Unfortunately our first meeting with the group was a crisis meeting as our teacher revealed Ryan maybe leaving the group to pursue a management course at retail store. My first thought was complete worry as I didn’t know how we would get around it. So a meeting was arranged by me, and Lloyd took the minutes down. After some intense thinking we decided the best idea to overcome this problem was to share the editing between all us two. Fortunately editing is something which is done in the latter stages of the project, so whilst having ideas in mind we could put that on hold till such a time. Me and Lloyd were to determined to keep upbeat and proceed with cracking on with our project.
In the same meeting I thought it was important to start talking about the form of our short film. Quickly, Lloyd said no to documentary based film, as he thought it was too mainstream and we agreed we wanted to do something original and challenging. He then liked the idea of an animation based short film, as he thought the characters we use can be much more comical and authentic. I wasn’t so sure but soon came round after we couldn’t name too many animated short films. Another possibility was a real clever drama piece. After some deep debate we concluded that we don’t know enough about these two forms to choose between them. Furthermore I sent away Lloyd with the task of finding what work needs to go into these two forms and i would get various examples of these short films.
All in all the meeting started very stressful, but after we relaxed a bit we tried to be very focused with the job in hand.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Sam: My Own Job As Director and Scriptwriter
We were told in the lesson that it was time to choose which role in the group each person will take on, after a brief discussion it was evident that this was not going to be a hard task. We decided i would be director, Ryan would be editor, James would be story boarder and Lloyd would be the scriptwriter. This decision initially seems the correct one as we all seem very well suited to these jobs. Ryan’s high intelligence on computer software will give us a really good chance to try authentic ideas out., and finally Lloyd is very articulate and will give us the best chance of having a great script. Also an extra plus is that we have all done these jobs in year 12.
Having been given the job of director I believed it was only right to see how i could build upon my work in year 12. Having looked on the internet i have developed an in depth understanding of a director’s job. In year 12 i saw it as any other job in the film industry, however after reading the importance and responsibility that comes with directing i feel its time to up my game a little bit. A job of director is to make rapid on the spot decisions if they crop up, leading by example and oozing authority. Communicating with team members as well is key as they need to be well informed with any changes you have made etc. It is the biggest job in the team, and i learnt from year 12 the other group members rely on you to bail them out of difficult areas.
I then took sometime out to get some inspiration and guidance from professional directors, so I looked at some of their personal quotes.
I do think that's so much a part of what being a director is - in working with actors - to really try and be sensitive to what each actor needs to get to where he wants to be.
--Bill Condon
One of the great things about being a director as a life choice is that it can never be mastered. Every story is its own kind of expedition, with its own set of challenges.
--Ron Howard
A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.
--Elia Kazan
I have taken all these tips and quotes on board and am confident i can fulfil the role of the director.
in terms of being a scriptwriter.......................................
Having been given the job of director I believed it was only right to see how i could build upon my work in year 12. Having looked on the internet i have developed an in depth understanding of a director’s job. In year 12 i saw it as any other job in the film industry, however after reading the importance and responsibility that comes with directing i feel its time to up my game a little bit. A job of director is to make rapid on the spot decisions if they crop up, leading by example and oozing authority. Communicating with team members as well is key as they need to be well informed with any changes you have made etc. It is the biggest job in the team, and i learnt from year 12 the other group members rely on you to bail them out of difficult areas.
I then took sometime out to get some inspiration and guidance from professional directors, so I looked at some of their personal quotes.
I do think that's so much a part of what being a director is - in working with actors - to really try and be sensitive to what each actor needs to get to where he wants to be.
--Bill Condon
One of the great things about being a director as a life choice is that it can never be mastered. Every story is its own kind of expedition, with its own set of challenges.
--Ron Howard
A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.
--Elia Kazan
I have taken all these tips and quotes on board and am confident i can fulfil the role of the director.
in terms of being a scriptwriter.......................................
Thursday, 12 November 2009
James: Research into script writing
For the next part of my research I will be looking at the narrative structure of a short film, the narratology, the plot and the narrative design.
The narrative structure of a short film is not too different to that of a full feature film. The narrative structure is used to help define the basic plot, also the content of the film. The foundation of the film is usually based on the introduction of the film as it is usually used to entice the viewer into watching the rest of the film giving the basic plot and the main characters and circumstances. Vladimir Propp is a Russian formalist who studied the structural elements of Russian fairy tales, he ended up with ‘typology’ of narrative structures, he said that all fairy tale end up with a sequence of 31 stages starting with absentation which is the loss of a family member or confliction with a family, and ends with wedding where the hero marries and ascends the throne. With 7 basic characters; the villain, the donor, the (magical) helper, the princess and her father, the dispatcher, the hero or victim/seeker hero and the false hero. Vladimir studied for many years and found that these basic plots were used in all fairly or folk tales.
Herman Northrop Frye is a literary theorist he was made famous by his theory of literacy criticism and the development of the ‘anatomy of criticism’ starting with this explanation “The purpose of the introduction is to defend the need for literary criticism, to distinguish the nature of genuine literary criticism from other forms of criticism, and to clarify the difference between direct experience of literature and the systematic study of literary criticism.” He was honored with his ‘four essays’ explaining the need for literacy criticism.
The narrative structure of a short film is not too different to that of a full feature film. The narrative structure is used to help define the basic plot, also the content of the film. The foundation of the film is usually based on the introduction of the film as it is usually used to entice the viewer into watching the rest of the film giving the basic plot and the main characters and circumstances. Vladimir Propp is a Russian formalist who studied the structural elements of Russian fairy tales, he ended up with ‘typology’ of narrative structures, he said that all fairy tale end up with a sequence of 31 stages starting with absentation which is the loss of a family member or confliction with a family, and ends with wedding where the hero marries and ascends the throne. With 7 basic characters; the villain, the donor, the (magical) helper, the princess and her father, the dispatcher, the hero or victim/seeker hero and the false hero. Vladimir studied for many years and found that these basic plots were used in all fairly or folk tales.
Herman Northrop Frye is a literary theorist he was made famous by his theory of literacy criticism and the development of the ‘anatomy of criticism’ starting with this explanation “The purpose of the introduction is to defend the need for literary criticism, to distinguish the nature of genuine literary criticism from other forms of criticism, and to clarify the difference between direct experience of literature and the systematic study of literary criticism.” He was honored with his ‘four essays’ explaining the need for literacy criticism.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Ryan: Target Audience
For our film we have chosen a specific target audience in which we are going to aim our film at, we believe that if our film was to be broadcasted at a large short film festival we would get the ratings by aiming our film at; Young adults approximately 25 years old, mainly males but not excluding the female audience. We have chosen this audience because they will be more exposed to unusual narratives and that’s what we want to base our short film on experimentation with the narrative structure
James: Distribution
As a group we have been researching short films and where and how they are distributed so we would know where to distribute ours and to give us some back ground as to what type of films people like best and are successful.
Short films are mainly distributed via the internet on different websites for example ‘Omni film distribution’ and ‘Dazzle films’, this is the best way to distribute the films as most of the host site are either free or cheap and it is very quick to upload a video, many of these sites are dedicated short films. Short films are also found on DVDs but they would usually be a range of different films by the same producers and some can be found on extras of feature films on certain producers will do this such as ‘Pixar’, ‘BFI’, ‘BBC’ and ‘Cinema16’ these are mostly American producers. Short film festivals are very popular in Europe and this is where thousands of producers go to show their films this is another place where the films are distributed and given special awards. This year there is a short film festival in London which we are held in many different venues but for UK applicants only this is where the producers will go to show off their skills and to try and get noticed.
On television if a film cannot fit the standard broadcast schedule short films will be placed at either the start or at the end of the film as a ‘filler’ in Canada they have a television channel which is devoted exclusively to short films they also have ‘Bite TV’ which is where they ask viewers to send in their own videos.
Short films are mainly distributed via the internet on different websites for example ‘Omni film distribution’ and ‘Dazzle films’, this is the best way to distribute the films as most of the host site are either free or cheap and it is very quick to upload a video, many of these sites are dedicated short films. Short films are also found on DVDs but they would usually be a range of different films by the same producers and some can be found on extras of feature films on certain producers will do this such as ‘Pixar’, ‘BFI’, ‘BBC’ and ‘Cinema16’ these are mostly American producers. Short film festivals are very popular in Europe and this is where thousands of producers go to show their films this is another place where the films are distributed and given special awards. This year there is a short film festival in London which we are held in many different venues but for UK applicants only this is where the producers will go to show off their skills and to try and get noticed.
On television if a film cannot fit the standard broadcast schedule short films will be placed at either the start or at the end of the film as a ‘filler’ in Canada they have a television channel which is devoted exclusively to short films they also have ‘Bite TV’ which is where they ask viewers to send in their own videos.
Friday, 6 November 2009
James: Scriptwriter
As a group we got together and decided our roles within the production of the film. As our group members have changed since last year we decided that we would use our experience and what we had learnt from the previous assignment and keep our original jobs. Therefore I will be the group’s script writer as the other group members read and enjoyed my other script. Lloyd was given the role as story boarder, Ryan was given the role as editor and Sam is the director these roles are the best decisions it should make the production most successful.
As the scriptwriter I have researched many other scripts from other short films and also professional script writing software such as ‘Final Draft’ and ‘Movie Magic Screenwriter 6’ which use automatic formatting, movies templates and index card for scene summaries and notes.
These have taught me that when writing a script you don’t only write about what is said, that you also have to consider directions, props and expressions. Although these programmes help I will not be using them as I believe I have enough knowledge to include all that is necessary in our script. Once we have discussed what we will be doing for our production I can think more about starting the first draft. I am expecting many changes to occur when writing the script as location, characters etc will force us to reconsider our original plan and ideas making sure that the rest of the group are happy with the script and if it is appropriate for the film.
As the scriptwriter I have researched many other scripts from other short films and also professional script writing software such as ‘Final Draft’ and ‘Movie Magic Screenwriter 6’ which use automatic formatting, movies templates and index card for scene summaries and notes.
These have taught me that when writing a script you don’t only write about what is said, that you also have to consider directions, props and expressions. Although these programmes help I will not be using them as I believe I have enough knowledge to include all that is necessary in our script. Once we have discussed what we will be doing for our production I can think more about starting the first draft. I am expecting many changes to occur when writing the script as location, characters etc will force us to reconsider our original plan and ideas making sure that the rest of the group are happy with the script and if it is appropriate for the film.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Sam: Research Of My Short Film
After intensely researching a variety of short films over the last week, I feel I have developed a good understanding of what is required and included for a short film. A good example of a short film was one I found on you tube; namely “Signs”. It’s a typical short film created by Publicis Mojo and Radical Media productions. It’s a romantic comedy directed by Patrick Hughes and Written by Patrick Hughes, Karl Fleet & Nick Worthington. Furthermore it last for 11 minutes. It was entered in the “Schweppes short film festival” and can still be viewed from the website. It was also one of the 2009 Cannes Lions winners. This is about two people working in office towers who communicate by holding signs up to the window. It starts with showing a depressed young man who seems to have nothing to do apart from go to sleep and then go to work. This is all he does until he spots a beautiful young female in the opposite block which seems to mesmerize him. The lady then feels his glaring eyes watching her, and before you know it they are writing messages on bits of paper to each other. Just when he gets enough courage to ask her out, she is suddenly disappeared from the office, getting replaced with another young man. But all is not bad when he discovers she only got promoted and moved to another room. Once watched it is quite evidently it has the form of a romantic drama. There are many things which determine this as a short film not a mainstream clip out of a movie. Firstly it is very concise and gets straight to the point very quickly. Also they have used typical stereotypes as there is obviously not enough time to build a relationship with a non conventional character. For the same reason, they use very few people. Finally Directors of a short film recognises they can’t make there film too complex, meaning they have to concentrate on one form of a film. In this case it was the plot which made this film, with a cunning twist and a feeling of how does it actually end. In terms of target audience the theme is about exploring romances, so this it is got to be targeted at the majority of females. As its set in the office and is an American production, I would probably be right in saying it is aimed at the middle class American people. Being a comical short film, it has got to be looking at the younger generation also. Overall it is a clever feminine chick flick which is definitely aimed to capture the hearts of its audience.
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