My final setting is in a cinema. It will be empty but filled with a few cast members to make it more realistic. Due to covid-19 I am awaiting to see how possible this is.
Being inside means the main bit of my film doesn't depend on the time of day/ year etc. The short clip of my main character leaving the cinema and seeing her date with another women is outside. This means i'll have to do it just before it goes dark as I want it to look like the evening but I need the lighting to be in my favour. Being in a cinema will make my film look modern which is perfect as I want it to look current.
I aim to film in Wymondham regal cinema. It is local and accessible. The image is of the cinema. As you can see it does not look like a typical cinema from the outside like the odeon or view. The first scene will be inside and the layout and lighting will make it clear where the film is set. If the opening scene is inside it will create mine-en-scene, the setting will be clear.
Because the cinema will be relatively dark it will create an element of mystery I believe. The cinema will help fit the genre because it creates a question of why is it set here? My film is a drama so it is a roller coaster ride of emotions with the main character who i aim to make so personal relationships are built between her and the audience.
I asked people for their opinions on my film. I explained my idea and listened to the feedback they gave me. 30% of these people were a mixture of genders and ages outside of my target audience (young teen and adults). The adults all liked the idea it was relatable - they'd all been through something similar. 70% of these people fit into my target audience (young adults). Most said they liked the idea and the whole film being her thoughts sounds interesting and unique. One said she always wonders what people are thinking when watching films and wish they could get into their head. This gives her the perfect opportunity to just that. Someone I asked in my target audience said he liked the idea and thinks it will be successful. However, he said he feels like there needs to be a plot twist and something dramatic needs to happen, for example, she see's him and realised he lied about being busy.
I took this idea and decided that I agreed. From the feedback I decided there needed to be a bigger ending as without it might get boring hearing her thoughts about why he's not there for 4/5 minutes. I decided to have my last scene as my main character leaving the cinema and as she walks down the road she see's her date with another girl. We will then see her face and thoughts toward this situation. It makes the film a bit more exiting.
The dialog will be the most important aspect of my short film as it is all based on her thoughts that we hear through voiceover. I want my script to be flexible and almost improvised. However, I have topics I aim for my main character to talk about. I believe it will add to the naturalism and be more believable if it is slightly improvised.
These are some of the topics I would like my main character to touch on:
What she's wearing - 'Am I too dressed up', 'He did say he liked me in grey', 'I hope my makeup hasn't smudged'
Where he is - 'What could he be doing', 'I hope he turns up before the adverts end'
The surroundings - 'Why are adverts always so long', 'That girl over there has such nice hair', 'These seats are so uncomfortable', 'I'm going to have eaten all this popcorn before he gets here'
Realising he's not turned up - 'Why though? What did I do?' 'He must've got caught in traffic', I didn't even want to see this film'
Flashback - 'I thought our last date went well'
Getting the text - 'What does he have to say for himself', 'Where am I, is he joking'
When she's walking out & see's him - 'This cant be real', 'He could've gone somewhere else', 'Do I hide', 'Do I go over there'
Again with stage directions, I would ideally like the stage directions to look really natural. My main character will walk in the cinema - we will not see this. The first we see of the main character will a still shot of all the seats and her walking up the stairs. We'll watch her find her seat and look around whilst doing so. Once she's found her seat no directions are really necessary as I would like it to be mainly focussed on speech and little gestures and facial expressions. These will fit with the dialog.
The plot of my film is simple. It is a film of a girl going on a second date. She turns up alone and awaits the arrival of her date. We watch her thought process as she doubts his arrival. The plot twist is he doesn't turn up and she sees him with another girl.
My film is part of the 'drama' genre. This is the definition of a drama film. Mine fits this because it's based on a realistic character that we can all relate with due to the naturalism this fits in with Daniel Chandlers 'conventions of context' theory as it fits with the themes, props etc which are regarded as relating to the drama genre. We see/ hear her go through a rollercoaster of thoughts, telling the story of human struggle. She fights a battle in her head to remain positive when she starts to doubt he will turn up then when we see he doesn't.
Narrative theory
My film will be in linear but maybe with a flashback to show us what she's remembering as she thinks back to her first date with the man. This will show how she's feeling as she didn't think the last date was unsuccessful.
Todorov's theory of narrative equilibrium applies to my film because the equilibrium is she turns up to the cinema looking nice and sits waiting for her date. The disruption is the adverts ending and she starts to realise he may not turn up. The recognition is she gets a text from him with an excuse of why he's not coming. The attempt to repair is trying to enjoy the film on her own. Finally, the new equilibrium is as she walks out of the cinema she see's the man she was going on a date with with another girl, he had ditched her to meet someone else and she goes over to him and confronts him.
Blumer and Katz - Uses and gratification theory
For the spectator my film will create personal relationship. This is because in the film the main character is someone relatable, the audience will feel a element of guilt and her thoughts are very relatable. It is easy for the audience to put themselves in her shoes as its realistic. We don't learn anything and although the film does entertain it is not the dominant reading. I want the audience to escape from reality a little bit. Typically in a cinema we go to take our mind off things and amerce into the film - as my film is set in a cinema I want the escapism to reflect through to the viewers.
Character expression and movement
The movements and facial expression of the main character is key because we hear her thoughts and the expressions to match what she's thinking. Due to my film being set in a cinema, she will be sitting down 90% of the time so facial expression will be discrete as she's sitting on her own and we want it to be realistic. However, they will be bold and the emotions will be clear. The performance will be really important to make the audience believe the thoughts are hers.
Setting
For the setting of my film I want it to be primarily in a cinema. However, this is obviously a difficult idea so I am going to use my local cinema in Wymondham. The cinema is called the regal. Inside it is a very typical looking cinema with rows of seats all facing a big screen. Having the cinema in Wymondham makes it very accessible. My film will very briefly be set outside at the end and at the very start so that we can see her going in and out. By seeing her enter the building when it comes to her walking out we will know where she is and that the man who ditched her was not far away from the cinema.
Lighting techniques
When it comes to lighting it my be quite difficult as I want the film to be relatively dark because this will make the classic cinema effect. However, I need the main character's face to be relatively lit up because her facial expressions need to be seen. I don't want her spot lighted though as this isn't very naturalistic and will point her out too obviously. The darkness also may be a issue because I want the other people watching the film to be relatively seen, the audience do not need to be able to see everything they do/ reactions but I do want them to be noticeable.
Sound techniques
The main sounds in my film will be non-diegetic as a voiceover. There will be a few diegetic sounds like snippets of the sounds from the film they are watching at the cinema. The voiceover will be effective in hearing the main characters thoughts and feelings. This will help tackle the background sounds.
Editing techniques
The editing in my film will be fairly simple to keep the film as naturalistic as possible. There will be a establishing shot of her walking into the cinema. A pan of her walking to her seat. Then after that it will me majority, if not all medium and close up shots. I want to keep the camera still and just almost be closer and further from the main character.
Previous research
Watching other short films has helped me find inspiration for my own film and I have seen some amazing ones. However, it has also taught me to keep my film idea realistic and within my reach. I have seen some films which look naff and like they are trying to do to much. Therefor, I kept my idea simple yet effective.
Inspiration
I have took a lot of inspiration from the short film 'the arrival'. This is where I got my idea of having my main characters thoughts in voice overs through the whole film. This is the short film:
Things I want to avoid
I want to avoid my film looking fake and staged. I do not want my film to not be relatable. This is why my characters are so important. I also will be avoiding any horrible background sound is scenes. I want it to be simple yet effective.
How my work will be creative and original
I believe that my work will be original because it is set in a cinema and this is a unique location. It is creative because we hear thoughts that match expressions of the character instead of dialog between people as this is quite generic and typical in a film. You also will never see the mans face - creating a bit of suspense there too.
(I am still awaiting to see if this is possible due to covid-19 restrictions)
This is the first post of the production of my film. For my film I took a lot of inspiration from the short film 'the arrival'. The short film is all voice over of the woman's thoughts but diegetic sound here and there in order to keep it naturalistic. I love the character relationship built in this film and I want the same in mine.
This is a brief mind map I made to store some of my thoughts for my short film. It shows a bit about location, costume, lighting and props:
This quote highlights to me that I need to ensure the actor/ actress is still good at the acting and their position will be key. Although most of the sound will be done in voice over, the personality of the main character still has to come out through body language and facial expression.
This is a story board for my film. It is very basic and not too detailed but its just for me to reference when I'm filming:
In my film I want to explore the idea of creating a relationship between character and audience, if the audience can relate or feel a way about my main character I have achieved my goal. I want it to captivate those watching and encourage creativity. I want the audience to be fixed on ideas of what could happen next. My aim is for my film to be talked about positively and recommended through word of mouth.
SETTING: My film will be set in a cinema. A cinema has a stereotypical vibe of escapism and hopefully the audience can do just that. The cinema will be simple and there will be people in the background to watching the film as well as the main character so it looks as naturalistic as possible. The main focus will be on the main character as my film is all about her thought process as she waits to see if her date turns up. The people in the background will just be watching the film, not much acting as I don't want the focus to be taken from the main character.
LIGHTING: The lighting should be fairly dark as that's realistic for a cinema. However, I need the audience to be able to see the main characters expressions clearly as we hear her thoughts so I think I will have her lit up to highlight her. However, I want the other characters who are watching the film to be seen too in the background. This could be tricky as I want everyone to be seen but I want the film to be as dark and as cinema-like as possible.
SOUND: Sound is going to be the most important feature of my film as we are going to hear the non-diegetic audio of her thoughts I will do through a voice over. It is non-diabetic because the viewers will hear how she feels but the characters in the film won't. Here is where we will hear directly her thought process about the date she's meant to be meeting and how she feels about if he's going to turn up etc.
COSTUME: The main character will be dressed nice, maybe in a dress or jeans and a nice top to show she wants to impress her date but also nothing out of the ordinary to make sure it sticks with the naturalistic theme.
Narrative: My film will follow a linear narrative. We see the story of a teenage/ young adult woman turn up at the cinema and wait for her date. Her date does not show up and she begins to wonder why as the film goes on. However, at the end she receives a message and we are shown the texts that highlight there was a mistake on her behalf and she had gone to see the wrong film. They both thought they'd got ditched.
What is the point in them? Short films can be produced for many reasons such as film makers expressing their creativity, entertainment, profit, credibility, to be noticed or to express a point of view whatever that may be. It is ac cheap way of film makers deciding or seeing if they can make it into the industry.
Who makes them? Who is in them? Anyone can make a short film as long as they have the resources to do so. In this post-modern world its very few people that cannot do so as simple things like phones can be enough to produce a short film. Anyone can be in a short film there is no limitations.
How and where are they exhibited? Short films are mainly unloaded on streaming websites as then anyone has access to them. They can also be shown on film festivals etc.
How has he been the case? Technology was never advanced enough to allow people to make anything more than short films. This is because of lack of technology and resources.
Who watches short films? Anyone can watch them as long as they have access to streaming websites or are able to attend film festivals etc.
This post is just like the first however I am reviewing short films made by students rather than professionals. I chose two different films and evaluated the micro and macro elements:
Here are the links to the short films 'AVA' and 'Smell the roses' so you can watch for yourself:
This is my film created for my mid-point. It was created off the stimulus 'a person gets a life threatening phone call'. All actors are just my friends who were willing to help me out.
In my film we see the everyday life of a teenage girl. However, we see her day go from good to bad to worse. She is caught talking behind her best friends back and they are not happy - then she gets a phone call telling her she may have a life threatening condition.
This is my fact file on the film 'pride'. I focused on the awards they were nominated for and won. The left box is awards the film was nominated for and the right awards the film won. Overall, they were nominated for 20 awards and won 10.
In the debate, alex and i were arguing in support of the statement 'there is no place for non-franchise, reboot or sequel films in contemporary UK and US cinema'. Our arguemnt was tsrong due to the box office 2019 chart being full of films that are only franchises, reboots or sequals. Here are the slides we used to prove our statement.
This is our video created on a meaning given to us. Our meaning was getting a message that wasn't meant for you.
Our take on this was a couple and one cheating on the other.
This is the video
