Teaser Poster

Deadlines

Here are the deadlines for my blog:


1)  Friday 16th I will have recorded details of 30-40 Short films I've  analysed
2) By  tuesday the 20th I will have blogged my acting / music / costume / prop requirements
3) By Friday 23rd I will have completed initial pre-production tasks and my teaser poster.
4) By Friday 13th i will have completed all main pre-production tasks.
5) By Monday 16th I will have completed my 2nd podcast

Codes and Conventions

Software and Hardware

For the production of my movie I will be using Final Cut Express 4.0 as it is a much more complex and advanced editing program than imovie which is the program I used last year for my AS coursework. Final cut can enable you to produce a much more higher quality film as it has a wider range of tools and application than imovie. Final cut is film industry standard.

What I found on Final cut is that it was much eaiser to cut into the middle of clips, you could just delete the section you did not want and your wanted clips would just move together. It was also easy to upload and trim the sound, you could cut the audio in the same way you cut the video or you could cut them both together by pressing the link together button. Transitions were also fairly simple to use, they had alot more options than imovie but for my film I only used the fade to black transition as my film was not a fast-paced film and did not need as many.
As I got more familiar with final cut I got more confident with usinf different tools such as experimenting with effects.

I filmed all my shots on a DV camcorder, a Canon digital video camcorder MD101 which we used I used for my AS coursework. These camcorder are very easy to use, as I had already used it before but it's settings are not so advanced so it is easy to film with. It has some good  features such as

•  Auto White Balance
•  Manual Brightness/Contrast Setting
•  Multiple features to change lighting and focus such as Daylight and Nighttime
•  Built in microphone and Stereo audio output
•  800x Digital zoom and a 25x optical zoom.

What I did do when filming is place a piece of white paper infront of the camera so that it adjusting the white balance. I used the zoom control effectively, you have to use it very softly and slowly to achieve the maxium affect. I also used a tripod for most of my shots so that the shots were not shaky. I did nto use a tripod however for the alleyway scene as I wanted the shots to be shaky, in the style of a social realism film.

I also used a portable audio recorder to record my voice over. I only used this once, but it was quite simple how to use it, all you had to do was plug it in and press the record button once to check you were capturing the voice levels and then record again record the voice.
I also used the boom mic for the scene where Lauren is trying to communicate with her sister, The Boom mic allows you to cut out background noise and all you have to do is connect it to your camera.

Props, Sets and Mise-en-Scene

Because the character in my film wears dark clothing and is a troubled teenager, her bedroom is suppose to reflect her 'type' and help signify to the audience that she is a dark, troubled teen so the bedroom is going to be dark also. I am going to put up band posters on the wall, emo, indie rock bands not girl pop bands as this would provide an oppositional reading. The bedroom is going to be messy, clothing draped on a chair and on the floor, many empty alcohol bottles on the floor as well to help signify her mental state. The bedroom is going to be heavily set up. 

 I will be using fake blood for the self-harming scene, which I have already and I already have quite a lot of empty alcohol bottles as well.

 She will be smoking so there will be a cigarette and a cigarette packet in the bedroom scenes. I am going to be making the article for the newspaper, to explain her death which the audience see right at the end of the film, which I will make on photoshop.

Locations

Generally most of the film will be set in my bedroom, which I will decorated to look more like the room of the central protagonist, for example I will be putting some band posters in the wall.  My room is quite spacious so I will be able to shoot from different angles of the room.

 Another scene that is set in my house is in the kitchen where the whole family will be in the frame. Additionally all the doors to the rooms will be open as, as she is a ghost she cannot open doors and if they are closed this will provide great anchorage  that she is a ghost which I do not want. 

There are two scenes which are not set in the house, one right outside the house and another one set in the alleyway where she is 'tripping.'

Even though most of my shots are confined to one space, many different things take place and the bedroom shots are mostly flashbacks so they are separated my different shots in the present day so it is not in one whole chunk.

Casting and Costume

I have already cast the person for my short film, Helena is 18 and has the right look for the part required for the film. She has pales skin and dark brown hair with a colour streak in it, linking loosely into the 'emo' stereotype. I have used Helena already in my short art film earlier on in the year and she has been a model for many of my photos for art so I already know what she can do; her strengths and weaknesses. I have also loosely based this character on Effie from the teen drama skins as she also drinks, smokes and takes drugs.

For the role of her sister will be casting my own sister as she has a similar look to helena, the same hair colour, this hopefully will provide anchorage to the audience that she is related. She also is 15 and looks much younger and smaller than helena, so she already fits into the role of the younger sister. She does not have any lines so it will not be a challenging role.

Costume wise it is not that challenging to find costumes for the character the main protagonist is playing is her age in the same time period, so jeans and converse trainers, a t-shirt, possibly with a band logo on and a dark jumper and also lots of wristbands. She will be wearing this outfit through out the film so there will be no change of outfit.