where she sets the garden party up and also scenes after the garden party where she is walking around the markets by herself and in the fields, writing the poem. As the second scene sets the scene and shows what Nancy is like, I want to make sure that it's set out well and I have all my props and the weather is sunny. I have also wrote in my schedule when people will arrive so I know how long I have to do each persons hair.

On set I'm going to have 6 people.

Myself filming, Vic helping me out as a production assistant and my 4 actors.

Here is the filming schedule below.

Fiction Adaptation: CASTING

After a week of successful auditions and phoning people, I decided I needed to choose who to cast for my roles.



For the role of Nancy I decided to cast Jennifer Done. This is because as soon as I saw her in person and she acted out the scene for me, I knew she was exactly what i'd been looking for. I was looking for a petite young woman with dark hair that could portray a 'typical' 'proper' british accent. I also wanted her to have a natural persona of being friendly and caring - Jennifer did just this and she was also naturally friendly which helped. She acted out the scene where she drops the locket on the floor and she portrayed the emotions I wanted to see really well, including being confused and looking sad whilst thinking of Jack. I also really liked how she pulled the locket close to her neck and closed her eyes showing passion. Jennifer is also available to film on the dates I need her for. For these reasons I decided to cast JENNIFER DONE for the role of my main character, Nancy.



role of old nancy - HEATHER PHILLIPS

role of eve - RUTH MARSDEN

role of jane - GEORGINA PATRICK

role of jenny - N/A at the moment

role of jack - VITTORIO FALCUCCI

Fiction Adaptation: PROPS LIST

Here I am going to write down a list of the props I got that I will need for each filming day.

DAY 1 - GARDEN PARTY - NANCY, EVE, JENNY, JANE

• 1 tea pot
• 4 cups
• 1 necklace locket
• 4 dresses
• white beads necklace
• white bracelet beads
• hat
• red ring
• white table cloth patterned
• round table
• cupcakes
• poem
• pen
• cake stand

DAY 2 - FIELDS/MARKETS - NANCY

• 1 dress
• white beads necklace
• white bracelet beads
• red ring
• 1 necklace locket
• poem

DAY 3 - HOUSE/MEMORIAL - OLD NANCY

• 1 necklace locket
• old photos of the past
• wooden box
• poem
• candles

DAY 4 - FIELD - JACK

• WW1 hat

UPDATE!

After a long search of local shops, charity shops and Ebay I finally found some props which I think really do fit my film. Here is the props I bought for the film.

I'm really happy with the props as although it took so long to find them, it's worth it as they really will build up the mise en scene in my film and create a more hyper real 20's scene.

Fiction Adaptation: TEST SHOTS

Today I went out looking for bright flowers I could use in my film as I want some nature shots throughout the film. As I had my camera on me after University, I decided to go for a walk and look on the walk home from Uni. I found some berries that were really nice to shoot and some roses.
It was also a really sunny day which meant if I did like the shots I could use them in my final piece.
I tried to film some close ups and practice focusing so I knew how far in the focus point was. I really liked how some of the shots came out.

Here are some of the stills of the shots I took today.

Overall, I'm glad I went out and shot the footage as now I know where some really nice nature flowers are and I can go back and shoot them again in the future if needed.

Fiction Adaptation: WORKSHOP!

Happy


Angry


Sad

Digital News Production: CONTACTING ROLF

After Chris Irvine not getting back to me, I began worrying again, wondering if only interviewing people ''live'' would make a good piece...

Our group rang the RSPB and asked them if they wanted to be in our news piece, however the lady on the phone wasn't helpful at all, not letting us speak, claiming we're the media and we will twist their words, not listening to us when we said we're just students and want to create a story which wants opinions.
She then ended up talking over us and said she will give our number to Rolf and if he wants to contact us, he will.

This left us annoyed and worried! HOWEVER!

Luckily, a few days later, Charlie received a call from Rolf Williams, the RSPB communications officer. Rolf was really interested in being in our piece and had a lot to say about the site being re done. We was really happy that someone had got back to us so decided to interview Rolf for our ''live'' piece!

Fiction Adaptation: AUDITIONS DAY 2

AUDITIONS DAY 2

Today was my second day of auditions for the role of Nancy. I had one video audition and one person coming to the studios at 6pm.

I began by watching the audition Ruth sent to me through video as she was unable to come to the audition. I sent her the poem to act out and some additional questions about herself. Ruth portrayed the character of Nancy very well and did look the part, however I wasn’t 100% sure as I feel she didn’t give too much emotion when reading certain parts of the poem and I don’t want to cast someone based on this. Another thing that was a problem was she video audition - although I was happy to receive it I was worried that if she can’t turn up to the audition, what if she can’t turn up to the actual film? Ruth seems lovely and was really interested in the character and she’s the best i’ve had yet, but I’m going to keep looking and see if I can get someone I’m 100% sure of for the role of Nancy. 

Here is the video audition she sent me:

Later on that day, I was waiting for Jennifer Done to arrive as she was scheduled in for an audition at 6pm. Jennifer rang me informing me she was stuck in traffic and was going to be late, this was fine but I couldn’t wait for too long as we had to leave. I was worried as I didn’t want to have to ask her to send in a video audition as I wanted to ask her to act out a scene and have more of a chat with her in person about the character role and film. Luckily Jennifer turned up and it was definitely worth the wait. Not only was she a great performer, but she fit up to the person I was looking for and I was so happy and relieved. I really liked Jennifer’s audition and she portrayed all the emotions  I was looking for and her voice suited the poem really well. I’m glad she came as judging by her casting call profile she didn’t have too many pictures and videos which made me not consider her that much until her audition.

Here is the video from her audition:

Fiction Adaptation: CALLING HEATHER

So recently i’ve been getting in contact with an applicant off Star now called Heather Phillips. She applied for the role of the older version of Nancy in my short film. Looking at her photographs and experience levels she seemed perfect for the role, however I wanted to make sure she was right for the character so rang her up to have a chat (unable to travel down for audition date). I rang her up and she was a pleasure to talk to, she was really helpful and asked me lots of questions about the role, what she should wear, how she should act and if there is any other things I am looking for. Heather couldn’t access the poem online that I sent her but she said on the phone she had another poem which she could read for me if I wanted - which I thought was great. Heather read out a short slow poem which allowed me to hear her voice more clearly and hear how she sounded when hearing different emotions. I asked Heather some more questions and decided then and there she was perfect for my role of Heather. I confirmed dates with her and she was really happy to help me out with my production.

I’m happy with who I have for the role of the older version of Nancy as I was worried I wouldn’t find anyone, and even when I did, I was unsure whether she would be good - but she definitely was and fits the character role perfectly!

Fiction Adaptation: INSPIRATION + INFLUENCES

I want the death scene in my film to be very dramatic and slow. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOcEX3dYn3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KzqzIR8x4U

Fiction Adaptation: AUDIENCE PROFILE

Digital News Production: GREEN SCREEN TEST SHOTS

Vic and I was in the studios after finishing interviewing some people when another group had just been testing out some green screen shots, we noticed the green screen was out so decided to get in while we could. We wanted to test out lighting and see how it will look when edited. 

We found it difficult at first as we couldn't get the lighting right, however after a few attempts we made it with no shadows and on camera the green screen looked evenly lit.

However when importing the green screen footage to the Mac, the footage looked like it had dark green shadows around the outside, but I'm going to edit in a background just to see if it looks okay.

Before...

After...

In conclusion, the green screen came out really bad...However I know the reasons for this and can learn from our mistakes. The first problem is that we didn't realise there was a glow coming off the table onto Vic's face, this has made Vic really grainy and also gone see through a little bit. We should of also put a light behind him as he's really flat (but this could also be due to the background I chose). I can now learn from these mistakes and hopefully get it right when we actually do the proper green screen! I'm glad we tested the green screen out so we know the problems we faced and how to solve them for the future.

Fiction Adaptation: 'A BROKEN SUMMER' SCRIPT DRAFT 1

A Broken Summer

Fiction Adaptation: AUDITIONS DAY 1

Today is the first day of holding auditions for the role of Nancy. I've asked my two applicant to audition for the role of the friends as well. Before the audition I was in constant contact with my actors making sure they was prepared for the short interview. I sent them the poem and asked them to practice performing it in a 'proper' British. I'm quite nervous to audition my applicants but exceed at the same time as it's going to be the first step to starting to see my production come to life.

Georgina Leigh Patrick was my first audition-ee. She recited the poem back to me in a very lovely manner, with pauses where I wanted them and changing the tone of her voice to match what's being said. I really liked how she read the poem, however I was unsure on the looks of Georgina. I wanted a petite small girl and although I left hight open in my advert, I feel seeing Georgina made me realise I definitely wanted someone smaller and more petite. I feel Georgina didn't have the right look for my film, however I am still considering her for the role of the friend. I asked her some questions about herself and explained more about the production to her. I do like Georgina but just not for the role of Nancy, however I will make my decision after seeing everyone.

Here is a video from Georgina's audition.

My next audition-ee is Alice Waters. When coming across her online, I felt she looked really great for my character with the right style, hair and looks. However her audition let her down which was disappointing. Before Alice's audition I decided I should add something else into the audition so I can see my actors actually acting something out. I decided I would start asking my actors to act out the scene where Nancy is having fun with her friends and her locket drops off her neck. I chose this scene as it's one with the most emotion and shouldn't be taken lightly or rushed. Alice didn't seem fully engaged with the audition and I didn't feel connected with her for the character of Nancy. Alice read the poem out well but was unable to put 100% into her audition. I was quite disappointed as I thought she would be perfect for the role however I still may consider her for the role of one of the friends.

Here is a video from her audition.

Overall, I believe the auditions are going well but it's annoying that I can't find anyone yet that i've really thought 'wow' to. But it is only the first day and I've still got a lot more people to audition for Nancy's role. I've learnt that I should of began asking them to act out a scene at the beginning as I would of seen more of what Georgina can do if I'd thought about asking them to do it earlier - but I will have to learn from this and make sure for the other interviews I ask them to act out a scene so I can see their full potential.

Digital News Production - Kent Life Script Draft 2

Kent Life Script Draft 2

Digital News Production: LODGE HILL SCRIPT FINAL

NIghtingale Final Draft Script Final

Digital News Production: Presenter Script New Changes FINAL DRAFT 2

Presenter Script New

Digital News Production: KENT LIFE RESEARCH

Kent Life is a farmyard in Maidstone with over 28 acres of land that has been running for over 150 years. The farm breeds many different animals including; saddleback pigs, Southdown sheep, Red Sussex Cattle and more. The farm has activities for all the family to get involved in including; a large indoor soft play area with 3 floors of fun for the kids to explore, a paint a pot studio and a cuddle corner and you can also take a ride on the tractor around kent life. The kids can also ride around on electric quads or take a ride on the donkeys. 

You can also visit the coal fired Oast House in the Country and learn about hop picking. The farm also holds an event called 'Hops 'n' Harvest festival' The farm also has a cuddle corner in which it allows the visitors to get close with the smaller farmyard animals - especially exciting for kids.

The farm also has a group called The Cobtree Young Farmers Club which is a mixed age groups between 10 and 23. The group allows teens to be encouraged into the farming business and learn about the well beings of animals and agriculture along with general husbandry. The group meets every Saturday and they help with feeding the animals, changing bedding and how to handle the needs of animals. The Cobtree club has an event called the Kent County Show. This is where members of the group can look after their own animals on the farm and try and win some prizes.

The farm holds events at different holidays and seasons including these below:

Fiction Adaptation: NARROWING DOWN IDEAS

To research more into my Fiction Adaptation piece, I decided to add some more notes to the poem so I could paint a clearer picture of what I want to film. As my film is quite abstract I felt it was hard to write down on paper my intentions, therefore I have shown some videos below of what things I want featured in my film. 

First of all, I want there to be metaphors featured heavily throughout the poem, and I want to film things such as ink,bubbles, and glasses smashing on the floor in slow motion. 

Below I have posted a video of in in a glass being poured into water in slow motion. When I film this I want to edit it in after effects to flip the colours so the ink is white and the background is black, this is so when it flashes on the screen when talking about the soldiers dying it will look weird and unpleasing to the audience. The ink is meant to represent the soldiers falling down in the war and ruining the whole 'beautiful day' scenario and atmosphere I am going to create. 

Throughout the rest of my film I want to use abstract techniques like the ink being poured - but use other objects such as showing glass smashing in slow motion and bubbles popping. This is to represent all the wonderful people being killed and broken, showing the two different sides of the 20's - one is happy and untouchable, the other is shattering by the minute and being killed.

My main character Nancy is going to be celebrating summer and the general life carrying on, whilst her husband is going to be showing the other side of the 20's - however his character is mainly going to be metaphorical and only shown in person towards the end, I am going to use flashes of the ink/smoke/glass smashing as a representation of him.

Below, I have written some more details about my poem.

When reading the poem, I thought of a summer back garden party, however thought it would be difficult to dress that many people so decided 3 friends drinking tea and laughing together in their garden would be a suitable compromise and more realistic.

As the 20's costumes are quite simple compared to 50's styles I found it quite easy to find dresses and hair pieces from the 20's which I could buy for my 4 female characters. I have also been practicing ''The Marcel Wave'' and some 20's makeup on myself so when I film I have the hair and makeup practiced to do on my actresses.

Here are the links to the products I will buy once I find out my actresses sizes.

1)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1920s-Look-Flapper-5-tiers-Swing-Fringe-Cocktail-Party-Evening-Dress-/261549359520?pt=UK_Women_s_Dresses&var=&hash=item3ce58e81a0

2)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-1920s-Cloche-Hat-/121340243763?pt=UK_Clothing_Masks_JD&hash=item1c40712f33

3)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1920s-Gatsby-Flapper-Feather-Headband-Dress-Hat-Headpiece-DOWNTON-/141282973990?pt=UK_Clothing_Masks_JD&hash=item20e51f1926

Below is a link to the Prezi.

Digital News Production: SHOOTING SCHEDULE

I decided to create a filming schedule for all our filming dates so it would be easier for the group and I to know what we're doing and when and also what to take and so we can check it off. I tried to include as much information as possible.

In conclusion, if I did this again I realised I should of wrote a contact number on the schedule, so we all had a copy of everyones number and contributors numbers so that if we needed anyone we could contact them straight away.

Here is the filming schedule I made.

Digital News Production: Presenter Script Draft 2

Presenter Script Draft 3

Digital News Production: THE COBTREE YOUNG FARMERS CLUB

I decided to do some further research into the Cobtree Young Farmers Club so that I knew what exactly they did and what we would need to know when we film there.

The Cobtree Young Farmers Club is a mixed aged group between 10 and 23. The group meets at Kent Life every saturday and learn about animal needs and how to look after the animals. The youngsters get right into the business and get a hands on look at how to look after the animals. The farm not only teaches the youngsters all they need to know about farming, it also holds an event called the Kent County Show, where the members get to look after their own animals and try win some prizes. 

After looking at this information about the Cobtree Young farmers club I think we will be able to go to Kent Life and talk to the group, asking them if they do want to get into farming in the future and if it's something they really enjoy doing. We can also include actuality in our news piece with our reporter getting involved in the activities they do and also feed the animals. 

Digital News Production: HUGE UPDATE!

Unfortunately after a long wait, our group decided we needy to change our package story completely. Our contributors had got back to us way to late and we was running out of time. Hugh Lowe Farm told us that there farm was no longer growing their strawberries as the season had ran out and we would have to wait till next summer, which of course, we couldn't do.

Our group decided we would leave the Hugh Lowe Farm story and move on to back up ideas. Charlie found vegbox.com and we was going to create a story on why organic food that gets delivered in box's to your house, is healthier and cheaper than food from the markets. However, they got back to us and told us that we couldn't as their season had also ended.

We became stuck and wondered what we could actually do that's nature based that would still be running.

We began thinking, does it have to be literal food? Or can we look at the other side of farming - the animals. This let me on to finding kentlife.com . A farmyard that had a large variety of animals and a huge farm to film. I began searching through their website and luckily came across and group called the Cobtree Young Farmers Club. The club are a bunch of kids and teenagers of all ages that meet at the farm every Saturday. They get taught husbandry, agriculture and animal needs and they help out with the farming there. I discussed this with my group and we decided we could do a story about why we need more young farmers in the world, and how the Cobtree club is helping this happen, encouraging young people to get into the farming industry.

I immediately began contacting a media coverage woman called Leah Taylor, we sent emails back and forth each other and she was really interested in being part of the project!

Our group began planning our story and changing our script round to fit Kent Life.

Digital News Production: OUR PRESENTER

After Auditioning Samantha for our presenter and reporter, we all decided we would love to have her as our presenter. She had the correct tone of voice, read and remembered the script, and had a really friendly manner when saying the lines. Originally we wanted her for our Kent Life piece. However, we decided she fit the role more for our presenter and portrayed the look we wanted for our Nature channel.

Samantha was really happy to be part of our production and agreed to our filming dates for the green screen. We sent her all the necessary information and the scripts and just needed to wait for the day to come! We asked Samantha to have her hair down, wear a smart casual blazer, a black skirt and a plain white blouse underneath. We wanted the face of our news show to look casual but still be smart enough to be on the news.

Samantha Scott.

Digital News Production: COUNSELLOR CHRIS IVINE

As our group became more wary we don't have any experts to interview at Lodge Hill any more, I decided to try look more into the background of RSPB and the communications officers. Helen sent our group a link http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/green-light-for-lodge-hill-22970 So I decided to look into it. I came across a Counsellor called Chris Ivine. Chris worked for the medway council, however he decided to leave to go to UKIP because Medway council said they wasn't going to build on Lodge Hill, however changed their minds. The reason he left is because he is extremely passionate about the nightingale site and didn't want it to be torn down. I went on his twitter website and finally got a contact email I could use through his website.

Twitter page: @CGI247

Website: chrisirvine.wordpress.com

His website held many posts about Medway Council, the nightingale site, his dedication to trying too make sure the site didn't get torn down, and many more.

I also read the article below and watched his speech to the planning committee about Lodge hill which was quite interesting.

http://chrisirvine.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/my-speech-on-lodge-hill-to-the-planning-committee/

I decided he was the perfect candidate to interview about the site becoming built on. I decided to contact him and ask him to be part of our production. Here is the message below.

I thought even though we may have someone to interview, we could still also interview the petitioners, to make the atmosphere in our live piece more interesting and maybe get the audiences attention. I've decided I'm going to do some more research to find some petitioners.

Until then, hopefully Chris will get back to us.