Reccess, pre production task 5

These are the possible locations we are thinking about filming, however. it would be in the forest the deep spaces where not many people are to make it real, build suspense and so we get no sounds in the background. I believe these spaces don't need permission as it is public already, the cargo may be an issue depending on the time (s) we have access to it. These are still ideas and thoughts we would be thinking about taking the feedback from the focus group in consideration.

The first image Is the cargo, which is empty, and spacious. secluded and fits the stereotype of a killing scenario. It is accessible and easy to film in.

The second image is the hollow ponds location but in closer to the lake which we might or might not consider doing, the bushes make it a dark situation which is effective for the genre.

The third image is hollow ponds again but in the day, where there is more land, however we would probably use the darker inner hidden parts of the forest.

script for actors, pre production task 5

We would only make changes to the script if the story changed or change of actors. We as a team made this script for the actors, that we created on Microsoft word. To make the acting process more simple and easy, especially for actors that have bad memory etc, And it makes the filming a lot quicker as they know what they're saying.

Evaluation of pitch on short film idea (focus group)

Comments on feedback:

My action points would be that from the feedback we should alter a few of our ideas because of health and safety issues and permission,
such as:

 - Making it more simpler, for it to be short and effective.
 - Making the twist more easier to follow.
 - understanding who is playing what role.
 - understanding how the locations would look on camera and whilst we are editing. - How much sound we would use.
 - who is doing the voiceovers.
 - and how long the film should be.

 what will you implement:

 - things we would implement would be changing to make the plot seem realistic as possible.
 - we have agreed on what everyone wants to do in the team.
- we have agreed that we would still use special effects, for the tape, like cuts or blood.
 - As we have decided not to go with the fire scene as it is very hazardous and difficult to film.

 How useful was the focus group:

- the pitch was very helpful as we now know what works and what doesn't.
- we also wanted another opinion as they are the target audience.
 - we wanted ideas on the title even though that wasn't so relevant at the time.
 - we got mainly positive feedback which motivated us into thinking the idea was very thought out and planned.
- and would also work very well. This is the evaluation i created on blogger, where i just evaluated the key points adressed during the pitch, what we will change, what we will implement and what we think went well. This makes it clear for us to plan out short film as we don't want to plan a story that won't make sense or would not suit the genre or the target audiences preferences.

The Purge: Anarchy - Theatrical Trailer (Official - HD)

This is another example of a trailer, of a horror/action film, this is different to the short film trailer as it uses birds eye view shots that only a professional film can afford to do, they use different props, make up etc to scare like the masks where as Ben uses more blood and gruesome props, The purge is more realistic. This trailer is a preview of the actual film itself where as ours will be the film or maybe the beginning of one.

"BEN" (Official Trailer)

This is an example of a short horror film that inspired me and my team, we analysed in our treatment as we know what we should include, what works and what doesn't. Also we would think about using this as a case study in the later coursework shown in the brief provided.

Practice Task/ short film.

This is the practice short film we made, and edited.

Sound; Simone Graham

Actors; Shorai Shoniwa-forchin, Benedicte Beya

director and camera; Vijaya Pillai

In this video we edited the practice task, to learn editing techniques for when we actually make a video of our own. And it would also make us quicker and ask all the appropriate questions before hand, taking it under consideration for when we actually film, what would make our editing process quicker and of best quality.

Reflection on practical task:

 Short film reflection

Sound; Simone Graham

Actors; Shorai Shoniwa-forchin, Benedicte Beya

director and camera; Vijaya Pillai

What I learnt?
From the practical task I learnt how to:

• Use the camera correctly, recording only relevant footage.
• I learnt how to put the sound equipment together correctly.
• I learnt how to manage actors, sound and camera as the director.
• I learnt how to find settings that would be most appropriate for our short film.

Strengths?

The strong points of the film short film created were:

• Knowing when to switch roles if one person cant do that role.
• Good team management.
• Cheering each other when the actors were low in self esteem.
• The editing skills in our team was very good and would be good for the real thing.
• Preparing ourselves for the short film, deciding who is good for what specific role.
• One Actor got into character really well
• setting up equipment.
• Editing transitions were good.
• picking relevant footage to edit we did well.
• picking up roles quickly.
• Picking locations for realism.
• Learning the script.
• Mise en scene was good, props; bags
• Lighting.

Weaknesses?

The things we could of improved on for the actual short film would be:

• Not enough time to film.
• Film footage.
• Actors focus
• sound
• The focus on the camera kept changing so getting a better film camera for the real thing would be better.
• getting someone taller to do the sound recording.
• Acting wasn't taken seriously.
• Editing was hazy.
• disagreements on set.
• lack of knowledge for equipment.
• Lack of actors.
• wasn't planned.

The practical task showed us the handful of creating a professional media product in a small group of four, what we should consider when actually making the real short film and how to operate props, tools and mise en scene. What would work well with the equipment we are given. It also showed us we want actors with experience and we need two people to operate camera.

Treatment of short story, pitch of focus group (video made on youtube)

This is the raw video recording that was taken at the pitch we made and presented. It documents all the feedback we got and whether or not we agreed or if they mis understood. This will definitely help us create a recognisable and consistent short film, that will cover all requirements of the target audience and follow all of the codes and conventions of our horror genre.

Treatment, pre production task 5

This is the developed prezi, that we created after the pitch of feedback, we changed the narrative slightly, and made it more detailed and clear. We also considered health and safety options for when we are actually filming so we don;t harm crew, actors, or the equipment that is being borrowed.

Treatment (1) without changes

This is the treatment we made to pitch our idea to the target audience, presenting it. This is the draft before we got feedback. We decided on narrative ideas, miss en scene etc to see what our audience would say and would prefer.

Group Ideas

Narrative, =



dialogue,

actors, = Two characters, male and female

locations, 

genre, 

sound In this task we decided what the short film will contain in terms of mine en scene, actors, locations etc. What we need to consider, what might go wrong and how to resolve a situation. The type of narrative, what type of story this film will unfold.

Creative Ideas SUMMER TASK

Genre and Conventions

• 1 main horror genre with a comedy twist, set in a library.
• Special effects/ thriller/gruesome
• Horror- Gruesome, special effects, frantic girl, killer/forest, frightened female.

Style and Techniques

• Deep focus
• Black out
• No dialogue, for the forest story
• Close up shots
• Creepy music, make up , props.

Mise en scene

• Makeup, gory, pale skinned, knives, pens, books, shoes, heels, location; hollow pond, library, classroom, night settings, or it could be filmed almost anywhere. There could be bloody conventions used, The library could be used at weekends as it would be quiet.

People and Talent

• Actors- Reliable, good actors, performing arts members, six people, two people
• Talent- Mid talent.

Concept and idea

• Track/script
• creepy song
• sound effects ; rain, gushing wind, trees whistling
• non digetic sounds 
• minimal dialogue throughout script

This research helped me to establish what type of actors, conventions and styles would work for this type of story, what works, what has always been successful, what hasn't and how to make it different and unique to our own, To improve this I would add more ideas and maybe do a questionnaire asking people what they would prefer in their ideal horror movie with a comedy catch, The outcome from this research would be to ensure we focus on particular stories and themes, keeping it simple and linked closely together.

Three narrative ideas with genre in mind, SUMMER TASK

From this exercise I learnt the different types of narratives, how they work and the typical narratives that short films use, especially the differences in particular genres. To improve this I would deeply analyse the specialities of each narrative form and explore what they create and why they are particularly used. This research helped me decide what narratives would best suit my short film.

Extra Case study for summer task

I chose another case study to show the range of horror films you can get as some aren't as straightforward from the plot and storyline, whereas some are. This research helped me discover what codes and conventions i would also use in my own media product.

Timetoast production schedule

This helps me to organise my coursework, before the deadlines, keeping me aware using an online technology software Timetoast. To keep me updated whilst i am online instead of using the brief, and it is on my blog incase i need to go back to it.

Notes and analysis of two examples of short films, SUMMER TASK

In this exercise I learnt how short films are put together, how they flow consistently, what attracts the audience and what doesn't, I did this in order for me to decide what I should include in my short film and what doesn't work generically. The aspects I would improve would be the generic conventions and the genre to make It more interesting with an edge. From this I will know for sure that i would to involve two genres mixing them slightly.

Creative Ideas

These are the creative ideas we as a group thought about for our story. 

Second film example with linear narrative SUMMER TASK

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252 {\fonttbl\f0\fnil\fcharset0 HelveticaNeue;} {\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;\red51\green51\blue51;\red238\green238\blue238;} \deftab720 \pard\pardeftab720\sl400\partightenfactor0 \f0\fs24 \cf2 \cb3 \expnd0\expndtw0\kerning0 \outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 } This is another short film that inspired me and helped me decide what looks better, what intrigues better and what doesn't work very well. I chose this film because it is slightly different to other ones yet similar.

Two films, that relate to your ideas in terms of the horror genre.SUMMER TASK

From this research I learnt what short films of my genre are constructed, what to include, what is necessary to include and what is desirable. To improve this research I would establish key generic conventions that I would use and explain them further. The results from this research is to see the differences between a horror and comedy short film and the short film that is just horror. debating which one one works well and which one doesn't so much.