There are no risks apart from the weather - but that does not appear to be an issue, as shown in location research, the weather appears to be fine.
There is the risk that students on the school premises may be of inconvenience because they may not realise that we are shooting our preliminary task and create noise or distractions that may ruin our final edit.
Vicki is a happy go lucky girl, she lives her life with a care free attitude. Never allowing herself to be affected by the hardships the world throws at her everyday.
Leila is a young girl, aged 16. She is easily affected by the unfairness of the world, she is extremely sensitive, so it doesn't make it any better for her that her parents have just divorced from one another. Leila now has to face her peers at her school, forcing herself to appear as something she is not ... happy.
One day at school Leila is distraught and cannot contain her tears any longer. She is seen by a friend at school, Vicki, who is in no way similar to Leila. Vicki manages to uplift Leila's mood and change her life for the better. Vicki introduces Leila to a new way to look at life, Leila's life will never be the same again.
We plan to film on the school premises for our preliminary task, 'A piece of Happiness'. This means that the filming process will be over quickly and we do not have to travel to get shots. School is also an ideal location because our idea for our preliminary is set in a school which makes this location logical. Problems that we might encounter in this location are the noise from students playing outside, they could run in front of the camera and distract from our shots. The ringing of the bell could also be annoying, however both of these problems are completely normal in a school setting so it may not matter so much if they are going on in the background, as long as the do not interfere. Whilst filming we should make sure that we do not get in peoples way on site or distract from any on going lessons, we will do this by planning ahead and asking teachers for permission to shoot in particular areas.
Tripod - for balancing the camera and taking steady shots (media department)
Actors (two) - to play the characters in our short film (Hannah and I)
Camera Person - to do the filming (Bea)
Casual Clothes - for characters costumes (Me) This list is of paramount importance, without it those responsible in the production of our preliminary task will not know how to prepare for when we shoot, this could impact on our shots and overall outcome. It can also act as a checklist to make sure that we have everything we need before we go and film, it is inconvenient to interrupt filming.
I am preparing to conduct my audience research. I am doing research into my target audience because they are what makes my short film successful.
I plan to use a questionnaire as I feel they are a very effective and simple way of gathering information that my target audience will give me. Taking information in, in this way also makes it easier to compare results.
To be able to identify my target audience I must research into what age group my genre attracts, for my short film we have decided on the genre of drama. We predict that our short film will be a PG certificate with an audience ranging from around 11 years to 50. This is because there is no swearing or violence so it is appropriate for all ages. It has the possibility to attract family audiences as well as the themes tie in strongly with family and loyalty.
In the questionnaire I plan to ask what media products surrounding my short film appeal to them so that I can retain their interest in my short film. I can do this by promoting 'Hope is a Waking Dream' on the social media sites that they use to grab their attention.
After the completion of my questionnaires I plan to create a psychographic and demographic profile so that I can manipulate and use my data in a resourceful way. These profiles will include their media consumption habits, their interests and their hobbies.
Here are the questions I plan to use:
What do you expect from a drama film?
What is your favourite genre of film?
How much of an important role does media (e.g. music and film) play in your life?
How often do you consume media?
How do you consume media for example, what platforms do you use?
What social media website do you use most?
What kind of advertisement would attract you to my film?
What are your interests and hobbies e.g. sport and guitar?
Once we have completed a rough cut of our short film we plan to upload it to YouTube so that we can ask the original people we questioned to review our short film and give us constructive criticism. With this criticism we plan to improve 'Hope is a Waking Dream' so that it will be more successful and attract a larger audience.
A short film does not have to have an abundance of characters and does not necessarily have to tell a story, it is usually more of an event. In most cases the story begins as the film ends, like in Jaws, the beginning of the film is a short film, this then leads onto the feature film. This means that in short films there is less time creating a narrative and developing character, building up to an event.
An example of a short horror film is Lights Out:
Lights Out is a useful representation of what a short film is.
There is only one main character - the woman. It can be argued that there is a second character, the horror character. But primarily the only character is the woman. In Lights Out the character of the woman follows the conventional stereotypes - her character is scared, does what the audience expects, turns the lights out, looks to see if there's anything there. The mise-en-scene is typical of a horror movies like this as well, the basic apartment, pijamas, evening-time.
Lights Out is simply the event of the woman going to bed and turning out the light. This is what makes short films different to feature films, they are simply one event whereas feature films tell a whole story. The basic horror structure of this short film means that the audience know what will happen all the way through because of the typicalities of the genre. However the nature of 'Lights Out' still keeps them engaged as they still hope for the best, or get a thrill from the scare.
The film ends when the story begins - when the monster appears the opposite side of her bedside table, leaving the audience wanting more. Lights Out uses the turning off of the lights to build up tension to the end event. Flickering lights are disorientating and make the audience feel unsettled because you cannot see what is going on properly. It is a disruption of the equilibrium, and there is no resolution of the equilibrium established at the beginning so the audience feel very disconcerted. The actresses facial expressions also show the audience that they should be scared, they feel scared for her.
This abrupt ending makes the audience feel unsatisfied, they know what will inevitably happen to the woman, but want assurance of this, however there is none.
Establishing shot of Vicki walking along pathway. The camera then pulls focus on another character, a young girl - Stacy, she is roughly the same age as Vicki. Stacy is clearly distressed and unhappy. Vicki walks up to Stacy who is sitting on a bench, Vicki sits down next to her. It is silent for a while.
Vicki: "What's wrong" ...
[Stacy doesn't answer, she continues to look down]
Vicki: "What's happened ... is it anything I can help with"
Stacy: [Long pause, shakes her head] "I'm just so unhappy"
Vicki: [Pause] "You know ... I once read somewhere that 'happiness depends upon ourselves' and that is isn't just 'something ready made. It comes from your own actions' [Long pause] Basically what I'm trying to say is be happy for this moment ... because this moment is your life"
It is silent for a while, Stacy wipes away her tears, Vicki stands up and smiles down at Stacy, she extends her arm out for Stacy to take her hand. Stacy looks up and smiles back at Vicki and takes her hand.
Our Preliminary Task is based on the subject of happiness. To explore this subject we thought about how we could use quotes within our 60 second film to promote a sense of happiness.
"Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life." - Omar Khayyam
"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." - Thomas Merton
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; other whenever they go" - Oscar Wilde
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." - Benjamin Disraeli
"Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness." - Richard Bach
"A hug is like a boomerang - you get it back right away." - Bil Keane
We plan to use one of these quotes at the beginning of the film and another in the dialogue. Some of these quotes can be seen in our preliminary script.
This is also some of our inspiration for 'Hope is a waking dream' - our final film.
'Knock' is a short film directed by Deric Nunez in 2011. As a controlled assessment task I was asked to write an analysis:
How many characters are there and how
are they introduced?
There are two visible characters in
'Knock'. These are the girl who is shown first, and the boy who is only shown
over a video message on a computer screen.
The female character has a stereotypical
American accent and is presented with blonde hair and blue eyes, she is
preparing for her finals with implies that she is around 18 years old.
Firstly we hear her voice before we see her character who is sitting on her
bed, chatting with a friend. She is portrayed as being intelligent as she is
correctly answering the questions he is asking her related to her final.
The male character is
a stereotypical as well, with the same accent as the girl. He seems to be
older; maybe he finished his finals a year ago, as there is no hint of him
taking any exams. He is only ever shown with a medium shot of his head to
shoulders on a computer screen, a video call is taking place. There is a also the illusive 'character' of the knock. Although I do not consider this a direct character in 'Knock' I do accept that it has the potential to be a character, instead of just an illusive sound. This potential comes from the polaroid that the female character finds in her back pocket and the sounds that are created related to this character.
How is the story constructed?
The story follows a conventional
template where the state of equilibrium is presented and then broken in
that order. The equilibrium is the girl preparing for her final and her friend
helping her, this also includes her evening routine, such as brushing her
teeth. The equilibrium is broken when she hears knocking. The reaction shot
shows the break as her face shows confusion and anxiety linked to the
mysterious noise. A high angle is used to make her look vulnerable. Conventionally for a horror film
it would end with a man coming to victimise her/someone coming to save
her, but in this we see neither a man nor a hero. Instead it ends on a
cliffhanger, after the titles there is a still of her dead body. I think that this is a terrible place to finish the film because the majority of people do not watch further than the titles. However it completes the conventional story with an ending.
Todorov's theory, used above is a classic example of his theory of equilibrium, that there is equilibrium, it is broken, there is an attempt to correct the equilibrium/get it back, and then ends with equilibrium that could be how equilibrium was presented at the beginning, or equilibrium has changed. How is cinematography used to convey
meaning?
Cinematography is the art of
camerawork.
In 'Knock' the cinematography includes a
variety of shots mostly medium shots and close ups of the girl.
The medium shots allow the audience
to see her in a detailed way and also what she is doing. For example, when she
picks up the bat a medium shot is used to show the scared expression on her
face and also the action of picking up the bat. This allows the audience
to link the action to her thoughts, implying that because she is scared she is
picking up the bat as a form of self-defense.
The close up shots allow the audience to
see her on a personal level, going into great detail with her facial
expressions. For example, when she is talking to her friend there are close ups
of her face showing her blushing and smiling; these give the audience cause to
relate her to a conventional female character in a horror movie who is oblivious to what is going to happen next.
Some extreme close ups of her face
are used to raise the tension created in the short film. These show her face
portraying emotions such as fear, caused by the break in
equilibrium.
How is mise-en-scene used to convey
meaning?
Mise-en-scene is the scenery and props
including costume.
One way in which mise-en-scene is
used to create meaning is when she picks up the baseball bat as a reaction to
the knocking sounds she is hearing. This action means that she is feeling
threatened by the unexpected break in equilibrium and the bat shows the
characters fear for her safety as she is providing herself with a form of
protection. In this case low key lighting has been used too extremely as it affects the audiences view of what is actually going on.
The toothbrush is a prop that represents
equilibrium, when she is brushing her teeth the equilibrium is balanced, when
she drops the toothbrush it shows the break in equilibrium. This causes the
audience to feel concern towards what will happen because the balance has been
dropped not just figuratively but also literally (when she physically drops the
toothbrush from her hand).
How is sounds used to convey meaning?
Sound can be diegetic and non-diegetic,
natural or artificial.
Sound is used in 'Knock' to create
suspense. The low tone of the non-diegetic sound that contrasts with
that of the diegetic running tap water unsettles the audience, making
their subconscious link the non-diegetic sound to the horror.
The knocking sound is used to unnerve
the audience and bring about a sense of tension and expectation as to when it
will happen again. Knocking is seen in every day life as a normal sound,
therefore it should be connected to equilibrium, however the girls reaction to
the first knock triggers the audience to view the knocking from the same
perspective as her. It was unexpected, it breaks the equilibrium.
What areas could be improved and how
could they be improved?
I believe the continuity could be
improved, in particular when she picks up the bat. To me, a member of the
audience, it seems as though the bat comes from the air and just pops up.
Previously in 'Knock' there has been no content that would lead me
to associate this character with having a baseball bat and there is also
no way to see where it came from. From a conventional perspective the
unnatural is supposed to occur in horror films, but in this case it appears as
an underdeveloped idea that should have had more time dedicated to it, if it
was to be included. I would either take the baseball bat out completely to
eliminate the lost continuity. Or I would add content that would mean the
audience could relate the character to baseball. So I would place the bat in
her bedroom and show it in the establishing shot. I would also include base ball
in the conversation she is having with her friend "When can I see you
then?" "You can come to my base ball game and then we can hang out
after."
This gives the audience a reason as to
why she has a baseball bat.
What makes this a short film?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture
that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits".
'Knock' follows this definition. 'Knock'
also has a beginning, middle and an end that are the boundaries of what a story
is built on, therefore it can be classed as a short film.
By watching 'Knock' I have realised that to produce a strong film I must have a strong narrative story-line that engages my audience. To do this I will apply theories that I have studied such as Barthes Enigma Codes. This can be seen particularly in 'Knock' because the audience know exactly what will happen in a typical horror movie such as this but it is human nature to think 'Oh no, she's not going to turn out the lights?!'
