Evalution

Introduction 

Chosen Medium 

I chose to create a Short Film, because I wanted to explore my cinematic abilities, within film making and my style of visuals and aesthetics. 

Synopsis 

'In Dreams' is the short film I created about a 16-year-old girl, called May, who has just received the devastating news, that her Father is missing. Heartbroken, due to not knowing where her Dad is and if he is alive or not, May starts having dreams about him. The dreams are supposedly a coping mechanism for the young girl, who wants to believe her Father is ok. In her dreams they talk to one another and go on walks together, things they always used to do during her childhood, which is evident through a montage of home footage from her childhood, in which she appears with her Sister and Father, before she has her first dream.  May’s older Sister, Holly who has brief appearances throughout the film is also devastated by the news, but she doesn’t want to reveal her fragileness and tries to stay strong for her younger Sister, although there are hints that Holly may not be coping so well, such as the shot of her crying in her bedroom, unknown to her that May is watching. The displays several dreams May has about her Father being in her presence, however, there is one dream in which he doesn’t appear. Whilst she is in this dream/nightmare, she looks for him frantically, worrying that she may never get to see her Father again, in the real world or in her dreams. This makes her feel very sad and she begins to cry. As she wakes tears flood her eyes, but they soon turn to tears of Joy, as she looks up to see her Dad standing there, ready to give her a hug. 

Chosen Brief 

The narrative of ‘In Dreams’ follows the development of the main character May, as she adapts to seeing her Father, only in her Dream and not in the real world. This helps her to cope with the circumstance, until she has nightmare, a nightmare he because her Dad doesn’t appear, leaving her devastated with the belief that she’ll never see her Father again, in the real world nor in her Dreams. 

Intentions/Aims 

‘In Dreams’ was created with quite a few intentions I considered for the film, the first one being, to make the audience feel empathy for May and her Sister. I tried to do this by using some over the shoulder shots, to place the audience into the position of the characters and add more elements that show the character true feelings, to the narrative, such as Holly not coping as well as she is willing to show/reveal. I wanted the film to be sweet and simple, so it wouldn’t come across as over-the-top. I think the decision to do a Silent Film and include no dialogue, enhances the audience’s focus on the visual and aesthetic style of the film, which is what I want them to do. 

The short was created to express the genre of surrealism, along with experimental features of sound, cinematography and mise-en-scene. The intended target audience for this film are those who appreciate creativity and experimental more than the narrative and enjoy trying to work out what the plot is about, without being constantly spoon-fed information like mainstream cinema does. 

Short Film Research 

Films researched 

Whilst preparing for the production of ‘In Dreams’, I studied 5 other Short Films which I have listed here. Swimmer (Ramsay, UK, 2012) 18, La Jetée (Marker, France, 1962) 28, Curfew (Christensen, US 2012) 19, Meshes in the Afternoon (Deren US, 1946) 14. 

Short Films Analysis 

The first short film I researched was Swimmer, directed by Lynne Ramsey. This short film appears to contain some interesting and intriguing, experimental, cinematic techniques and the mise-en-scene is displayed in black and white. It begins with an ‘Establishing Shot’ and in the mise-en-scene there is a sea of water at the bottom, with waves dipping below the frame and sky at the top of the frame. The camera capturing this shot seems to be floating, even though it is likely to be hand-held or possibly stabilized. The shot places the audience on top of the water to make them feel like they are floating. The frame begins to sink, beneath the waves into darkness and the cinematography becomes more intriguing, as the camera glide slowly forwards, like a Swimmer would, placing the audience into the point-of-view of one. Throughout Swimmer there are many shots that contain either panning, tilting, tracking or zooming, which is effective cinematography as it is eye catching. The influence I took from this film was it use of cinematic techniques, of continuous camera movement in each shot, which I found captivating and provided the film an element of fascination. 

The second short film I analysed was Le Jetée, which was created in 1962, by director, Chris Marker. The narrative of Le Jetée, is told through a voice-over and a series of still images, telling the story of a man who is experimented on and sent to live in past many times where he falls in love with a woman. Every shot is a photograph, with the exception to one, showcased in the middle of film, in which the female character is lying in bed. This moving image adds element of creepiness, as it is unexpected and the only moving image there is. It is so unexpected that some viewers miss it first time. Apart from shot the cinematography remains still throughout, this short film. I like the surrealistic elements and storyline of this film. 

Curfew, directed by Shawn Christensen in 2012, was the third short film I evaluated. This film explores the development of the main character, Richie, as he goes from wanting to end his life, by committing suicide, to learning he has more to live for then he realised. The film begins with a shot of a red telephone accompanied by the diegetic sound of it ringing and non-diegetic sound of classical music, which provides a dramatic affect.

Short Film Production

Short Film Production

6/11/2018: Generating Ideas

Narrative Requirements

Enigma at the beginning: a murder mystery

Development of a character

Plot twist: a voice over explain the narrative of their life, but the person/ subject on screen isn't the person the voice belongs to.

My Curiosity and Interests-to stay focused I want to explore themes/narrative structures/genres that intrigue me and allow me to express my creative ideas as much as possible, within my short film.

Music 

Psychology

Comedy

Thriller
Fantasy
Crime

Weird

What's Real?

Why follow 'The Crowd?

Themes
Obsession
Loneliness
Desire to be Different
Personality

Dreaming
Mystery
Death
Robbery

Narrative Ideas
Death of a Love One

WHAT IF?
What if somebody is murdered
What if the main character was a murderer?

7/11/2018: Progressing a Visual Style

Aesthetics
Stars
Roses
Water
Tree Branches

Inspiration

Black Mirror

Alternative/independent music

Dead Simple
From particular songs
Maniac



Settings
Town Centre
Countryside

Coming up with narrative ideas

Being trapped in a dream for what feels like a very long time with overs trapped their, meeting soulmate only to wake up and not know where they are in the real world.

Many films have something else going, rather then the main storyline. In Curfew something unknown is gong on with Sophia's mother.

Girl wakes up unaware where she is, unfamiliar with her surroundings.

What if the protagonist discovers a dead body. What if the dead person was killed by they own child.

Main Character could be in a Black-mail situation.

14/11/2018: Analysis of Short Films

About a Girl
This short film follows the story of a young, teenage girl talking about recent events, within her life. The film is set like a Documentary, through the use of a hand held camera and it is a though the girl is being interviewed. She seems quite normal until the end when she throws a baby into the canal, which is her secret. This demonstrates that she doesn't understand the consequences of her actions. This is a very unexpected but effective twist for the films ending. I like this idea and I might use it to also portray a character a character differently, with a twist at the end. The lighting in this film is all natural, giving the film a sense of realism and signifying that what she ends up doing can happen, and so this triggers the audience to think about the message more, due to it feeling real. Through the mies-en-scene it is easy to tell that the girl comes from a working class family and area, due to the casual clothes she is wearing and her surroundings. There's a mid-shot tracking 'The Girl' as she works beside the canal and the environment looks as though it hasn't been looked after in years. The dialogue also signifies he class and up bring as she speaks with a accent. At the beginning of the film there is a long shot of the girl singing a Britney Spears song, displaying the influence that pop culture has on young people. In this shot the girl is a silhouette, and the darkness and use of black in her figure, could suggest that the character is mysterious and not innocent as black is a colour that has these meaning/representations.

Curfew
Curfew is a short film that focuses a lot on the development of the main character, Richie. At the beginning of the film we see him sitting in a bath tub, filled with water and some of his blood, after slitting his wrist, ready to commit suicide. He receives a phone call of his sister, begging hime to take care of his niece, exaggerating how she never asks him for anything and he was the last person on her mind but she is desperate. He agrees.

I really like the visual style of this film. At the beginning of the film there is a tracking shot that pauses at the telephone. This shot includes a lot of low-key lighting, which makes the red telephone standout, from the dark background. The use of the colour red here could represent danger, as the main character is considering to commit suicide. It could also represent anger and frustration, as the character is unhappy with his life. The light in this shot focuses of the telephone to create this effect, which makes the shot look very interesting and the beginning intriguing. The scene I find most interesting and engaging is in Bowling Alley, where a song begins to play and the little girl, Sophia starts dancing across it. The music along with her dance moves is intriguing, and the entire scene it so unexpected and weird as it wouldn't really happen in real life, although it is soon revealed that the main character was most likely hallucinating. Therefore the audience were placed into his perspective  as they were made to view what he was experience, and the scene looks and feels real to the audience and Richie, but it isn't present, so it gives the audience an idea of what it is like to hallucinate.. When she is dancing there is a long shot of her on the Bowling Alley. This then cuts to a close-up of the feet of the people at the Venue, tapping to the beat of the music. The is a panning, mis-shot of Richie watching Sophia and the around him as they dance to the music, as if everybody is crazy, even though it is him who is hallucinating, so he the crazy person, as is revealed.

16/11/2018

Swimmer
The film is in black and white. It begins with many tracking shops of a man swimming through lakes,  ponds and the sea. The editing within in this is slow-pace which provides this a sense of peace and relaxation. In my opinion the film feel surreal, due to the Black and White and the slow panning and tracking shots, that make the film smooth and calm






Mood Board

More Idea Generation

A girl wakes up from a deep sleep, with severe memory loss, due to being knocked out. She receives a phone call from a mysterious voice.

The film is going to be set at night time in a small village. I am going to film in Shilton, as it is a small and quiet village.

Change of Idea
My new idea is inspired by the song In Dreams, by Roy Orbison. The film is about a teenage girl, who's Father is missing and now she can only ever see her in his dreams. It's is going to have a bittersweet storyline.
The short films is going to be a silent film accompanied by non-diegetic sound of the song In Dreams. To follow the features of a short film, it is going to contain long-duration shots.

Film
Cast:
Older Sister:
Younger Sister
Father

Scene 1: Begins with a long shot of a front door, to a house. The frame slowly zooms out during the shot.  The older sister enters the frame, walks over to the front door to open, and she receives some bad news. Her younger sister is behind the wall, listening to the conversation. the older sister shuts the door and walks over to her sister. The dialogue cannot be heard, but there is a cut to a shot, with text, 'He's Missing,' to represent what the older sister has just said. I have chosen these words, to demonstrate how both sisters had been expecting either positive or negative news about their father.

Scene 2-Begins with a crossfade to a shot of the stars.

Storyboard

6/12/2018
Shot 1-The first shot will begin with a fade in from black. At the same the non diegetic sound, of the song, In Dreams by Roy Orbison will begin, and play throughout the entire film. During this shot the camera will continuously zoom out and the duration will be about 25 seconds. At about 9 seconds a 'Holly' enters the frame and opens the door to receive some news. She walks over to her younger sister, 'May' who is standing by the wall. This shot will end with a cut to the following shot.

Shot 2-White, serif text will fade onto a black background and this shot will last for approximately 5 seconds. I have decided to use this style and colour of text, as it is a traditional choice of text, for silent films. The text written will be to the audience he's missing. This will provide an enigma, by making the audience think about who could be missing and how and why he is missing. The shot will crossfade into the following shot.

Shot 3-This shot will slowly fade in, and a long shot of the stars will appear. I have chosen to have a shot of stars to add an element of beauty to my short film and to signify dreams. The camera will then tilt downwards to reveal a close-up of 'May' lying on the ground, looking up at the night sky. The camera will slowly zoom out and zoom in during this shot. The shot will be crossfaded with footage of past memories between 'May' and her Father. The crossfaded footage will stop and the shot will end as a close-up of her face, that fades into the next shot. This shot will be for the duration of 30 seconds.

Shot 4-This will be the first shot, in which 'May' is dreaming. The mid-shot of her will be from her left side, and she will be stood in a field. During this shot 'May' is smiling, so she appears to be happy at what she has just witnessed.

Shot 5-There is a simple cut from the previous shot to this one, which is an Over the Shoulder shot. I have chosen this shot type because it places the audiences into the perspective of the character, to make them feel more empathetic towards her. This shot will end with a cut into the following shot.

Shot 6-Here there will be another shot, of white serif text, displayed on a black background, which will slowly fade in. The text again, represents what the girl is saying. This shot will slowly crossfade into the following shot.

Shot 7-This will be a mid-shot of Father and Daughter hugging, however this is a dream, so not everything is as it seems, and the happiness may not be everlasting. This shot ends with a crossfade into Shot 8.

Shot 8-Another mid-shot of the girl, lying down. She opens her eyes and she is now no longer dreaming. The mise-en-scene displays, Her hair spread across the frame, beneath her evenly toned face. The duration of this shot is about 3 seconds and it ends with a cut.

Shot 9-The shot is a long shot of the two sisters, leaving the house. There will only be natural light in this shot, appearing from the open door. The lights in the house will be off as they're leaving. 'Holly' will be wearing casual clothes, and her younger sister 'May' will be wearing her school uniform, to highlight that they're going to school, and still carrying on with their lives, even if they're father is missing. The shot remains as the day goes by.

Shot 10-

11/12/2018

Prague and Hamburg

Before the Christmas Holidays I will be attending a trip to Prague, with college. As Prague is a city with a lot of nice scenery and beautiful views, I intend to produce some filler shots for my film, whilst I'm there. To make these shots the best they can be, I have decided to do some planning on where and what I would like to film. A river known as, Vltava flows through the city of Prague and it is the biggest in The Czech Republic. If I get the opportunity I want to try and film here, as the river is part of stunning view, from any angle, where it is visible. The bridges that stand across it are lovely pieces of architecture in my opinion. I think that getting some shots here to put in my film will make it more interesting and intriguing, as the  scenery is eye-catching.

I'm also going to Hamburg, during the Holidays for New Year. It is another city with lovely scenery, so I am going to try and capture some footage here too, for my short film. As I will be there for New Years Eve I plan to get some shots of Fireworks, to provided another aesthetic element to my short film. I also want  to record some footage in Market Square, where the town hall is, as I believe I can get some good candid shots here.

https://travel.nine.com.au/2018/05/01/14/03/reasons-to-visit-hamburg-germany

According to the article that appears on the web address above, Hamburg is a beautiful city. The city has a lot of stunning architecture. If this is the case I would like to get footage of the lovely architecture. Hamburg also has a canal that runs through the city, which will provide more wanted aesthetic to my shots.

I believe shots from both European cities will provide my short film with a good amount of aesthetics, to make it appear more interesting and eye-catching.

Lost-Evaluation

Evaluation

Lost is a film about a girl who wakes up and has no idea as to where she is and what she is doing there. Through a series of flashbacks she is able to find her way home.
At the beginning of the film there is an establishing shot of a park bridge, used to show where the short film is set or where it begins. There are then a series of shots including a couple of longs shots, of a girl who is sleeping/unconscious on the floor.  There is then a cut to a close-up go the girls face and during this shot, she begins to wake up and sit up as she regains her thoughts. During these shots the camera has gradually got closer to the girl on the floor, which has been done to make the audience think about what is going on, to then finding out and to create an enigma.

In the sequence we have used some over the shoulder shots to show the audience, the girls point-of -view. This placed the audience in her position, therefore making them feel more sympathetic towards her. Through a series of flashbacks the girl is able to find her way home. The flashbacks are layered with a colour matte at the beginning of each one and I believe this is effective because it distinguished the flashbacks, from the present and it provides a sense of spookiness due to the x-ray being ghostly, which intrigues the audience.
For the audio we have used the sounds that was already in the footage and we have also layered the sound of birds singing and chirping over the top, to make the environment around her sound more natural, which is effective, as it is located in park. There is only a little bit of dialogue in the clip and this is in the flashbacks, where the girl and her sister's having an argument and at the end of the sequence, when she returns home. I think including flashback with the argument was a good idea because it provides a simple narrative that was easy to develop, rather than her just being, and he audience not knowing why she could be there in the first place.
Throughout the video there are a lot of cross-fades and dip-to-black-fades. This has been done because they are interesting and they are less abrupt.
We decided to end the film with an enigma as the audience don't know what happens between the two sisters and they end up not finding out how she actually ended up passed out on the pavement. I believe this was a good way to end the film because, it makes the audience think about the characters and what could has actually between them and I also it was simple and the audience were able to understand the narrative, which is an accomplishment.

Orson Welles

Auteur Trademarks

Use of low-key and high-contrast lighting
Favoured themes include isolation, corruption and the downfall of a powerful figure
Use of hard light, which creates harsh shadows
Precise and extravagant use of mise-en-scene
He created Deep Focus- Richly focused background, mid-ground and foreground
Use of long tracking shots
Use of smoke and mirrors
He had annoy for expressive faces
Starring as a main role in his own movies
He had no technical aspects but he had the creativity and imagination to achieve the shots he wanted.

Orson Welles experimented when he was making hit films, through the use of different camera lenses and lighting schemes.

Example of Long Tracking shot in Touch of Evil

https://youtu.be/Yg8MqjoFvy4

The Lady From Shanghai Mirrors

https://youtu.be/F-BqDWG72iM

Examples of Deep Focus in Orson Welles' Films

Auteur Presentation Reflection

Auteur Presentation-Reflection

My presentation was based on David Fincher and the Auteur Theory. The presentation included a good explanation of  what the auteur theory is and I mentioned Andre Bazin, the man who created the theory and other people who developed the theory such as Francois Traffaut. However I didn't include any quotations about the auteur theory, which would have provided more detail because this would have displayed different views and opinions of the auteur theory. For example I could have included this quote by Alan Parker, "I always argued against the auteur theory; films are a collaborative art form. I've had some fantastically good people help me make the movies," which would have portrayed a different view to the auteur theory.

In the presentation I stated many signature trademarks and themes that are reflected in David Fincher's films, such as, revenge and the significant use of yellow and blue and computer-generated imagery. I also discussed the journey's within his films and how significant they are too them because many of the films consist of a main individual character who is on quest, however the ending is a mystery to the audience and whether the audience, along with the character discover the answer or not, the journey to this, is what is important.

Winter's Bone Important Notes

Winters Bone 

Narrative
Ree is the protagonist. She is 17 years old and she looks after her two younger siblings, as her father has disappeared and her mother has a mental illness. Ree soon discovers that her father put her family home up for bonds and he is due in court. She is told by the sheriff that if he does not show up for court her family will lose the house. She seeks answers about her father's whereabouts from her small community because she doesn't want to lose the house in which her mother, brother and sister also live in.

Key Themes

• Family Relationships
• Addiction
• Binary Opposition   
• Tight Community

Mise-en-scene

• Csotumes-rural colours, giving the film a sense of realism
• Performance-some of the characters are played by professional actors/actresses and others are played by people who live within this environment. This creates realism because the people who live in the environment know the type of lifestyle that needs to come across or be portrayed.
• Setting-the film is independent and had a budget of $2 million. Unlike mainstream films, such as Inception, it was filmed in the Ozark, Missouri and not on the set of a big production company in Hollywood. This means that there are a variety of rural and cold shots and it seems very realistic and not fake.
• Lighting-most of the lighting in this film is natural.
• Props-they provide an authentic feel to the film. For example the rusty rocking horse

Spectatorship

Winters Bone requires a significant amount of active spectatorship because information and detail about what is happening in each scene isn't spoon fed' to the audience like Inception. For example when Merab and her daughter arrive at Ree's porch active spectatorship is required to understand that they are going to take her to her father's bones.

Short Film Production Log

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.