Script for actors

This is the script we created for our actors to read and follow so they have an understanding of the film we are going to do before we get there. As there will only be one seen dialogue the actors will not have to remember the lines as the line can be easily remembered in the last scene.

New Treatment From feedback

From the feedback we received we changed our story board a bit as it was very confusing to explain, we also decided to get rid of the burnt hand for many different reasons. So overall we kept our locations; the number of actors. We decided to change the news report voice over to happen while the girl is jogging as she will be listening to the radio where the news report would break through while she is running.

Focus group/ pitch

The treatment from my last blog is what we are showing to our media class, to see their opinions on what we want to do and also if they have any feedback or improvements they think we can do to improve our short film.

The feedback was mixed as some people liked the idea of doing a burnt hand and some people did not like the idea of the burnt hand. They were also concerned about the health and safety hazards about lighting a match. Which i would like to state now, we was never going to actually light the match, we was going to show the person about to light the match but it then fades to black. 

Positive feedback:

• People liked the idea of having two different locations, one being the forest and the other being inside a cargo container. This is useful feedback as we know our target audience like the use of having more than one location rather than just having on.
• They believe that our short film is appropriate and we have the ability to create it. 
• We have a good number of actors as too many can be confusing/ over board.

Negative feedback:

• We did not really receive any negative feedback the main one was just about the burnt which i explained above.

Group Treatment

This is what we produced as a group to present to our class on what we want to do for our short film. This treatment allowed us to work closely as a team thinking and creating new ideas which we all agree on, which we believe will help us make the short film the best we could possible do 

We decided to go with my Idea 3, but as i said before in my blog there are a lot of changes we did to it to improve it so it suits all our needs. I am enjoying the group i am with as we are all able to get along, if we don't like an idea someones pitched or we don't understand, what i like about my group is that we don't hold back on our opinions and we also don't hurt the others persons feelings in the process. My group found better case studies to focus on that can relate to our film idea, i like this change as the film Ben is also has the location of a forest and how different techniques can be used to make the film better in itself. What i have gathered from this new case studies and also all the case studies i have looked at, they all involve two locations. A person in the group pointed out that we should do that too as it can  get uninteresting if everything was set in just one location. So from this our group decided to chose two locations which is shown in our treatment.

Production Plan

This is the production plan schedule. This is used to help me follow my deadlines and set targets for myself so i can blog my work before i even reach the deadline. If i do not follow this my coursework will be behind meaning i will not have anytime for any improvements which i may need to do or brush up on work which i may not have completed yet. By not following my schedule i will get confused and have to much work on my hands which may make my work scruffy which i do not want to happen to myself.

Reflection on practice task and video

In lone of our media lessons, we was given a task to create an extract from a scene in the film Breakfast Club. This was brought on to us, which did not give us a lot of time to prepare for and also we are just getting use to being in a group together. So this task allowed us to work on our team work skills and also each one of our strengths and weaknesses. Below is the short film we produced.

What I learnt?

In the process of creating this short extract from breakfast club with my group are:

• We need more work on learning the equipment in how to use it, such as when the camera is set on completely different settings, how to get it back to normal. 
• If we were to use the sound boom the person holding it will need upper body strength as the sound boom should not be seen within the camera shot, also the person holding it must be silent at all times as the slightest sound from them can be heard clearly or even loudly through the sound boom. 
• We need more practice on Final cut pro as we had difficulty finding out where items were on the programme, so to make it easy for ourselves the practice allowed us to mess around with the programme finding out where different items were.

Strength:

• The character got into role well as the breakfast club is an American film, so they put on American accents to make the scene more convincing.
• When we set up the equipment we worked well together with two people working on the sound boom and two people working on the camera, this allowed us to get it ready quicker to shoot the scene.
• The editing transitions occasionally were good as we used jump cuts and match cuts 
• We picked relevant footage to edit as there were good and bad shoots, as not every shot was perfect, due to forgetful lines and even mise en scene props getting in the way. (In one scene which we did not use the bag hit the chair, which made the actors lose concentration.) 
• We worked good as a team as a whole, in that we were able to set out roles to each other for good pointers in what to do or what to do differently next time. Also there was difficulty with the first person holding the sound boom, as they had difficulty holding it up out of the shot. So instead of complaining which some teams may do, we resolved it by swapping the person doing the camera with the person which was doing the sound boom. 
• The actors were able to pick up their lines quickly, which allowed us to progress quickly through the scenes as we was short for time.
• As a group we picked a good location to set the scene in a classroom, which is what the film is originally set around as the students were in a classroom together in detention. 
• The mise en scene in which we used was good because it allowed the actors to look like normal teenage students in a classroom. The mise en scene being casual everyday clothing, a bag in which students need to carry around their work in, chairs and tables which every single classroom needs for the students to sit on.
• The lighting set on the camera was at a good stage as it contrasted well with the lighting from the room giving us a natural lighting camera scene.

Weaknesses:

• We had a struggle with the first person holding the sound boom as they were to short to hold the sound boom above the actors heads and out of the scene. From this we now know to set clear roles for who is doing what so there will be no complications.
• Occasionally the acting was not taken seriously as there were times were the actors could not stop laughing which in turn affected the people behind scenes as it put them off and made them laugh as well.
• The editing was not the best it could have been as we were just getting use to the programme on where items were and what it looked like if added to the scene. Also we did not have enough footage to chose from as we were unable to be adventures on looking at the different camera angles.
• At times there was disagreement on set as in if the equipment was actually recording and also one of the actors decided to wear a hoodie in a scene and not in the others.
• There was a problem with a lack of knowledge with the equipment as we were getting to new terms with it as we learnt how to use it last year, but unable to refresh ourselves with the equipment before the scene. 
• We had a problem with the number of actors as we lacked a person, because the role was set out for three people but we only had two people resulting into one of our actors having too play two roles.
• We were unable to plan what we wanted to do as the short scene extract from breakfast club was sprung on us last minute to complete the task.

Rough group plan/ ideas

In our group we are undecided on whose idea we would like to go with or change. So as a group we decided to write down the ideas we liked from each one of our ideas and write down different location ideas which we could use that would work good with our film decisions.

We also took into consideration how much people we think would be a good number of actors to work with as to many may be hard to handle and to little will not make the film feel like a thriller.

We also agreed on sound which will be needed to make our film feel more realistic and scary as we all have agreed that we are creating thriller, which we know we should involve creepy music and different types of sound effects. We also touched on mise-en-scene items we would potentially need for our short film as we are starting to get an understanding on what we want to do 

Rough Plan To Show Group

Before i consult with my group i have decided to write down my favourite film idea of mine which i would propose to them and see what they think and if they like it, see what we can do with this idea or move onto somebody else's idea or even take pieces from my idea and mix it with someone else's idea. (Idea 3)

This will be very brief as i know it is not a perfect idea and changes will need to be added to it. 

Genre:

The film will be classed as a thriller. This is because of the gruesome scene which is not good for young children to be viewing as it can disturb them and may even give them nightmares (burnt hand)

Short Summary:

It starts off with natural forest scenery and a news report voice over explaining a murderer is on the loose. It then jumps to two people in the forest where one of them is the murderer, they end up having a scuffle where one of them gets knocked out, when they wake up another scuffle happens where kit ends up with one of them being burnt. It then fades to black. The end scene is an extreme close up of the burnt hand, which looks peaceful, then it attacks the camera. The film then cuts to credits. 

Professional films inspiration?

The nightmare on Elm Street inspired my idea as at the end Freddy Krueger got burnt which is where my burnt inspiration comes from. What makes my idea different to this is that it’s between two people rather than a lot against one and it includes natural scenery and a news report voice over.

Audience:

Is based at 15 and upwards, going by the national standards of a movie, as there are gruesome scenes in my short film.

Length:

The length of the film will be about 4 minutes plus, no longer than 5 as this is the maximum that we can do.

Logistics and feasibility:

I would need a DSLR camera, a sound boom, voice recorder, items to make the burnt hand. The location would be set at hollow ponds and I would need 2 actors, male and female.

Screened/distributed:

The film would be screened at college, and distributed on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Annotation of 'Mirror'

'Mirror' - Short thriller film. Created by Troung Do & Daniel Rodriguez on 9th  June 2013 (Published on youtube)
             - Produce & Directed by: Troung Do & Daniel Rodriguez
             - Written by: Daniel Rodriguez
             - Carl/ Ethan Coleman/ Telephone Operator by: Miguel Arce

The reason for why I chose 'mirror' as a case study to analyse about is because the film causes tension which is what I would like to cause in my short film as the genre is horror/ thriller. I looked into this short film to analyse the different ways in which they use the camera and the atmosphere around the actor to build up this tension, so from what I learnt I can use it in my own work to make people feel tensed about my video and feel worried or frightened that something is about to happen even though it may or may not come.

Summary

A teenage boy (close to a man) is in an apartment and the phone continually rings, but he keeps picking it up and hanging up straight away. When he finally answers the phone to listen to who is calling him, on the other line was somebody talking to him in a low voice, which is hard to hear. The teenage boy starts to panic and keeps trying to get off the line, but he doesn't as the man on the other line keeps continuing to talk. The teenage boy tells the person on the other line that somebody has been watching him. A letter than comes through the door which read 'no one can save you.' He then tells the person on the other line to tell everyone that their are bad people around and that they will kill people.He starts getting angry and he notices that he has received another note from under his door. Which this time read 'We know who you are Ethan.' The phone line then goes dead.

The teenage boy then looks at his reflection in the mirror and then the scene match cuts to somebody watching him through a computer monitor. It then ends with a man twirling a pen in his hand, then circling the teenage boys name, 'Ethan Coleman'.

Narrative Structure

The film is a non-linear film as it does not involve any flashbacks. As the film does not have any potential times for them to use a flash back.

How Are The Characters Represented

The teenage boy is represented to be vey anxious and panicky as he does not understand what is going on or happening around him. He is also represented as a normal teenager as it looks as if he is in a campus room in normal inside clothing (as he wearing socks, without shoes on).

The mysterious man is represented as evil as he knows what the teenage boy is going through but he allows it to continue as he watching him through the computer monitor.

Use Of Camera

Mise-En-Scene

Location
This short film used two different locations. The first location is in an apartment which is like the size of a university campus room. The second location looks as if it is in an office.
The locations they use in their short films are a good location as they are easy to use and for their film they did not have to use a big area, as they stayed the majority of the time in the corner of the room.

Costume
The clothing choice for the teenage boy was casual clothing, as in the beginning it just looked like he was stressed, also as the location looked as if he is in the university room. The casual clothing allowed him to be represented at first, as a normal everyday university student.

The mysterious man also looked as if he was wearing casual clothing, but i don't believe it matters in what he is wearing in the scene as you can't make out the clothing really, as it is all darkened out. What i can make out is that the jumper he is wearing could be made out of a wool material, thus why i said he is wearing casual clothing.

Props

The mains props used were the telephone; the mirror; notes; pen. These are the props which the producers had to make sure they had or the film may not of turned out the way they may have intended it to be like. Other props were items to make the room look as if it is a normal apartment and a normal office.

Editing 

They used fade to black at the end after the man circled his name. This could have been used to cause tension, making the audience believe they are going to see more and see what happens to the teenage boy. Instead they just cut to credits, which can leave an effect on the audience as they are sitting there wanting to watch more.

They used quick transitions showing short clips of ones scene and moving onto the other. This was used when the teenage boy was panicking, this effect emphasises the use of the character panicking, making look better than his actual acting skills alone making people believe he is panicking.

They use match cut as the teenage boy is walking around the room as the phone is ringing, this allows the shots to match as it includes a sound bridge in the background showing that these to different shots continue off each other.

They used a jump cut from when the teenage boy was on the phone to when the letter is being passed under the door, this cut causes tension as it is not an expected scene. Again this shot causes tension to the audience watching it and the scene makes people want to see what on the letter which they then used a motivated cut allowing the audience to see what has been written on the letter.

Sound

Dialogue was used throughout the scene, this allows the audience to understand what is going on as without the dialogue the scenes would be very confusing and hard to follow. The dialogue draws the audience into the scene as they have to stay quiet to understand what the man on the other side of the phone is saying.

Sound bridge was used at many different occasions, such as right at the beginning from the transition of the movie title until the close up of the phone. This allows scenes to sink with each other as you can understand that while the phone is ringing, he understands it is ringing, but does not want to answer the phone. 

Ambient sound is used as the ringing is natural noises which a phone produces, this makes the film more realistic as this is a sound you hear at anytime throughout the day (noise a room will make).

Target Audience

I would class the short film to be targeted at 21 year olds and over, as it may seem boring to some teenagers as they tend to have less of an attention span compared to someone who is 21.

What Ideas Can I Use In My Film

From this case study I have learnt that using a variety of camera angles adds confusion into the film as it is going so quick you don't know if something is going to happen in the scene. The film also uses a wide shot with a match cut to a mid shot to a match cut to a close up. This allows the audience to focus on what the director/ camera person is showing that this is the main product in the film. They also use a lot of close ups to see the reaction of the actor in the situation which they are in, this allows the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the actor as they are able to feel the fear of what the actor is going through.

They are also able to set a scene by ceasing the audience attention by creating a sound bridge which starts from the film title and continues into the first scene. This is an idea I can potentially use in my  film as the music or sound is able to set a scene straight away. For example if I decide to use a horror song then it sets the scene of something is going to happen because something is not going right.