Brief/Synopsis

The brief for our project was to produce a 5 minute short film, and then to produce a promotional poster and magazine style review about the film itself. We have chosen to create a film based around enigma and mystery: our protagonist wakes in a garage to find a dead body in a box, with a book titled “The Quintessential Guide to the Disposal of a Body” detailing the various methods with which to dispose of the girl in the box. The film then follows him as he moves the body from the garage to the place of burial, encountering problems and a twist ending.

We have made the decision to remove dialogue from the film, instead subtitling the thoughts of the protagonist on the screen to add to the surreal feel of the piece. The dark subject matter of the film is juxtaposed by the bright imagery, with the majority of our locations using high key lighting: this challenges the conventions of how death is typically represented within cinema, replacing the dark and morbid feel of traditional deaths in films with clear blue skies and scenes shot in a picturesque field. The presence of the guide also adds a subtle element of black humour to the film: the fact that our protagonist is taking orders from a mysterious book he found next to the corpse of a young girl, in a cardboard box, raises questions about his sanity.

The theme of the protagonist’s mental state is called into question several times throughout the film. We have referenced this by including themes of isolation, delusion, dehumanisation and desperation. For example, there are several shots of the protagonist dragging the box through a deserted field: this is representative of him being alone and isolated from the rest of humanity in his disposal of the body.

In regards to cinematography, we have created a combination of tripod based steady shots and handheld work. We felt that reaction shots and footage of the box being moved were best displayed by using handheld close-ups to give a sense of chaos and motion.

- Joe Lawrence

25/11/09 Production Diary (Part 4 Exterior Woods Scene)

With our project relying on daylight for shooting ,time was minimal. We had to shoot around the weather conditions and lighting given and thankfully the 25th of November was a perfect day for filming. We had to re-shoot footage for Chapter 1: Journey, as on the first session of filming we did not gather all the resources necessary to construct this scene successfully.



The footage required consisted of several pans, handheld footage and tilts for the Character’s journey across the field, which would continue through into Chapter 2: Disposal. The shots would show the character’s progression in his task/quest that he has undertaken through no choice of his own.

The trees shown in the picture above metaphorically symbolise a gateway, this could be related to poetical conceit, as the trees become the finish line for the first part of the characters Journey; hence the name of the first chapter.
We wanted to get various long shots/pans and then in post production, chop them up into sections, transforming them into jump cut shots, to create give the audience an insight into the characters fragmented mind.
We then had the idea, of filming a second pan shot and dividing it up in post production , putting the clips in the wrong order, to show the characters struggle and how he is beginning to hallucinate due to the his emotional trauma.

Due to weather conditions as it being winter the temperature and the harshness of the cold made it difficult for Peter McLaughlin acting in our production as he forgot about the main continuity issues that were present in our short film. As we proceed from shot to shot during the filming Peter forgetting about continuity kept putting his jumper on due to it being so cold. This resulted in us filming a certain shots where Peter was wearing his jumper. Oliver Fitch was the first to notice this huge error so we had to reshoot all the footage with this continuity issue present and he had to remind Peter between shots to remove it otherwise the same mistake would be repeated.

After acquiring the footage needed to complete Chapter 1: Journey, we back tracked to the forest location, which was the start of this chapter. As we needed to show the character proceeding through the forest to the field.

We then began to shoot footage for the forest/ dream sequence scene of our film. However due to the time restrictions on our film we realised after obtaining the footage that the camera work used for the dream sequence would not fit within our timescale even after post production. The camera work itself was also not to the standard of which we were hoping, so another shooting day for the forest was needed.

By Oliver Fitch & Peter McLaughlin

Focus Group Discussion Questions/Points

In an analysis of our potential audience we must first establish how short films are distributed and seen by others. Our theory is that short films are rarely watched by anyone other than those with a vested interest in film to begin with, and that the general public will largely not be interested in viewing short films on television due to a lack of production value and the often “arty” themes they are perceived as having.

Have you ever watched a short film outside of school?

If so, what genre or subgenre would it be a part of?

What format did you watch the film in? (Youtube, television, film website etc)

If not, would you have an interest in seeing one?

Would you watch short films if they were broadcast on everyday television channels? If not, why?

Do you think short films are an effective medium of film?

What do you think is the objective of short films?

What do you perceive the target audience for short films to be and why?

Are short films a good medium in which to portray real life situations and events?

Does the idea of producing your own short films intrigue you because of the ease with which they can be made?



-Joe Lawrence & Oliver Fitch

Questionnaire

In an analysis of our potential audience we must first establish how short films are distributed and seen by others. Our theory is that short films are rarely watched by anyone other than those with a vested interest in film to begin with, and that the general public will largely not be interested in viewing short films on television due to a lack of production values and the often “arty” themes they are perceived as having.

Have you ever watched a short film outside of school?

If so, what genre or subgenre would it be a part of?

What format did you watch the film in? Please circle.

Youtube, Vimeo, Myspace etc
Dedicated film website (Indy Mogul, FutureShorts etc)
TV (BBC, C4, Sky Indie)
DVD, Blu-Ray
Gallery/Cinema
Other (please specify) ­­­________________


If not, would you have an interest in seeing one?

Would you watch short films if they were broadcast on mainstream television channels?

If not, is this due to your own perception of the “message” of short films?

Do you think short films are an effective medium of film?

Would you watch a short film in the following genres?

Action/Adventure
Comedy
Horror/Thriller
Biographical

Do you view the target audience of short films as outside of the mainstream?

Are short films a good medium in which to portray real life situations and events due to their ease of production and length?



By Oliver Fitch & Joseph Lawrence

Influences: Trainspotting

Hodge and Boyle’s interpretation of Irvine Welsh’s Novel became a cult classic. It follows the erratic life of ‘Renton’ (Ewan McGregor) and his heroine addiction. It shows how he and his fellow users sacrifice everything for the drug and the depression that life with it entails.
The way it presents urban surroundings as intoxicating us, entrapping – leaving us open to it’s darkest corners. It then has moments out in rural countryside, an escape. This could be argued against by saying Renton only truly escapes in London. However I would state that shots of the train travelling through woodland and glens, showing that process, nature i

s needed to escape.

Within our project, we have a contrast of run down concrete areas, mixed with nature. It shows journey, suggests a quest. With our project it has the additional layer of suggesting the protagonist does not belong there, he does not deserve it. By his actions he is judged.



Renton and John do have a similar approach taken, concernign charcter narrative. In that it was important not to shy away from showing the character’s ruthless streak. Renton will happily steal money from a drug deal for personal gain. John will hide a corpse to protect himself.


(Research taken from 'Cult Movies: in Sixty Seconds' by Soreen McCarthy)

Publicity: Poster Design: Trial Run

A percentage of our marks come from designing a poster to promote our short film. This means combining the skills of designing and technical knowledge.

When designing a poster, it needs to appeal on a prima facie basis, immediately wanting the public to want more. It has to tantalise our interest, whilst give enough information for someone to judge the product on.

The technical knowledge required means we have to understand how to use a piece of software to the point it can pass as professional. The software we choose was ‘Corel Photo Paint’, similar to Photoshop it takes images and edits them. For our trial run we choose to take a photo still from an already existing film and adapt it into a poster.

We choose Trainspotting, already an influence on our work. It’s gritty tone and urban background matched our piece. Techniques employed for this poster can be directly used in our publicity poster.

We shall now discuss the various techniques we used to manipulate the image. Below is the orginal image.

This is the original picture. Usually you wouldn’t use a picture of this resolution as it wouldn’t stretch to the dimensions required for a poster. However we allowed this considering it was only for the purpose of a test-run and that the image of (‘Renton’ - the protagonist of the piece - lying on the floor of a rundown apartment) as striking and embodying of the piece.

We increased the mid-tone of the image, making the shadows darker and longer, by having the character surrounded by darkness it shows the bleak nature of his surroundings and how he can not escape it.

We also added a subtle swirl effect, this is subtle as not to distort the image, but centralises the image round Renton. It again emphasises how this world does not make sense to him so heroine is his salvation.

We then added the spotlight coming down upon him; it is dimmed it to show the nihilistic tone of the story. The spotlight has connotations of heaven, which contrasts him as an outlaw of society. How he feels judged and whether he is justified.

The writing is a quote from the beginning of the piece; it embodies why Renton does what he does, and the themes of isolation and anarchy. We turned the colour of; ‘Heroine’ to orange as it is the trademark colour of the piece. It also marks it out, showing how once you take heroine that is all you care about.


The result of these additions is the poster underneath.



Overall we think this would make an effective poster, but needs further additions to make it appear professional. We would choose a more exciting pose, fear is a more effective emotion then depression and will make a better selling point for our media piece.

By Timothy McNiven, Peter McLaughlin, Oliver Fitch and Joe Lawrence

Influences: Lost

Whilst deciding upon themes and photographic styles within our film, I knew that I ABC's Lost would be a heavy influence. The films use of iconography, enigma and mystery, as well as its varied filming style reflect those of Lost.

There are several references to Lost in the film. The first, and most obvious, is one of the opening shot of two eyes opening and focusing themselves. This references the frequently used introduction shot from Lost, with the only difference being the use of two eyes instead of Lost's one. Whilst Lost uses the single eye to reflect the characters' confusion and only seeing half of the picture, we chose to use two to show our characters sense of awareness and that his full attention is on the situation in which he finds himself.

The second is the presence of the body. Throughout Lost's five seasons, there have been three bodies present within coffins or boxes. These have played a large part in the shows sense of mystery, causing the viewer to begin to think about who is in the coffin, why they are, and how they got there. The use of a box in our film instead of a traditional coffin is key in the depiction of the body as a piece of luggage rather than a person: this reflects the fifth season finale of Lost in which a box is opened and a body is dumped unceremoniously onto the ground, with the message the presence of the body is giving being more important than the treatment of the body itself.

The third reference is in the overall tone and themes of the film. Both Lost and our film share the theme of conflict within the protagonist, with hints of mental illness and confusion, themes present in the characters of Charlie and Hurley in Lost. The underlying mystery of what exactly is happening in the film is reflective of some sections of Lost that are reliant on the viewers confusion in order to create a sense of mystery.

- Joe Lawrence

The Pilot (Episode 1) - Lost has taken elements of cinemtography and made it iconic to the show. By doing this you are showing you're work to be innovative. It also makes it bigger and epic, to go against traditional television methods, the result is a cinematic feel.

The particular shot I wish to mention, is an extreme close up of a closed eye that opens (an image that is repeated over the series). With non-diegetic music it builds up a dramatic feel, by making an eye opening impactive it gives everything else a sense of scale. Also by having the camera tightly locked onto the eye, we have no clues of the charcters surrounding. Which means we are forced to see from his perspective. By having it up-side down it only adds to the discombobulation.

A version of this shot has beeen employed in our production (excpet usign both eyes, as we liked the idea of a linear focus across the screen to match the opening shot of the light turning on) it makes the viewer focus on every single detail.

The Clash of Urban and Rural Settings - This has become a consistent theme in our influences. Lost is rennound for implyign a location is set in suburbia, due to a mixture of extreme close ups. Then using a wideshot revealing ti to be set on 'The Island' (or vise-versa). This not only reinforces the importance of a variety of locations, it demonstrates how techniques viewers all subconciously recognise can be used to mislead the audience. We plan to utilise this in our production, perhaps in how our protgainost wakes up in an uknown location and how this is then revealed to be isolated.

Tim McNiven

Casting: John

The decision to use Peter McLaughlin came when we decided to brign back the character of John. This follows the style of Lindsay Anderson and David Sherwin's 'Mick Travis' an 'everyman' charcter they employed in three of thier films, without continuity or references to other films he works as vehicle to explore social issues.

We view the charcter of 'John' in much the same sense. We do not think of him as the charcter in 'Regent House' but a simple of how the everyman can be twisted and falied to be udnerstood.

Peter's performance captures this dilemma of demanding empthaty from an audience that he is also alienating himself from.

Casting: 'The Body'

The body needed to have an element of innocence,to be pitied. It adds extra shock that she has been murdered and delivers a contrast to the dark story. We decided to emphasise this innocence we would choose a young actor.

This led to casting Holly Brooks. She fitted the descripion perfectly and had appeared in many sixth form videos before, makign her accustomed to the process.

Tim McNiven

The possibility of Chroma Keying?

In being fortunate to own a Green Screen, we have the ability to use the editing technique of chroma keying. Chroma keying involves blending two images or different frames together to get one moving image entirely. A classic example of the use of Green Screens is that of a weather forecast which is seen every day by the general public. But its uses are limited for a short film as using chroma keying might be gratuitous.
However we have the idea of an opening sequence of the protagonist standing in front of the green screen with effects in the background to represent society is plotting against him.

Peter McLaughlin