Directing interviews and such

When doing the interview scenes I found that directing the cast was much easier than my previous AS work as I didn't have to stick to a rigid script. For the scenes were Duncan was acting he gave us feedback on the script and didn't feel that he would be able to deliver some lines well. We adjusted the script to lines that he would be able to deliver better. We had also briefed him on the character role and film before hand which gave him time to understand the character he would be playing and their thoughts and feelings.

When it came to setting up the interview shots we used 2 cameras on tripods so that they stayed still and didn't have any wobble. One camera was facing the actor while we used another for side shots or close ups of hand movements etc. The face on camera is to be the main substance of these scenes but with the close ups to break them up slightly and add more emotion to the characters and Short itself.

We also used special lighting to create shadows and create the more "on the spot" feel we told our actors they needed. This worked well and I think, all though not really noticeable, made the shots themselves better and created good shadows on the black curtains.

We did have some trouble framing the shots so that it didn't look like we were in a class room, we had to re arrange tables and litter etc before hand and then for the side shots we struggled to keep only the black curtain in. So instead of filming both at the same time we had to film the face on camera and then turn the actor sideways and film again for the side shots. This gave the impression that they were in a room where all walls were black curtains which is what we wanted.

This then lead to more problems as the actor would have to deliver the lines at the same pace as they previously did and we would then edit the voice over this but thankfully they did this well so I think in editing it should work out ok.

How we doing so far..

We have filmed all of the random people interviews, after a few attempts we went for the hand held camera as this gave the best effect that we wanted but was still good to watch.

We have also recorded the non-diegetic sound of a boy saying "mummy" to edit in after shooting a break in scene. We chose to do it this way so that it was clearer and we could time it better.

We have also filmed all of the house break in scenes. We did this using to mainly stationary cameras tracking Pauls movement as we felt a lot of handheld shots wouldn't create the Short that we wanted. We also noticed that a dog barks in a few of our shots, while this added to the realism of it we didn't want this in but thankfully we are going to dub the voice overs over the top so this was no problem.

We are now looking to shoot the interviews and police station scene. The police station scene is proving difficult to film as none of us can drive and getting to it during daylight hours is harder than we thought but we are sure we will find a way.

I am glad we decided not to stick to the script that much and use it more of a guide. I think this made it more realistic and some of the shots we filmed on the day worked much better than the ones on the script so if we restricted to the script then our Short wouldn't be as good.

Mental breakdown bedroom scene

 

 

As with most films they aren't shot in chronological order. All parts of the script highlighted in red were to be shot in my room as this best suited pauls bedroom and to be shot at once to save time and keep continuity. As with all scenes we shot the script is open for any changes as we felt this would help keep with the documentary feel.

Our plan for different shots

Last year we all created a shot list to go with our script that worked well for our film openings. However we decided as a group that due to the nature of our film and how we were going for a low budget film that we weren't going to have a set shot list as this may restrict us.

We knew certain shots that we were going to use but these are open to new ideas when filming. 

When doing the interview we needed to have shots of hand movements such as Ducan playing with a wedding ring and a front facing camera and side facing camera. 

The on the street interviews were going to be either handheld or set up in the same way news reporters do with interviews of people on the streets.

Shots in Pauls bedroom were going to be handheld but steady to create the "film crew feel."

All break in scene will be done on a tripod but we will decide them when we are there.

We want to incorporate zooms in as this is a clear convention of a documentary that will make ours much more realistic.

First Script

Here is the script for our short film "Confessions of a Sock-a-holic". As a group we all worked together to create this script and we all feel that to add to the realistic feel of our Short that improvisation will be allowed throughout. It isn't the finished version of our script as changes may occur if and when we feel we have better ideas or while we are filming if we think something looks better. This is more of a backbone for us to work from

“CONFESSIONS OF A SOCK-A-HOLIC”

EXT-PARK-DAY

Documentary crew edge towards young boy walking dog

DOCUMENTARY CREW (QUESTIONING):

Excuse me, have you ever heard of the Sockmonster?

RANDOM YOUNG BOY (THOUGHTFUL):

…I think so, doesn’t he steal our socks?

                                                  CUT TO:

EXT-HOUSE FRONT-DAY

Crew knock on random door

RANDOM PERSON #2 (RAISES EYEBROW):

Can I help you?

DOCUMENTARY CREW:

Quick survey; do you often find you have odd socks?

RANDOM PERSON #2 (GROANS):

Too often to even count

                                           

                                         CUT TO:

EXT-CITY-DAY

DOCUMENTARY CREW (QUESTIONING):

Have you ever heard of the Sockman?

RANDOM PERSON #3 (FROWNS SLIGHTLY):

Who? The Sockman? Never heard of him.

                 

                                               FADE TO:

INT-INTERVIEW ROOM-DAY

‘Paul Smith’/Sockman settles down in the chair and anxiously fidgets. Adjusts attire and eyes flick around the room scanning the unfamiliar setting

INTERVIEWER (QUIETLY):

You ready?

PAUL (UPTIGHT) Clenches hands in lap:

Just get on with it

INTERVIEWER (TAKES DEEP BREATH IN AND OUT AND QUESTIONS):

So Paul, tell us about this enemy of yours, the Sockmonster

                                                   CUT TO:

INT-BEDROOM-DAY

Paul refers to map and further documents referring to the Sockmonster and his movements

PAUL (V.O)(CONTINUED FROM INTERVIEW)(PASSIONATE):

He’s not just my enemy. He is society’s villain. He steals (emphasis) socks. Your socks. He steals your clothes. I mean ok, sure he doesn’t take your t-shirts or your shoes, which are more valuable, but still he takes something you have paid for. Gone. Forever.

Paul pins tags to map, marking where he has been and where to go next. Looks to hand drawn picture of the Sockmonster and screws up piece of paper in anger

INTERVIEWER (V.O)(CRITICAL):

Don’t you think that’s a bit over dramatic? You’re taking it very personally, as well. It seems to me that he is not doing this just to you, so why take it so personally?

Paul gets ready for his next mission. Gets changed into Sockman outfit

                                                     FADE TO:

INT-INTERVIEW ROOM – DAY

PAUL (O.S) (AGITATED):

Over dramatic? Because of that thing, my mother is dead. He purposely left a sock, which my mother slipped on and resulted in her death. You cannot say it’s not personal.

INTERVIEWER(SIGHS):

Do you tend to have an outfit when tracking down this so called Sockmonster.

PAUL:

This is my OnePiece, I always wear this when on duty because it is the closest thing to a full body sock.

                                               

                                                    CUT TO:

Sockman/Paul picking at the door lock and breaks in. Cowboy shot and front shot of Paul walking up the stairs. Enters bedroom and goes to open suspected sock draw. In the meantime knocks over flower vase.

LITTLE BOY (ALARMED):

Mummy! I heard something!

Paul rises and anxiously scans the room

                                                     FADE TO:

EXT-POLICE STATION-DAY

Paul leaves police station after his arrest for breaking and entering. Long shot and pan of him crossing the road.

DOCUMENTARY CREW:

You ok?

PAUL (HUSHED):

Yeah I’m fine. I’m fine.

                                                   CUT TO:

INT-INTERVIEW ROOM-DAY

INTERVIEWER:

What was Paul like as a teenager?

PAUL’S SISTER:

We never really saw eye to eye. He was there…but it was like he wasn’t.

                                                 CUT TO:

Paul pulls the map out of his bag and places it back on the wall. He then takes out the socks he collected and repairs them with socks that he had previously found.

PAUL’S SISTER (V.O):

Ever since our mum died, he’s spent all his time in his room.

                                                CUT TO:

INT-BEDROOM-DAY

Pan of Paul’s room. See posters, voodoo dolls, map and picture of his mum.

                                                    CUT TO:

INT-INTERVIEW ROOM-DAY

Paul’s Dad looks serious sat in the interview chair.  Breathes in deeply and exhales in preparation for the unrepressing of  lies and hurt over his wife’s death

INTERVIEWER:

Why don’t you tell us how your wife really died?

PAUL’S DAD (SIGHING):

I knew you would ask that.

                                                 FADE TO:

INT-HALLWAY-DAY

Paul/Sockman enters another house and climbs the stairs to accomplish another mission.

PAUL’S DAD (V.O) CONTINUED:

You see when Paul was young, he would often…misplace things; whether that be a toy or a piece of clothing

Cowboy shot and front shot of Paul climbing stairs and identifying which room to enter.

PAUL’S DAD (V.O) CONTINUED:

Well one day, his habit meant he left a sock. This sock (STARES OFF INTO SPACE) has been responsible for all the evil and bad things that have happened to my family.

Paul enters bedroom, opens bag and enters sock draw to repair lonesome socks

PAUL’S DAD (V.O) CONTINUED:

I created the Sockmonster. He doesn’t exist. I used him to distract my son from taking the blame. At age ten, what are you more likely to believe? That you left a sock and now your mother is dead or that a Sockmonster left it. Haven’t you found you have odd socks?!

Paul hears noise from down stairs and thinks the home-owner is home. He goes to check and finds that there is a sock trail all down the stairs. Paul begins to hyperventilate/have panic attack

                                               CUT/FADE TO:

INT-INTERVIEW ROOM-DAY

Paul’s dad takes deep breath and shuts his eyes

PAUL’S DAD:

I never knew that his self-induced ostracization would lead to these delusions

CUT/END 

Cast

We needed a cast that would perform well but also suited the role. We brainstormed posibilities and then narrowed it down based on who we thought were best suited. Then we chose our cast.

Paul-Me, Ben Woodier, Zak Taylor
Pauls sister-Esme or Tasmin Lucas, Abigail Witney
Pauls dad- Duncan Rowe, John Lucas, Nick Shirley

Final cast and why:

Paul-Me as I have a good understanding of how his character should behave and am the right age.
Pauls sister-Abigail Witney as she has a small bit of experience and her personallity was well suited for the role so wouldn't need to act that much, this will also hopefully make her role more realistic as she is just going to be herself
Duncan Rowe-Acting experience and is very talented, he is also the right age

Locations

Locations are very important for any film but espically for documentaries. We had to make it seem as realistic as possible but while keeping with the low budget theme.

For this we decided our own houses and on the streets would be perfect as they matched the low budget theme perfectly. So we planned to use these locations for each purpose...

My room-Pauls bedroom scene
Katies house-Break in scene
Heathers house-Break in scene
Street and other public places-On the street interviews
Drama mobiles-Interview scenes

At first we were unsure on using the mobiles as we didn't want our film to look as if it was shot in a school. However after looking at them and planning shots we realised that as long as we only had the black curtians in the shot then it looked proffesional and using the lighting equipment helped create good shadows which added to the interview look of the shots and you couldn't tell it was in a school.

What kind of mockumentary do we want?

After watching an episode of the show Catfish that is a documentary about the meeting of lovers that met online, an absolutely terrible show (an example of part below).

 It is shot using one expensive professional camera and one small more affordable one that one of the presenters film with. This gives the show a very low budget feel to it yet still enjoyable to watch. I think this low budget feel and look but yet still enjoyable to watch. I also think that this would work well as in reality the chances of a company getting a large amount of funding to create a documentary about a delusional man who chases a sock monster is low so this will make the whole thing more realistic.

Our Film in 113 words

Paul smith is a young Schizophrenic who has suffered from delusions ands hallucinations about the "Sockmonster" ever since his father told him the scarce fable to cover up the truth over his mothers death. As the documentary crew follow Paul, it is explained that he has an obsession with re-pairing lonesome socks stolen by the "Sockmonster" and with finding this thief once and for all. Paul's dad is keen to tell his side of the story. From his interview  we discover that the "Sockmonster" was a one off story to stop Paul form taking the blame for his mothers death, as it was him who left the sock on which she slipped and died.

HM

I think that this synopsis makes our film seem abstract enough to be interesting yet not too abstract to limit our audience heavily so I think we will keep to this roughly when shooting our film.

Update to our film planning

The following video is a short video about updates on our film that we have decided



Do bad magazine reviews ruin a films chances?

In my opinion, it would. The majority of people are influence on reviews, whether written or heard through word of mouth.
A trailer of film is there to attract a target audience. If one was to be intruiged by the trailer and later hears that the film is underwhelming from more than one source, then they are likely to not go to watch the film. This is because we are influenced by other poeples opinions.

If one reviewer badly rates a film and a collection of others highly rate it then the audience are likely to take the majorities opinion. It works vice versa.

However, a review also requires an unbiased opinion. If the reviewer was to review a film by a director they have a negative opinion about then this would represent a bias opinion. It is the fault of the audience to research thoroughly into a specific film's reviews to make sure they recieve a full evaluation.

An example of a recent film with a bad review is Grunge Match by Nick de Semlyen from Empire Magazine. They gave the film 2 out of 5 stars (poor under their ratings).
Plot: Two old boxing pros (De Niro and Stallone), long-time rivals now in the autumn of their careers, are lured back into the ring for one final glory bout.
Review: Sylvester Stallone is the old paunchy, grumpy one and Robert De Niro is the other old, paunchy, grumpy one in this big-screen adaptation of the classic Balboa-versus-LaMotta pub debate. As a couple of washed-up stumblebums training for a rematch, they gamely send up the movies Grudge Match is inspired by (Rocky via a meat-punching joke; Raging Bull via a puppet show in a dive bar), but unfortunately, despite the dream-team pairing, this is a dreary, spark-free affair that seems to take forever to get into the ring. Alan Arkin’s dick jokes are as good as it gets.

H.M.

Audience Research

This is a video on audience research we did to gain a better understanding of how many people watch mocumentaries and what they think their conventions to be.

Conventions of a poster

After looking at a range of posters I decided that despite them all being different they all had a set list of convention's they followed that ours needed to have to be good. Below are what I think they are and how I am planning on incorporating them into our poster.

 

• Name of film-plain font, yellow text
• Cast-yellow or grey test in thin font
• Mans legs with socks-take photo and then edit in Photoshop
• Film company-in yellow or grey with a thin font
• Social media network reference-include #lostsock somewhere
• Positive quotes about the film-in yellow at the top or bottom

 

I think these are the main points that I should follow when making the poster.

Posters that inspired me

Below are the posters for Jurassic park and Kickass. I liked the black backgrounds on both of these posters and wanted to use that for ours. I also liked the simplicity of the Jurassic Park poster and the grey on black text for the cast etc. I planned to use these things in my poster. I loved the plain yellow writing and font in the Kickass poster so planned to use that in my poster as well but I didn't want to have either the characters in it or a drawing of something in the film like these 2 do. Instead I think a mans legs with socks on would be better suited but still very simple which is what I wanted

 

Posters that inspired me

Below are a number of examples of films posters. They all vary a huge amount but also have similar things on them. Such as cast, name of film in big, directors, company name and usually just one image of the main character or something related to the film. Despite all of this none of them give too much away without being completely unrelated to the film. This made me think that our poster needs to be related to our film for it to be a good poster. I liked these posters but found them relatively uninspiring for our poster.
 

 

 

.

 

What is the point in a poster?

I did some research into posters and why they have what they have. They are basically a way to make people want to go and see the film. I then broke down the different techniques used to sell the film and the following is what I found and what it made me think I could use on my poster.

A poster is designed to attract a certain target audience to the film. For example a film about a princess aimed at a young girl the poster would typically have a princess and lots of pink on the poster. As our film has no particular target audience this has given us almost free roam when creating the poster, but we do want it to be similar and have clear relation to our film.

They often have the main actor/actors on the front as people will want to go see a film based on the cast or director. As our actors are going to be unknown and Synergy is an unknown film company we can't use our cast or anything similar so have to look for another way. I think that the name itself will be enough so we should have this in bold and large text which contrasts the colour of our background.

Some films have a picture of something important in the film, for example a film about the white house will probably have the white house on the poster. I think this approach is better for us and we can use socks or something similar as the main image in our film.

The font used is extremely dependant of the type of film but personally I think that plain, easy to read fonts are what would work well in our poster.

So to sum up I want our poster to have text that contrasts the background. A picture that isn't dependant upon the cast like socks or something. Plain bold text that is easy to read.

How to make a magazine review

We are going to use Adobe InDesgin for the layout as this was designed for this purpose and I have good knowledge of the software. We could use other software but I don't think they are as powerful and would be able to give us a proffesional finish that InDesign can give us.

Film Pitch

Recently, we have been told to create a pitch including a 90 Second Synopsis, 90 Second speech on Distribution and our mock poster. Here is a written format of pitch:

Synopsis
From young, Paul Smith (currently no name has been decided), was the under the illusion that the Sockmonster had left an odd sock on the top of the stairs, which his mother tripped over, fell and died. In reality, the Sockmonster was a fable created by Paul Smith's father to hide and reconstuct his memeory as to how she really died, which was by Paul Smith leaving his odd sock accidentally.
The short film follows Paul Smith on his mission to catch this Sockmonster. We are situated not only with Paul Smith's of obsession with finding the Sockmonster, but also his compassion reunite lonesome socks with their missing partner - He believes this will not only benefit the owner, but everyone because it will prevent others from plunging to their own death. Paul Smith's legacy leads him to great deal of legal trouble and his back story gains him little sympathy from the police, but they let him go under strict orders to find the truth about this so called Sockmonster. His father also plays a key role in telling the story. He explains to the documentary crew, that his fabrication of the Sockmonster got 'out-of-hand' as Paul Smith got older. His father thought that he had forgotten about the Sockmonster as Paul Smith grew up, when truthfully Paul Smith had created a delusion based upon hallucinations he suffered as an older child and teenagers - symptoms of Schizophrenia.

Distribution
I believe the distribution of our film would fit successfully within the mainstream market. Just like the synergy used in the feature length film 'TED' ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbo_pQvU7M) of merchandise E.G. the bear TED, and the film; I see out short film using a similar technique - the synergy of the short film and of merchandise such as socks and it could be seasonal for example at Christmas, stockings could be apart of the franchise. It could be argued that the short film would be a success on the independant market because it covers issues of a sensitive nature, however, I think the way the mental health issue (Schizophrenia) is covered is in a mainstream way as it glamourises the disorder by not displaying the harsh reality of living with the disorder.
I also believe the short film would gain the largest attention if it were to be uploaded on the internet where it will gain an audience seeking such material and with the rise of Web 2.0 it is easier than it ever has been to access and share short films. It allows for it to be spread virally through Social Network (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr), which could be argued as the most important way to share information and art.

H.M.

A little bit of idea devolpement for our film

 This is a video of us summing up where we are up to in our idea for a film and what we plan to do next.

Magazine review research

Below are examples of magazine reviews from the magazine Empire. This is a magzine dedicated to film so we thought it was a good place to get inspiration for our magazine and learn more about them. They all follow a set theme but are slightly different so that they stand out and are more interesting to read. As a group we looked at them all and analysed them.

 

This magazine review is one done by A2 students.They have succesfully created a magazine review that I think is possible for us to also do. They followed the convetions closely which worked well so we should do the same.

Below is an example of a typical layout that we could use or take bits from so that ours is more succesful.

Thinking about sound..

During the house break in scenes we decided to use only diegetic sound our Short is a documentary. They rarely use non diegetic sound to increase tension etc as this detracts from the real life feel of it and we wanted ours to have a real life feel to it.

To make up for the lack of non diegetic sound we plan to use a lot of close ups of Paul's feet and what he will be doing while breaking into the houses to help increase tension. We also felt that just the diegetic sound could work quite well to help raise tension as it will leave the audience expecting something to happen but unsure when it will happen.

As for the interviews of the family and Paul during our Short some of what the people are saying will be placed over the top of footage of Paul breaking into houses as this kind of use of the vocals of an interview is often used in documentaries and we thought it was an effective technique and we should also use it. 

This is Stranger Than Fiction, a Short which plays around with diegetic and non diegetic sound, especially voice overs which would be similar to when the family is being interviewed about and then placed on top of shots of what he is doing.

I felt that when the voice over stops and you can only here diegetic sound that is quiet it can add a lot of suspense to the footage (although used in this Short for a slightly comical effect I think that it could also work well to create suspense in our Short). 

In Stranger Than Fiction the voice over at the start is only present when the man has the toothbrush in his mouth. This gives it a slightly comical effect and I don't think something similar would work well in our Short. Instead the voice overs and narration should come and go sporadically to help create suspense and allow the audience to become better positioned with Paul.

Research into Mockumentaries

I have been looking at other short films in documentary style to examine how different shots may impact the atmosphere of the films. 

http://houseofshorts.com/the-runners/

In their film, The Runners, directors Gormley and Rochlitz use a variety of effective shots to ensure that their short film about a group of runners in a London park involves the audience in both the setting and what the runners are saying about their lives.  The film adopts a journalistic style with ‘real’ footage of the runners while moving.  This has the effect of involving the audience in the ‘run’ of each of the ‘eye witnesses.’

The camera moves along with the runners which is very effective as a method of involving the viewer in the ‘run.’  There is a combination of long shots and close up shots.  The close up shots of each runner as they talk about their running and lives are intimate and has the effect of making the viewer feel as though they are both part of the run and more directly involved in the lives of the runners. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6F7T1EGSoMQ#t=37

Some shots are used to ‘link’ the different runners by either the ground they run along

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6F7T1EGSoMQ#t=320

or the surrounding area.  This is also effective at involving the viewer with the environment of the runners.

The continuity of editing to different runners works well and I think that the ‘environment’ shots are useful at providing credibility and a ‘news style’ to the work.

Looking at Documentary Shorts

 

After deciding that we are going to do a Short in the style of a documentary I started to do some research into Short documentaries. I found this...

 

 

Due to budgetary and other constraints our film will be shorter than this documentary style into a report about Aliens landing in USA. However, it has been a useful film for shot analysis for our production work because the theme is obscure like our ‘sock man.’

On analysis of the shots this is some of things that I have noticed that I think we should include in our film on post production work:

Mis en scene is created with some external shots that seem interrupted on editing as though the footage could be intercepted by the aliens. The shots are short and cut quickly like a quick radio change. The film also uses sound of ‘changing radio stations’ white noise and flashing colour between the shots which adds to the suspense and sense of reporting style.

By using a mixture of close up shots on radio/hands the scenes are set well for the eye witness narratives which the audience can hear over the footage sometimes. Mixing these shots with wide shots/over the shoulder shots so that the audience feel that they were at the re-enacted event works well.

A combination of mid shots and reverse mid shots of the ‘eye witnesses’ after they have grown up are given credibility with reporter style typography detailing their names and the film production company. These shots are linked from previous film footage that seem to show a reconstruction of events. When interviewing the eye witnesses the shots are direct with the witness looking directly to camera as they talk. However, the reconstruction shots include over the shoulder footage and birds eye views which gives the audience the sense of ‘watching’ what happened. The juxtaposition of these shots next to each other, I think, is effective way of involving the audience in narrative.

Shots of ‘newspaper’ articles add support and reinforce to the idea of the alien invasion using ‘expert’ as does repeating some of the shots (e.g. the over the shoulder shot of the alien landing). The final important witness is shot with a detailed close up shot (zooming right up to his cheek at one point) this is effective in emphasising the importance of what they are going to say.

The narrative is also used effectively as a “talk over” at the introduction is a good way of scene setting the start of the film. I have also seen this in other short documentaries with the use of either typography or voice over real life footage and need to consider this for the opening and ending sequences of our films.

Our man Paul

Together as a group we profiled the character of paul so that we all understood him before choosing an actor and writing the script.

Name: Paul Smith (Pseudonym)  

Age: 20 

Marital Status: Single

Occupation: Works part-time at a book and stationary store (able to get free stationary to plot his adventures)

Residency: Lives with his Dad who believes that his son would be incapable of looking after himself without guidance.

Family Life: Mother died when he was 10 and was mainly brought up by his father and grandparents. He has a younger sister, but they are like strangers due to Paul's self-exclusion from the family.

Close Friends: He believes his own company is more than enough and doesn't enjoy the company of too many people because he finds them interfering.

OCD burglar devolpment

We looked around on youtube to see if there was already short films about a burglar with OCD and we found a large amount of them on youtube, examples below.

 

 

 

 

We wanted our idea to be original and have not been done a lot before. So we started looking into other ideas to see what else we could do. We all liked the OCD element so started looking into different more unusual ways of incorporating this.



Possible film idea

The OCD burglar!

The film could be about a man who breaks into a house when the family are away, carries the tv out, then the laptops etc. but as he is leaving with the last item he notices a plate not washed, goes back and washes the plate and puts it away and starts to leave. Then they spot a crisp packet on the floor, stop and put it in the bin. This behaviour continues and escalates until the burglar See's some cupcakes, one is the wrong size so quickly tries to make cupcakes so they are all the same size. The family come home to find him wearing oven gloves in a sparkling kitchen make cupcakes.

I like this idea as I think that it doesn't require great acting and I think it is has a lot of potential. I also think that it could be funny and is a possible idea to do on our budget with what we have available for us to use 

Talking about what kind of film to go with...

We called a group meeting, this was very exciting to do, about what kind of film we wanted to do, so we could all go away and start to refine our ideas. We did this becuase we felt we weren't getting very far with trying to come up with ideas and this would hopefully help us get the ball rolling.

In this group meeting we decided on several things:

• Plot driven rather than character driven-bad acting can often let down a film and we decided that if it was plot driven the acting is slightly less important and could be kept to a minimum
• Original idea so it is more interesting and doesn't seem like a remake
• Interesting abstract idea that has never been seen before
• We like the idea of a documentary or mockumentary as they give us a lot of freedom to come up with an idea that hasn't been done as there isn't many documentaries/mockumentaries

VOICE OVERS (imagine that to be read in a dramatic voice)

This is a video of me chatting away to the camera about narration, how it can be used, why and how I think I could use it in my film.



What not to do in my Short

I dont want to sound too mean but below is an example of an A2 short film called "Stranded" and it is literally terrible, but by watching it I have managed to pick up on things not to do in my film which should hopefully make mine better.

What I learnt:

• They use alot of copywrited music which isn't proffesional
• The characters often look at the camera for a split second, which takes away the feel of it being a film, so I need to tell my actors not to do this and if they do, redo the shot
• Their is a lot of wind and car engine noise, if I have this problem I should record the lines seperatly and dub it over the top
• A lot of the actions don't really seem to have any purpose which makes it a bit comical in a way although it's not supposed to be. So I should try to make it clear why my characters have done things
• It's a very predictable idea and ending, I should try to be more original
• The acting is so bad, if I can't find good actors it might be worth me trying to come up with a plot that isn't heavily dependant on acting
• I didn't like how the bad guy was a very stereo typical bad guy, I think a more original bad guy or one that you wouldnt expect would be a choice 

Another Film Idea!!!!

While getting the train home from work a couple was talking very loudy about how they didn't want to go to a friends wedding as neither of them liked the couple and they were trying to come up with a valid excuse so they couldn't go. I thought that it could make a good Short so started to think more into the idea and this is what I came up with...

Plot:

A couple get invited to a wedding which neither of them want to go to and they say that they have been invited to another wedding on the same day so they don't have to go to the wedding. After the date of the supposed wedding the couple who actually had a wedding ask to see photos of the wedding the other couple went to, in a mad panic the couple have 3 days to try to get a scrap book of photos together of a wedding that never existed. While pannicing for ideas they walk past an actual wedding going on, so gate crash it and take loads of photos. However part way through they get arrested as it was actually a funeral.

Important update (made after I posted this idea): Although I liked the idea and thought it could be funny it didn't take long for me to realise that staging a wedding/funeral is basically impossible and way out of my small budget so I will probably not be doing this idea although I like the idea of people trying to make up excuses that go wrong so I may use that in another more practical film idea.

Character devolpment

We were given the task of creating a character bio for an image of a random person, I chose this happy old man.

Name: Rupurt Stevenson, known as "Dartsy" to friends due to his incredible skill at darts

Age: 68

Martial Status: Happily married to Lorain Stevenson and has been for 43 years

Occupation: Owns "The Red Bear" pub and works there every other day and night, been a family business for years

Previous Job(s): Worked as a farm and for his friends dad for 2 years after he left high school until he was old enough to work in the pub

Residency: Lives above the pub in his small village Eccles Road in rural Norfolk

Family Life: His wife and 30 year old daughter whom he loves with all his heart however is unhappy with her husband as he doesn't trust him, but he loves his daughter too much to say anything

Close Friends: Jack Fletch aged 64, known as Meaty Jack due to his old job as a butcher and his size, Meaty Jack spends most nights in the pub and they have grown very close due to spending so much time together. Tom McDavids aged 68, been best friends since Dartsy worked on Tom's dads farm for 2 years and are always together

Where is he in the photo? At Tom's annual cheese party, everyone in the village is invited to Tom's farm once a year to taste a new kind of cheese he has been working on

Who are they with? Tom, Meaty Jack, Lorain and other people from the village

Where were they at 10pm last night? Dartsy was working in the pub

Who were they with? Meaty jack, the pub is usually empty besides him

Where do they see themselves in 5 years? Exactly where they are now

Any Secrets? When Dartsy was 7 he accidentally wet himself and his uncles wedding and has never told anyone about it

Although this character may not be in my film it has helped me understand that the more thought you put into a character the more believable they will be, therefore making you film more believable and realistic.

Marking hide and seek

"Hide and Seek"

Good bits:

• Good idea
• Children acted well for their age
• A good variety of shots
• Excellent focus on mise en scene, clothing, cake etc
• Good continuety throughout
• Good use of dark and light to show different times

Bad Bits:

• Predictable story
• Seemed to change from the past to the present too quickly

How it helped me:

• A large amount of focus on mise en scene will help with the feel of the whole Short overall
• Be careful that the story doesn't seem to be rushed to an ending
• Child actors can work well but would need make sure they are good

Marking love hurts

"Love hurts"



Good bits:

• The sound worked well to add to the ambiance of the film along with the black and white balloon 
• The control of the camera was good most of the time
• The symbolism with the selective desaturation effect on the balloon.

Bad bits:

• It was  a very predictable film
• Occasionally the camera would be too shaky, during the POV shot from the girl
• A small variety of shots
• Some shots went on too long, especially when they are sitting on the bench, a close up of their hands would have helped break up the shot.
• More close ups to show emotion as it is a silent film

How it's helped me:

• Not to have shots that go on for a long time
• Choose music that fits well with my theme
• Close ups to show emotion are needed
• Use a variety of shots

Narnia lamp post scene (focus on shots)

For this scene we were given the script from the lampost scene in Narnia and told to recreate it with a focus on the shots used. Because of this we didn't record the dialogue sepereatly to remove wind and traffic noise.

How do people watch Shorts?

People and their Short watching...

People consume Shorts in a large variety of ways, youtube, cinema's, websites, film festivals ect.

Youtube:

It's probably the most popular way as their is a huge variety of Shorts on their and anyone can upload their Short. It is also free and easy to watch them so everyone with Internet access can watch them. As technology advances people can now watch youtube on their phones or tablets so it is also becoming a more accessible. People often watch them together with friends or watch alone and then share the link to their friends via social networking. Youtube also allows people to comment and offer feedback so a lot of amateur film makers use this as a way of getting feedback and advice from the public. 

Cinemas:

Many "art house" cinemas show a series of Shorts in one go for a small fee. The type of people that watch these are often more of the aficionado/buff section of the audience. They are more likely to go alone and want the Shorts to have more thought provoking or dark topics. The films shown here are usually student films that are nominated or upcoming film makers.

Websites:

Websites such as shortoftheweek showcase Short films that have won competitions or have been nominated ect. Again like youtube anyone with Internet access can watch these for free however they are not as popular as youtube but hold higher status if you film has been shown on them. A lot of people still watch films on these websites though, usually people with more of an interest in Shorts.

Film festivals:

People that go to these festivals will often be the same kind of people that go to watch Shorts at art house cinemas. They will watch Shorts that have been nominated to be shown and then wait to see which one is the winner. 

Best for me:

I think that youtube would be the best platform for me as it is easy, free, has a large audience and people can offer feedback easily to my film. It is also a good way to get yourself known and from their I could then attempt to enter my films into competitions to get them onto websites or in film festivals. 

Goods and Bads of a Short

The time limit:

This can have benefits and drawbacks. Making a feature film into a Short would be very difficult and probably not work well but a simple story could fit very well into the time limit. The short length means that less work is required and usually a much smaller budget which means that it is well suited to beginner or student film makers as well as Hollywood stars. However because they are short most of the public won't pay to see them as they are used to paying to watch 2 hour films so feel like they are getting a bad deal. So they usually aren't made with the idea of making money in mind.

The audience:

Shorts actually have a huge range of audiences. For example a Short could be aimed at the arthouse audience and shown during a Short film night or at a festival whereas they could also be uploaded to youtube and aimed at a mainstream audience. As you can upload it to youtube easily this means that most your audience will be able to view it easily for free which is a big benefit as they are more likely to watch it.

The ideas:

You can usually be more risky or bring up taboo topics in a short film as the low budget means that there is less risk. It is also much easier to keep the audiences interest for the short time so in a way it is easier to make a good Short compared to a feature film. However the shorter time does mean that complicated ideas usually won't work as well when made for a Short. It is also a good way of testing new ideas to see if the public like them before using them in a feature film.

Starting Ideas for my Short

Idea 1 (4 in a house)

Plot:

4 people live in a house but are banned from talking to each other so they all go about the day acting as if the others don't exist. They have no contact to the outside world and can't get out of the house. Each night one of them has a dream where a person they don't know dies. One day one of the people in the house doesn't wake up, the others go about their day and ignore this. The next day another person doesn't wake up but the 2 awake ignore this and start their day. One of the remaining 2 accidentally opens the door to one of the peoples rooms. They see a dead body the same as how the person in their dream died. They check the other room and the same as happened. As they can't get out or contact anyone they decide to carry on living as if nothing happened. That night they both stay awake and thinking the other will try to kill them arms themselves. They both bump into each other and assume the others attacking them so kill each other. 

Then the screen goes dark and after a slight pause a huge round of applause sounds and someone switches a light on and lots of men in suits appear to have been betting on which one would survive the longest.

Characters:

I would need 4 people, probably 2 boys 2 girls who act in a similar way and then the group of people in the end scene. 

Inspiration:

The Truman Show gave me the idea for the people to have been watching and betting in the end. 

Big Brother gave me the idea for them not being able to leave the house.

Nightmare on Elm street gave me the idea about the dreams.

Brief review of the idea:

I like the idea but feel that it needs to be developed as at the moment it would be very short. I think that with camera angles I could make it have a big brother style but more subtle so you only realise at the end when you realise they were on a game show which could work well but would be difficult so I need to put more planning into this idea.

Idea 2 (Peter Pointer)

Plot:

A man who can stop a weapon hurting someone by pointing at it is dragged into a gang war and he tries to escape. He starts to plan his escape early on with the help of one of the gang members he trusts. Just before the escape his friend gets shot by the other gang and he is forced to try to adapt the plan to escape by himself. He tries to dig through a wall. During the escape he discovers he also has the power to kill people by pointing at them. After he escapes he wakes up in the night o the police arresting him for the murder of several of the gang members.

Characters:

The main character who should be nerdy and small, the gang member who should be your stereotypical gang member. The gang leader who should be a big intimidating person. And all the other gang members and police who would have a small speaking role if any. 

Inspiration:

Weirdly Sir Alan Sugar inspired me for this, when he says "you're fired" and points his finger I felt like this could be adapted into super power for a person. 

Shawshank Redemption gave me the idea about the escape involving digging through a wall.

Brief review of the idea:

I like this idea but feel like it would need a big budget for it to be done well, for example I would need to find a place where we could hit down a wall ect and this isn't practical. It would also take a large cast which would be difficult to find and a lot of different locations. But I think the idea could be changed so that it is more practical easily.