Progress Report

Since the research and planning phase in preparation for the making of our film, we have filmed in locations such as the lecture theatre, Saltburn valley gardens and the sea-front and have got 1 minute, 12 seconds completed. We have been working in the editing suite to alter brightness and colour, for example, changing the “romantic” scenes to sepia. We have merged together the clips we have filmed to form scenes for our film, doing so by cutting them down to make them free-flowing and in an attempt to reduce occurrences of obvious cutting between scenes to create the effect of continuity.

In between filming, we have made sure to update our blogs frequently, showing the complete planning processes we have undergone, this consisting of filming schedules, risk assessments, consent forms, location research, photographic evidence, shot-by-shot scripts etc…

By the end of this week we plan to have all of our filming done so when we come back after the Christmas holidays, we will dedicate our time to editing and will then begin the evaluation process.

Practice Shots

Long shot = opening shot of boy sat down alone

Long shot of boy stays in shot as girl enters

change to side view of both of them as she sits down

Shot reverse shot of medium close up of girl noticing boy as she looks creeped out

Shot reverse Shot of boy noticing girl and looking embarrassed

Our Script for 'Think Again'

Shot by shot “script”

Intro At Bus Stop:

Opening shot - boy at bus stop on his own

(Stays in that shot as girl enters)

Changes to side on view of both of them as she sits down

MCU head on of boy turning to his right to look at girl

Shot reverse shot - Same shot of girl slowly looking at boy, noticing someone is watching her

Back to same one of boy and he quickly looks away

Then to same MCU of girl looking a little creeped out

Slow zoom into boy’s face then fade into first flash forward

Walking Through Park:

Medium shot - behind the two hand in hand walking

Fades into shot in front of them, camera tracks round as they go past

Cinema Scene:

From behind them, boy has his arm round girl

Flips to in front of them, off to the side looking up at them watching the film

House:

Medium Shot - Sharing a toast on sofa

Close up - of glasses hitting

Close up - of boy’s face looking at girl

Close up - of girl’s face looking at boy

Getting an ice cream:

Filming side on buying an ice cream

Medium shot - on a bench eating ice cream

Look at each other

Photo montage of playing around cut-out silhouettes in Saltburn

Amusements/ Arcades:

Medium shot - from behind them on 2p machines

Close up - of tray with loads of 2ps coming down

Back to medium shot, they’ve won so they’re 'buzzing' with excitement

Proposal:

Long shot - walking on the beach

Medium long shot - of them walking along, then they stop

Side on medium shot - of boy getting down on one knee

Close up - of jewelry box opening

Girl looks surprised

*Fades back to bus stop*

Fades into MCU of boy looking into the middle distance

Back to close up of girl looking at boy, confused as to why he’s looking like he is

She thinks, fade to her flashforwards

Walking through park:

Medium shot - behind the girl walking, boy creeps round after her

Fades into shot in front of them, camera tracks round as the girl goes past, boy sneaks after her

At the cinema:

From behind the girl, watching film

Switches to behind the boy, he’s several rows back looking at her

Flips to in front of them, girl is watching film, boy is watching girl

House:

Girl is sat on sofa, medium shot

Close up - of her hearing knock at the door

Medium shot - from behind her opening the door

Boy is standing at doorstep with flowers and chocolates

She slams door in his face

Side on of boy’s face dropping when she slams it

Getting an ice cream:

Filming side on of just boy buying two ice-creams

Boy runs up to girl on bench with ice cream and offers her it, and she takes it

Look at each other, boy with hopeful expectation, girl with a sly smile

She drops the ice-cream, close up of it on the floor

Back to close up of boy’s face looking let down

Medium shot - of her walking off and him standing there with same expression

Photo montage of playing around cut-out silhouette things in Saltburn, less serious than first one, mainly lad on his own

Amusements/ Arcades:

Medium shot - from behind them on 2p machines

Close up - of tray with one 2p coming down

Back to medium shot, he’s just on his own, then walks off

Loads of 2ps come down like in first flashforwards

Proposal:

Long shot - boy running after girl on beach

Medium long shot - of them running, girl stops

Side on medium shot of boy getting down on one knee

Close up - of jewelry box opening

Girl looks angry

Throws *ring* into the sea

Boy looks heartbroken

*Fades back to bus stop*

MCU of girl looking confused

Medium shot of Girl #2 coming and sitting down

Close up of her looking at boy in amazement

She goes to do flashforwards but it fades to black

Credits

The End

Location & Setting

We decided to go and visit the locations for our short film to see what would be suitable and if they would be effective, as well as asking for permission. We went to Redcar and Saltburn and are planning on taking a look at Stewart Park in Middlesbrough. 

These are the pictures of Redcar beach were we could film many scenes, as it could be used as romantic (walking hand in hand, having ice-cream etc) or comedy (tripping in sand, standing in a puddle on the beach etc). I took these pictures at 9-10:40am on 20/11/13. I think this would be a good time to film as it is high-key lighting facing away from the sun so good conditions, however the images showing the face of the sun, in my opinion is effective as it creates a warm, ambient light which would be good in romantic scenes, as it could create silhouette images which are conventional for a romantic genre. Therefore, we could maybe film all the comedy beach scenes in the images showing the clear, high key lighting which would then contrast to the low-key lighting in the romantic scenes.

This is 'The Stray Cafe' situated on the top of Redcar beach, it is an option to film the date, meal scene here as there are tables and chairs outside. We have got permission by the manager to film here.

This is simply just a bench which could be an alternative setting to the bus stop for a bus, they could simply be having a rest from walking.

I went to Saltburn on the 18/11/13 at 7:00pm and thought that the pier would be quite a good setting to include in our film as it incorporates a different time of day so would show versatility and add interest. 

Obviously it would be difficult with the lighting to get extra clear expressions, however, if they stand under the light on the pier (top right picture) or walk along the beach (film from the top of the pier bottom right picture) I think it would be quite effective, it is also nice scenery. A comical outlook could be created with the bottom left picture, it is a face-in-the-hole display below the pier, so for example in the "romantic" scene, we could film like a montage of images and include snapshot camera effects showing them laughing and having fun, and the same thing can be done for the comedy scene but it would show the girl looking really awkward and uncomfortable whilst the boy pulls quite unattractive faces. 

Risk Assessment

This is a photo of the risk assessment we had to complete in order to make sure there were no risks or hazards and so we could identify them at each of our given locations so we could try to overcome the risk. This made us more organised when we got to the locations so we were extra safe as we have ourselves to look after and also the equipment we take that we will need for our short film e.g. camera

T

Consent Form

This is a photo of the consent form we printed out and give to the actors who were willing to be in our short film.

Pre Production Audience Feedback

Presentation Picture

This is a photo from the pitch presentation our group did which we presented to the rest of the class. This presentation showed the audience our research and planning for our short film, also a glog, radio trailer and storyboard to give them an inside of what our short film was going to be about and how we put our ideas together to create an overall narritive. We give out hand outs of a questionnaire so we could get feedback of the audience to see if we could improve on anything and if they thought our ideas were good.

Ideas For Short Film

Radio Trailer

Storyboard

Narritive Ideas

Research & Planning

More PowerPoint presentations from Hester Mary Teasdale

Blog Task 4

Blog Task 5

I'm Here

I would classify the genre of ‘I’m Here’ to be romantic drama as it tells a story of two robots that live in a world together with people which tells us a bit about what the film represents and could possibly be about the future of robots. The main character Sheldon plays a character that lives a boring normal life however as the story goes on it begins to become more of the romantic genre as he meets a girl robot which you can tell he cares for very much because he gives up his own robotic parts too her when she looses an arm and a leg and when she is close to dying. I would describe the girl as more outgoing and confident then Sheldon and give him something to live for in the film as they did a lot of things together for example they went to a music concert together.  Sheldon was the total opposite of the girl as he seemed more shy and very kind as he would always greet people on the bus and be nice even though he didn’t know them. There was evidence of prejudice as the robots seemed to be more of the ‘poor class’ and the humans to be of a ‘higher class’ as in the film the robots were not allowed to drive cars and one lady in the film starts shouting at the girl robot saying she wasn’t allowed to be driving as if there was lack of respect for the robots and as if the humans didn’t trust them. I would summarize the story to be very cute. The girl robot seemed to live every day as if it was her last and very inconsiderate as she lost her arm and her leg which Sheldon happily gave up for her. This showed how loving their relationship was and showed how much they cared for each other. In the ending I thought it seemed to end on a sad note as the girl robot was left outside in a wheelchair holding Sheldon’s head. This suggests to me there isn’t a lot of hope for Sheldon and they were left on there own which seemed very sad. However overall I thought the film was very unusual but a good story of how the girl robot gave Sheldon a purpose to his life by her being in it. I think the audience for ‘I’m Here’ could be aimed at a broad range of people as it had no particular age range to the story however I wouldn’t say it was for younger children as I don’t think they would quite understand the meaning of the story as there is evidence of prejudice and a children audience would not understand this. I think Absolute sponsored 'I'm Here' maybe to suggest the uniqueness of the product like in the short film the robots stand out against the humans because they are different and new to the world. This could suggest that absolute is a different product not like the rest and to imply that it is a lot better then other products like it and encourage people and the audience of 'I'm Here' to buy the product. In addition the audience of 'I'm Here' could be similar to absolute and the managers of the product might want it to be sponsored by the short film to attract the same audiences.

A Favour - Review (Written Version)

The short film ‘A Favour’ is one which I had to speculate whether I liked it or not and I decided that it’s not one of my favourites, not because of the storyline as I think it’s an original, creative and simple idea, but because there was not much emotion involved in the scenes and in a completely personal view, just wasn’t keen on the whole mise-en-scene and camerawork of the short. It starts with the split-screen narratives of two contrasting families of a White British Male and a religious, Jewish European male. As the audience, we are placed on neither side as for yet and are being told this story through subjective character identification and in terms of narrative range; it is a restricted narration as we do not know the point of plot until the last scene. It could be seen as an episodic narrative as at first we think these two families are apparently disconnected but come together in normal circumstances, but as the end of plot reveals for the wrong reasons in terms of the white male. The first scenes include the contrasting moving images of two normal families completing what seems their normal morning routine so personally I wasn’t gripped at the start which I believe is essential as it is what makes the audience intrigued and interested. There was a mix of camerawork involving angles and movement, flicking from one to another, which I thought, was good as it was presenting just the average, rushed, family morning. In the car park scene, I thought although the diegetic music helped add realism, it was quite distracting as to focus on the significance of the conversation when these two males meet, as the audience suspect they are connected in some way and wish to make interpretations about how the plot will unfold.

Touch - Review (Written Version)

The short film ‘Touch’ was my favourite; it presented the life of a loved-up couple told through the touching of hand. The genre is mainly romance but can also be a hybrid as it involves loss of love one, appealing to the emotions and introducing sadness. The narrative is told through objective character identification as the story begins with a close-up of an elderly woman’s closed eyes which then from a quick fact cut, develops the story of two people falling in love and we as the audience follow their life in chronological order in the form of a montage of moving images. In every ones of these videos, there is the theme oh holding/touching hands, which is shown to present different emotions, such as love, courage, sadness and friendship. In Todorov’s narrative theory, there is a stable state of equilibrium throughout this short film, with positive disruptions, such as the lady giving birth. There is the recurring motif of the same close-up of the woman’s eyes to remind the audience she is remembering her past through flashback images, which is called an anachronic narrative in terms of Allan Cameron’s modular narrative types. There are also negative disruptions such as when she is holding her husband’s hand during his final moments, which is a sensitive scene, and we as the audience can’t help but feel sympathy for the woman who we have been placed with. In terms of camera works, there is evidence of hand-held work to add to the realism, as well as a good range of angles to show the significance of some scenes, for example when he proposed it was a high angle and through clever editing was coupled with close-ups of tracking the hands, mixed with a fast cut to the actual wedding. In addition, there were numerous transitions of mid-shots to show their emotions and the reason I think this film was successful was the huge range of different angles, sizes, transitions and editing to create a bigger effect. To again highlight the motif of hands, in some scenes, editing has been used to blur the rest of image but to remain sharp focus of hands, which helps be in keeping with the originality of the short.
For sound, there is a continuous simple, piano instrumental that is used to connote different emotions to go with every single scene. The purity of the music could represent the simple gift of love and family. I believe that the characterisation was really effective and the characters, both the younger couple, the old woman and at the end the decorator and her granddaughter; all presented that of normal people; making it easier to relate to them. The lighting was use differently for each scene, for example it was bright, sharp and high-key for the start of them falling in love which juxtaposes with the dark low-key lighting in her husband’s death, portraying the emotions of the characters; the whole mise-en-scene contributed to the atmosphere of the different videos and the versatility of what was happening in each scene. I liked how the plot ended with the same process of the start of her Grandmother’s relationship and what seems a new couple meeting for the first time and holding hands, showing how the process will start again in the form of a new family, leaving the ending open to imagination and interpretations; it’s the circle of life and a continuous narrative; this is what I think is most effective in terms of short films and why I chose this one as my favourite.