Rough Version

Our group have made a scratch version of our film in order to get a sense of how the film is going to pan out. We used people within the group as this was only a rough version and done all of the filming around the school. The main purpose of this rough version is to see how the different shots and sequences will look together in terms of continuity. This also gives us a chance to see if any shots would be better in certain scenes so it gives us a chance to produce a better film. This scratch version will also give us an idea of how long each of the sections are and determine how much time approximately we can have on our own sections. With us as a group creating a rough version I think it was a great decision because it is very beneficial in terms of improving our chances of producing a better film.    

Outline of final decision

As a group we have come to a conclusion that our film will be based on the theme of obsession with a man who cannot come to terms with the fact that he and his girlfriend are no longer an item. Our film will have the genre codes and will follow conventions of a psychologogical thriller. Our film will be split up into nine different scenes with the duration going to be at least five minutes long. We have decided the scenes are:

1)     The first scene will be an answer phone where you will hear a number of messages from Alex to Melissa (Ex-Girlfriend) about them trying to arrange a get together with Alex becoming very angry.

2)      The second scene is going to be where the protagonist (Alex) will be at his house just slouching around. There will be a number of different edits showing this with Alex being in different positions and doing different things such as checking his phone, eating etc.

3)      This scene will be again in his house with him trying to write the perfect letter for Melissa.

4)      The next scene will be him delivering a letter at Melissa’s house with a number of edits from inside the house looking at the letter box. The different edits will show all the letters piling up to show she is not responding to him.

5)      The fifth scene will be Alex trying to get Melissa’s friends to tell him where he can find Melissa. They respond in a negative way by not telling him anything and telling him to move on.

6)      This scene will be set in a local park where Alex has sent Melissa a message to meet him but she never turns up leaving Alex very angry and annoyed.

7)      The seventh scene will be the scene where Alex meets up with his best mate in order to gain some good advice. This will be set in a pub garden with them sitting on a bench.

8)      The penultimate scene will be a number of shots that show Alex on the computer with him on a social network looking up Melissa.

9)      The last scene will be in Alex’s house with him sitting on a chair with a slow pan revealing the death of Melissa with her body laying on the floor beside Alex. 
  

 

Idea for my part of film

As we have chosen to divide the film up into nine different scenes this means we will be in charge of three scenes each. I have chosen three scenes in which I believe will show many of the skills that I have learnt over my time studying media. The first scene I will be shooting will be a scene where the main protagonist has chosen to go to his ex girlfriend’s house to leave a letter. The scene will also show the amount of letters that have not been opened with consistent shots of letters piled up near the door. These shots will last and least 3 seconds each with fades to show significant time has passed. The second scene I will be directing is a scene where the protagonist is met up with his best mate in order for some good advice. This scene will be set in a pub garden with them sitting on a bench having a conversation with each other. I will use a consistent amount of over the shoulder shots in this scene as it will be appropriate as they will be just talking to each other. I will also use some different shots such as two shots and slightly dominant ones to vary out the shots. The third scene I will be filming is a scene that the protagonist is waiting at a local park for his girlfriend to turn up. You will see him waiting there and becoming agitated because of no sighting of her. I will use a range of shots in this scene to show how annoyed he starts to become. I believe that these scenes are a great choice and will allow me to show my creativeness in terms of the psychological breakdown he is going through.

Idea of Narrative Structure

The narrative structure is basically the order of events in which something occurs and the point of view from which the events of the story are revealed. With discussing ideas for the narrative structure of our film in the previous meeting we have decided to display the film in chronological order. This means the film will be shown with everything happening in sequence starting with the events that have happened earliest to the events that happened last. The events in the film will obviously be on different days and we will show that time has passed by using fades; this will instantly show the audience that significant time has passed. At the beginning of the film we as a group have decided to show the protagonist to straight away introduce the mood and atmosphere of the life he is leading. For the duration of the film we have chosen to bring the protagonist into conflict (looking for ex girlfriend and harassing her friends) which will disturb the equilibrium. As the protagonist is becoming isolated the audience will then start to sympathise with him during the conflict. For the ending we have decided to have a resolution that ends with the protagonist dealing with the conflict. The film will be seen from the protagonist’s point of view as the story revolves around him.      

Pre- Production Meeting

As a group we have decided to hold a production meeting to sort out who is doing what and simply what is going to happen. We have decided as a group to take individual responsibility with having different parts of the film to produce and direct ourselves. We decided to split the film up into nine chapters with each person having three each as there are three in the group. In a film the location is very important so we decided on the best ones that would be appropriate. We also started deciding what actors we were going to need for the different scenes. Towards the end of the meeting we created a filming timetable which had what days we were going to be shooting what scenes we were doing. We also included information about meeting time and places as well which made everything more organised. It was very important as group to hold a meeting like this as it was very important for everyone in the group to know exactly what is going to happen over the duration of the project.

Short Film Research - Spin

This film has been cleverly constructed together with the subject of a DJ who is in the city to cure and rebuild everything in terms of saving people’s lives. The producer’s intentions for this film were to show you and make you aware that every little thing in life appertains with everything else. This film has been distributed to many film festivals with its implied audience being the film industry as this film is in the form of a showcase. With the film being shown at the different festivals, the people involved hope to get positive feedback about their work in terms of acting, camera work etc. The people involved with the film will then hope that it opens the door for new opportunities for them to progress in something more of a higher standard. The setting for this film is in the city which is needed in order for the film to work. This is where the different events happen in for the DJ to fix. This film would not exactly work if it was set in the countryside as there would not be much activity. Whereas the city has a lot more people in where there different actions affect other people and especially their lives in this film.

The film has a very high energy beat soundtrack which goes with the theme of the film as DJ decks are involved. The soundtrack throughout the film changes to different tempo’s to comply with the narrative of the film. Also the soundtrack corresponds with the speed of what things happen on screen. When the DJ is working hard at correcting everything the speed and volume increases to show this. The only main character in the film is the DJ which you see throughout the film, he controls everybody’s actions in the film to save their lives. The DJ towards the end does become quite impatient with having to correct everything but does keep doing it. I expect the film to have a certification of a 12 because of the moderate violence involved in the film. I do not think it would be suitable for anybody under the age of twelve to watch this film.    

Short Film Research - Inside

This film has been put together very well and is impressive in terms of showing a mental illness. The film is about a man who is locked inside a padded cell because he is mentally ill by having schizophrenia. At the start of the film you hear voices which indicate he is experiencing hallucinations. With the majority of the film you experience his split personality disorder in a room with many different characters. The producer’s intention for this film was to make you aware of someone who is experiencing this illness in order for you realize the capability of schizophrenia. This film is an awareness video that has been distributed to film festivals to also showcase the talents involved. This is also the target audience for this film as they want to show the people at the film festivals what they have produced in order for positive feedback. The film would be suited to an older audience as you would not really expect children to watch or understand what is going on. I would expect this film to be a certification of at least a 12A because it could upset anyone below that age in terms of the narrative. Also this film contains a more mature theme which would not be suitable for anybody younger.

In this film there are a lot of characters with two main characters such the mentally ill person and one of his split personalities. Throughout the film you see the mentally ill person mostly in every shot by seeing him from the very start and in the last shot of the film. This is because the film is based around this person. The other main character is one of his split personalities who is an older lady who is acting as one of the people in charge of the mental hospital in trying to help him. It’s only when you realise that when another person walks in the room and starts to ask him the same questions as the other lady you realise that something is strange. You then find out as an audience that she is actually not real and is in his mind with them saying the line “ I feel fine, doctor” which is the last line of the film. The person who has walked in is the real person in charge of the mental hospital. The other characters in the film are the ones who epitomize his different personalities. The film is set in a mental hospital which you can easily identify as one of the first shots is of the mental guy in a padded cell. When you see this you instantly can tell that there is something seriously wrong with this guy. The only other settings are of him being escorted down a dark corridor and the room where his split personalities take place. The sounds in the film are the ones of the different characters who portray his different personalities and obviously people talking. Throughout the film there is eerie music which corresponds with the freaky settings and actions that takes place.