Sam: EVALUATION

Real media productions compared to ‘Five Pounds’


It is now time to write a detailed evaluation of my project. My evaluation will include ways in which my film complements the codes and conventions of a typical short film and generally how efficient my actual film and two ancillary texts are. Also I will be revealing the type of feedback which was received from the audiences which watched my short film. Finally I will discuss the new media technologies which were used throughout the year.

Firstly there are numerous occasion in which my film sticks firmly to the traditional codes and conventions. I rarely challenged these conventions as I feel sometimes it is best to stick to what you know and what works best. These are some of the ways I have followed the typical codes and convention of short films.

There are obvious changes in every short film, however it is a well known fact that the narrative structure of all these films are pretty similar. There not called short films for no reason, meaning there is a lengthy time to tell the story. This means everything is more compact. It is typical for a short film to have some sort of twist. Whether it is during or at the end of the film, there is bound to be a part where the audience are stunned or shocked with immediate effect. In regards to my own film, the twist came at the end when the two stories emerged into one, and the man and woman both missed there bus. With the theme being based connectivity and the idea that one thing effects another, I wanted to show how loads of little things can effect something really life changing. That’s where the wow factor was hopefully introduced into my film.

A short film often consist of very few characters all playing major roles. This is the case as if you were to cast too many characters and personalities, the audience would become confused and mind boggled. With lengthy feature films you frequently see a lot of characters, for example in ‘Oceans 11’, where a gang of eleven people decide to con a casino. On the other hand in a short film, such as ‘Signs’ directed by, there are only two main characters. My film complements the traditional convention as there are only 4 characters playing the main roles. When talking about how compact the story is in a short because of the length of time, the same can also be said on the actors. As the characters played are often stereotypes so the audience can quickly relate to them. If the characters were not stereotypes and had detailed personalities, there would never be enough time to show this and the plot of the film. For my film I needed to find a stereotype which related to my actors to come across as decent and kind hearted as possible. For this reason I used smart casual, nice looking and Caucasian actors. The majority of actors in short films are unknown. This is the case as directors of short films work on a low budget, and the actors hired do not charge much as they want to make a prolonged out of feature length films. Because of this seemingly low budget a film crew has to produce a movie, you will sparingly see over extravagant film sets or settings. In fact, many are filmed outside in public places, where costs are next to nothing. So just like in real media, my film is set outside in the town centre and in a shopping centre where only permission has to be granted. When watching short films you will probably find some of the camera shots are much more peculiar than a mainstream film. Short film directors seem to have a huge amount of leniency with how they film footage. For example you rarely find the amount of handheld and canted camera shots in mainstream films than you do in short films. These two shots were both used regularly in my film, particularly handheld.

It seems that a lot of short films neglect a fair amount of dialogue and replace it with image and footage. This is again is where I feel I have kept to code and convention of your mainstream short film.

A way of counteracting the lack of dialogue is the use of a clever soundtrack. It is paramount the sound track complements the form and mood of the form to perfection. I feel mine achieved this by using the soundtrack of ‘Sweet Deposition’ produced by ‘Temper Trap’. The start of the track is very eerie, meaning the audience is expecting something along the lines of horror. But as the story starts to unveils itself, so does the song with it turning very pleasant and loving. Furthermore, just like in real media, sound effects were used in my film for sounds which couldn’t get picked up by the camera itself.

After spending many hours figuring out the best costume for our actors, we found simple would be best. However we tried to be cunning, as the first two actors are more covered up than the pair which eventually meets each other. Moreover, the first man and woman have quite big and bulky casual jackets on. Then as the story progresses and the audience start to understand what is going on, we change costume to something a little bit unveiling for both. This is easier to the eye for the audience watching.



My ancillary texts - The film poster and film review

After the completion of my film, I then produced a film poster and film review. A film poster is produced so people become aware of the film in general. Also it is done to entice the public to go and watch the film. A film poster gives a different route of marketing, than your normal footage preview. It should always include a title, tagline, main image, details of production and distribution companies and clear dates. Fortunately, these were all included in my own film poster. The main image should have some meaning, and is arguably the most important part of the poster. Traditionally you have one central photo of the main character or characters. I have stuck to that belief by placing the image of the man being very central with the woman looking down on him. I feel the most important aspect of the poster is that it does not give any clues away about the potential plot. Meaning they will not have a clue about the ending. All of our film posters were set to a very high resolution level and we all used cameras with at least ten mega pixels. This meant if we wanted or needed the poster to be blown up to any given size, this could be achieved. After this marketing process, it was time to promote the film, in the way of a film review. There are many different approaches which can be taken when making a film review. It was important to remember the film would not have been released before the review and this could change someone’s opinion altogether. With this in mind, I went down the route of being over exaggerated with the good points of the film, by using extravagant and over eccentric words. However, there was still room for some criticisms. I feel both my review and film poster work well together as both do not give too many clues away on the content of the film.


Feedback

Before a short film is released it is shown to many people to gain some sort of feedback. What sort of feedback you get normally indicates how successful your film is going to be. How people rate your film is generally determined by which age, race, gender and sexuality the audience are. However I did not have to be too precise on whom I presented my film too, as it was initially targeted for all young adults and above. Basically anyone old enough to understand the nature of connectivity and love could see it. In the end I opted to show my whole extended family as it ranges from young adults to old age pensioners. Even though my family are naturally highly critical I also thought it was best to show my media class mates. So I was sure there wasn’t no bias, and also for some cinematic knowledge. These were some of the responses to my film:



“Very clever sequence of events, and with a bit of romance at the end, just my kind of thing”

Nana aged 73


“After seeing the film poster I didn’t no quite what to expect, but it came up trumps!!!”

Mum aged 40

“Not a bad job from him…only criticism is that there could have been more of it”

Dad 42

“The best thing about this film is that it is real life, it has and does happen, well done mate”

Lewis (cousin) 22

“The use of handheld camera work and cut aways were a particular highlight for me, but did notice some continuity problems if he didn’t point them out”

Jack 17, media student

All in all I am pleased with my feedback, but as usual there is always something to improve on.


The use of new media technologies

The amount of new media technologies I have used from the very start of my project to now is been enormous. My main source of research and planning came directly from the internet. It is very efficient, and there were masses of information to prepare me for this major project. The main sites used were the search engine Google and Wikipedia, and also YouTube for watching example of short films. Another huge success was these blogs, which were helpful in organising my work and keeping everyone posted. They were also helpful on a day to day basis where I could put any thoughts down I thought would be important on the running of the project. When actually filming the project, we used a ‘flip’ digital USB camera which I had never used before and it had such quality in its resolution it was a pleasure to use it. Once filmed, the footage was then uploaded to a editing program named Magix Movie Edit Pro. That was when I was really in virgin territory as I never edited in my AS project. I was astounded about how well you could play about with the footage and make it look top quality. By the end of the process I was, adding titles, soundtracks, sound effects and cutting all over the place. I became confident in what I was doing, and I am very proud of the outcome. After my film was complete it was time for the film poster. After using a high quality camera to capture the perfect image, I uploaded it to Adobe Photoshop to edit. Again I was left shocked with what the program could actually do. In the end I air brushed my actors, and blacked out the background. I then blended the image and background together so it didn’t look as sharp.

That alone sums up this whole project, an enjoying and knowledgeable experience and I wouldn’t of done anything differently. Well not anything!!!

Film Review: Final Piece

With an ingenious blend of realism and imagination, five pounds is an inventive short film oozing with truthfulness. This charming low-budget British drama offers a much more modest alternative to an over flamboyant unconvincing film. A film which was directed, written and edited by Samuel Horn, takes us on a larger than life journey around the town of Ipswich. Previously directing the unfolding drama of ‘The Lost Man’, whereby a cross dresser aids the internet to capture his victims, Samuel Horn once again creates a lifelike production through the most innovative eyes.


This down to earth film explores the saying of how one thing can affect another. Samuel horn uses an intelligent dual narrative structure to craft this film from average to inspiring. Gloria turner and Craig Clarke find themselves making decisions which will change another pair’s life forever. When Craig Clarke finds himself waiting for a bus and happily spots that five pound on the ground, little does he know he has started a sequence of events, which can only be described as fate. Why else would William Dreyfus end up in the toilet? Why else would kirsty cawdell coincidently decide to go to the cashpoint? It is a cunning climax to an one original build up.

Renowned for his woeful decision making in his previous films, Craig Clarke’s outstanding role in this makes it appear like the role was written for him and him only. Additionally without Gloria’s inspiring acting this film could have looked like a cheesy off shoot from a child’s program. Then appears the two most elegant and heart warming actors in William Dreyfus and Kirsty Cawdell. From there point of arrival your muscles starts to tense and heartbeat starts to pump faster, as you know it is going to be something special. It is no longer a mysterious unorganised piece of thriller footage, but an aesthetically pleasing piece of genius. And boy they didn’t fail to please.

In this triumphant film Samuel horn truly explores the nature of connectivity, where everything you do can be affecting the people around you. And you may not even though you’re doing it, but somewhere, somehow, you could be changing another person’s life forever. Just like in the film, whether your effectively changing there lives for the good or the bad is unknown till the very end of time. A must see drama bound to open your eyes to are interlinked world. On the other hand you could have a strong case in saying it is like a bunch of confused school kids lost in a strange part of town, but the actors outstandingly counteract this. You could have a strong argument if you felt there was no continuity or flow in the movie, but the director quite evidently meant this. You could say there are too many floors in this film to even consider it to be a great, but that would just be foolish and ironically immature!!!


An Issue of my Film review with proper columns and images has been given to my teacher, as I was unable to upload it on here!!!

Film Review: First Draft

With an ingenious blend of realism and imagination, five pounds is an inventive short film oozing with truthfulness. This charming low-budget British drama offers a much more modest alternative to an over flamboyant unconvincing film. A film which was directed, written and edited by Samuel Horn, takes us on a larger than life journey around the town of Ipswich. Previously directing the unfolding drama of ‘The Lost Man’, whereby a cross dresser aids the internet to capture his victims, Samuel Horn once again creates a lifelike production through the most innovative eyes.



This down to earth film explores the saying of how one thing can affect another. Samuel horn uses an intelligent dual narrative structure to craft this film from average to inspiring. Gloria turner and Craig Clarke find themselves making decisions which will change another pair’s life forever. When Craig Clarke finds himself waiting for a bus and happily spots that five pound on the ground, he seeks a shop to spend it in. consequently with the money found, Craig buys a drink and Within seconds its gone. His decision to go to the toilet is the decision which alters William Dreyfus’s life permanently. William finds himself beaten to the lavatory by Craig, which of course never would of occurred but without his earlier festivities. Furthermore this puts William in an awkward position of potentially being late for his own bus.


However the ingenious part of it is, whilst this is occurring a separate story is simultaneously happening.


Gloria turner finds herself in the busy shopping town of Ipswich looking flustered until she sees a beggar and naively hands over the contents of her purse. This inevitably turns out being a kind but foolish move, when she walks past a pedestrian smoking. This triggers of her thoughts of having a cigarette, but unfortunately she has none left. Looking in her purse she realises the mistake she has made with the beggar, as she now has no money to buy any cigarettes. Instantly she thinks of a cash point, but just like Craig beating William to the lavatory, Gloria beats Kirsty Cawdell to the cash point. But why is she looking at her watch? What is she late for? It is a cunning climax to an original build up.


Renowned for his woeful decision making in his previous films, Craig Clarke’s outstanding role in this makes it appear like the role was written for him and him only. Additionally without Gloria’s inspiring acting this film could have looked like a cheesy off shoot from a child’s program.


In this triumphant film Samuel horn truly explores the nature of connectivity, where everything you do can be affecting the people around you. Moreover you may not even though you’re doing it, but somewhere, somehow you could be changing another person’s life. Just like in the film, whether your effectively changing there lives for the good or the bad is unknown. A must see drama bound to open your eyes to are interlinked world.

After Reviewing this piece with my teacher and myself, I feel I possibly talk about the plot too much and do not give any constructed criticsm. These things will be sorted out in the near future.

Film Poster: All Done!

I used the software program photoshop to craft a conventional film poster:

 With my picture being save directly from this software, the blog is unable to upload the image of my final product on here. Although it an issue has been given to my teacher.

Film Poster: First Draft

Research: Film posters

I have some idea on what film posters should look like, however not much on what they should include. I want to follow the traditional codes and conventions so my film poster does not look out of place. To achieve this I looked at many film posters, this is one I particularly like and is a good example of using all the codes and conventions.

 

After watching the film ‘FROM HELL’, the first thing I immediately recognise is how well the mood of the film fits the poster. Like on a lot of film poster the background is blacked out and blended into the image. If this is not the case a setting reflecting the actual movie is placed in the background. Furthermore, the image is evidently airbrushed, giving it a sharp elegant finish. This could be a good idea for my poster. Also the two people in the image are the most important characters in the film. This is another common convention used in film posters. As well as showing images of the main actors, to emphasise them even more, their names are shown in the text. One reason why they do this is a high profile actor is not always spotted when in character. It is also not uncommon to see a slogan or tagline of the film placed somewhere on the poster. This frequently put under the name of the film, but as the slogan is so effective it is placed above the title, in the top left hand corner. Tag line help when promoting the film, as these are the things which sticks in people heads, and intrigues them to go and see it. Underneath the bold title, it includes the name of the production and distribution companies. Then comes the names of all the important actors shown in the film. Finally the date of when it is to be shown is placed somewhere, normally at the bottom. However instead of a date, the words ‘coming soon’ are sometimes used.

THATS THAT!!!

My film is complete!
I have done the filming and all of the editing. All that is needed to do now are my two ancillary texts. I better crack on!!!

Sam: Editing!!

The Editing software I will be using for my film will be Magix Movie Edit Pro 21:

 

With effectively being my own boss in this project, I can edit the film how I want. This can be both an advantage and disadvantage to me. As if I am the only one editing, I have the last and only work so this will prevent arguments. However, I might edit the film to how I would like it to be and neglect my target audience. I will overcome this by taking a step back when looking at thing and being open minded. Also I will show my film to audiences around the school to see what feedback I get. As I filmed both my men and women scenes separately, a lot of edit cuts will be needed to make these two different stories come together and look clever. Furthermore to blend these two stories together the use of fades will be important, this is achieved by over lapping one shot over another on the shot screen. After watching the films ending, I feel a lot of work will have to be put it to give it the impact I think is needed. Finally I will have to be clever when editing to make my soundtrack work along side what is going on in the film.

Sam: Decision on soundtrack

As I am having no dialogue in my film, it is paramount I choose a soundtrack which fits the mood of the film. Using a soundtrack is also useful as it can cover up any unwanted noise picked up from the camera when shooting. The soundtrack I am going with is sweet disposition by temper trap. It took me a long time to choose a soundtrack as I wanted an upbeat song but not right from the beginning, as this would give the story away. This song in particular starts of rather eerie then turns pleasant so it fitted the bill perfectly. Just a little bit of tweaking is needed in the right places and I think I have found the perfect soundtrack!!!

Sam: End of the filming process

After filming and fine tuning my film, It is finally ready for editing. The main problem I had to deal with was getting the continuity correct and picking up where we left off. For example, the weather was slightly different from the monday to the wednesday (it was much brighter on the wednesday). But thats just me being over critical. Also we I had to make sure the actors were wearing the exact same thing. After a full edit, I will definetly watch the film over and again to see if I can spot any of these continuity problems.

Sam: The filming !!!

The filming so far is going swimmingly, with only the toilet scene and cash point scene to go. However there has been one problem, and that was finding a beggar. It was over looked by me, as I thought you could use any old beggar from the street to film. However this is morally wrong, so I have had to draft in another actor. Hopefully when I look back on the scenes tommorrow, there wont be too much to change.

Sam: Lights, Camera, Action !

Its time to put all that intense research and planning into practice, as I will now attempt to start filming. However, Something I have learnt from my AS project is that organisation is key. Last year I Spontaneous improvised my filming, and this lead to me not meeting deadlines. On that not I have made a full week filming schedule :

DAY 1- MONDAY 8TH MARCH
• Go to Ipswich shopping centre and ask permission for filming rights in all areas.
• Film the ending, between man 2 and women 2 (after reading about different directors, it seems they all filmed the ending first).
• Film the opening bus station scene for man 1.

DAY 2- TUESDAY 9TH MARCH
• Film rest of men scenes (the drinking scene etc.), with exception of the actual toilet scene.
• Start the filming of the opening town centre scene of women 1.

DAY 3- WEDNESDAY 10TH MARCH
• Film rest of women 1 scenes (beggars scene and cigarette scene), with exception of the actual cash point scene.

DAY 4- THURSDAY 11TH MARCH
• Film toilet and cash point scenes.
• Watch back all scenes.

DAY 5- FRIDAY 12TH MARCH
• Re-do any shots or scenes which are not up to standard.

I must note that this is a general template which I intend to keep towards, but I am well aware things can go wrong and I may have to re-schedule.

Sam: Full Shot list- Part 1

Script

1st shot: Establishing shot of bus station.

2nd shot: Establishing shot of town.

3rd shot: Medium shot of man in the queue sideways.

4th shot: Zoom in on 5 pound note

5th shot: Medium shot of women looking at a stool with five pound note.

6th shot: dominant shot of him looking and walking towards
five pound note.

7th shot: pan of him picking it up

8th shot: Pan of women walking through town looking stressed

9th shot: over the shoulder of him looking at the shop

10th shot: close up of his smiling face

11th shot: tracking shot of him going into shop

12th shot: Long shot of women walking towards beggar
CU Shot of women putting change in beggar’s hat

13th shot: change in his hands

14th shot: CU of him downing drink and needing a wee

15th shot: walking towards inside of tower ramparts

16th shot: long shot of lady walking round the corner

17th shot: medium shot of man smoking a cigarette

18th shot: medium pan shot of man and women walking past eachother

19th shot: Close up of women’s face (pan down)
Close up of cigarette packet being empty (pan up)
Close up of empty purse

20th shot: medium shot of lady looking around and spotting a cash point

21st shot: Close up of cash point.

Sam: Full Shot list- Part 2

22nd shot: long shot two men walking into W.C simultaneously

23rd shot: close up of W.C sign.

24th shot: pan of lady 1 beating lady 2 to the cash point

25th shot: pan of man 1 beating man 2 to the toilet

26th shot: medium shot of lady 2 looking restless

27th shot: over the shoulder shot of lady 1 putting her card into cash point.

28th shot: medium shot of man 2 looking restless

29th shot: medium shot of man 2 looking into a mirror
Pan down to his watch

30th shot: close up of lady 2 watch
Zoom out and show lady 1 walking away and lady 2 walking towards cash point.

31st shot: medium shot of man 1 coming out of toilet and man 2 walking towards toilet.

32nd shot: long shot pan of lady walking up the street towards bus stop.

33rd: long shot pan of man going through shopping centre

34th shot: Long shot pan of lady getting closer to bus stop.

35th shot: long shot of man getting closer to bus stop.

Props and Transport : The Finer Details

After constructing my shot list,I can now pin point the props which will be needed to make my film look that much better. Firstly the most important thing is the five pound note which is found and picked up. Also a drink is needed for when the man comes out from the shop, which leads him to needing the toilet. For both the woman and the man, money change is needed for when the lady gives the money to the beggar and when the man comes out of the shop. Furthermore in regards to the beggar, a money hat will be needed. After this comes the scene where the women discovers she has no ciggarettes, so a ciggarette packet is essential.
In regards to transport , it is really handyu one of my actors can drive, so I can get taken easily to the destintion needed to film my project.

Costumes : What to wear !!!

With the length of time given to make short films,the right costumes helps to get across a characters personality instantly. The message I want to get across is one where the characters look good hearted human beings, whilst not being too extravagant. On this basis I have opted to choose smart casual clothing so the characters look rather normal and not too threatening. However the first two characters will be wearing a bit more than the last two. The reason for this is as the longer the story goes on, the more it reveals itself, so I want the characters to co inside with this.

First man clothing                                                                                                        First woman clothing

Well covered up jacket, meaning none of the

plot is given away.

First woman clothing

                                                         

Again she is well covered up, almost giving a sense of mystery.

Second Man clothing 

                                                                      

Now the clothing is much more lighter and warm. The cardigan could even be undone so his personality looks open and vunerable to a romantic ending!!!

Second woman clothing

A picture could not be taken of this clothing as this is still to be though about. However it will be something on the same wave length of the second man clothing. Maybe something quite cute, like a fluffy coat.

Sam: Actors

I need to consider my target audience when selecting my actors. As my target audience will be for every above the age of 15, I feel I would need young adult actors to attract the younger part of the spectrem. On the other hand they must look mature, if this is not the case it will draw away the adults.

Sam: Possible locations

A decision was made earlier in the project that my film had to be located where there were a lot of people, but also somewhere a broad audience could relate to. After looking into various locations, these seem to be the most suitable places:

A busy indoor shopping mall in the centre of Ipswich?

Ipswich train station on the edge of the town centre?

A peaceful public park in the centre of Ipswich?

                                           A busy Bus Station, bang in the middle of the Town?

The main shopping street in the town?

I feel the shopping centre, bus station and the actual town centre will be the most appropriate for my film. The reason for my choice is because there is guranteed people at both of these places. Also they are all placed right next to eachother, so this will increase the chance of good continuity

Sam: Crunch Time!!!

After checking over and making some minor adjustments to my story board, it is now time to make some very important decisions on the production of my film. I now need to look carefully at possible locations, actors, costumes and props. Furthermore, this should lead me on to making a full shot list and that is where the project really starts to take place.

Sam: Final Ideas on my Storyboard

It has taken me a few days to make my final story board as you can see from my blog, however I now feel the pictures summarise my film very well.

Sam: Initial ideas on storyboard

As you can see I have made a storyboard template. It consists of the proposed narrative based on the film 'spin'. Also the planned dual narrative and romantic ending.
Basically, I have an idea where many different things happen to a man and women which eventually means them meeting in the end.


PICTURE OF TEMPLATE

Sam: Additional research: Film Festivals

“A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality” - Wikipedia .....................

Please note password has been reset - you will be able to blog again after half-term. Have a nice holiday, you have deserved it! Mr Mapp

Sam: Summary of what I am looking to do

I have decided to make a romantic drama short film targeting young adults and above. The film is going to based around the film ‘spin’, where there is an idea that one thing has an effect on another and so on, an almost snowball effect. After looking at the target audience of my film I come to a conclusion I need to have a nice ending for the females, with a subtle and non obvious build up for the males. I feel it is best if it is set in an outside public place, and for the characters to wear between casual and smart casual clothes. I need this setting to be were a lot of people will be placed at one time, and where your common adult can relate to. There are certain expectations I need to meet in this short film:
Shock – Good quality camera work and editing.
Surprise – Well crafted soundtrack.
Realism – Genuine actors and narrative.
Romance- Narrative Driven: A dual narrative, ending with something special.

Sam: Pleasures and expectation for my film

After looking at what my audience have come to expect when watching films, I am now going to discuss some cunning ways to meet these certain pleasures:
• Realism (mainly for males)
• Shock
• Surprise
• Romance (narrative)

Firstly to make this short film realistic, it is relied upon two things in particular. It is going to need a sharp, down to earth narrative and good actors. There is no way my short film is going to be realistic with a cheesy plot and unconvincing actors.
To give me an element of shock in my film, I have got to make my camera work and editing outstanding. I need to use the camera and editing software to keep the audience guessing. For example I will try to cause a bit of confusion by having a quick edit pace. Also by not using too many long shots so the audience do not have much of an inkling what is going on, then I hit them with something special at the end for example.
The touch of surprise can be enhanced by the contribution of the soundtrack. I do not think in this type of film it is necessary to have any speech, just like in ‘spin’. I can make the soundtrack sound very basic and normal at the start so that the audience do not think anything peculiar is going to happen. Then the soundtrack can really come into its own when the surprise in unveiled, by getting faster and louder.
Now getting romance in my film is down to one thing and one thing only, the narrative. Taking into account how the likes of quick edits and so on can really cause shock and surprise, I think it would be brilliant if these quick edits could be going back and forth between two different stories. I will keep you posted on this.

Sam: Target audience for my film

When making any film it is paramount you research into your proposed target audience in depth. I will now need to look at what the best ways are to achieve this.
Firstly the narrative or plot of a short film really has to be spot on if you want it to appeal to a certain audience. Generally speaking, romantic films with happy endings appeal to the female audience. Whereas it seems that clever, subtle and non-obvious narratives interest males. Therefore to target my proposed audience this is something I will definitely keep in mind when scripting and storyboarding my film.
Another way to appeal to an audience is the costume the characters are wearing. As I want this film to attract your common adult, I feel it will be best if it is set in an outside public place, for them to wear between casual and smart casual clothes. This is primarily what your normal adult would wear in a shopping centre for example.
That brings me on nicely to the setting of my film. After watching ‘spin’, I like the thought of having it were a lot of people are going to be at one time. This would make my short film realistic, as this will mean it is more likely things are going to arise and have a knock on effect to people around them. Also it will need to be somewhere any adult can relate to, for example a ballroom dance in a mansion is not going to interest the audience I am looking to target. I will keep you posted on my different Ideas for the setting of my film throughout the project.

Sam: Short film inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP59tQf_nj
This was definetly the sort of inspiration I needed to make a decision on my narrative. This is going to be the short film im going to base my own film around, but i will also definetly try and put my own touch to it aswell. Whilst looking at some useful information on short films, I will be trying to pull some ideas on a storyboard template.

Sam: Decision on the form and target audience of my film

After some research on narrative structure and pleasure and expectations of films, i think i now am ready to make a decision on the form of my film and which audience i will attempt to target. Personally when talking about this issue to former member of my group, i wasnt too sure about an animated short film. After exploring and enquiring about the level of software we have in our school, I thought it was best we dont no pursue with animation. As said before the other option was a drama peice based around a clever narrative. I am sure this suits me best as I can definetly relate to this more from my AS projects. So I now have to scan the web and other resources to gain some inspiration on the actual narrative or plot of my film. After talking about having a brief target audience in my mind earlier, I can confirm I will be targeting both males and females of a young age and above.

Sam: Pleasures and Expectations of films.

When making a short film it is a well known fact that the audience watching are going to have certain pleasures and expectations. What these exactly are depends on which audience you are trying to target and in what genre. In my head I have an idea of targeting a broad audience in typical drama film. This would realistically mean young adults and above.
One pleasure I think all of this audience expects is an element of shock or surprise. For example, an unexpected end is a good way of doing this. As my film will be targeted for males and females I need to find a nice blend of these two tastes. I think we know, without being too stereotype that women tend to like soppy and really romantic films. Furthermore females seem to show their sympathy a lot more than males, meaning they love to feel sorry for someone, or at least one emotional scene. On the other hand, a significant pleasure men expect, almost an unwritten law is to not have too many tears, and for their to be a good degree of realism in a film. Again another dilemma I face is that females like to know exactly what is going on in a film, whereas men like a touch of mystery.
I feel these are the main pleasures and expectation I will need to think about.
The techniques used to go about meeting these pleasures and expectation will be discussed later.

Sam: Narrative structures in films (Vladmir Propp)

After research about this topic i found that when looking at narrative structure its essential you understand that it  assist in the way the story is told and shown, not the actual story itself. This was the best summary i found of exactly what a narrative structure is:
   "The narrative structure help defines the story. It needs to be structured to help the viewer understand the message contained within, giving the film meaning throughout."
Evidently, every film needs this structure as the fil would have no meaning which therefore disadvantages the viewer from understanding the story.


A writer named 'Tzvetan Todorov' has a rule of five conventional stages in he thinks is used as a template when writing the narrative. These 5 stages are:




"Stage 1- A state of equilibrium is defined.



Stage 2- Disruption to the equilibrium by some action or crisis.



Stage 3- The Character(s) recognition that there has been a disruption, setting goals to resolve problem.



Stage 4- The Character(s) attempt to repair the disruption, obstacles need to be overcome to restore order.



Stage 5- Reinstatment to the equilibrium. Situation is resolved, a conclusion is announced.

He believed there is far more clarity in your film if you stick to these conventional stages. However this stage do not have to be used chronologically. For example you often see the conclusion being announced (stage 5) at the top of the film.


Propp


Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp born on April 17th 1895 was a Russian formalist scholar. Propp extended the Russian Formalist approach to the study of narrative structure. In the Formalist approach, sentence structures in narrative had been broken down into analysable elements, or "morphemes". Propp used this method by analogy to analyse folk tales.
When analysing 100 different films he came up with 7 main character types which are:




1. The villain — struggles against the hero.



2. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.



3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.



4. The princess and her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.



5. The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.



6. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.



7. [False hero] — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Hopefully this research on Todorov and Propp will help me make a well structured conventional film.

Sam : Reflection of the project

After hearing about ryans departure earlier in the year, lloyd being a close mate of his, reviewed what his aspirations were in life. After alot of confusion in the past months on whether he went to pursue a job outside school, it was finalised by our teacher that I would be going it alone on the project. Whilst the confusion sent me off track a little bit, I now know i can get on with what ive been wanting to do on my own terms. At first it was a shock , knowing every decision would be my own, but i feel you have got to take it as a positive. I will take lloyds storyboard research into account when making my own. In the coming days im going to look generally at narrarive structure, pleasure and expectations of all short films. Furthermore with my audience research in mind this should lead me to some important decisions on the making of my own film.