collage of the world of my film

we created this moodboard/collage of loads of cutouts and different texts that we thought represent and showed how our film should be shown or portrayed , we looked at each character and their persoanlities and their likes and their look , for example at the top we took of cheryl cole who not only represents a pretty young female like our character marie but also because she was cheated on and betrayed whish is seen in alfies character , it also relates to the love affair in our story. we used lots of bold text from magazines and newspapers that quoted words like : heartbreak, secret,love , attraction not only did these words link in with our theme colour of red but where words that explained what the story line was about and contained. we see it as an love affair between marie and johnny that is a kept secret but causes heartbreak towards one of the characters ( alfie) , we wanted the audience to know what our film is going to be about ( love affair, betrayal) through the words we used. we also chose pictures of certain objects (props) that will be in the film that play key role like maries bag and her phone where the message is shown which alfie then sees and get jealous.there where many pictures included of couples , some looking in love and happy together which represented the affair and relationship between johnny and marie , and let audience know they're is a love aspect into the film not just all thriller, but we also showed happy families which portrayed the idea or fantasy marie wanted to have in the future and this said more about her background and kind of character she is (likes to feel secure and wants to be happy).we also showed pictures of couples who may have been arguing or upset to represent marie and alfie's relation which is contrast to relationship marie shares with johnny. to represent alfie's character we included a picture of chris brown ( been recently in media for abuse to girlfriend) and included words of abuse and other words around to show the different aspects we are including in our film to not make it seem like a typical love story.our moodboard was used to show our world of our film , through the characters : creating looks and personalities and interests of each character allows us to see the motivation and reasons for their actions in our story , and when the audience are able to understand the characters they are able to understand and visualise the storyline , i feel our story is more based aroudn the characters , who they are and why they have done this throughout the story. We included a bottle of alcohol to show alfies past with hsi father , the kind of background and home he came from and give an deeper insight into why he is so obessive and over-protective now.The voodoo doll is sometimes seen as a typical prop in a thriller/horror genre and also the image of fire suggests our colour and also our key theme in the story.we also included images of taylor swift looking dressed up in ball gowns and thought that this coudl represent marie's interest in fashion whiles in contrast the picture of lap dancing would show johnny's flirtatious side and womanising side.
we wanted out film to be suspenseful and have a thriller theme , it was able to draw the audience in and keep them guessing , slowly building up to the main plot twist ,almost letting the audience get drawn into the action taking place and we thought of albert hitchock style of film and so thats why we included him .Alfred Hitchcock is probably a big inspiration to the world of our film as his movies focused on the thriller genre. He uses pace to build suspense such as the “Physco” shower scene, and we feel pace could help us create suspense and tension in the audience in our film.

writing short films

over the years short-films have become a new style and a very effective one infact it has made way for new directors such as shane meadows and Lynne Ramsey .
One of the features of short film making in the UK has been the steady rise of story-driven narratives, and the increasing attention placed on the screenplay. At the heart of all the short films in this collection is a character's story, which is first fully realised in a screenplay.
i noted some basic tips to consider when writing or creating a short film, there are six questions you should keep in mind.
Who is the protagonist?
•What is the active question, which is the basis of the action in film?
•Who or what opposes the protagonist?
•From whose point of view is the audience being shown the story?
•What is it about? or, What is the theme?
•What is the style of the film?
estions that should be kept in mind

cinematography

Cinematography is the art of positioning a camera and lighting a scene.Its like using different components like ur camera and lighting to dress up your film. a cinematogrpaher's role is just as important as the director's , because they have the responsbility of being able to portray what their idea of their film is , and allowing the audience to visualise this idea themselves.after watching the masterclass of christopher doyle and cinematrography , i was able to learn that it is about being able to translate ideas into images , that in the space of time you are given to display your film , every scene or every shot must show all the ideas you are trying to portray in your film , it must express the mood and feeling our your film . in the clip he talked about how taking a simple setting ( the rundown wall and house)and looking at that specific place or object and thinking about what message it sent , what feeling it created , how it would work in ur film and it made me think of even though we may be using a simple setting as a science classroom how we were going to use camera angles and movement combined with lighting to create that mood of suspense or thriller it would almost like being in the room with those characters watching them experiencing what they are feeling, when they are panicking or scared. further on in the clip he talks about a certain area which is full of ambient light which almost brings the street to life andn gives it a certain energy, and how colour can suggest a certain emotion , i linked this into our film and our theme colour of red , the colour red is vast and is such a open colour , there are so many emotions and themes you can link to the colour red but we chose to show the more darker side of red , with the betrayal and secret love or lust also with the revenge and murder, and thats why we talked of how we make our film portray darkeness , and love and aspects a psychological thriller would show, but not deep enough to make it come across as horror , we would use darker lighting and black and white effects Krzysztof Kieslowski says of his film making that it is interesting but hard work. In his trio of scenes, “Three Colours” he uses a key element in each to keep the scenes connected. the lighting we would choose to use would show the emotion of our film.Kieslowski also uses close ups frequently in his work to show the action through the characters eyes. The close up shows what they are concentrating on and what within the scene is important to them.We could use this technique in our film to show the main focuses of Alfie’s world which can also show his revenge.The close up excludes everything surrounding in the scene and brings us into the characters world as we see things from their only their perspective.

short films

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A3840266 ( this is link because couldnt find html for it )

i took this short film called almost strangers from the bbc film network site , which had plently of short films that had different genre's. the films title captured me to watch it and when i did i was mostly impressed with the way the director created and used such smart and effective ways of shooting whiles tryin to tell a story. It was one of those films that was showing what happened over a short period of time, well one whole night and how four complete strangers showed different aspects of their lifes. the clip starts of from saturday morning when four people are on a train and then rewinds at a fast pace back to friday evening, this was the first technique i thought created an effect and showed how the time frame was changing , it was almost as if to show where the story ended and then to rewind to show how the story got to that final point, which kind of gave me ideas for when we would come to filming our story. we wanted to include a flashback towards the end of story to show and explain how our story kind of ended at the final point , and i thought of this rewind effect and how maybe we could try and use it when it came to filming . also i noticed in this short film that everytime the time changed , there would be bold text that would appear on the screen to let the audience know what time the scene was taking place at, which i thought was smart and we could use in our story for when our story skips forward to the next day after marie and johnny were trapped in science lab, this technique is common and simple but was useful in this sort of film where time frame was changing all the time. the technique that i think would most useful to our story was during each scene which was showing a aspect of each different characters life , the scene would only show a bit of action for a few seconds and then move onto a different character and what they were doing at that same time and then come back to where it had been left of with the previous character. this form of editing used would be useful for our story when we are showing events during our flashback , almost as the different scene's we would show of alfie watching marie and johnny would skip from one to another and only show brief seconds of each. the end of this short film then skipped back to the present which was the saturday morning on the train , and this helped audience understand why each character was on that train , gave insight into their personalites and explained the story well.

IF NOT NOW , WHEN

I was looking through a site for short films and came across this one which was trying to send a message through the film. after watching the clip twice , it helped give me inspiration on the techniques used and the effect it left the audience with at the end. I noticed that the film alomost made it obivous what the outcome would be but still left suspense on how it would happen and why , it showed events that built up to the final event. This is similar in our story when certain events build up the tension of what may happen until the event takes place , although ours differs by adding in the flashback to show why the final event took place. The technique that i was impressed mostly by that was used in the film was the use of voiceovers this was used at different timed intervals during the film, the voiceovers did not match what was taking place on the screen at the time but almost told u a part of the story without giving it away . i also noticed how every voiceover that was played was said by different characters who would then appear next in the film , as if the voiceover was used as an introduction to the character and the relationship they shared with the main character. this technique gave me few more ideas on how we were going to add maybe a voiceover or newsreport style into our story which would also tell a part of the story and be introduction into our next part of our story.

pitch and feedback

Pitch And Feedback

View more presentations from romaannan.

gossip girl clip : obession

In this clip which is taken from a american tv series gossip girl it demonstrates similar themes in our film such as love, secrets and betrayal. the characters almost replicate the same background and storyline as in our story.The love triangle begins when Chuck likes Blair but she and Nate are dating. Chuck and Blair begin to have an affair, but Blair is still in love with Nate. Which makes Chuck want to do everything in his power to have her. Just like in our story marie and johnny are having an affair even though marie is going out with alfie , this clip not only shares representation with our colour red ,in terms of love and lust but also with our storyline and characters. alfie is similar to chuck but both have different motives , alfie is obessed because he lacks trust within marie , and wants to almost control her whiles chuck (who's character is taken from the clip) is obessed with blair because he wants something he can not have. This clip was able to give me ideas on how to portray alfie's obession in different ways and also how to represent our characters and the personalities.

research

this clip is taken from the american soap desperate housewives , this scene shows when dave (a character that suffers with psychological problems)murders a male character in a store room and lights a fire to hide the evidence. this clip can relate to our story because of the themes such as murder and fire. this character also shares simialarity with alfie because of the motivation that caused them to light the fire was to get revenge. the fire also links in with our colour red.

films that relate to genre

first red moodboard

marie

Character Profile

Marie Delarosa

Aged: 17

Childhood:
-Lives with her mum and dad
-her dad ran away with his girlfriend when she was 3
-has a step sister aged 8, all the attention from the parents has been focused on her so Marie looks for love, affection, attention from the opposite sex (boys).
-she feels rejected by her dad so she wants male attention

Schooling:
-popular, well known
-has 2 best friends
-passed her GCSE’s
-intelligent
-bright student
-works well
-had a good educational life

Likes:
-music
-going out
-recording films
-reading
-always up to date with fashion
-her cat (Pookie)
-retail part time job
-T.V soaps (Friends, Hollyoaks)

Dislikes:
-Step dad and sister
-unfaithfulness
-the change in her mother
-two faced people
-cheese
-fears the dark

Dream:
*Wants To Stand Up On Her Own Two Feet, Go To University, Get Married Work As A Journalist And Bring Up Her Family And Live Her Life

Attitude:
-very bubbly/talks to everyone
-kind/down to earth however ambitious
-Creative likes to use her imagination, escape from reality
-confident
-a great sense of humour

Beliefs/Values:
-hard work pays off
(Key to success)
-values her cat
-has faith in God
-believes her dad is going to come back for her.
-values friendship the most

Strengths/weaknesses:
-dedicated/focused
-able to communicate well with others
-intelligent
-an understanding person
-loves to read and write

-can not let go of the past
-finds it hard to express her emotions

Johnny

Character Profile

Johnny Smith
Aged 17

Childhood:
- lives in a nuclear family
which consists of: his mother
his father
and his younger sister
-has had everything his way
-spoilt by his parents (this is what he thinks makes him superior to others)


Schooling:
-intellectual
-passed GCSE’s
-works well particularly with people on his own level or as an individual
-Johnny also gets outside school tutoring to help gain more knowledge
-passed AS levels
-popular and gets on with every girl

Likes:
-music
-going out
-football
-fashion (up to date on his fashion, very trendy)
-girls
-raving/partying
-driving
-out late
- people that want to be his mate because he is rich and popular
-money
-likes to talk about himself

Dislikes:
-people that copy his style
-people who beg
-being told what to do
-not getting what he wants

Dream:
His Dream Is To Live Off His Parents Wealth And Be A Millionaire By Just Sitting Around!

Attitude:
-confident
-brave
-bubbly with the ladies and the teachers
-lives for himself
-selfish
-flirt


Beliefs and values:
-believes his parents are the 2 best parents you could ever have
-values his mother the most as she always gives him what he wants and somehow manages to convince his father too and she supports him through thick and thin
-believes inheriting his fathers wealth would help him through life
-values money
-has faith in God

Strengths/Weaknesses:
-his mother and fathers support
-excellent with playing football
-working as an individual

-he has no weaknesses as he believes that nothing can bring him down

first pitch and feedback

Our story starts when, one night after school Blair and Chuck, two school friends who have always had eyes for each other, slip away to the science labs and have started to get a bit too close. However, Blair starts to worry thinking her high-school boyfriend Nate will find out. She knows he will go insane so she suggests to Chuck they make a move. As they retreat Chuck finds they have been locked in. Blair thinks he is messing with her until he starts to panic and shakes the door. Suddenly the lights black out, they trays of the lab start shaking, and the taps slowly begin to drip. The couple start to be become more and more curious as Chuck swears he hears footsteps. It’s then when Blair finds something as she walks into the cupboard. An open box of matches and can of petrol are laying across the floor. She begins to freak until Chuck reassures her they are in a science lab, and it is probably the part of some experiment.
The story then skips to the next morning where newspaper headlines are flashing. Two school children were killed last night in the suspicions of a non-accidental fire. A very mournful looking Nate is sitting in the playground holding a picture. He looks lost in between two worlds. A friend comes over to console him. He confides in his friend finishing the story by telling him at least this way Blair will always be his.


feedback from first pitch

1) How did your story link towards your theme colour red?
Our story was able to link towards the theme colour of red because we used ideas of sexuality, love, revenge and the fire, all these symbolise the colour of red.

2) How do your characters develop throughout story?
Alfie’s character is not seen until the end but he develops through the story as a jealous boyfriend who then lets his obsession and anger cause him to seek revenge. Nearer the ending of the story he becomes remorseful and regrets his action. His character builds up throughout the story.


3) During the flashback are you going to show female and male character?
The flashback used at the end of the story would show what took place that day and what actions were carried out which lead to the ending of the story. The flashback will be from the point of view of alfie and will show him watching and seeing Marie and Johnny together.

4) Is there only going to be character motivation for alfie’s character?
Marie at the beginning of the story was motivated to carry out her secret fling with Johnny because she had true feelings for him and felt her current boyfriend was not right for here, she was motivated to try and escape for a little bit from alfie. Although alfie is the main character who has character motivation, his actions where caused by his jealously and what he saw , this motivated him to become angry and hurt the other two characters.


5) During the flashback are you going to show the audience how alfie’s character finds out about the secret love fling and how will you do this?
Yes in the flashback will show everything from alfie’s point of view , which will allow the audience to see when he saw the other two characters together , how he decided what to do and how he carried out the fire. We will show this through fast paced cut shots to give the audience a glimpse into how it all happened.

6) How are you going to be able to get your cast members to show the physical affection that Marie and Johnny share?
Suggestions were made and some people thought it was best to either use mature students, or a couple who would not be worried about acting close with one another. We also decided we would not show things that were not appropriate or full on which would make the cast embarrassed.

7) How are you going to give audience insight into characters personality and background?
Throughout our story we would create a back story for all three characters and explain more about the characters through their appearance, dialogue, body language.

8)When filming the scene where lights blackout how are u going to still film in the dark and be able to show audience the action that is still taking place?
We would allow maybe a bit of natural sunlight to come in and since we would be filming during the day with the blinds down it would be the right amount of darkness in the room to show the action taking place, also we could include into the story that maybe one of the characters finds a torch nearby and puts that on to create light in the room.

9)Is there enough dialogue between the characters to show scene progressing and action taking place?
The story doesn’t have to include to much dialogue , but whiles Marie and Johnny are in the science lab there will be dialogue to let audience know what is taking place and how scene progresses.

auditions

As we had a minimum response to our ask for sixth formers and drama students help, we had to rely on school pupils we knew to be able to play our characters. In order for our film to be a success, we knew the actors would have to understand the characters personalities and the lifestyle they have, to make their performance believable. Therefore on Thursday 8th October, we finally had our cast and a brief audition where we talked each actor through what would be required and how we expected their character to be played.
On Friday 9th, we sent out call sheets to our characters and also their costume requirements aswell as the expectations of our actual filming days.

sound workshop

In our lesson we did a sound workshop , we focused on how sound affects our film and how sound can contribute to making and creating a feeling through a film.
.sound can be used to enhance the action in screen (example: in action movies when there is a gun shot or car crashing sound effects are used to emphisaise what is going on)
.sound helps add realism or can add emotional resisdence.
.the audience can never tolerate unclear sound compared to being able to tolerate unclear video, which shows how much sound plays a role in a film.
.once you are able to control sound, you are able to do more with it , you can use it as a stylistic device.
we watched a few clips or trailer of films , we firstly watched them without beign able to see the video , and just being able to hear the sound. this showed me how when you can just hear something it allows your mind to imagine and explore what is going on , each person will picture or visulaise different things when they hear a sepcific sound. the sound allows you to create the modd and understand the feeling of the film , this contrubuted with the video and cinematography, completes the film and allows the audience to imagine the film in their own way . a film is not complete with sound alone or video alone but rather with playing alongside each other.
in our film we plan to use a bit of dialogue but want to limit it as much as we can , we have a few scenes which include some action and so may use sound effects to add a certain mood or look to our film. We also plan to make use of a voiceover , when doing this we need to consider the type of voice we use which will keep audience attracted to film , also maybe including some background music to create a mood.

directors masterclass