Shot Type/ Lighting Research Task:14

When choosing our lighting, research was key to creating a natural style to our film that we wanted. Due to the lack of professional lighting setups we new we would have to use natural lamps and lights that were on set. However this benefited us anyway as this was a key aspect when planning our shoot. Mainly because a drug den or similar wont have perfect lighting but instead fairly dark, warm lighting. 

From this specific video and similar ones online I have gained specific techniques we need to follow to gain a cinematic style we want. For example to get the correct exposure on the entire image the use of objects and pictures on a plain wall can break up that bright harsh colour and allow it to match the rest of the scene. 

With a lamp in the background to light the actor you can gain a moody effect however make sure that the light is for the intended purpose and is out of focus so it doesn't pull the viewers attention to it.

Finally you can use an artificial light out of frame to add that key lighting that is needed for the exposure but doesn't take away from the scene and style you are trying to follow. 

Synopsis of own idea Task:13

With me research being complete along with the Survey Monkey and my own personal ideas. Myself and our team have decided to create a short film which is following conventions from the thriller/ crime genre. This was due to the fact our survey results showing this as a popular choice when sharing to our target audience. Upon this I also did research into this genre and the whole process that goes into making a short film.

For the research side of things I have looked at short films that follow the same chosen genre that we will be following and also I have looked at the top short films on websites such as "Short of the week'. This  was key to allow me and our team to create a short film that followed the most popular choices.

When choosing the target audience from the surveys we had to take into consideration what the general target audience liked and the results from our survey to get a big picture as to what we should create. This led us to a result of a Thriller/ Crime genre as it best suited the results and prior research of our target audience.

After watching a plethora of short films I have very good and strong ideas as to what type of mise-en-scene their is along with the camera work and editing techniques used in post. With this I can see such things like the messy and disorganised nature of a drug den or similar which led me to believe we need to use a crew house to create a messy home that a person similar to our protagonist would have. This would mean that it would be easier to create this layout as its one of our homes and not a show home for example.

Props List Task:21

Knife
Prop Knife
Calendar
Framed Certificate
Cocaine
Cocaine bag
Whisky glass
Apple Juice
Straw to snort £5 note to wrap around it
Plasters
Fake blood
handkerchief - white
Magazine
Coffee table mess
Phone X 2
Keys
Whiskey Bottle
Other assorted liquor bottles
Chewing Gum
Sports Bag holdall
Spare white blouse to get bloodied
Spare Trousers
Chairs for meeting
Cigerette/lighter

Shot List Task:19

Class A: Shot List

Scene 1 - Therapy Session

• Establishing wide shot
• Dolly into scene
• Pan-shot around inmates
• Mid-shot of therapist
• Close-up of therapist
• Mid-shot of protagonist
• Slow pan into close-up of protagonists face

Scene 2 - Alleyway

• Close-up of drug dealer
• Civilian walks past lens of camera, cuts to medium close-up of drug dealer
• Wide shot of protagonist
• Close-up of hands as drug transaction takes place
• Pan shot of drug dealer into wide-shot of protagonist walking away


Scene 3 - House

• Medium shot of protagonist walking in house
• Close-up of light switch being turned on
• Tracking shot of protagonist walking to/ sitting down on sofa
• Close-up of items being put on coffee table (phone, cocaine sachet)
• Mid-shot of protagonist sitting behind coffee table
• Mid-shot of protagonist getting whiskey from drinks cabinet
• Mid-shot of whiskey being poured
• Medium close-up of whiskey bottle being put on table
• Close-up of protagonist drinking whiskey
• Mid-shot of glass being put down
• Close-up of cocaine being poured out of sachet
• Close-up of cocaine being separated with knife
• Mid-shot of protagonist on phone
• Close-up of calendar
• Close-up of protagonist
• Mid-shot of protagonist cleaning-up drugs
• Medium close-up of protagonist
• Mid-shot of protagonist cleaning up drugs
• Close-up of handkerchief being wrapped around finger
• Close-up of whiskey glass as protagonist walks away
• Medium long shot of protagonist opening door
• Mid-shot of Jessica on sofa
• Pan-left showing whiskey glass
• Medium close-up of Jessica picking up whiskey glass
• Mid-shot of Jessica drinking whiskey
• Medium long shot of Jessica reacting to drink
• Mid-shot of phone being put on table
• Medium long shot of protagonist coming in door
• Medium long shot of protagonist on sofa with Jessica
• Medium close-up of protagonist
• Close-up of protagonist
• Low-angle/ POV of phone
• Mid-shot of protagonist and Jessica
• Medium close-up of protagonist
• Mid shot of Lucy walking in door/ into a close-up
• Medium long-shot of protagonist and Lucy
• Mid-shot of Lucy and Jessica/ left-pan into medium close-up of protagonist
• Pan-right to mid shot of Lucy and Jessica
• Medium close-up of protagonist into mid-shot of Lucy
• Medium close-up of Lucy on phone
• Mid-shot of Lucy getting stabbed
• Medium close-up of blood dripping down knife
• Dolly zoom into close-up of protagonist

Scene 4: Therapy Session
• Medium close-up of therapist tapping pen
• Medium close-up of protagonist/ eye level into camera lens

Cast List Task:24

These are the three main characters/cast that I hope to use within my film poster(s). In addition to theses I might be able to gain some further photos of extras that were in our Short Film.

Ben Hicks:

As the drug dealer in our short, I believe that Ben has a key role to show the audience the plot to the film. In addition it shows that the current generation of teenagers are seen to be with the drugs and alcohol. Therefore I believe an image of Ben in the Drug Alleyway scene would suit a poster and our film very well. For the Photo, Ben will be wearing the same outfit that was seen in the film. This attire connotes his youth and the cap shows how he wants to be disguised.



Rory Wilton:

As the main protagonist of our short, I believe Rory has to be in one of our posters or part of his role. By this I mean that their could be a scene with him taking the drugs and the table could be in the majority of the poster. Although Rory subverts stereotypes of drug addicts, we based our film around this fact with a therapy session etc. I believe he will suit the audience appeal as it shows subversions from the media stereotype.





Emma Hussey:

As the (ex) wife of Rory in the film, I believe that Emma would be a good addition to the poster if I were to have a shot of them both in scene. However as I would want to give much away about the plot of the film, I would try to make her involvement in the poster subtle so it would just give a hint to the storyline.




Becky Mead-Stuchbery - Jessica

As for the daughter in our film we were recommended Becky as the actor as she has had previous experience in acting due to her studies in Drama. In addition to this she appeared like a reasonable daughter and matched some key characteristics to the main actors.

Alison Dures - Therapist

For the Therapist we needed an experienced individual who can convey their role well within film and on set at all times. For this we chose a Drama teacher from our school as she has had around 30 years of experience within the drama industry. Another key element we had is the fact that she is friends with Anthony which allowed for smoother acting as they didn't have to work out each others personality. 

Possible names for the film Task:16

As this is a film based around drugs, alcohol and therapy we need to come up with a name that sums it all up to show the audience an insight to the film.

• Class A
• White Lies 
• The Addict
• Paradise White
• Powder line

After coming up with these ideas we decided to run them through our target audience to see what they liked the most. As you can see from the results we have a strong lead on White Lies and the rest of the results were fairly matched with 'The Addict' taking second place.

I believe the results are very true and follow my reason behind 'White Lies' being our final name for the film. I believe that the other 4 where very closely matched due to the fact that the audience have seen this style of names which are stereotypical and corny. By this I mean that its very typical for people to call something that is a re wording of a key part in what ever they are naming. So for us to name our film Powder line or Class A would be stereotypical and as the audience have told us boring and not as appealing. 

From here I can see that Paradise White and The Addict are higher in votes due to the fact they are not named directly of the substance in the film but instead are a mix of words to resemble the film with out being blatantly obvious about it. However I personally wouldn't 

Ident Task:12

Ident's usually appear before a television show or movie is shown. In addition, within a tv show they are shown in the adverts to show the viewers what else they have to other. However in a trailer you normally only see them at the start due to the lack of breaks.





Common Conventions of an Ident?

Idents typically are very clean and follow a professional style. However not all Idents follow a fully graphical style, with this BBC advert we can see that their is multiple hippopotamuses swimming around in a circle. This is a animation but is designed to look like a video from a camera, this therefore connotes that BBC One might refer to topics to do with the world or wildlife. As for the colour palette they have gone with a realistic set that represent real life, this is a mixture of Greens and Blues that make up the water with the sun shining through. As for the logo, it is of a simple nature in the GEL font which is covered on all other platforms by them.

Another Ident is the Warner Bros film ident, which is typically seen in cinemas or before the start of a film or trailer. This is a well renowned company and I can see this from the fact that the majority of their logo is gold and appears like a shield. I believe that the Gold connotes success and high standard along with the shield which is something that famous or successful names go onto.

Idents typically last around ten to twelve seconds. Feature film trailers usually have Ident's which last around five seconds as the actually trailer isn't that long.

How are they linked to the genre?

Typically all idents don't link to the film as that is not what they are their to do. An ident is a way of showing the audience who/what company produced this film. Therefor if they have scene a good film prior which was by the same company then they have a baseline to run of. This is very similar to how people will want to go and watch a film with specific actors in or directors as they might be well renowned and therefor the film should be good. In general the only time that companies will base the ident around the specific film is maybe if they are producing a set of movies based upon the same subject, such as the marvel series.