Song/Music Choices Confirmed

I have browsed the internet for a lot of different types of music to use for my different shots. I used the website http://incompetech.com/wordpress/ to search for music within categories. I have found this website to be much more useful than other websites for music. The music is all loyalty free as long as I use the name of the artist in the credits of my short film. 

I still want the start of my short film to have the song 'Happy Little Pill' by Troye Sivan. I have chosen a song named 'Disappointment' for the times when the characters are bored because the song is slow and depressing. 'For The Fallen' will be used for when Ben starts his big dramatic apology because the music has a big build up before the immediate silence that follows for the awkwardness. A music piece named 'Hitman' will be used when the characters start getting ready to open the door because it sounds very action based and sounds like the characters are preparing for a big conquer (even though they are only opening a door). Finally, the song I chose for the credits is called 'Laconic Granny'. I want to use this because it sounds like a silly song that highlights the idiocy of Kevin as he shuts himself back in after escaping. 

My song choices all sound like they are from huge dramatic moments from films which is why I want to use them to emphasise the comedic moments where the characters are in basic situations that are being presented as overly dramatic and silly.

Song/Music Choices

For the start of the video, including the introduction, I want to have happy little pill playing. This song is by Troye Sivan and the first verse has lyrics that can be associated with school. The song is actually about drugs but that is only when the chorus starts and I want it to stop after the first verse. Because this song is not a loyalty free piece of music, I am going to email the label for use of the first verse during my short film.

After this, I don't specifically know what I want as the music however I have an idea of the kind of music I want. For the scene during the time they are bored, I want a slow song that sounds a little depressing to set the mood. Maybe a song with violins, cellos or tubas because these are stereotypically the instruments that make these kinds of songs.

For the ending, I want an inspirational sounding piece of music. I want the music to sound inspiring for a big dramatic build up and apology before the awkward silence that follows when the other student walks down the stairs. The music will then start up again for more inspiration and dramatic build up. Just after this, I want dramatic heroic and action sounding music. This is to add the comical effect during the time they open the door. It will have a big action build up before the basic movement of opening a door. I want the music to sound very dramatic to not only clearly set the mood but also for a funny effect because the students will be apologising and doing basic tasks but the music will make it seem like the characters are conquering their fears and overcoming a huge situation. This contrast will be comical.

Finally, I want a comedic sounding music for the credits. I need an upbeat song that may be a bit bouncing and silly to listen to. This is so the stupid moment at the end can be made even sillier and therefor funnier which I need to keep the whole thing comical.

Draft Storyboard

I have made a storyboard for the shots, angles and music that I will use and in what order they will come. The quality of the scans aren't great but I will still have the paper copy with me when filming. I will not film in this order though because there are more practical ways to film it. At the beginning, there are a lot of shots that need to show a school day in action so I will do those first but the next shot I want to film would be the shot with the awkward boy. This is so that actor is free to go (once it is done and I am happy with it) rather than having to wait for his scene to come up. This will keep him happy and willing to do the scene and I want my actors to remain happy so that the production process is not boring and stressful. I have also noted when my music choices will start and stop at various points before another instrumental continues to play.

Trapped Reviews and Audience Research

I have shown my 1st draft of Trapped to multiple people to get feedback on how to improve it. I have shown the possible actors the script and they said it was witty and made them laugh and they would be happy to be in it. This was good because this is what I was aiming to do and I want my actors to be happy to film so they are willing to work. My first assistant director, Harry, said the script would make an enjoyable performance to watch but there were a few little mistakes to fix. After editing the script to make it have less errors and add in a little change that I thought of, He and I were both happy with the content. Finally I showed my teacher for some critical feedback and even he said it was great. I just need to think of timing so that it will be around 5 minutes including the opening and end. Because of this, I have practiced reciting the script with Harry and left moments where I will include other footage so we could have a rough idea of timing and it worked pretty well. It took about 4 minutes when we paused for the appropriate amount of times where the missing footage will be and with the introduction and credits, it should be around the 5 minutes needed for the brief.

I asked 25 people to read the script and tell me what genre it is, what age they think would watch it and what genders would watch it. 

16 people said that the script was a comedy and the other 9 said that it was a parody. This is god because I wanted it to be both and they were the only answers given. 10 people believe the script is aimed at ages 12-15. After asking why, they said it was because the script was silly which is why it is funny and because there are no swears or adulterated language during the whole thing.

 Finally, I asked what gender would you think would watch it. The majority said it was for males because it seemed like the kind of immature humour boys would enjoy. The other 8 people said it was for both but no one said it was specifically for females. This is good again because I targeted my script towards more masculine humour which females can too enjoy but it is not necessarily aimed towards them.

Trapped - Draft 1

This is my first draft to Trapped. I have named the boys Ben and Kevin for now but once I know for sure who the actors are going to be, I will change the names to their real names for the ease of the actors. I have an idea of who the actors will be and I have already asked someone, who is willing to be an actor in it, to just proof read it and see if it works well.

Script Choice - Trapped

This is the most practical idea for me to do as a short film because the location is easy to access to film in (a school), it is suitable for the actors to be students and I have the most ideas for this. I decided to change the name to just the word 'Trapped' because one worded titles are punchier, remembered and get straight to the point of the film.

First of all, the introduction can have my made up production and film title screens. I can animate these because all good film titles are digital.

The story line will revolve around two characters. Both characters will bush the button so the automatic door will open but it stays shut. Both boys panic a little and press the button more but the door still doesn't open and so the story will show what these boys do to get out. Both boys will have no pass or key card to get through the other door and so they decide to wait it out. During their wait, they can parody famous and recognisable movie situations to add a little humour. These will be:

• Bouncing a tennis ball as if in a prison cell (The Great Escape)
• Build a house of cards (Film cliche when someone is bored)
• Using a phone camera to record a video diary (127 hours)
• Drawing a face on a tennis ball named Wilson (Castaway).

At the end of the story, there will be a dramatic build up during an apology which is immediately ruined by an awkward boy who will interrupt buy walking down the stairs between them and will walk out of the door. It is revealed that the door has been unlocked the whole time. The boys will then continue their dramatic and inspirational speech nonetheless, and they will both put their hands on the door and push it open slowly. One boy will realise he forgot something and will rush back in to grab it only to find the door close behind him. He will press the button to open the door and when it doesn't work, will rest his head on the window with shame and regret. This will be the end that will lead into the credits.

Throughout the story, there will also be funny lines and jokes just to add a little to the humour but this will happen when I write a script.

Script Ideas

I'm Only Sixteen

• Everyone in the world is a sixteen year old.
• Parent and child have an argument which results in the final line being 'I'm Only Sixteen'
• Both the parent and child will be 'sixteen' to give a funny perspective and comparison to each other.

Trapped Inside School

• Two students will be trapped inside of a school building due to a locked door.
• It can parody easily recognised film scenes and concepts for highly dramatic situations even though the situation is nowhere near as dramatic.
• Tense moments where the tension is broken by something awkward.
• The students can make a normal exit with a dramatic build up of inspiration to leave, followed by a casual exit for comical effect.

Love Hate Love

• A boy is in a relationship with a girl.
• The girl is spotted cheating on him with someone else by the boys close friend.
• He then tells the boy about it and he comforts him.
• It ends with both of the boys kissing.
• A twist ending and appeals to the LGBT community.

Short Film Genres

I have watched more short films on the internet to help me decide what genre of film I want to make. A short film in particular that I enjoyed watching was a drama. This video however was nearly half an hour gives the characters opportunities to introduce themselves and give their personality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NY-VaemQ7Y

For me to do a drama piece, I think I would need a lot more time than 5 minutes so I can have a story with characters that the audience can have time to make an opinion about them.

I also liked this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

This film was a comedy sketch and was only 7 minutes which makes me think that it is achievable to make a 5 minute comedy. The comedy in this is very subtle and only people with a particular taste for this kind of comedy will actually find it funny. This is something that I want to make. Comedies are also the easiest to make into a short film because comedies have big characters with personalities that are immediately recognisable. I need to be able to introduce characters fast to have a short film be only 5 minutes long and for this reason mostly, I am going to make a comedy sketch.

Green Screen Backgrounds

To get the backgrounds for the green screen, I can access videos on youtube and download them using this website:
http://keepvid.com/
If I can find what I need on youtube then it would be easy to get the videos edited. However this isn't always the case. I decided to make a gif of a candy land using Adobe Flash for the background. This meant that real people can be in a cartoon world which breaks boundaries that you can't do in real life. 

Green Screen

We decided to practice using a green screen to prepare for our work in the future. Using a green screen gives us more opportunities for ideas because we can digitally insert ourselves anywhere using it. This means that, although we can go to real locations, if they are not available we can use the green screen and keep the production process going. If this is not used in my short film, then I could use it for my poster or review by having the actors look like they are on a high budget set.

The lighting used was a little too strong in the upper corners of the green screen. This gave the video a glare that couldn't be green screened away. The footage used at the bottom of the screen worked well. We used a mat of the same colour on the floor so we could green screen the floor away too. The problem with this is getting the correct perspective using a background so that the actors don't seem out of place. I tried my best to match up the footage of the beach with the actor but it still seems a little out of place. This could of been because of the costume as well.

Short Film Roles

Director - Responsible for the artistic visions.
Script Writer - Writes the script and story board.
1st Assistant Director - Helps the director with their vision.
2nd Assistant Director - Cares for the actors and other crew.
Camera Operator - Films all of the footage.
Grip - Responsible to carry the heavy equipment.
Runner - Runs the errands.
Art Department - Responsible for props and set design.
Actors - Acts the script to the directors standards.
Extras - The other people and background people on set.
Wardrobe - Responsible for the outfits and costumes.
Security - Responsible for keeping the set quiet and safe for the recording.
Sound Recordist - Responsible for the sounds and music.
Editor - Edits the footage to cater for the directors vision.

I will be occupy most of these job roles because out of my class of three people, only I want to be the person to do a short film. I will not be an actor or an extra because I will be the person behind the camera filming. I may not be a sound recordist either because I don't have much experience working with sound and there are non-copyrighted music websites that I could use instead. This however depend on whether I can find what I need because if not, then I will have to record the sounds myself.
The actors will be theatre students, Aaron and Leon.
My 1st assistant director will be Harry because he is someone I can bounce ideas off of and he can also help with reviewing my work and giving me a few opinions on what to change.

The Brief (Specifics)

I have now decided fully on making a short film. The short film brief states that after the short film itself, I can chose two options to do out of three. The other options are a poster for the short film, a radio trailer for the film or a film magazine review page. Out of these options, I will make a poster and a magazine review page. This is because I already know the most about these due to previous research and because of the amount of practice, I can edit with adobe product quite well. Using Photoshop and InDesign is something I am comfortable with rather than using audio softwares for a radio trailer.

My Choice of Brief

I think I want to make a short film because this is the brief I am most interested in and I have quite a few ideas already. After looking through the brief, I found I was able to use non-copyrighted music which I thought would be one of the few problem that I could encounter. I am already aware of a few websites that have music that people anybody can use (As long as names are included in the credits). Eg. http://incompetech.com/

I have access to actors that are willing to take part in my short film and the locations that I want to use are available. 

I would love to be able to animate a short film but due to time, I don't think I would be able to animate a 5 minute film. However, I can still use animation in my short film by having my production name and title screen animated. This is so I can show my skills and still include a little more of what I love.

If I were to make a music video, then I would want access to a band for a few of the shots and I don't have that. After also already practicing making a music video during the preliminary task, I realised that I wasn't able to show a narrative that I wanted to tell. Making a short story is literally making a narrative piece which is what I intended on doing.

I wouldn't want to make a movie trailer because I am not able to use the special effects needed for the genres of film that I am interested in. I am also not a big fan of feature films and I don't want to spend my time focusing on a brief that I am not fully interested in.