Institution and Audience Research
Short films are made to impact the viewers within a short period of time as opposed to feature films which present characters, stories and their development through a longer period of time. They are used by producers (and or directors) as a stepping stone towards the film industry; this is done by creating a name for them through presenting their film/s at festivals. Short films are usually targeted at producers looking to gather fresh new ideas and creativity.
Film festivals are where short films are usually shown, at events such as the London Short Film Festival and Edinburgh Film Festival. Various film producers are present at film festivals to scout.
One difficulty that short film produces face is budgeting, gathering enough money to help fund the production. Films such as Wasp were funded by the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund to clear music rights and promote the film at international festivals. The rest of the money was funded by FilmFour.
A second problem that short film producers encounter is that there are limited resources such as sets, film locations and equipment. Larger companies have access to a wide variety of resources whereas short film producers are only able to use what they can afford and have available.
Short film producers can get help from lottery funded organisations (FilmFour and the UK Film Council) to help raise funds and provide locations to film. Software and equipment can also be provided in to help with post-production.
Report on short film: Wasp
Analysis:
Wasp was developed by Andrea Arnold in 2003 and focuses on a brief view of a single mother of four’s life. The film begins with the mother holding her baby with her children approaching another family to engage in a fight despite being with children. Immediately we notice the setting which is a council estate and we notice from the costumes that the baby is not wearing a nappy showing the lack of money in the family. The camera shots are fast paced symbolising her hectic or chaotic lifestyle.
After this we see Zoe (the mother) walking with her children across the road and notice the mise en scene and how the way the mother is dressed does not represent her attitude (flowing hair, beautiful coloured dress). She then sees an old partner (Dave) and arranges a date with him, telling him the children belong to a friend, leaving the children waiting by the roadside with many cars going past to portray danger. Once the family goes home we have a look at their home which is cramped and untidy. The baby drops his/her pacifier and Zoe (whilst on the phone) then picks it up, dips it in sugar and places it once again into the baby’s mouth, she then feeds the rest of the children with a bag of sugar; this shows that she is neglecting feeding the children correctly.
Zoe is on her way to her date and decides to take her children with her and Dave is not aware so Zoe has to leave her children outside the pub in the car park, neglecting them. Once again in the shots with the children we see many cars racing past showing the dangerous situation once again. The mother comes out briefly after not being able to afford a round of drinks, she brings some crisps to her children. She shouts at them because they wanted more food, then we see that she bonds well with her children despite all of this and begins dancing and playing with them.
Later into the night the children are still outside when Zoe gets into Dave’s car with him. The children are told to make their way home in yet another dangerous situation. Eventually the children sit down and find some dropped chips and rush to get it. There are wasps nearby hovering around the food and one crawls into the baby’s mouth.
Budget:
The project received a total production budget of £53,250 and fifty per cent of this amount was awarded by the New Cinema Fund. FilmFour had given the rest of the money. As well as this, additional funds were made available by the UK Film Council to clear music rights and promote the film at international festivals.
Festival History:
2005 Oscar® for Best Live Action Short Film.
2005 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film
2004 Bermuda Shorts Award at the Bermuda International Film Festival
2005 Short Filmmaking Award, Sundance Film Festival
2004 Best Live-Action Short, Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival
2003 Best Short Film, Stockholm Film Festival
2004 Best International Short Film, Regensburg Short Film Week
2004 Best of the Festival, Palm Springs International Short Film Festival
2004 Main Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Honorable Mention, and Prize of the Ministry for Development, Culture and Sports, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival
Promotion:
Wasp was only promoted by being shown in festivals, no posters or advertising were made.
Report on short film: About a Girl
Analysis:
The film opens with a girl dancing upon a hilltop, with a blue sky in the background, this alone creates an impression of the girl featured during the film. However, the next scenes are shot on the streets with a bleak look to them, and they become progressively greyer as the film goes on, it begins grey skies and a muddy football pitch. The camera follows the girl as she walks down the same bleak streets, showing multiple flashbacks of her in different situations.
Throughout this time, after each sentence is finished, the camera cuts to the same girl from a different view, possibly to emphasise the fast paced lifestyle of the girl. The film gradually becomes greyer to signify a loss of childhood. Irony seems to be the theme of the film, about the girl and about her life. Towards the end, a crane shot is used from above, to force the viewers to judge or look down upon the girl.
Report on short film: Home (Morag McKinnon)
Analysis:
Made in 1998, Home was a story about a social worker investigating the living conditions of multiple houses in Scotland; visiting various houses and helping those who are need of help and looking into complaints. The film has a view on people and a job that you don’t normally see. The film features some unique characters such as the two blind brothers, right at the very start of the film, possibly to have an impact on the viewers.The script was written by a friend who had experienced these events.
Home did not feature actors, but instead had advertised for people who would fit the part of the story; the two brothers at the start had no acting experience yet they took their part very seriously. The film shows small every day moments to show moments that we don’t acknowledge. Home also features the writer’s mother (another sign of a non-actor cast). The film also features humour yet there is also tragedy. More unexpected moments occur towards the end of the film, the suspense built up in the final scene, created by dark rooms and lighting ends with the man having a donkey stored in a room which comes as a complete shock to the audience.
Job roles – Director
Before deciding which job role would apply to each person within our group, we had a discussion amongst ourselves outlining the different aspects covered during the production of the film.
Job roles
Director: The director is responsible for the overall style and visual quality of the film by monitoring the actors and their performance. This is done through the script and how scenes are presented, all through the process including post-production and editing.
Cameraman: The cameraman’s role is responsible for shots, angles and how they portray certain images. Ensuring the appropriate shot is used for the moment. The Director can work closely with this to help show a character’s emotions to create an appropriate mood.
Costume, design, props/Mise-en-scène: Mise-en-scène covers the different aspects of individual scenes, this includes; costumes; hair; makeup; set design and props.
Lighting and sound: Lighting and sound is responsible for the audio and lighting of shots and scenes. Working with mise-en-scène they can use appropriate lighting and sound levels to create a specific atmosphere.
My job role within the production is
Director.
In our production, my role would be to complete the script and ensure that they are successfully conveyed through the actors; how they move and portray themselves, as well as sounds and images. The director’s main jobs include editing the script, casting the characters, shot composition and editing and editing.
The directors must use the script to create a vision for the film and also direct the technical aspects of the filming process, working with the other job roles to manage the lighting, camera, sound and design. The director would also supervise the special effects but as our film will not be featuring effects, this will not be necessary.
During the post-production portion of the film, the director works closely with the editors through many processes, helping decide which scenes should be used or scrapped and motivating them to produce the best overall results possible.
My role within this production would require me to work closely with everyone ensuring that the script and the artistic vision of the film is conveyed through the lighting and sound, mise-en-scène and camerawork. In order to do this successfully, I would need to be determined, have an attention for detail as well has having an understanding for the entire process of creating the film.
Analysis of Film Posters
In order to create our own film poster to promote our short film, it is necessary to compare and analyse a range of film posters that explore the same themes and comparable ideas.
Sunshine Cleaning shares a similar idea with our short film, though it approaches the matter in an entirely different manner. The poster shows that the film is based around the idea of crime scene cleaning, however the colours and the title suggest it is presented in a more light-hearted way. The blue, white and yellow being positive colours (placed on an equally light-coloured background) combined with the font connotes femininity as well as the way it is stylised. Our short film is also based on this idea, but has a more realistic view of the situation. One idea would be to make our poster with an overall darker colour scheme as it focuses on the more difficult side of being a crime scene cleaner, and darker colours symbolise masculinity: a key theme in our short film.
Looking for Eric shares a few similarities with our short film. It is a British film featuring a single protagonist, much like our film.
This poster has more focus on masculinity than ‘Sunshine Cleaning’ by using a darker, more masculine and thick font, as well as showing two male characters quite clearly. This style would be more suited to our film as it is an important factor. The colours used are darker and more serious, yet there is an element of humour; the I in ERIC is an image. The red is used as a symbolic colour, possibly representing Manchester United, as it plays an important role in the film. The character’s coloured collar in the corner represents working class (blue collar) and is a theme that is explored throughout the theme. The grey is used to show a separation between the two characters, as the central character is in colour as normal. Eric Cantona is blown up and this gives him a seemingly godlike depiction, whilst the other Eric is shown smaller in the corner, looking upwards as if to show he is worshipping.
This is England is a gritty story and the poster shows this, using darker colours than the previous posters for the most part. This is something that could be incorporated into our poster as we explore the gritty nature of everyday life. The poster shows a light blue sky (background) above the characters leaning on what is shown as a grubby metal grated fence, cutting the poster horizontally to show a contrast between their difficult lifestyle and that of a life of opportunity and potential fulfilment.
The way the characters are set along in a row shows a generalisation of teens, as well as this it gives us a clear view of the diversification in the cast of characters, showing that of different race, gender and more importantly; age. The young age of the main character is shown clearly here as he is shorter than the remaining characters.
I am analysing the poster for
The Line as it is a short film, like ours. The first thing that is noticed about this poster is that it is visually striking, using vibrant colours. The white, red and black are all bright colours and they use each other to stand out. The abstract style of the poster helps it stand out and have its own image however it shares similar colours and perhaps even a theme to Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock. The line is shown in a zig-zag possibly to represent confusion or struggle.
Review Analyses
In order to write a review of my own short film once it is completed, it is necessary for me to take a look at various other reviews, and then compare and analyse them. This will give me a guideline as to how film reviews are structured and written in a certain style, using technical lexis and terms. Some critics even spread satire throughout their reviews. I will look into all of these ideas and decide which style is most suited to me.
Compare and contrast two film reviews
New Moon (Guardian) and Johnny Mad Dog (Sight and Sound)
In the New Moon review, you can immediately spot that the writer is implementing a satirical style of humour. After this we see that the writer goes straight into criticising the style as well as giving the overall story of the film without a large amount of detail. The review generally does not focus technical aspects but more so on the characters and the actors themselves; almost ignoring various points of the film such as the mise-en-scene, mainly because of the target audience which in this case would be casual film watchers looking for an opinion.
Throughout the review you can notice an absence of film lexis in comparison to the Sight and Sound review, making it more accessible to a casual audience. Narration appears to be the main focus of the review, whilst adding in occasional bits of humour as it mocks the film, showing what would appear to be a lack of respect towards the film which gives us the overall impression of the film and the style and direction in which the review is heading.
The Sight and Sound review for Johnny Mad Dog is written in a completely different style, appealing to almost a niche audience, but because of this, the review can focus on the technical components of the film, something film enthusiasts and avid movie watchers will appreciate. Another difference in the review is the length, which is noticeable straight away. It is far longer than the New Moon review and every other newspaper film review. Because of the length, the different paragraphs are able to criticise different parts of the film. The first paragraph focuses mainly on the director/directing, while the following tell us about the background, the characters, the mise-en-scene and finally a conclusion.
Due to each paragraph focusing on a different aspect, we gain more insight into each of the topics in much more detail than possible in the New Moon review. The standard of the review is on an entirely different level, using a far wider range of vocabulary and film-specific lexis that the previous review could not even come close to; enabling the review to be far more specific which would guide readers through aspects of the film they may have been weary about.
The style of the reviews are completely different and it is immediately apparent, one is far more accessible; aimed at a casual audience looking for an opinion on an upcoming hit while the other targets media and film-buffs as well as media students and various others looking for an experts opinion.
Kenny film review
Link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/09/24/kenny_2007_review.shtml
Kenny (2007)
Kenny is a mockumentary film based on a blue collar worker, and his daily routine working as a portaloo plumber. This is a similar theme to our short film, focusing on a single character going through an unpleasant job.
The overall review is fairly short but gives a rough outline of the cast, praising them for how well the film was written, directed and how the main actor is ‘simply brilliant’. This sets a guideline for the entire course of the review. The review uses film-specific idioms such as ‘gross-out comedy’ but the general manner of the review is brief unlike that of Sight and Sound reviews.
The review is split in half by placing a quote in bold with a larger font, to indicate a topic change, making it somewhat easier to read. The writer then goes on to give an overview of the character and occurrences throughout the film rather than how the actor performed the role, once again using more specific terms like ‘madcap set-pieces’. The reviewer comments on the style of the film feeling out of place at first, but then goes on to praise how funny the movie is.
Sight and Sound
Linked with the British Film Institute
Started in 1932
Published monthly by BFI
More intellectual reputation than other film magazines
‘An Education’ Review
Review opens with film context
Second paragraph also includes brief background, context, films that deal with similar themes. Puts film in the context of director and film writer’s previous work. Film heritage.
Third paragraph outlines the setting of the film itself, information about the story such as the era the film is set in and giving us a brief look at two of the main characters, their age and lifestyles.
The fourth paragraph explains some of the director’s other work and the differences between the film being reviewed (An Education) and previous films she has been involved in. It then shows us the style of the director in other films and how that style is incorporated into this film. Short look at the directional style of this film.
The next section focuses on scenes and how the director uses the mise en scene to expand on the character. It then continues to give more details on various scenes and the changes between them; commenting on how the different scenes represent different aspects of the character. The art style of the film is looked at and briefly discussed.
Paragraph six tell us about the writing style and the film’s script, which shows how the writer’s usual style fits in with the film in question. How some characters are created by certain types of dialogue giving them a unique personality. The review then comments on the acting aspects of the film, but only with one actor.
The seventh paragraph criticises on other films within a similar genre, which in this case is a comic recreation of an earlier time. It then goes on to mention how this film is different. The script is then briefly revisited and explains how it works in collaboration with character/visual direction to symbolise certain points rather than being brash. How themes and ideas are dealt by the director and screenwriter.
Paragraph eight comments on actors and some character’s personality traits key ideas and how they are handled with a link to British culture. Criticises the closure of the film, and how well it fits. The main character is compared to one from another film (Juno)
The ninth paragraph comments on the performances of the actors, what the characters are trying to do, or achieve.
The final paragraph is a summary of the film and the message it is trying to portray.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The first screenshot shows an almost blue sky being covered by clouds as if to connote that there is something deeper and darker than what we initially see. The only character on screen possibly signifies that there is only one major character throughout the short film, and the fact that she is covered by the light leaves the audience wondering who she is at first.
Rather than having an establishing shot to set the scene we went for a completely different approach, we begin by showing everything close up to signify a 'hands on' approach, similar to his job. At this point, the audience is still unaware about any characters and more importantly, who the main character is and what he does.
In this shot it looks almost as if the girl is looking to or for something, this could imply that she feels quite alone. Her phone is also visible on her lap but is not being used, this coincides with my previous point about the girl's loneliness.
After the introduction we jump straight into showing the character (Paul). The mise-en-scene here gives a white, almost chemical feel to the scenario. This was something that someone pointed out to us during our audience feedback, however, this was not intentional. Much like how in the opening shot of About a Girl, the clouds cover the blue sky to signify something darker, this was also unintentional.
In this shot we see the girl continuing her walk but this time we see a bridge behind her. The bridge however is instantly noticeable, we see the graffiti which symbolises the harsher living conditions that the protagonist is used to.
This shot briefly shows Paul on a day off or in between jobs, organising his social life. We wanted to show the audience that he isn't completely alone in what he does. In this shot we also see a road which the audience would assume to be somewhere near where Paul lives. You can see from what is shown that he is not in a high/upper class location yet he is not in an area with harsh living conditions such as About a Girl.
This screenshot shows the girl during a time that is unconnected to her long walk. We see the girl and an male character who is connected to her, though there is a noticeable age difference. The fact that neither of the characters are making eye contact with each other could possibly signify that there is no relationship between them.
Much like the shot shown just before from About a Girl, we see the protagonist engaging with another character. We wanted to show that he is almost looked down in his life so we tried to encourage the server (played by Joe) to skim his eyes briefly over Paul as he was counting his many coins.
This shot places the girl in the centre of the scene, showing that she is the main character of the story. As well as this, the camera zooms out to make her seem smaller in comparison to her surroundings, this could show that she is very minor in the grand scale of things - yet she is the protagonist of her own story.
Unlike the shot shown before, we aimed to show that Paul is clearly important in some way, he takes up the majority of the shot and is placed in the centre. We also show the audience that Paul doesn't have much free time to eat or drink, and he has to do so during his work. We wanted to get sympathy for the character.
In this shot, the girl passes the carrier bags to her sister whilst walking with her and the mother. She then places her hands back into her pockets as if to represent a typical teenager's attitude, trying to disconnect from family.
Rather than showing that the family tries to disconnect from one another like in About a Girl, we tried to show how close they were. Staying close together whilst walking off after playing football on a field. Paul's arm over his son shows how close they are to a certain extent. All characters have their hands out of their pockets and are not avoiding physical contact.
A less serious shot showing the main character in a happier light. During this scene she talks about her friends and we seem them singing and dancing. It would appear that this is the only time throughout the duration of the film that we see another character on the same level as the girl.
Much like the screenshot above from About a Girl, we wanted to show our main character enjoying himself. He is happiest most when he is with his children, this is seen by his happy expression and the 'high-five' between the father and daughter.
A very dark shot showing the canal that she has been walking along during the film. The water is shown as dark and uncertain and she stops here to end the purpose of her walk. During this, the audience may be under the impression that something dark may happen.
Something that becomes noticeable in this shot is that the daylight has now become darker, this is because his work day is almost at an end and that it gives the entire scene a more negative effect. During this scene, Paul delivers some of the most important lines in the entire film. He talks about the pressing issue of his children and his daughter possibly being taken away from him.
An absolutely morbid final shot. Taking the audience by complete surprise, even if the previous shot had given the impression that something was about to be revealed. This shot wraps up the entire film and manages to leave a lasting impression on the viewer by being so graphic and unexpected.
We wanted to follow the convention of having a powerful last shot with a lasting impression. We had to build every event throughout the duration of the film to lead up to this point. We end the film simply showing the crime scene-do not enter tape so that it strikes the audience, they understand that he isn't just a cleaner, he deals with 'morbid' sights day after day.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
POSTCARD DESIGN - THOUGHT PROCESS
I initially thought that a shot focusing more on the family element of the film would be appropriate for my postcard design. It then occurred to me that this picture wouldn’t be suitable for a film poster/postcard, it wouldn’t capture someone’s eye, nor was it particularly interesting.
This picture captures Paul in a more casual style, making the most of his time out of work, enjoying a walk. To someone who hadn’t seen the film, this wouldn’t be visually striking nor would it mean anything. This picture on a postcard would be quite bland, especially in comparison to the final design.
Simply a shot of Paul’s work equipment/bag. This picture was nearing towards something that I wanted in my final design, something simple but with meaning, not giving away the main point of the film yet managing to show what it was about.
Similar to the previous shot, yet this shot of the bucket is somewhat more simplistic and less jumbled. The contrast in colours is something that I could see working in a final design.
A shot of Paul’s name tag. The worn out look of the I.D gives the impression of someone who has either been working for a long time or somebody who works hard – something important to our film. The shot manages to show that he is a cleaner, without giving away too much, though it doesn’t stand out.
This shot is more focused on Paul taking a quick break from working. You are able to see the stress and discomfort on his face. The idea behind using this shot was that it put emphasis on the point of a single main character.
This screen grab focuses more on the family element of Paul’s life, however the colours are not striking enough to capture somebody’s attention or draw them in.
A shot of Paul in Oscars pizza, reading the menu. There was nothing particularly interesting about this shot, leading me to think I had gone in the opposite direction of what I had wanted.
The final postcard design. I had managed to create something both visually striking and simplistic, the contrast between the bright yellow and the grey background causes it to stand out more. I lowered the contrast on the picture itself to show the darker stains on the gloves more. The title itself in the centre seemed appropriate as it seemed simple and managed to stand out.
^This is how the postcard finally turned out.^
The film review is as follows... ‘Job.’ Is a simple film with serious undertones. Following various days of Paul Bison’s working schedule, we are given the chance to see a father at work, coping with the stress of everyday life, doing what he must do to support his family.
The film is set in the genre of a documentary, yet the filming crew (or audience) is rarely spoken to directly, often leaving you to wonder if this was intentional or just a minor error that had been overlooked. Though this is only a trivial matter, it doesn’t take away from the main focus of the film; family. As we discover more and more about Paul, we learn that what motivates him is his family, more specifically: his son and daughter. Though only appearing briefly, their roles are well played by Cameron Coleman and Paige Relf, capturing the essence of fun-loving children.
Geoff Shephard as Paul Bison seems almost perfect, his performance style is simply ideal. His lines are delivered just how you would expect from someone in his situation. The entire performance was completely natural, and it seemed as if that was key element for the success of the movie. The mise-en-scene was spot on, no special effects were needed to show off, the set-design does that by itself.
Some scenes were quite frankly confusing, one of the only negatives I can say about this film. A certain unmentioned (for those of you who don’t want to be spoiled) scene on a field featured a character which baffled the staff here at FilmFilm. We were confused as to when this scene was set in the timeline of the story.
Though there is some minor confusion, it doesn’t manage to ruin the film in any way whatsoever, the film maintains its originality throughout and the character is perfectly portrayed, allowing us to empathise with him, just how the director intended.
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The film review page is similar to theme of our film. It has the same white/chemical feel as the mise-en-scene shown throughout Job. It was extremely difficult to write the review without giving away the main points of the film. I wasn't aware that we had to base our film review page on one from another magazine, so mine only resembles existing film magazines slightly. I tried to go with a more casual approach with the review, rather than going in and targeting film-buffs that read magazines such as Sight and Sound. I used language that isn't specifically for media enthusiasts but not so basic that it would be a waste of time for the reader. Rather than going for a star rating, I went with a percentage rating instead; this was because it could seem to have more accuracy than a simple five stars.
Audience Feedback
Option A
Listening to the audience feedback has shown that the main aims in our production have been put across correctly. Listed below is a summary of various pieces of feedback and my opinion. My personal comments are in red.
+ Are positive feedback
- Represent negative feedback
(Student 1)
+ Liked the monologue and the narration, felt that it develops focus on the character.
I was pleased with this as it was one of the main focuses of our short film; we wanted to viewers to empathise with the character and understand the character and how he develops.
+ Well framed, perfect.
+ Content and idea were good. “Could easily be a short film.”
- Too many transitions on the stairs scene. This was something that was immediately apparent to us. It was done deliberately because the shots we had gathered of the scene had both sound and consistency errors and had to be temporarily masked. We have re-filmed the scene on the stairs from different angles.
- Some long winded shots.
We have used this criticism and have shorted a vast majority of our scenes, mainly the introduction.
(Student 2)
+ Perfect sound. This was due to careful sound editing from James and Joe. Some of the music had to be manually looped and mixed so that it sounded smooth.
+ Can identify that it is his family.
+ Good acting and directing. Something that I personally felt was crucial to how well the film would turn out. The character direction and acting needed to be believable in order to empathise with the character.
- Head goes out of frame. Appears she is referring to the scene in the ‘front room’. This was actually intentional, as we wanted to show the small sized room and we had to try and not show the inside of either door on the sides.
- Scrubbing in the introduction/opening scene goes on for too long. Something that we also noticed, but the criticism was taken onboard and introduction was shortened by about roughly 30 seconds and we felt that we didn’t lose anything in the process.
(Student 3)
+ Simple, clear story.
+ Sound, clear and even.
- Family scene, confusion over the mother/wife. The scene of the family on the field can appear confusing as the wife is still in the shot. Our original aim was to have her dressed in white to show that she had passed on. Since this idea did not happen, we had to edit the colour of the scene to show that it was set in the past.
- Set design: front room - wasn’t sure of the setting until he said it. I personally disagree with this statement as the set design was carefully laid out to look like a front room of a house, the coats hanging on the hanger, the shelves and the photos.
(Student 4)
+ Mise en scene.
+ Repeatedly associated with the colour white, the walls and the costumes. It gave it a “chemical atmosphere”. This was actually unintentional, but it managed to give the film more emphasis on Paul’s routine life and how most of his days and activities are quite similar.
+ Idea was simple and portrayed effectively.
+ Last shot was brilliant and effective. One of the main aims of our film was the ending. We needed to engage the audience enough for them to be surprised by the ending. We were relying on this fact to deliver our message and it seems it was successful.
+ Framing was perfect.
+ The music had a positive feel at the start, but by the end of the film, the music felt more morbid. This wasn’t entirely intentional but I am pleased that the idea of the character and the music felt more.
- Drops out of frame. Contradictory with her previous comment about framing but she may be referring to the scene in the ‘front room’. This was deliberate as we had to keep the actual doors and the rooms out of the shot.
(Student 5)
+ Transitions were long enough, used at the right times. I actually disagree with this ponit because the stairs scene at the time had too many transitions; it was before we had cut it down. Afterwards, we had removed a transition to smoothen out the scene.
+ Music fits with the theme.
+ Locations are fitting, liked the last one.
+ Good costume designs.
+ Dialogue tells the story, things that people don’t necessary know about.
+ Liked the reveal at the end. Once again I was pleased with this because our film was relying on the reveal presented at the end of the film.
(Student 6)
+ Documentary style.
+ Empathise with the character. This was integral to the way the story is presented; we were aiming for the audience to have sympathy and understanding for Paul and this was mainly done by his dialogue.
+ Titles.
+ Set design of the rooms. As the production designer, James had to carefully layout the rooms so that they could be re-designed to look like something within a home environment.
+ Comes together at the end. Again, this was something we were relying on. The ending was fundamental. Both me and my group are pleased with the audience’s response.
- Not sure if the second field scene is the same day. The scene on the field seems to be the cause of most issues, as well as the issue with the mother (listed below); she was meant to be dressed in all white to symbolise that she had passed on. At the time of filming, time was an issue and the costume was not arranged. What we had planned to do instead was to edit the scene, altering the colour to show that it was in the past.
- Is the mother still alive? ^ Explained above.
(Student 7)
+ Opening shot
+ Costume sets him up as a cleaner
Although you don’t know he’s a crime scene cleaner until the end. As mentioned before, we were hoping to have this effect on the audience.
+ Variety of shots.
+ Ending shot.
- Inconsistent levels of sound. On the field, quickly becomes quiet. When we had presented this scene, the sound had not been correctly mixed. The issue had been resolved shortly after.
- Long winded scenes. This was one of the main criticisms we had received, the majority of the scenes were shorten and the overall length of the film had been reduced whilst maintaining important events.
After this selection of feedback, our film was tweaked and the majority of the problems were addressed. Some where still confused about the scene on the field and the mother as we had run out of time and were unable to place a filter on the scene to symbolise that it was a flashback.
I asked multiple students for feedback regarding the ancillary texts, both the postcard and film review.
Postcard
The majority of them said the bright colour of the gloves helps it stand out. The simplicity of the title on top of the gloves works well. The actual picture itself was very good. I showed the darkened version of the gloves (on the final version) and the original brighter looking gloves; most of them agreed that the darkened version was more suitable.
Film review
The layout and design of the film review was thought to be realistic in the sense that it could be seen in a film magazine. However, they thought it lacked some colour, the background could have had a subtle pattern, effect or colour to make it look more professional.
I asked an English student for his thoughts on the content of the review itself. He thought that the review makes the film sound fairly boring, it also makes Paul seem like a boring character. It isn’t clear what Paul’s situation is. He wasn’t aware of what separates Paul from a regular father. What happens in the film isn’t clear either. The review doesn’t give any insight into the film itself and the reader would know nothing of what makes the character of Paul significant.
Post Title: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stage?
Most of the technology that we used was essential to the production of our short film. There are only a few alternatives to what we had used.
If we did not have access to the PD150 Camera we could have used one of the smaller, handheld video cameras available at our school. The PD150 however, produces much higher quality and was more suitable for our production overall.
Windows 7 was used at my home as the primary operating system, whereas at school I used Windows XP. Along with these, I used Photoshop to design the postcard and film review and Premiere to create the film. Serif Photoplus would have been an ideal alternative for Photoshop, the same designs would be possible in both programs. Avid’s Xpress DV would be one of the alternatives for Adobe Premiere, though it requires a more high-end PC to run smoothly. Microsoft Word was used to create tables, the majority of the documents used and more importantly: the script. There are a vast amount of alternatives, OpenOffice, Wordpad and more.
Instead of a DSLR camera, we could have used a digital camera for snapshots and on various occasions we used a camera-phone to take snapshots of a set design so it could be replicated the next day.
With the PD150 we attached a microphone, and multiple times we had used it with a boom pole. If we had not used the microphone, we could have used the in-built microphone within the camera itself, though the quality would be lower and it would not record sounds from a long distance.
Headphones were used during filming and during editing. Sound levels would have to be pre-configured before filming if no headphones are available. During editing, speakers could have been used as an alternative.
The scanner was used to upload our pre-production documents. As opposed to a scanner, we could have saved the documents as JPEG files and uploaded them to the blog, or taken pictures of the documents and uploaded them.
The majority of the skills I had used to develop my A2 project were the same as during AS level. The PD150 Camera was new to me this year, as was the boom pole. Though I had little hands-on time with the PD150 as I was not responsible for the filming. Using the boom pole was not a particularly difficult task but it was a skill I did not previously have.
I had enhanced my skills from AS level such as using Photoshop to create my poster and postcard and Adobe Premiere to edit and capture the film.
