Evaluation

Questions explored within this text: 


1. My role across, pre production/ production and post. 
2. Where we would distributed.
3. Target audience and how we aimed to reach them. [1] Refer to Blog post: Evaluation Questions.
4. How has the short film differed from the original ideas. 

The short film, I produced was 'Raine' alongside my group of Perpe and Roisin. The origins of the idea for 'Raine' was devised because my group wanted to produce a Socially effecting film which tackle a sensitive issues. We wanted the film to appeal to our target audience of 13- 19  year olds, who the film's issues would effect. 

Pre- Production

During pre production, we began by brainstorming  ideas on what issues we thought our short film should tackle. We had many different opinions and ideas, however we compromised and decided to use alcohol abuse and addiction. We then, discussed how we wanted our film to visually look like and what sequences and influenced of other short films we would include. We strongly wanted to have a dream sequence within our short film, where our main character Raine, 'slips' into her 'alcohol' fueled world.  Our influence for the dream sequence was Florence and the Machine's music video, Dog Days Are Over. The imagery and disorientated camera techniques really inspired me. 

Another influence was the short film, 'Slap', which has strong diegetic sound to intensify the realism of scenes. We wanted to integrate the non diegetic sound with diegetic sound to create a balance between the two. 

One of my many roles during pre production was to draw the storyboard and devise innovative camera angle for 'Raine'. I found this process enjoyable and fairly straightforward as I was well planned. I was the active member who seeked actresses/ actors for our short film, and I felt that it was successful as I choose the actors/ actresses to the brief. 

Production

During filming the short film, there were many difficulties which we had to overcome. On the first day of filming, the camera stopped working, which led to having to resort to using a digital SLR to take pictures for our short film. I found this an example of our group working well under pressure and thinking on the stop. On the second day of filming, a few of our scheduled actors cancelled, so we had to cal back-up's to take places of those acting spaces. 

I was mostly directing the short films and scenes, where Perpe was co- ordinating actions and Roisin was acting in the short film. I found directing the short film challenging at time due to geographic location of our scenes e.g.: shooting the nightmare sequence in the woods on hills', however I overcame this hurdle by creating innovative alternatives. 

Editing 

I found editing fairly straight- forward, at times, as were able to refer back to our storyboard to remind us of what needed to be completed and to what effect. 

Adding effects and filters to many scenes, presented difficulties, as this was very time consuming, and frustrating. We however ended up using a Final Cut Pro Guide, which helped us understand the software better and achieve what we needed. 

The iMac being stole from college caused slight problems to the short film schedule, as it was held up for a month and we momentum for editing, however I feel we still was able to produce a substantial  quality of work. 

Raine Title:

I was assisted to make titles for 'Raine' which I felt I produced a very effective and fitting title. I felt i was able to use my creative and photoshop skills to greater use during this project.

I overall feel that the short film is the desired outcome we wanted. I feel it powerful in its message and the visually innovation and techniques used create a unique and creative short film. 'Raine' adheres to to codes and conventions of short film as it is less than 55 minute in length and is low budget. I feel the title is bold and the non diegetic music is atmospheric to the short film. I feel with more time, many aspect of 'Raine' could be improved.

Distribution


Social networks is a key tool I would be using to distribute this short film, as it is statistically shown that our target audience are most active upon virtual video sharing domain such as YouTube and Vimeo. YouTube and Vimeo are free video hosting websites, which will allow our short film to have presence online and YouTube received over 300+ million views daily.

I would also use our short film as an educational tool for schools and colleges. This could be achieved by burning the film onto disc and sending around to school head-teachers, explaining what use the short film could have in PHSE lesson for young people. Although the film is partially graphic, it has a strong message and moral for our target audience to understand. 

Evaluation Questions.

        How does this piece conform to short film codes and conventions; think both in terms of technique and content?

My short film, Raine, adheres to the codes and convention of short film as it has clear structure with the narrative focussed on our main protagonist. The aim of our short film was to create a social realism film which I feel we have achieved.

Our short film has bold titles, which are fitting to the films context and add impact to the film. The use of non diegetic sound were emphasised in sequences to build tension. The film is shot on low budget and under 55 minute in length. We used a small cast and crew. 

How have the short films that you have studied/researched influenced your own production? Be specific; think about use of cameras, music, titles, narrative structure etc.

·         What were your other influences? Music videos, films and news story, personal incident?

One of the many short films, I have studied which has had influence on the production of 'Raine', was 'About A Girl' directed by Brian Percival. The mise en scene throughout 'About A Girl' is extremely gritty and naturalistic, which sets the context of film. The main protagonist breaks the 4th wall in the film, by speaking to the camera, which is handheld throughout. I found by having the camera hand-held it included the audience and made it personal. This technique was used in my short film, to create atmosphere and allow the audience to be submersed into our main protagonists 'world'. 

Another Short film which has influenced my 'Raine', has been 'Slap'- BBC Shorts. The use of sound diegetic sound builds atmosphere and tension, setting the scene of the film. Our careful storyboard limited use of diegetic sound is a tool we used to strength many scenes where realism is needed and can accentuate a shots importance. 

The narrative of the short film originated from my group wanting to make a social realism film, which explores an issue of alcohol abuse and addiction. We choose this idea, as we all feel passionate about the topic and believed we could creatively do a innovative production. 

·         Who is your target audience and how have you reached them?

Our target audience are teenagers as we have used similar aged actors that appeal to them and focus on a issue which is relevant to many young people. Our short film is shot with interesting and dynamic shots, which I will capture the audiences attention. We used youthful music which attracts the audience. Using youth friendly popular sites such as: YouTube we hope to connect to our audiences. 

Session Itinerary

Lessons


MONDAY- VIDEO PRODUCTION | WEDNESDAY- VIDEO PRODUCTION | THURSDAY- VIDEO PRODUCTION | FRIDAY- VIDEO




Friday - 12/10/10 

In this lesson we will be: 


+ Sorting out the passer by effects: speed and colour. 
+ Making blinking effect sharper and smoother on the passerby scene. Adjusting slug
+ Overlaying scenes of drinking over the nightmares scenes. 


Achieved: 


Sorted out the passer- by effects: speed and colour. 


- We achieved a reasonable impressive effect when we experimented and it improves the creativity of the film. 


- Making blinking effect sharper and smoother on the passerby scene. Adjusting slug with resembled the blinking of the character in her film state. 
                                  


                                                                                                                                                     
Monday - 15/10/10


In this lesson we will be: 


+ Making the seductresses scene have a 'significant' difference visually after the 'passerby' blinking scene. 


+ Begin overlaying drinking scenes of the main protagonist with the nightmare scenes. 


Achieved: 


- Overlaid the drinking scenes over nightmare scenes, still need to do over more scenes. 

Notes for our Presentation

Presentation Notes

Notes typed and edited by Perpe

Synopsis:

·      When trying to create a concept we wanted to explore the two extremes of sleep (a state on vulnerability) and thus merged the idea of dream and nightmare.

·      We wanted to do something different and approach the subject of suicide from a different angle and felt that this was unique because it was created using a more realistic feel.

Actors:

·      In creating Rain, we’ve delved into the fine line between reality and dreaming and created this obviously troubled character. The name choice came quite naturally and it reflects the instability in everything surrounding her.

·      The seductress is one of those characters that you know as soon as you see her is trouble. The iconic white dress, adds to her surrealism, yet she is the one thing that stays the same, because what we see with her, is exactly what we get.

·      The Boyfriend is the ultimate deceiver. Aside from the seductress, we have created a character that Rain can fully trust, which we see in the way she responds to him and once that is taken away from her, the question is what is left for her? And by keeping her ambiguous the question is did she ever really have anything?

·      The small cast, allow us to focus more on Rain’s feelings etc.

Location:

·      We have decided to film in a massive park (Finsbury Park) so we can get to different extremes, the woodland and the more public access parks.

·      By keeping it simple, we help retain the realism.

Props:

·      The water bottle is integral to the whole film, because it is the core from which everything expands.

Storyboard for Raine

Storyboard:

Raine

Roisin: Colouring |  Perpe: Description- writing | Justyn: Drawing. 

Short Film Pre-Production

Notes typed and edited by Roisin

Character Profiles

The female protagonist:

• Slim
• Nothing special
• Some unusual features
• Own sense of style - arty

The Seductress:

•  Pixie-like
• Light-footed (dancer)
• White Dress, pink lips (dream)
• Skimpy clothes/rah-rah skirt, red lips, dark eyes (nightmare)
• Represents the temptation to drink

The guy:

•  Normal looking
•  Similar look/style to Justin Bieber
• Represents the female protagonist’s addiction

The friends:

•   Own style

Production Schedule

Sunday 24^th – Friday 28^th October

(Actual days for each location depend on weather)

Two days park:

• Before dream sequence
• Part of dream sequence
• Part of nightmare sequence
• Female protagonist: 2 days
• Seductress: 2 days
• Guy: 2 days
• Friends: 1 day

One day tunnel/underpass:

• Transition from dream to nightmare
• Female protagonist and Seductress

One day leaving house, bathroom and symbolist shots:

• Mostly indoors
• Female protagonist (maybe Seductress)

Synopsis

A girl leaves her home with a bottle of, what appears to be, water and sits in her local park to watch the world go by.  However, everything changes and the world isn’t what she knew it to be; she enters a dream-like world and is led by a girl in white through a forest to a small gathering of friends who are happy to befriend the girl.  Amongst the friends is the girl’s dream man and he leads her farther into the forest.  After presenting her with a gift, the dream world shifts and becomes a nightmare.  The girl feels powerless against the horror and stops everything the only way she knows how to...

Ideas Development- Characters

Tuesday 6.10.10

Characters.

We discussed Characters in lesson, We know will have our protaginist, which she has to be: 16- 19 years old.

We also looked at how we think the girl would look like, so we could scout a girl who possible incorporates all our ideas or similar to.

Justyn:

- Strong features, no specific skin colour, middle height, medium hair.

Roisin

- Nothing special with features,'a balnk canvas' we could mould and style,  white/ dark hair

Perpe

- Messy erratic hair, arty, tall and skinny.

We discussed the use of other charachers within the shortfilmand dream sequence for example: family members, possible ex boyfriend and friends she looks tofor acceptance.