Post Production & Colour Manipulation

From the very beginning of planning our production, we knew that the post production methods we employed would be crucial to the look and feel of the finished piece: post-production techniques can have a great bearing on how a film is percieved by the audience.

The ways in which we have manipulated colour contrast within the film give a dark and surreal look. The overly contrasted colours cause a small amount of blurring along lines where colours intersect: this gives us a means with which to show the mental state of the character, whilst improving the films overall aesthetic greatly. What was once overly bright and flat looking footage has now been converted to look full and deep in colour and shadow.

We have also used post-production as a means with which to enhance the films narrative, by inserting frames from the guide from which the film takes its name. This allows the audience to see what information the guide contains, and why the protagonist is blindly following it's orders without hesitation or thought.

- Joe Lawrence

Location Scouting

The tone of our film requires settings almost completely void of any other signs of human life. As such we set about finding a vast open space in which to film the most important part of our film: the burial of a body. After several discussions we made the decision to scout a location in Shenfield, and almost instantly decided it to be the perfect place:














The field is large enough to enable us to shoot from multiple different angles, allowing us to use it for almost endless shots and footage of the protagonist dragging the body across the open ground. It's heavy treeline also blocks out the view of nearby houses and roads, enforcing the remoteness of our protagonists situation, whilst the lack of trees within the middle of the field removes the problem of shadows causing problems with colour and contrast in the post-production stage.














The above photo shows our second location, in which the burial of the body will take place. Despite it's difference in appearance from the field, the two locations are infact bordering each other. We chose this location because we felt that the change in colours from the main field would help us to portray the dark mood within the protagonist.

Our third location is Pete's garage. Despite warnings from teachers (and ourselves) we finally made the decision to use the garage for two reasons. The first is that the protagonists awakening within a regular household heightens the sense of mystery and enigma, the two things that our film relies on the most. The second is due to the ease with which we can film there: we have allowed ourselves time to shoot pickup shots with the aim of giving us more flexibility in the event of loss of footage, changes in script and editing. Because of the changes in weather, we have focused most of our filming on the exterior shots of the field for continuity: changes in weather mean changes in mise en scene such as leaves dropping and fields becoming more "boggy".

Whilst we are still in need of a fourth location, we feel that the areas we have chosen for our film are suited well to the tone and mood of our piece.

- Joe Lawrence

Location scouting from Peter McLaughlin on Vimeo.

-Peter McLaughlin

23/10/09 Production Diary (Part 3 Exterior Grave Scene)

We had faced a lot of problems dealing with this scene. Initially we decided to dig the grave ourselves but we soon realised just what a challenge that was. Firstly on the previous day of shooting all four of us started to dig this grave. After only digging about one foot down into the earth which took several hours we started to hit clay. This was a disaster this clay was so tough that it broke numerous spades and shoves that we were using to attempt to dig the grave. After a four of hours we decided to give up as we were drained of energy. However myself and Peter did decided to come back a couple of days later because it had been raining during the night and was still raining during the day, we asked for permission from our media teachers as that is what myself and Peter had that day, to take the day off attempting to dig the grave. However the rain did not make any difference to the density and toughness of the clay and we soon found that out. But we still did not give up digging the grave for a number of hours as we desperately wanted this shot in our finished product as it was a great aspect to the mise en scene of our short film and we decided in the planning of our Short Film that we wanted there to be a grave in the film as it would have a shocking affect on the audience.









We were able to overcome this major issue as I had been talking with Mr Sheriff (Head of Media) about these problems we had come across and he explained to me that on the school field some holes were being dug for the foundations of the new pavilion. We had a discussion about the possibility of using these foundations as they grave we went to have a look and see for ourselves what in fact we were actually dealing with but the main problem we came up with was the continuity of where the grave was in relation to the rest of the footage. In order to use this scene we would have to take extra care in the angles in which we shot the footage as we did not want certain elements of the other mise en scene present in this location to be in the frame on the shot as this would look extremely unprofessional. So we decided as a group to go forward with shooting this location for the scene of our film but some more problems occurred as where the builders where digging on this construction site there were many health and safety issues in order for us to gain access to where we wanted to film the grave. We knew that the only way to gain permission to access the construction site was to speak with the Caretaker of the school Mr Piper. Peter knowing Mr Piper quite well went and asked for us to have authorization to access the construction site. He thankfully agreed but explained to us that he needed to stay with us during the time we were shooting so the builders knew why we were there.









On Friday 23th October we all as a group and Holly Brooks (as she was acting as the dead body) met up after school in the common room, on the last day before half term to start shooting the footage. Peter had already been home and changed into his costume and brought all the necessary parts of iconography with him into school, including the cardboard box, spades and shovels. Also he brought with him his camera (as we were using his camera instead of the schools as it was able to film footage in HD which extremely improved the picture quality and overall would have a great impact on our finished product) that had been charging all day, due to the camera being able to film in HD which was a great advantage for us there was also a disadvantage as the battery life of the camera did not last particularly long so we could not waste time filming. We kept reminding Joe in the process of filming that when moving the camera for the next shot or when he wasn’t filming and discussing camera shots and angles with ourselves that he should switch of the camera so that we got the maximum time available for shooting as possible.



So with everything prepared we all made our way from the sixth form common room across the school to meet Mr Piper. He wasn’t at his office at the time but we only had to wait about five minutes before he returned and the escorted us around the back of the school through the staff car park and then into the construction site. At the time the builders where still on site working so there where diggers and trucks moving around as well as men working. So where we decided to shoot the footage was at the furthest point possible from where they were working for health and safety reasons but also we did not want any diggers, trucks or builders in the frame of the camera shots. We could manage with them talking and the sound of the machines working as there was no dialogue in this scene so during the editing we could just mute the sound of the background noises.

During shooting we did have many problems that we had to overcome and decide as a group the best solution. Firstly we began we some high angle shots looking down at Holly that creates the sense of making the figure or object seem vulnerable or powerless, and we straight away came across our first setback as next to holy was a huge concrete post so we had to position the camera so that this concrete post was not in the frame of the camera whilst Joe was filming. Also whilst doing this we had to take extra care whilst walking around the hole which Holly was lying in as there was a vast amount of rumble and loose earth at the top and mud kept falling down on to her and when we attempted to stop it more just fell down so it was a no win situation. The worst part was when a piece of concrete fell because of a digger going past it made the ground shake slightly and almost hit Holly, because of this we wanted to finish the shooting the footage as quickly as possible as we did not want Holly to get injured after helping us with our production for nothing.





Also whilst shooting the footage I had to watch very thoroughly as Continuity became an issue about the location of Holly’s arm as between shots she kept moving it. So when the others ask me where was Holly’s arm in that last shot I had to remind them. In addition we had the problem of shadows and silhouettes as it was a very sunny day so whilst filming we had to position ourselves so that our shadows did not have any effect on the light in which the footage was being shot. Otherwise this would look extremely unprofessional.



The next shot which we had an issue with was a low angle shot looking up from where Holly lay to Peter the protagonist standing over her at the top of the grave holding a shovel and beginning to fill it in. We wanted to use this shot as it creates an affect where the character looks and gives the audience a feeling that he is powerful and menacing, which was exactly how the shot ending up giving the impression of to us and we all agreed that it was an extremely good shot of Peter. A famous example of when this shot is used, The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan uses extremely low angle shots to give the Joker a more powerful and menacing image to the audience in The Dark Knight, especially during the scene where the truck he was driving is flipped over and he gets out and starts shooting at Batman. In this scene, the angle actually goes from a normal medium close up and slowly moves into a low angle shot. But gives the audience a very clear and influential message about the Joker and therefore was a great decision by Christopher Nolan to go forward and use this shot. Anyway getting back to the problem we had which was whilst trying to get the camera angle in the correct position behind Peter there was a metal fence that surrounded the construction site and prevented people from entering it also in the frame of the shot the was a huge mound of soil which had been dug up for the foundations of the pavilion. We firstly we were able to get the mound of soil out of the frame of the shot by placing the cardboard box in such a position that it was no longer visible. But the fence was still a problem even though Joe had moved back as far as possible with the camera the fence was just still visible in the shot and the sun was shining directly towards us. We overcame this issue by digging a small amount of soil out of the hole and then placing the camera in the same position until finally the fence was out of the camera shot.









In total this days shooting took around two hours, we came across many problems but were able to overcome these working as a group. It took longer than expected for such a small amount of footage but the footage in which we were able to gain was of the best quality the use of camera angles and variety of shots was exquisite. The location was perfect for us as we did not need to travel anywhere also the mise en scene of the grave gave us a great image, we think it would have a immense impact towards how the audience would react and what effect it had on them. We were very pleased we the decision we made in shooting our production at this location and we hope that it will have a very positive impact on the finished product.







By Oliver Fitch

18/10/09 Production Diary (Part 2: Field Scene)

We began our shooting in the field almost as soon as entering it, filming a wide shot of the entire area that frames our protagonist as an almost invisible speck in the middle of it, enforcing his isolation within the film. This shot proved challenging: to get high enough to show the entire film I needed to balance on the top of a fallen tree, trying to keep the tripod and camera steady whilst at the same time trying not to fall off.

Once stable, we encountered another problem. To get the best framing of the shot I needed to tilt the camera down slightly, which would show the tree branches below.




After this we decided to shoot some handheld footage of the protagonist dragging the body across the field. As we started Tim noticed that we had no footage of the character emerging from the forest as we had planned: we shot the footage after some more gardening, and moved back onto the handheld footage. We approached this by allowing Pete to improvise reactions whilst dragging the body through the field, with me following him as I filmed. We had a problem with my shadow being cast on the area I was filming: we remedied this by ensuring that I filmed from certain angles to minimise the amount of shadow in the footage. We will approach this in editing by carefully vetting the footage for any hint of my figure in the frame. The handheld footage is going to take a prominent role in our film, with much of the "Field Sequence" being made up of it. This allows us a close and chaotic camera style to highlight the character's emotions, as well as giving us the opportunity to get some close-up reaction shots whilst on the move.









- Joe Lawrence

Psychographics

A more in-depth and therefore accurate method than the Registrar General's Social Scale is the use of Psychographics.

The following research is based upon the 'SRI Consulting Business Intelligence' and a survey taken by 'VALS'

The diagram above separates people into three main sections based on their Primary Motivation; Ideals, Achievement and Self-Expression. It then has two outside segments. Those higher up have Higher Resources and Innovation, this recedes as you go lower down the diagram. I shall begin with the highest and work down, I shall then evaluate which our media product is best suited for.

Innovators

Notable for being successful, this feeds back to giving them a high self-esteem, they feel comfortable in authority and will often assume this role. This confidence often leads to them expressing all three of these motivations, they adapt to new environments well and are the most receptive to new ideas.

They are responsive to new ideas that they will often to seek new trends (hence the title innovators) to seek approval from other innovators. They are expressions of their taste, often displaying some form of sophistication.

Thinkers

Motivated by ideals. Defined by their maturity, order, knowledge and responsibility are the factors by which they judge people. They wish to be constantly aware of National and International Events to broaden their knowledge and illustrate them as cultured.

They have an understanding of the relationship between authority and social decorum. They generally have an income that could allow them a wide choice of products but they tend to be conservative in terms of purchase and look for functional qualities.

Achievers

Mainly motivated by the aspiration to achieve. They often set themselves targets and have deep commitments to both their profession and home (often involving a family) life. They often form a structure around their lives to emphasise focuses. They often are mildly right-wing, they like to keep to conventions and have a belief in the nature of authority.

They are excessively active in the marketplace, almost to the degree of 'Innovators', they are persistently interested in time-saving devices to accommodate to a fast-paced lifestyle. In a product they like for established well-known brands to seek recognition from their peers.

Experiencers

Driven by Self Expression. Their youth and enthusiasm can make them impulsive consumers. They are excited by variety and the prospect to be thrilled, they thrive upon being separate form society by following off-beat new strands. They spend the majority of the time outletting energy through social activities such as going to the cinema or sport.

This is reflected by their role as consumers spending high amounts on fashion, entertainment and socializing. They seek the approval of other Experiencers.

Believers

Similarly to Thinkers they are motivated by ideals. They are keen to be seen as conventional, they have regimented beliefs based on the following factors; family, religion, community and Nationality. These beliefs motivate and mirror their instinct for routine around their family and community events.

They willingly follow a predicted pattern of trusting in familiar products and established brands, often western. They are fiercely loyal to these brands, not wanting to experiment.

Strivers

Such as Achievers, Strivers are too motivated by the self-use of goals. They are often concerned with the opinions and more specifically the approval of their peers. They have a value for money but often do not have the desired amount to live their ideal lifestyle. They tend to choose up market products to give an illusion of wealth they may not have entirely. Their inhibitions often prevent them from a successful career, settling for a fair job.

They perceive purchasing as a section of their social life, both the activity of shopping and displaying their purchases. They are moderately impulsive, though confined by their own financial budgets.

Makers

They are motivated by the desire of self-expression,this done through individualising or completely constructing their own projects or material goods. This may involve D.I.Y. or maintaining the car or boiler. This results in them being highly practical people and a value for self-Independence.

This makes them a difficult demographic to appeal to as they are self-dependent and suspicious of new brands and of corporate institutions. Whilst they generally respect the concept of a government they extremely dislike intrusion on anything bordering a personal level.

Survivors

With narrowly focused lives and few material or emotional constants they find, uncomfortably, that the world is changing rapidly around them. Familiarity becomes a byword for security. Needs excel the wants for pleasure.

What Psychographics does our Short-Film Appeal To?

Being both subversive in narrative and format (our plot not being a mainstream blockbuster story and the short films being viewed by a very small percentage) our film tends to dip into demographics as opposed to being an essential section of their day to day lives.

Survivors are most likely never to see anything this experimental and outside of their secure lives. If Makers do see a film it will be from an established company and be one of the main films of the year. Beleivers again will not go out of their way to see a film that pushes their already well-established moral systems. Thinkers will also deny our product due to it's lack of practicality.

However Strivers may watch our product, even a short film can be become a cult icon and can be a mentioning point of their focused on social lives, also as this film can be distrubuted cheaply, it will fit into their budgets. Experiencers are also likely to respond to new young film makers. Acheivers may do just get the appreciation of their freinds, they have developed a culture that respects findign a new excting prospects. However our main demographic to aim for (for the reasons in this paragraph) are innovators, new, cheap, easy (and therefore susceptable to impulse) to access media can appeal to some.

Tim McNiven

How we will employ The Registrar General's Social Scale for our Short Film

If we to follow the Scale strictly we would consider our film's experimental nature, concerning narrative and style it does mainly isolate Groups E to D certainly and a fair majority of C. We have excluded many mainstream features such as; a love interest or even dialogue.

We would therefore aim it as a high concept drama, which is aimed to intellectually stimulate it's viewers. This would then push Groups A and B into, almost, a challenge.

However the scale can not be followed exactly. Partly (because our film has been made by students it will naturally have students as a main part of it's demographic) it does not include those out of occupations, even students, a demographic that works as a major trend-setter. You could argue that Students will become in Groups C and above and be treated as such. However what if the student guardian's are from Group D or E, will they share those interests.

These leads me to the core logical flaw with the Registrar General's Social Scale. It is based on far too broad stereo-types, i have no doubt (through a social process of self-fulfilling prophecy) that these stereotypes can be effective can be marketed to an effective degree. However with marketing constantly changing, more specific methods need to be explored, especially with more experimental films.

Tim McNiven

The Registrar General's Society Scale

When dividing groups of people, the media and politicians do so based on occupation. They split all people into five separate groups and try to appeal to either all groups (if possible) or heavily focus on one group. Our media group will have to adopt a marketing approach tailored to one of these groups.

Group A - Professional Workers, these include highly paid occupations such as; Scientists, Doctors, Lawyers or heads of large scale organisations.

Group B - Those in Managerial and Technical Occupations, informally known as White-Collar Workers. These may include; Teachers, Farmers or Shopkeepers.

Group C - Those in Skilled Occupations. this is further divided into two sections. Non-Manual (Master Builders or Nurses) and Manual (Electricians or Plumbers)

Group D- Partly- Skilled Occupations. Such as Lorry or bus drivers.

Group E - Lastly Unskilled Occupations - mainly involving general labourers.

Tim McNiven

Eight Point Guide to Making Short Films from Clifford Thurlow

1) Introduce main character(s); set the scene
2) Give the character a problem, obstacle, obsession, or addiction
3) Let the character work out a plan to overcome the problem
4) Before setting out to solve the problem, there may be a moment of doubt that will require the hero to seek advice from a mentor such as a teacher or best friend. This is an opportunity to let the audience know more about the problem and weigh it up in their own minds. What they would do?
5) With new resolve (and often a magical gift from the mentor: the watches Q given James Bond; Dorothy’s ruby slippers) the hero sets out to overcome the problem, obstacle, obsession, or addiction
6) Overcoming the problem or challenge (getting the girl; escaping tyranny; saving the world) will be met by extreme opposition from the rival who will usually have greater but different strengths and will in some way bear similarities to the hero: the nemesis is the hero’s dark side
7) The hero will appear to fail in his quest. He will give up or glimpse defeat, even death and will require superhuman effort to overcome this daunting final task.
8) The hero wins the final battle with an opponent or enemy or with himself and returns to his natural state wiser, or stronger, or cured, but not necessarily happier. The journey has made him a different person. He has glimpsed death and can never go back to the simplicity of what he once was.

Oliver Fitch

Ten Tips from Clifford Thurlow (Making Short Films)

We had already gained a lot of advice from our teachers but I decided to acquire some more from someone we did not know and was an expert in the production of short films. So I borrowed the book Peter had purchased on Making Short Films by Clifford Thurlow and read it through thoroughly, I thought that these ten tips helped us massively with the structure of our short film. The book itself goes into huge amounts of detail about the role of the director, producer and editor. As well as explaining finance and distribution, Crewing, Locations, Casting, Sound design, Music and Post-Production and a range of tips and guides in order for you to produce the best short film that you possibly can. I think that this was an excellent idea for Peter to invest in buying this book, as it has helped us on many occasions and we have referred to it for guidance. In summation, it will continue to help and guide us through the production of our short film.

1) Don’t trust inspiration, unless you want to be a poet. The first idea you get is often, borrowed from every movie you’ve seen and every book you’ve read.
2) If you do work on the inspired project- rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. These are the most important three things you must learn about script writing.
3) See your writing from the other screen, the audience point of view; if there is no audience, there is no message.
4) Do not adjust your writing to the market by attempting to stay a breast or even ahead of changing trends; such work is a form of cultural static lacking veracity and, often, even relevance
5) Be true to your own vision. Write about what you know about? Absolutely. But then write what you believe in.
6) Four steps to writing a short film scenario: find the ending, then the beginning, then the first turning point the event that gets the story going, then the second turning point the scene that swings the story around and sets up the ending.
7) Enter your story a short time before the crisis that ignites the drama.
8) Scenes are like parties: arrive late and leave early.
9) Persevere
10) Listen to criticism. But don’t always take it.

Oliver Fitch

17/10/09 Production Diary (Part 1 Interior Garage Scene)

As a group we decided it was convenient to shoot the footage of the ‘garage warehouse/scene’ at Peter McLaughlin’s house on Saturday 17th October. We mutually agreed that this garage was ideal to use, due to it being cluttered and small giving the audience a sense of claustrophobia when it was presented on screen. Previous to deciding on this location we had surveyed other possible locations that could be used including Oliver Fitch’s Father’s garage, a local garage up for rent and various places the character could awaken but none matched or contained the iconography that this setting obtained. We delegated different roles once everyone arrived at the location.
Oliver Fitch being responsible for Continuity and helping with the framing of camera shots,
Peter McLaughlin playing the role of “John”,
Joseph Lawrence in charge of cinematography
and Tim Mcniven was trying to justify the shots taken in relation to the script to
keep raw as possible.
Prior to arranging the shoot, we casted the iconic role of the dead girl as Holly Brooks. Holly was ideal for the role due to her stereotypical

features:
fair haired
blue eyes
And has a sense of innocence about her.

In using a female body instead a male body we felt that the audience would sympathize as well as feeling emotional towards the now deceased girl, as a young girl’s death is seen as tragic. With the dead girl being shown near the start of our production it sets an ominous tone and engages the audience.

We tested several Camera shots for the opening of our film as we wanted to correctly establish that our short film was of the experimental genre. We tried several camera shots mainly consisting of a change in lighting. The first shot we tried was of ‘John’ lying on the floor with natural daylight flowing into the room, illuminating it. We felt that this shot was in a sense clever as it could be seen as a cinematic conceit (as the closing of the door shows how society is rejecting him due to his situation). However this shot would divert the audience’s attention, as they would question where the daylight was coming from and this would shatter the film’s continuity. We tried close ups of John’s face and that of the dead girl’s but we felt that this would ruin the plot instantaneously. Eventually we found a camera shot that was interesting and fascinating. This was an extreme low-angle shot looking up towards a light as it flickered and lit up the darkness of the confined garage. It created a strange blur effect when filmed due to the sudden contrast in lighting. We felt that this was particularly effective as it set the mood for the film and could be related closely to the experimental genre.

After obtaining this footage we decided to stick closely to our storyboards based upon the script. We set up the next shot, which was influenced by LOST. It was an extreme close up of John’s eyes as they opened. We felt that this use of the camera was on par with the creativity of the previous shot and we wanted to keep this fresh and raw use of cinematography consistent well throughout our production. We felt that this shot could also be enhanced through the use of light manipulation and contrasting, to create an effect that the eyes are about to shed tears.

We then began to trial various camera shots of a higher difficulty, the reason that these shots provided more challenge was because there was a mirror present in the frame of the camera, and we had to take extra care that the camera or tripod could not be seen in the reflection of the mirror. The use of the mirror would have a great impact on the audience when it was viewed on screen, as it panned away from the mirror to reveal the character in a different position creating a psychedelic impression. Upon acquiring this shot we thought that we needed to match the motion of the character with match on action shots, as breaking up the shots and keeping the pace of this scene is what we are mainly trying to achieve to set the mood.

We then moved onto a crucial part of the shoot in which the dead girl is revealed to the audience and presents an enigma, leaving the audience to join the dots as the film progresses. The camera shot was a high angle/over the shoulder shot at a canted angle. In frame the shot contained ‘John’ nervously moving forward towards a large box, his hand slowly reaches to the lid of this object and begins to pull it away slowly, eventually revealing the ‘Dead girl’. We felt that the way our piece had been constructed through storyboards could be due to our study of Psychoanalytical Film theory, as we wanted to keep our audience engrossed whilst they watched our short film.

Definition:
The film viewer is seen as the subject of a "gaze" that is largely "constructed" by the film itself, where what is on screen becomes the object of that subject's desire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalytical_film_theory

We encountered numerous problems whilst trying to shoot this section of our short film.
The lack of space made it difficult to arrange camera shots and angles.
Due to the lack of space, not all members of the group could be inside the garage whilst filming, so we had to rotate who was using the camera and who would be preparing shots.
The lighting presented a problem when viewed on camera, due to auto focus issues.
The battery life of the camera meant that the time available for us to conduct the shoot was limited unless we were near a plug socket.


By Oliver Fitch & Peter McLaughlin

Clifford Thurlow

In wanting to create the best short film possible I thought it would be worthwhile to invest in a guide written by a redound Author Clifford Thurlow.

The guide covers various areas of film from its History,Development and how it has evolved since its creation from stills to the moving image. Including chapters on the role of the Director, Producer and Editor and top tips on how to structure your Short Film. The guide also contains a list of short films that are highly recommended such as:

#1 Ballet Mechanique (1924): Dadiast dilm by Fernaud Le'ger and Dudley Murphy, with cinematography by Man Ray, shwoing abstract shapes moving hypnotically to the music of George Antheill.

#2 Un Chien Andalou (1929): Luis Bunel and Salvador Dali collaborated on this sureal masterpiece where a woman's eyeball is sliced with a razor, priests are dead, donkeys are strapped to a piano, and live ants pour from the palm of a woman's hand.

#3 A Propos de Nice (1930): Jean Vigo's legendary travelogue takes us along the Riviera revealing the rich and poor living their seperate lives together.

#4 The Mascot (1934): Wladyslaw Starewicz's macabre bal masque features Satan and a multitude of gruesome creatures made from household items.

#5 Duck and Cover (1951) Uncredited, Wickedly parodied civil defense training film showing children how to protect themselves from nuclear attacks by diving under school desks.

In the near future I will be conducting a critical anaylsis of one of these titles.

Peter McLaughlin

Shooting Schedule

Before beginning the process of filming our production we had to take a number of different aspects into consideration. Firstly we had to agree as a group the best possible location for that particular scene of our production in which we were shooting. This was based on numerous location scouting expeditions and through this we had to decide between practicality and availability. Also our decision was made by the mise en scene and iconography a certain location obtained and what affect on the audience it had when presented on screen. Additionally due to the majority of the filming be shot during weekends we had to ensure that we were all available before proceeding as well as any actors/actresses who were starting in our production. We decided that shooting the footage for our production during the weekends was the best solution for us as during the week it was very hard to find enough time available for all of us to be present whilst filming. The amount of time that it takes to film a particular scene is extremely time consuming and we agreed as a group that we didn’t want to rush our project otherwise the final outcome would not be to as good standard as we would have wanted to achieve.

For certain locations we had to take into account were we able to film there? Or did we have to get any permission and if so make sure that we were well prepared and organised by informing the certain people to gain access to the location, early so if not we had enough time to find an alternative location. Travelling was also an issue with the locations we desperately wanted the locations we choose to have a substantial affect on the audience however we didn’t want to travel miles and miles to find these particular locations because of this it cost us a lot of time and money for the location scouting but definitely was time and money well spent. As the locations in which we decided on contained the best possible mise en scene that we could find and also were all relatively easy to travel to.

We had arranged previously as a group that it would be convent to film this scene on this date as we were all available and we wanted to get started with the filming as soon as possible to allow us maximal amount of time for editing which we had learnt from the previous year took a substantial amount of time.

First Session of Filming is the Interior Garage Scene which was scheduled for:

Date: Saturday 17th October 2009

Time: 10am – 2pm

Location: Peter McLaughlin’s Garage

Travel Time to Location: 30 minutes

Cast: Peter McLaughlin (John) Holly Brookes (Dead Girl)

Crew: Oliver Fitch, Peter McLaughlin, Joseph Lawrence and Tim McNiven

Costume: Peter McLaughlin – Long Sleeve Grey Top, Old denim Jeans and Black Trainers. Holly Brookes – Old Black Hoodie, Blue Tracksuit Bottoms and White Trainers.

Iconography: The Box, The Guide

Equipment Needed: HD camera and Tripod

Estimated Scene Length: 30 – 40 seconds

Due to running out of time the day before when we had initially planned to shoot this scene, we decide that we wanted to finish filming this scene and the weather was also very similar to yesterday so we proceed with our decision. We all firstly met up at Peter’s House then once we were already left with all the necessary equipment and iconography needed for this scene.

Second session of filming is the Exterior Field Scene which was scheduled for:

Date: Sunday 18th October 2009

Time: 10.30am – 4pm

Location: Public Field

Travel Time to Location: 40 minutes

Cast: Peter McLaughlin (John) Holly Brookes (Dead Girl)

Crew: Oliver Fitch, Peter McLaughlin, Joseph Lawrence and Tim McNiven

Costume: Peter McLaughlin – Long Sleeve Grey Top, Old denim Jeans and Black Trainers. Holly Brookes – Old Black Hoodie, Blue Tracksuit Bottoms and White Trainers.

Iconography: The Box, The Guide

Equipment Needed: HD Camera and Tripod

Estimated Scene Length: 30 – 40 seconds

Timing was crucial for this scene as it had to be filmed before we broke up for school as the cement was going to be put in the foundations soon, so we all met up after school on the last day of term to film this footage. We had only really heard about the holes on the school recently so we had to make a quick decision about this. We had to meet up with Mr Piper before hand as he was going to supervise us during the shooting of the scene due to health and safety reasons.

Third session of filming is the Exterior Grave Scene which was scheduled for:

Date: Friday 23rd October 2009

Time: 3.30pm – 5pm

Location: School Field

Travel Time to Location: 5 minutes

Cast: Peter McLaughlin (John) Holly Brookes (Dead Girl)

Crew: Oliver Fitch, Peter McLaughlin, Joseph Lawrence and Tim McNiven

Costume: Peter McLaughlin – Long Sleeve Grey Top, Old denim Jeans and Black Trainers. Holly Brookes – Old Black Hoodie, Blue Tracksuit Bottoms and White Trainers.

Iconography: The Box, The Guide, Spade and Shovel

Equipment Needed: HD Camera and Tripod

Estimated Scene Length: 20 – 30 seconds

We had to take some time of school for this scene but had to ask for permission first from our teachers if we were allowed to. However Joe was not available for this shoot as he couldn’t get the time of school as he teachers wouldn’t let him miss their lesson because he would fall behind with work. So myself, Peter and Tim where to meet up at school to get the permission we needed to film before proceeding to Peter’s House where we picked up all the relevant equipment, iconography and allowed Peter to change in to his costume. Before going to the location where this scene was to be shoot.

Fourth session of Filming is the Exterior Woods Scene which was scheduled for:

Date: Wednesday 25th November 2009

Time: 9pm – 1.30pm

Location: Public Woods which backed onto a Field near where we had previously filmed

Travel Time to Location: 50 minutes

Cast: Peter McLaughlin (John)

Crew: Oliver Fitch, Peter McLaughlin and Tim McNiven

Costume: Peter McLaughlin - Long Sleeve Grey Top, Old denim Jeans and Black Trainers.
Iconography: The Box, The Guide

Equipment Needed: HD Camera and Tripod

Estimated Scene Length: 30 – 40 seconds

We all apart from Tim had free periods at this time so we decided that we would film some more footage at the first location (Interior Garage Scene) as previously we had not gained enough footage and variety of camera angles and shots. We all had a lesson period one so after this we all met up in the common room and then headed back to Peter’s House for the second session of filming at this location.

Fifth session of Filming is any re-shooting of previous footage from the Interior Garage Scene

Date: Tuesday 1st December 2009

Time: 10am – 12.20pm

Location: Peter McLaughlin’s Garage

Travel Time to Location: 5 minutes from school

Cast: Peter McLaughlin (John)

Crew: Oliver Fitch, Peter McLaughlin and Joseph Lawrence

Costume: Peter McLaughlin - Long Sleeve Grey Top, Old denim Jeans and Black Trainers.

Iconography: The Box, The Guide

Equipment Needed: HD Camera and Tripod

Estimated Scene Length: 30 – 40 seconds

This scene had already been delayed on numerous occasions simply because all the group members could not be present a certain times. Also this scene required a Van and someone that could drive it. I had to ask my good friend Davy Tan who was able to assist us with this scene as his dad owned many Vans and he was ensured on them and therefore able to drive them. This was perfect for us but we also had to take into consideration a suitable time for Davy as he was also busy during the weekend so we had to arrange a time that was appropriate for everyone.

Sixth session of Filming is the Exterior Van scene in which we see John Transport the Body to a different location

Date: Sunday 13th December 2009

Time: 10am – 3pm

Location: Peter McLaughlin’s House and Public Woods

Travel Time to Location: 30 minutes

Cast: Peter McLaughlin (John) Holly Brookes (Dead Girl)

Crew: Oliver Fitch, Peter McLaughlin, Joseph Lawrence and Tim McNiven

Costume: Peter McLaughlin - Long Sleeve Grey Top, Old denim Jeans and Black Trainers. Holly Brookes – Old Black Hoodie, Blue Tracksuit Bottoms and White Trainers.

Iconography: The Box, The Guide, White Van, Spade and Shovel

Equipment Needed: HD Camera and Tripod

Estimated Scene Length: 30 – 40 seconds


Oliver Fitch

Costumes and props within the film

Our characters' costumes will be critical to their representation within the film. The decision we make on costumes will have a major impact on how the chartacters are percieved, so discussion will be critical to making to sure we make the right choice.

The protagonist will awake in a dark and dingy garage, and so we will need to discuss as a group what we think is the best choice of costume. Having him smartly dressed would make a good contrast to the mise-en-scene of the garage, although shabby and dishevelled clothing could act as a way to relate the character to the events of the film.

The dead girl within the box is never seen in full, and so the costume we use will largely be irrelevant. We have chosen to dress her in a dark jumper: this allows her to blend into the shadow of the box, leaving her blonde hair visible in the darkness. This will draw attention to the "innocent blonde" stereotype, causing the audience to feel as though the girl was dragged into the events against her will.


- Joseph Lawrence

'The Scientist' - How it is an Influence for our Short Film and the Analysis of it as a Music Video

we plan to use no copyrighted music for our short film (this is because when you listen to music that you recognise your attention is focused on the origins of the song as opposed to the emotion expressed).

Yet the tone and directional techniques shown in the Jamie Thraves’ music video of Coldplay's 'The scientist' is awe inspiring, it also contains similar narrative themes. This means we can employ many of the techniques demonstrated.

Grading

All the pictures were graded to a grey tone, with blue enhanced. This is because we link blue with tragedy, and the main theme of the piece is death. This is shown in the opening shot of Chris Martin (Lead Singer), he makes his eyes extremely blue.

This not only emphasises that him as an aspiration figure and uses his sexuality to sell records, but also suggests that the character is mourning.

The use of grey shows that the world is empty, there is nothing to interest us, because without his love there is nothing. Colours excite an audience, the lack of it makes us feel upset creating pathos for the character.

Editing and Cinematography

Whilst we do not want to replicate this aspect of the video, it uses the slow editing. That’s because it’s a slow character piece. Whilst ours too focuses on one character, it shows his hectic attitude as he is stuck in this situation.

‘The Scientist’ has a multiple of midshots, close ups and wideshots all focusing on ‘Chris Martin’ (meaning he is always in the foreground, making his black clothing prominent against a bright background).

Constant Voyuerism takes place through the video, this to make Chris Martin have a connection with the viewers, it forces you to recognise his grief and makes the situation all the more real (ironically considering it’s breaking the forth wall).

All these techniques reinforce the image of Coldplay (more specifically their lead singer) , this video was made at a highpoint of their career and promoting the star is essential for any band and a selling point.

Locations

The mixture of Urban and Rural locations plays a major part of the visual direction of both our piece and the music video. I believe it gives an epic feel, as if being on a journey, also leaving suburbia for nature gives a feeling of escapism, a quest.

The tall trees give a scale as they tower over our protagonist. There is a mixture of beauty mixed with tragedy. This creates an underlying poetic poignancy that makes the piece much more powerful and timeless. We hope to encapsulate this tone in our Short Film

Choice Of Editing Software

As a group we have decided to take a step up on the post production side of the project.

In reviewing the script that has been set and created for this project we have realised that the film will have to be constructed with the utmost professionalism. We will want to have clean cut transitions, high quality grading, Super-fine colour correction and the ability to capture footage in High Definition. That is why we will be using the latest software, Pinnacle HD14.

Not only do we want our final product to be that of a high standard, but to portray the work of an aspiring Film Director, Editor, or other various roles in the media/film industry. We hope that if a film keen audience was to watch our final product they would be able to recognise what films, directors and pieces of fact and fiction have had an affect on our Short, from the research we have provided along side it. We feel that we can make this clearer through modern software that gives a crisper picture and character to our video and it will make for better viewing for our audience.

Peter McLaughlin

Conventions Of Music Videos

Music videos are largely dependent upon the song they are promoting: a video from a country singer will be vastly different from that of a hardcore band. Because of this, filming styles vary greatly.

One example of this is the cinematography used in the video for Deftones’ Hexagram. The video makes use of close ups and rapid editing, low key lighting and dark mise en scene. This is a good choice of style to go with the fast and heavy music.

Aside from camerawork, music videos rely heavily on mise en scene, particularly in their representation of social groups. This is largely done through the choice of wardrobe for the people portrayed, allowing the viewer to establish what sort of music the video is promoting even if the sound is muted. Locations are also important: Hexagram is filmed in an underground car park, with a very dark atmosphere to fit with the song itself. Obviously, a song lighter in tone would be promoted with a video lighter in its visuals.

The channels on which a music video is played are largely determined by the genre of the music, with channels dedicated to rock, pop, R&B etc. This allows the music video to be seen by it’s target audience, instead of being mixed with other genres that the viewer may not be interested in seeing and hearing.

- Joseph Lawrence

The Script - Second Draft

Codes and Conventions of a Short Film

Before producing our short film we have to critically analyse the structure, codes and conventions associated with this particular genre. Short films normally have an interconnected narrative and constructive format in which the story is explained.
Short films usually consist of one main focus character but however use external characters to assist in the progression of the film; conversely these external characters can have a negative impact on the short film so in that sense are not always required. These characters linked with the protagonist generally have basic/simple relationships or connections related to the focus character but however they can be used in a positive way, as they can be used to express the individual’s emotions, feelings and the way they live.

Short films mainly consist of one main plot otherwise known as (Linear), due to the duration is which short films last for, as the audience has to understand the plot being explained in that short space of time. Due to the time consumption of short films it is relatively rare to come across a short film that demonstrates, development into other sub plots within the narrative. Because of this lack of complex development within the narrative the film usually ends by leading up to the climax. Many short film directors recognise this and generally want to have a clear almost disturbing message to leave with the audience. The directors achieve this by ending the short film with an exceptionally unexpected event which leaves the viewers shocked and keeps them talking about the striking disclosure of the film. A good example of this is from the short film ‘About a Girl’ where towards the end we see her carrying the plastic bag, which she drops in the canal that contained her baby as she is incapable of looking after it. This ending I think does leave the audience very disturbed and shocked from this event. Flashbacks can occasionally be used in short films as they can have a very positive impact as they can relate the external characters to the main character and also can help explain the focus character’s story, events that reflex’s the situation that the character is now in to the audience (Not usually used in short films because you come away from the one idea). However the most crucial aspect of a short film is to keep the plot simple which has some complexity but this complexity must not be intermittent into confusion. If this is achieved successfully then complexity can be effective in constructing enigmas for the audience.

Many short films don’t follow or use the ‘Todorov’ Theory stating that all films narratives have equilibrium: the normal state at the beginning of the film. Any opposing forces are in balance, disequilibrium: an action or conflict is introduced into the narrative, new equilibrium: the conflict is resolved and the narrative strands are tied together. Sometimes short films may start with disequilibrium or on the other hand they could follow a completely different theory but what is clear is that short films don’t have to follow a structure like having a beginning, middle and ending.

Locations in Short Films are essential to the narrative as they give the audience particular representations of the characters. This is why directors of short films predominantly use stereotypical locations to help accentuate the personality of the character. The Locations of a Short Film are generally set in a one particular place or setting which has relevance to the narrative. Also Locations have a significant importance as they are a major factor of the mise en scene, which assists in giving the audience a considerably broader understanding of that individual character.

Stereotypes are used to give the audience simplified conceptions of specific social groups, or types of individuals based on several prior assumptions. The main aspect that contributes towards creating stereotypes within the narrative is all the elements that make up mise en scene. The dialect which the character uses is a clear indication to the audience of what specific social class they are from and also where the character is from or originated from. The costume of a character can represent to the audience class, wealth or age. The other elements of mise en scene props, lighting and composition, the decor and colour in a setting also have a factor in contributing to explanation of the story.

When it comes to distribution of a Short Film it is approached in a very different manner to Feature Length Films for many reasons. Firstly a fairly obvious point Short Films generally last from five minutes to forty minutes where as Feature Length Films on average last from ninety to one hundred and twenty minutes. Because of this Short Films mainly have simple plots and therefore only require minimal actors/actresses at a time. Whereas Feature Length Films have many and complex plots that requires a major budget and a significant amount of actors/actresses. Also Feature Length Films have a major budget for the appearance of major stars within the film to help create a word of mouth about the film and also attract audiences.

Unlike Feature Length Films which are distributed to global cinema complexes, short films can educate audiences and put across a serious point to the audience and because of this they are distributed on the internet (YouTube), film clubs, art galleries and on the television (BBC, Channel 4). However if the director of the short film wants to develop his career into the film industry, short films are often shown at short film festivals in order to promote yourself as a director.



By Oliver Fitch