Teaser Poster

This is the initial teaser poster that we designed for our film.

It gives clues to the narrative (having things backwards) and the characters.

It also gives the address of the website for the film.

Target Audience

The age range we would be aiming for our target Audience would be 12/12a if not a PG. This because we won't be using explicit language, and if we do, there will be little andnot enouch to warrant a re-classification. The theme of the film isnt too disturbing but it wouldnt be understood as easily to a child audience. There is no sex witnessed in our film, nor violence or drug use.

The film will mainly be aimed at people of a secondary/high school age as the film itself is set in a school and it would be a familiar backdrop.

Our film is aimed at all ethnic minority's. There is no discrimination against either ethnicity however there are only Caucasian characters being used. However this is down to the school we are at being mainly Caucasian.


The gender of our film would be aimed at the male audience. This is because we havnt invested in using any female characters, and the main-protagnoists are male as well. However, we will incorporate the Female Gaze in our film by having either a topless man, or a short love scene, but these are not major plot points. With our film also being a Comedy genre, this will cross out the female audience as Comedy has been branded a more male film genre, the Rom-Com being totally different, but this hybrid genre has evolved into being completely on its own.

Our film will be aimed at C1C2(Middle Class) audience. this is because our characters will be of Upper/Middle class but the upper class will be victims of a mockery and from the view of a middle class character. Also the story may be too complex for a DE class or too boring. However there will be hints of the lower class which can draw them in as the character will be walking around town, through different areas.

Software

Most, if not all of the editing that will take place producing the film will be done in Apple's Final Cut Express 4.

We have chosen this program as it represents a step up from using iMovie last year with its wider array of editing tools and its ability to produce much higher quality work.

Me and my partner, Sam Thomas, also recently attended an "editing masterclass" using Final Cut Pro (a very similar program) at the National Media Museum, Bradford during the Cooperative Young Filmmakers festival.
We have a few books that we can also use as references in using Final Cut Express:
'Final Cut Express 4 - Movie Making For Everyone' by Diana Weynand (ISBN - 978 0 321 53467 5)
'Final Cut Express 4 - Editing Workshop' by Tom Wolsky (ISBN - 978 0 240 81077 5)


To produce music for the film we will be using Garageband.
In Garageband we will possibly use loops as well as some original recorded material (I have already wrtitten and recorded and instrumental demo of some original music).

To design the graphics (such as the posters) that we will be making during the production of the film we will be using Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 .

Locations

For our locations we decided we would need somewhere gothic to give the movie a more creepy atmosphere. We also needed it to be old fashioned as it would fit in with one of our characters in the film therefore we came up with these locations:

The school interior photo is an example of the general setting of the film.
The exterior photo will be used for the opening scenes of the film.

Useful Resources

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/270191/winning_a_short_film_festival_are_you.html?cat=59 - A nice article about how to organise yourself during pre-producition and the successful formulae of a short film.

http://www.filmradar.com/community/viewforum/6/ - A discussion forum for short films, part of a larger film forum site.

A book that we have which may be of use to us is 'Making Short Films' by Clifford Thurlow (ISBN-978 1 84520 804 2)

Analysis' of short films

Initial first detailed analysis.

Short film – Support @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_NrUKFhthQ

Video length – 1:40 (excluding credits 1:05 approx)

The film opens with a medium shot of a man who appears to be struggling on his hospital bed, the shot is shot by a handheld camera and is from behind an object as if somebody is watching the man on the bed. A heart rate monitor can be heard in the background signifying that the setting is a hospital.

It then cuts to a mid/close up shot of the mans face showing that he seems to be out of breath

It then cuts briefly to a close up shot of a drip dripping, further providing anchorage as to where the location is.

It then cuts to a long shot through a doorway showing the hospital bed and other items that further show that it is a hospital.

It then cuts back to the mid/close up of the man, still exhausted before cutting back to the first angle, the man is still struggling and seems to be trying to reach the heart rate monitor, the music here consists of a piano playing fairly sad/depressing chords

It then cuts to a close up of the mans face, still seeming to struggle before cutting to the heart rate monitors screen and then back to the first angle, with the man now seemingly grabbing for the life support machines plug

It then cuts to a close up of the plug being pulled from the wall, the last few shots were quick-pace editing.

It briefly cuts to a close up of the machine with lights flashing before cutting to a(n extreme) close up of the mans face, the heart rate monitor starts to beep increasingly before flat-lining, the man seems to be at peace and his eyes start to close and the beeping starts to fade.

Suddenly the man is woken up as his bed is knocked and the lights turn on as two doctors/nurses rush to the bed beside him, it then cuts to another close up of the mans face as he looks to the bed beside him

It then cuts to an aerial shot of the two beds showing a doctor trying to revive the other man with defribrilators

It then cuts to a close up of the man turning to his other side to see in shock that he has turned off the wrong machine

It then cuts briefly to the first shot again before cutting to a close up of the mans face.

The beeping continues as the credits roll.

Pound (2007/Evan Bernard)

• 2 men from a ghetto area do an over the top "secret" handshake.
  
  
• After finishing the first handshake they exchange a little bit of dialogue before they do another handshake.
  
  
• After the second handshake is finished the main character walks round the corner and sees another friend, as they start to do the handshake the film cuts to black for the credits.
  
  
• Same music track runs throughout the film

The Black Hole (2008/Phil and Olly)

• A man looks bored in an office doing some photocopying when the copier prints out a big black circle
  
  
• He puts it down to one side and then realises what it is.
• He uses it to steal from a vending machine and then goes to a vault and starts stealing money
• He tries to go too far in and the paper falls off the safe.
• No music but there are office sounds throughout and the black hole also has a noise.

Paintballing (2007/Grant Orchard)

• Animation of a big scale paintball fight
• Last guy thinks he is the only guy left and so kills himself, a siren sounds shortly after to signal the end of the game and everybody else gets up.

Surprise (2008?/Ben Dodd)

• Film noir style film in reverse of a man who is killed in a bathroom by being surprised by a cake.
• Dramatic music runs throughout
• A sort of Hitchcock style film.

Trapped In The Closet (2005/07/09/R.Kelly)

• Series of short films set to music (a hiphopera) by R.Kelly
• Set in a sort of soap opera style
• Parodied by Weird Al Yankovic (Trapped In The Drive Thru)

Potatoes (2002/Matt Smith)

• Spoof documentary about the origins of potatoes
• Comedy
• No music, just narration and some background noise.

This Is Slovenia (2007/Michael Frank)

• Documentary about living on the border between Slovenia and Croatia
• Music fits the theme and also plays throughout

Fallen Art (2005/Tomek Baginski)

• A very strange film about a group of men who get their kicks from making art by making soldiers jump off a tower.
• Most of the film is silent apart from the nonsense dialogue.

The Crusader (2008?/Gerard Monaco)

• A spoof documentary about a man who thinks he is batman and tries to sue Warner Bros. for mis-represenation.
• Black and White
  
  

Safety Procedures (2004/Richard Fenwick)

• The safety cards on an airliner come to life.
• Animation
• Voice over of a flight attendant giving a safety brief.

Bus Kong (2008?/Ed Hartwell)

• Animation about the Routemaster bus
• Follows rough narrative of King Kong
• Political themes?
• Tense music runs throughout - seems disjointed

Average 40Matches (2007/Burkay Dogan)

• Stop-motion film where matches come to life
• Music runs throughout

Lucky (2007?/Nash Edgerton)

• Man is trapped in boot of car going along desert road, gets out of boots and tries to stop the car
• Good use of lighting when he is in the boot
• Fast paced action
• Use of SFX suggests higher budget

Happy Birthday (1999/Jorge Sandoval)

• A father is giving his son a present for his birthday - the knowledge not to trust anybody
• Has a powerful underlying message

Angel Eyes (2002/Mark Bethune)

• Documentary about a stripper and her life and what her goals are for her and her son
• Contains mild nudity
• Music runs throughout - major key suggests positive spin on the story

Biclycle Messengers (2008?/Joshua Frankel)

• Animated bicycle messengers go round a live action city (New York)
• Music runs constantly under narration
• Documentary style
• SFX suggest higher budget than most short films.
• Interesting shots used (such as when the camera goes out of the office window)

Last Train Ride (2005/Gokhan Okur)

• Animation
• Uses fairly dark colours (black, white, grey, reds)
• Set to peaceful music which again runs throughout
• No immediately clear narrative
  
  

Journey To The Moon (2006/Neil Gittins)

• Animation
• Abstract take of a journey to the moon
• Set again to peaceful music

Immerse (2008/Anton Groves)

• 3D animation
• Looks like a group of futuristic underwater drilling machines
• SFX suggests higher budget
• Zooms out to be an ice cube in a drink showing that the machines were actually creating the bubbles.
  
  

A ? by the date indicates that I am unsure of the date the film was released.

Initial Summary of codes and conventions of short films

Codes and conventions of short films

Short films tend to be between a minute and 10 minutes although some can go up to 40 minutes (this is due to a difference between the North American definition of short film and the British definition.

Short films tend to take one or more aspects of a real life situation and alter it in a way that seems surreal.

They are usually made by independent filmmakers but some larger companies (such as Pixar) also create shorts.

Companies such as Future Shorts allow these independent filmmakers to expose their film to a wider audience.

They are usually accompanied by music that runs through the entire length of the film and this is usually by an indie artist.

Short films are usually directed at a younger audience but they don't tend to have gender boundaries.

Increasingly, documentary short films are being made to highlight particular causes (such as global warming or political problems)

Evaluation questions

The questions that I have to answer in my evaluation are:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Assessment Criteria

Each candidate will evaluate and reflect on the creative process and their experience of it.
Candidates will evaluate their work electronically. The format of the evaluation has some flexibility
and its form can be negotiated between teacher and student: it may take place with individual
candidates or with the production group as a whole, or each individual candidate or production
group may make a formal or informal presentation to the whole class.
The questions that must be addressed in the evaluation are:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Level 1 0–7 marks

• There is minimal understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
• There is minimal understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is minimal understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is minimal understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is minimal skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is minimal ability to communicate.
• There is minimal use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

Level 2 8–11 marks

• There is basic understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
• There is basic understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is basic understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is basic understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is basic skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is basic ability to communicate.
• There is basic use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

Level 3 12–15 marks

• There is proficient understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
• There is proficient understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is proficient understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is proficient understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is proficient skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is proficient ability to communicate.
• There is proficient use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

Level 4 16–20 marks

• There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
• There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is excellent ability to communicate.
• There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

Media/Film/Television

Level 1

• Work likely to be unfinished.
• There is evidence of minimal ability in the creative use of any of the following technical skills:
• the ability to hold a shot steady;
• framing a shot appropriately;
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• selecting mise-en-scène;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately.
• Where a candidate has worked in a group, there is only minimal evidence of a contribution to
• construction.

Level 2

• There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical
• skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.

Level 3

• The candidate is expected to demonstrate proficiency in the creative use of most of the following
• technical skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• Where a candidate has worked in a group, a proficient contribution to construction is evident.

Level 4

• The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following
• technical skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task.
• Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.

Coursework Options

2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:
a website homepage for the film;
a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
a poster for the film.

10. A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:
a poster for the film;
a radio trailer for the film;
a film magazine review page featuring the film.

I will be doing the short film option for my A2 coursework because it would be a more interesting way of putting out an idea than a trailer which would be just a montage and not as emotionally brewing.

Final Idea

After we weren't satisfied with our initial film we decided to come up with a new narrative that would hopefully make more sense.

Based on feedback from our Target audience and teacher, it was clear that the narrative of our film wasnt clear. Therefore we have decided to pick a more current day issue.
The narrative now follows as that our main protagonist Gordon's father has recently died at war in the RAF. He now has an emotion attachment to one of his fathers medals. He wakes up, gets ready and heads out to the funeral which is today. His whole world is twisted upside down, and has literally gone backwards on him, and he notices that on the way to the funeral, there are lot of odd occurrences where people are going backwards. Over watching him is a blue man, in a suit with a black tie, but he never confronts Gordon. Gordon then comes into an alleyway where he starts to hold his medal and look at it thinking deeply. This stresses him out and ends up throwing the medal on the floor, and walks on. The blue man picks up the medal.
The next morning Gordon gets up as usual and goes into the toilet. He looks in the mirror shocked to find he is a young child. He sprints downstairs into the kitchen where he finds another note this time saying 'See you at the game son!'. He turns round and behind him is his father, in a white shirt and black tie, same as the blue man. Gordon leaps onto the father to embrace him.

Initial Idea(s) and Animatic