Radio Trailer

Radio Trailer (Audio Advertisement)

This is our radio trailer for our Short Film 'The Set Up'. After researching radio trailers of a similar genre we decided to include dialogue and sound effects from the film itself and display the narrative of the piece yet not to reveal the conclusion of the film. We created this radio trailer using Garageband and layered layered the voiceover on top of the instrumental on top of the sound effects and relevant dialogue from the short film itself.

Commentary Script Plan

A2 project Commentary

This is the plan and answer to questions for our evaluation. It considers the process of making our short film more in depth than the evaluation (radio interview and magazine article). Within this i have not only discussed the process and technology i have used throughout but also looked into the feedback we recieved for our finished product and how this has helped me to develop my skills as a film director and editer.  

The Set Up (1st Draft video)

This is our first draft of our short film. We have put together the complete structure of the piece and in the final editing stages will need to pay attention to detail making sure that all video and audio transitions show a clean continuation as the film progresses.

Research for Radio Trailer

Radio Trailer Research

Planning for Radio Trailer: Mindmap

Distributing a Short Film

This photograph is a display of our short film poster on a local bus stop. Our poster could also be advertised on bill boards, outside a cinema and in many other places which are easily accessible and viewed by the general public as this is our the main bulk of our target audience being anyone above the age limit of 12, who enjoys horror films as this is what could be expected from such a poster. The idea of placing it on a bus stop would target our younger audience type well as these are the demographic of people who would be around bus stops, waiting for the bus.  

Final Film Poster

This is the final film poster for our short film 'The Set Up' which has developed from the first draft significantly. I received feedback from an independent source about our film poster and found that the text font used was not compelling to the viewer and deterred the mysterious aspect i was trying to portray. Once i had found this out i set about researching film posters in more depth specifically paying attention to text; its positioning, size and font. After reviewing poster's in the industry further and considering the specified genre of 'horror' i decided that alterations could be made to give my advertisement a more professional look.   

It was also found that the image used for the first draft did not convey the supposed fear of the protagonist. I explored horror poster's which used close ups of the protagonist to gain inspiration of ways in which the facial expression of the character could portray the genre.

Short Film Poster Idea for 'The Set-Up'

After the research that me and my partner had done for our film poster, we set out looking for ideas for a focal point. After previously deciding that dark colours and a brighter red would be good for displaying the horror theme through the front cover, we also used white for text allowing the text to be seen on the darker background. Conventions of a film poster were used which we found on posters through research including credits, age rating, the date of release, a tag line and the title, not forgetting the main image indicating the plot of the film.

The image displays the end of one of the final scenes whereby the protagonist is grabbed from behind by a gloved mystery figure unaware that he will shortly be presented with a 'Surprise' party. This original sketch of the poster displayed a medium shot and an outline of the mystery figure. We felt that this close up shot would build more suspicion as to the events of the film and the close up on his face allows us to see the fear in his eyes and his general facial expression.  This ideal poster has been created combining some of our original sketch elements this with real horror posters i have researched of accredited films from the last five years (recent).

Images of protagonist for Film Poster

Images for Film Poster

From the very beginning of our reserach into a poster for our film we had decided to use our protagonist as the focal point. To explore both mine and my partners idea of medium shots and close ups we shot both to use trial and elimination of the best idea after progressive editing had taken place. I took pictures of Sachin against a green backdrop in order to have a block colour which would allow easier editing.
After taking these images and looking back upon them after uploading them, i realised that a more asthetically pleasing photo could have been acheived with better lighting from above, this being the case mainly for the medium shots.
However, the close ups worked well with the darkness looking representative of the dark surroundings and seemed as if a scene from the film rather than a cleverly placed image of the protagonist infront of a shadowy figure.

The Set-Up (The First Draft of Film Poster)

The Set-Up (First Draft of Film Poster)

This first draft of our potential film poster does not yet include the focal image of the protagonist but outlines the colour scheme much like presented in the earlier sketch. It uses black as a dark colour representing the dark and negative mood of a horror film and the red to contrast as a bright colour yet also representative of the genre relating to violence and danger. I found creating the film poster to be a lot more difficult than i first thought as from my research of horror film posters, an indication of the events that occur in the film are used to entice the viewer to come and watch the final film. The main point of our plot is concerning the build up to the 'Surprise' party and allows the audience to think about the way in which horror codes and conventions have lead them into a false assumption of the genre and possibly a wrong interpretation of what is to come as the film progresses. By including the element of the 'Surprise' in our front cover however would have ruined the build up to this part and therefore i needed to create these signs through different advertising points e.g. The symbolic colours of red and dark greens and black.

Sketch of our Film Poster

Sketch of Poster

The image above is my partners sketch for our film poster idea and shows the close up shot with a glove covering the protagonists mouth to look as if he is approaching from behind. This shot plays on the typical horror convention which we have explored throughout our film, whereby the main character is unaware. 

Analysing Horror Posters

Analysing Psychological Horror Posters (The Unborn and Triangle)

I chose these two film posters to analyse as i know them to both be of the horror genre with one being a psychological horror and the other being a suspense horror. I could therefore consider the ways in which each displayed the main genre of 'horror' but then also look into the factors which related to their sub genres'. I have also seen both films and could then create an analysis of each with hindsight and generate a more in depth meaning to a film poster. I found the representation of genre to be a key component with the victim of each seeming to be a woman with the character feared both male. (This is not the case in 'Triangle' as the actress shown as the protagonist is also the killer in a repetitive twist causing her to spiral into a never ending circle in a fight to get back to her son).

6 shot analysis of a Horror Film

This task enabled me to look into the conventions of a horror film through screenshots throughout and to see how i could apply these to my own short film. This film challenges some conventions of a traditional horror as the vampire is a young girl with the hero being a young boy, yet the film is constructed for an adult audience. I have been able to look at this concept of defying all laws of conventions of horror films to look Horror Film screenshots and annotation (Let the Right One In)

Pitch Script

Pitch Script

The script that i have constructed for our pitch is similar to the treatment, outlining our plot before the 10 shot storyboard is explained to the audience. It also involves when we shall be shooting our short film and represents the organisational skills of our production team.  I shall read from the script exploring our ideas before we recieve feedback on the piece we are creating.

Sample Scene for Pitch

This is a scene that the team shot on our first visit to the site. This scene will be apporximately half way through the film and shows the protagonist going about his usual evening routine at home after getting in from a day at work. In the scene we have attempted to use sound as a main focus to create tension and build the pace of the piece.

10 Shot Storyboard for 'The Set-Up'

10 Shot Storyboard of 'The Set-Up' for Pitch

This storyboard displays the first time in which we visited the location where we would be filming our scenes. We took photographs of key moments which we thought displayed our plot and theme to show in our pitch and to convey the horror elements effectively making an audience interested in viewing the final short film. Taking the 10 shots helped us to realise changes we would need to make from our original treatment as the layout of the location and the exact storyline did not completely fit. By being an organised production team and visiting the house a week before we were due to film we were able to address this issue and change the storyline slightly in a way which fitted the surroundings yet still captured horror conventions and the suspense they created up until the climax.

Feedback from Pitch

We received audience feedback from all who viewed our film pitch and were able to use suggestions on what went well and what could be improved to help us develop an even stronger final piece. From our audience feedback we were commended for our research into the conventions of our specified genre. We had hoped that this would be reflected in the screening as this was an area we had paid particular attention to forming strong in depth judgements on other films of the horror genre and using the points which were included in most such as tension building music and using an unsuspecting protagonist.
Much of our feedback focussed around the concept of lighting and how this could be improved. Our original shooting was too light therefore to create the darkness we needed to edit the saturation levels which in turn made the video grainy and too dark to clearly see the image on screen. Suggestions were made on how we could avoid this by shooting with natural darkness possibly filming later in the day, a point which we then used for the final filming of our piece and allowed us to successfully tackle this issue.

Logging of the Filming Process

The Filming Process LOG.

This logging of events shows the development of the filming process and as this continued i posted new instalments. The log explains how dates were planned for the shooting of our film and how problems with filming were overcome. The plan i feel was set out well and organised correctly leaving enough time to resolve any issues that may occur. Fortunately, the production team and all actors were reliable and able to attend all necessary filming for their needed performance. Now that the filming process has finished, i feel we could have improved efficiency by keeping in touch more often with all cast members including the many extras who played a part in the 'Surprise' scene. The last minute arrangements for the outside party scene worked well in this instance. However to avoid any unnecessary problems with setting for our film, we should have confirmed this at an earlier stage as the location for the last scene was confirmed on the date of shooting.

Screen Shot Analysis (About a Girl by Brian Percival)

Looking at this short film proved to be exteremly important for our team. With our film being of both psychological and thriller genre, by viewing this short film, we were able to focus on the concept of 'psychological' in more depth.
This one screenshot is a scene from the short film ‘About a Girl’ and I feel is one which represents the whole piece in this one frame. Age, gender and social status are all addressed in this short film and our stereotypical views are confirmed by the representation of working class people and the shocking twist whereby the protagonist disposes of her dead baby in a canal. This film was of great importance as it built expectations of a typical diary form documentary about a girl who was aspiring to be a superstar. However the shocking finish was such a surprise to the viewer due to the codes and conventions throughout which followed a similar suit and kept to the explanation of a troubled child’s life. E.g. the constant representation of the girl as a child, challenges the idea of being pregnant.

Screen Shot Analysis (About a Girl by Brian Percival)

Short Film Treatment 'The Set-Up'

Short Film Treatment (The Set-Up)

My short film treatment covers all aspects of the film i am planning to create with my prduction team. Not only does it outline the plot of the film and the shots that will be used as well as reasons as to why these shots are used but it will also look into the ways we plan to organise ourselves as a production team.

Studying Short Films Continued (Lovefield)

In this task I have focused on the short film Lovefield by Matieu Ratthe. The horror theme of this film has been built up by the accompaniment as I watched the piece for a second time in silence and received a completely different message concerning the plot. Again the codes and conventions were necessary to building the supposed genre of the piece however unlike the other films I have studied where props and setting have been the key factors to the plot, this piece relies mainly on its buzz track. From revealing this trait I have seen this to be the most effective way of displaying a genre and aim to make this a focal point of my own short film.

Analysing Lovefield by Matieu Ratthe

Studying Short Films Continued (The Insane)

Discussing the Short Film 'The Insane'

This film fits the horror genre of a 'slasher' and therefore allowed me to look deeper into the horror theme with this in mind as a genre i may use for my own short film. Knowing now that codes and conventions are the components which set out a film's genre, i can look at the specific codes which signify this type of horror genre film. These are shown through the heavy use of violence and blood as well as the protagonist himself portrayed as the typical horror film hero typically a man of status in society; John Vincent introduces himself as a police detective.
From this short film i learnt how one genre such as horror, can be split into many smaller genres depending on the plot of the film and how specific codes and conventions can display a sub genre.

Studying Short Films Continued (Smashed)

This is a piece i have created concerning the analysis of the short film 'Smashed' by Peter Snelling. The film is a drama addressing the theme of alcohol abuse and consequences that take place due to unawareness of characters. Status within society, age and gender are represented clearly by the setting and characters in this piece, something I was able to comment on widely and take into account when creating my own film.

Analyse the technical codes used in the short film ‘smashed’ by Peter Snelling and how these contribute to creating an appropriate effect on the audience.

Studying Short Films Continued (Job Street Final Essay)

This is my improved attempt at analysing the short film Job Street. I have looked at answering two separate questions in order to display my own interpretations of the piece. Within the essay i have discussed the representation of conventional codes and signs for this specific genre being a drama concerning immigration. The changes made are minor however after watching the piece i discovered new components which added to the overall moral of the drama displayed by signs and codes. I also have learnt how to apply more media terminology to explore the ways in which camera angles were used and their significance.  

Job Street Analysis Essays

Studying Short Films

This task is my first analysis of the short film 'Job Street' a drama which concerns immigration and the hardships of the life that it brings. From this essay, I firstly understood how codes and conventions are used to display a plot and represent characters within a film. I got a B grade for my original essay with feedback that i had clearly understood the conventions of a drama genre short film and how it conveyed reality displaying everyday situations and characters. After redrafting i received an A grade which is the essay below as it showed a further in depth understanding of conventions and  how they link throughout the film also explaining how this is done through micro elements.I can now apply this analysis of micro elements to my own piece and constantly keep in mind the mise en scene, camera shooting and sound and how these all contribute to the meaning of my short film.  Job Street Analysis Essays (First Draft)

How to begin research for Short Film

When starting out with research for our short film, i thought it would be best to look about viewing some short films which had been posted on youtube. I am going to analyse different genre pieces including horror, drama and thriller.