Short Film: With Great Power...
Film Synopsis
Have you ever experienced a moment; when you were mad or frustrated with someone, and you imagined yourself hurting them in someway? Exacting your justice in a way that you would never in real life for fear of consequence. Now what if there was a way of distinguishing between this imaginary self and your real self. If both actions were one and the same?
This is what he experienced one morning. Shy and timid in nature usually but with a given dark side. Like two people living the same life experiencing it completely differently purely because of a singular choice. Get up on the left side or the right side of the bed?
What kind of person will you be today?
Cinematic Ideas
Inspired by comic book super-hero films the post-production will involve a lot of enhancing sound and split-screen. To show the contrast between the two sides of the split-screen there will be difference in light, costuming and iconography.
For example, in the good side there will be high-key lighting and in the bad low-key lighting. The imagery will also reflect these polar opposites with decorations being darker or lighter depending on the character reflected.
The good guy will have the classic look of a plaid shirt, glasses and will reflect, in his body language and face, a lack of confidence and fear of confrontation. The kind of person who would let another walk all over them just to avoid having to say no.
The bad guy will be a complete polar opposite to this. Sunglasses, leather jacket and dressed all in black his body language will be overconfident and arrogant. As though daring people to get in his way.
The camera shots will also be reflective of the comic book genre. Plenty of close-up reaction shots and close-ups of violence. Again the enhanced sound here will add a hyper-real aspect to this short film. Techniques such as montage and tracking will be used to show the passing of time here. The overall tone created should be comedic, fantastical but with a underlying moral message.
Concept Images
Mood Board
http://www.pinterest.com/zahrakidd/short-film/
Story Board
Setting
For the film we will need a selection of different settings. For the first we will be using a spare bedroom in one of our houses; meeting there to film. The second we can film from college as it only entitles a walk down street. The place they arrive at can simply be the college. None of the interior need be shown to a detailed extent, we can keep it localised to an empty classroom. One of the less classroom-like ones would be ideal.
Costume
Good Guy - Glasses, Neat-Gelled Down Hair, Plaid Jumper, Big Coat, Light Jeans, Plain Shoes
Bad Guy - Shades, Messy Have, Black T-Shirt, Black Leather Jacket, Black Jeans, Boots
Props/ Mise-en-Scene
Bedroom - Lighting difference (light & dark), Imagery over bed (one of flowery field one of a dark/sinister scene), Doors open and closed depending.
Bathroom - light ad clean
Kitchen - dark and dreary, Coffee mug/ toast
Door - red and well lit
Street - regular/ normal contrast of dark & light (shutter speed on camera)
Classroom - can alter lighting on set, blank canvas/ no landmarks
Finished Film
Evaluation
An enjoyable film with an unusual idea, being one person two contrasting world, behaving differently to the same situation, in my opinion has turned out well. I think the construction and the editing of the film works well. In my opinion, the filming process of the short film went well and quality is ok, however I believe there are a few shots that aren't in focus. I think the twist at the end of the film, when he realises what he believed happened in his head, actually happened in really life is a nice reveal. Overall, I think the production of our short film went well and he construction of the film has been carefully thought about.
