Shooting video of our first location/first day of our filming

During the shooting I was bit nervous because I had to be still and I had to walk slowly and not make any sound. This is was the most difficult part of my shooting which I found it challenging. 
Whereas Sammah was perfectly guiding me step by step on what not to do or not. 

Treatment feedback for short film

Treatment feedback for our short film idea

Feedback for our treatment

Overall we had both positive and negative feedback because initially our storyline was seen as a unique and interesting concept especially with the idea about not knowing where the money comes from. However the main part that we need to work on is the middle part of the narrative and fixing the scene of the person finding the money . e.g. some of the suggestion was

1.        Repetition of  the scenes of them sitting down and  finding the money so that there's more build up to the scene.

2.       The person having a bad day and unexpectedly they see money in the park which changes their situation. It would be better if they find the money once as that will make the scene stronger and it would be better if we focus more on build up of the  money scene.  Creating suspense.

3.       Or on 2^nd day they go to park and look for money again but then they see a letter threatening them about the money. In the letter they are being threatened that if they don't return the money they will be told off to the police.

4.Others suggested that, as we are focusing on the build up, we should have scenes  of the protagonist in bad/unlucky situations.This is most likely to affect our locations and would mean we need to have more settings . Also this is a possible way in which if could interpret comedy into our short films as most comical characters characters are clumsy or happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

These ideas were recommended because our audience was confused about the idea of how will the audience will feel the suspense within the drama as before, we decided to show  scenes of them repeatedly finding the  money and scenes of them  in front of different shops. From this we have come to conclude that the main part we need to focus on the  middle part and the build up of the scene of them finding money and the idea of creating danger or threat.

Treatment Idea

Classification/genre: drama (Plan for our short film)

Synopsis: Money in the park. A person who has had a bad day goes to park and whenever they sit on the bench, they find an envelope underneath their bottom. In this envelope they find money. We then see them pass a designer or expensive shop. The next day they go to park and they find another envelope which yet again has money in it, this time they take the money and stop by a homeless person. On the third day they find another envelope and we see a man staring at him from a distance. On the fourth day, when they are about to leave with the money they're stopped by a man who tells them that they have to give back their money and if they not  have to work for them. The film ends with the audience seeing them receive a letter via e-mail from a charity which says "thank you so much for your donation" and we see them with a anxious, worried face.

Which professional films inspired you: Gift , home.
Audience: 16+ onwards
Length: 5mins

Logistic and feasibility: 2 actors, 1 female and 1 male.                                                                       Equipments- envelope, bench,
Location- westfield shepherd's bush or oxford street. Any park.
5 scenes

Any ethical issue:None

Where would your films be distributed/screened: Youtube channel, Leyton Media hub & local film festivals.

Short film practice

Evaluation of short film practise task

Planning:As a group we went through the script and decided what type of camera shots we should use. We then decided the characters for drama :Zak was the camera operator,  Geoffry was the charge of sound boom,Sammah,Luqman and Thomas were the main characters as well as I was the sound operator. 

Group workIn terms of group work we worked together effectively as we had no issues because we all knew which roles we want to do before deciding as a group. Therefore we were able to finish our videoing within one day ( time management improved).

Technical skillswe used  variety of camera angles and shots I.e : wide shot, over the shoulder shot, medium shot, eye line match and medium close up.Our editing was quite effective as our transition was smooth . But however due to our location and less timing we didn't had enough time to make our camera focus perfect since the camera wasn't in focus creating more blurred.We also added texts at the end of the our film to make it more comical.  
Creative skillsWith my group I helped sammah with which and what type of camera angles and shots she should use for certain scene. I also helped her in remembering her lines and making sure everything in the group is going smoothly .

Targets for improvement

• Make the film more clear and visible by using the focus well.

• Try to contribute more ideas towards the treatment of my film project.

• Try and use more transitions and effective editing skills to improve the quality of the film
• Good locatication : The sound was echoing since it was bouncing off the walls.We should do it in a small location so the sounds can be perfect.

New case studies

Task 2 case studies

Toy story 2, Inception,3 faces of eve task 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HM5YBXkE9s


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6AQAnd6YqY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HaxwTT4Iko

toy story 2 , Inception, 3 faces od eve written analysis

Cast:	Don Rickles, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks
Director:	John Lasseter
Studio:	Pixar Animation Studios
Genre:	Family and Kids
Topics:	Magic and fantasy, Adventures, Friendship

 TOY STORY 2

 Short summary/synopses of the film: Toy Story is about the 'secret life of toys' when people are not around. When Buzz Light-year, a space-ranger, takes Woody's place as Andy's favourite toy, Woody doesn't like the situation and gets into a fight with Buzz. Accidentally Buzz falls out the window and Woody is accused by all the other toys of having killed him. He has to go out of the house to look for him so that they can both return to Andy’s room. But while on the outside they get into all kind of trouble while trying to get home. Woody, who is now consumed with jealousy, tries to get rid of Buzz. They must find a way to get back to Andy before he moves without them.

Narration structure is linear: the story is told from the beginning showing how Andy as a kid started liking buzz but then getting new toy “Buzz” everything starts going bad for Woody. The film is shot using animation but it has a mixture of combination of live action.

Themes: The themes portrayed in this film are selfishness, friendship, power, control, being loved, helplessness, loyalty, team work throughout; Toy characters go to great lengths to rescue their friend.

Characters and groups: Two toys are rivals and one does something cruel out of jealousy, but works hard to make amends and becoming friends in the end. All the toys show lots of love and loyalty to their Andy. Several of the Toy Story characters are from recognizable brands like Barbie, Ken, and Mr and Mrs Potato Head. All the toys at the end work together to end their problem and to get to their Andy.

Camera techniques: Point of view shot of wood is used of him looking up at the sky wondering what to do if buzz doesn’t return. Medium shot of both them talking, we see Wood trying to apologies and calm Buzz .Both of these shot illustrates the relationship between wood and buzz in a more argument and disagreement way as through the camera tracking shot shows us the anger of buzz towards wood leading buzz getting into fight with Wood.

Editing techniques: shot reverse shot between Wood and buzz, the shot reverse shot shows us how wood and buzz interpret each other as one way buzz was silent throughout the shot and wood kept talking; this shot implies the excitement Wood has when he saw Buzz as there were more shot reverse shot for him. Cutting rate: The fighting scene between buzz and wood, the cutting rate demonstrated the anger of buzz on wood since he kept hitting him and throwing up over the places.

Mise-en-scene: low key lighting highlighting the tension between buzz and wood. Relieve and delight facial expression on wood face when he sees buzz jumping of the car roof. The use of car connotes their comfort place and the only way to be with Andy by going with him. Location: below the car, dark isolated location underlining the real fight place for them to fight and show who’s more powerful.

Sound: dialogue of both of the characters, voice of Andy, diegetic sound of fighting, buzz suit sound, screaming. Non-diegetic sound: background sound to add excitement between their fights.

Target audience: 4+ children onwards.

Ideas: The use of dialogue and the interesting and different cartoon characters. The idea of using toys as the main characters in the lead.
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Inception

Target audience: 14+
Cast:	Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio
Director:	Christopher Nolan
Studio:	Warner Bros.
Genre:	Science Fiction fantasy Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled men who's able to enter people's dreams to find information. A businessman (Ken Watanabe) hires Cobb to plant an idea in the mind of a competitor, even though this may not be possible. Cobb assembles a team (which includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page) and prepares for the complicated job, which will require creating three dreams-within-dreams. Unfortunately, the subject (Cillian Murphy) has been trained for such invasions, and the job will be far more dangerous than planned -- and then there's the fact that Cobb's dead wife (Marion Cotillard) keeps unexpectedly turning up inside the dreams and wreaking havoc of her own. But if the team fails, they could end up trapped in a subconscious limbo forever. In the dream collapsing scene we are being shown the end of the dream and the end of the conflict which is created because of a “envelop”. As cob opens up the envelope he understands everything and when he wakes up from his dream he traps the main antagonist. Narrative structure is non-linear because the story presented in chronological order. The film is shot in live action. But there’s also combination of animation / fantasy. Themes: Violence, dream, team work, family, power, being helpful, greed, desire, crime, moving on in your life but however a main ambiguous message is shown in which the characters try to plant an idea in someone's head against his will -- but manage to bring him a kind of peace in the process. Groups and characters: The main character acts for personal reasons I.e. to earn the ability to return home to his kids and they all have a job that's slightly on the shady side. But when he's at work, his team shows excellent teamwork, as well as selflessness when it comes to their teammates' well being. Characters scream in pain when shot or stabbed. In the movie, being "killed" or committing suicide can "wake" you out of the dream. One character is shot in the head, another is stabbed, and another plunges off a building to her death. One of the example side lead character is from Arthur Dominick Cobb's right-hand man. Although Cobb is the master planner, Arthur takes care of the details, does the research, and makes sure everything is right. Sharing dreams is not just a job for him; he finds his work fascinating. Camera technique: Long shot of the villains portraying them as powerful and dominant over the hero and its associate holding Arthur to their side showing the defenceless of Arthur without Cob. Close up shot of Cob realising the hidden meaning of the envelope and its meaning, with a shocking face and silent look. Editing technique: Cross cutting of Cob being in that building where everything was collapsing, whereas in the other one his assistance trying to awake him from death. As the water took over the building so does Cob mission finishes since he was thrown into the bathtub. Cross cutting represented the end of conflict of this dream game and the end to the Cob mission as he realises everything about the dream. It emphasises the idea of power and your desire to get what you want as one way Cob was in a position of dying in his dream sacrificing his life yet the villains were destroyed by their own plan. Slow motion: when Cob was thrown into the bathtub in order to wake up as through slow motion we saw the splash of water taking over him slowly as in the other location he got downed by the water.  This shot symbolises the meaning of life as he could have died but woke up because of the water splash on his face. Mise-en-scene: Dark black formal clothes of all the characters emphasising each of the characters importance equally: power and superiority. Dark lighting within the dream location indicating the danger of the scene such as the lady with black dress showed a reassuring and revenge expression that she will come back in his life. The dark location and the bright location juxtaposed against good vs  evilness because the dark location of the building highlighted the kingdom of the villains and their bright environment  ( in a home) contrasted by revealing goodness overcomes evil as we  saw the building collapsing and Cob waking up to stop the main villain. Sound: Non-diegetic: instrumental music at the background highlighting the tension and conflict in the scene. Diegetic: gun shots, building collapsing, glass breaking etc keeps up with the suspension. Dialogues Ideas for my film: I loved the way the action is created in the movies as well as within the dream. The idea of sound creates more excitement and the use of short timing for the action to end. I would like to use different types of editing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 faces of eve In 1951, in Georgia, the submissive housewife and mother Eve White is brought by her husband Ralph White to a consultation with Doctor Curtis Luther since she has painful headaches followed by blackouts with no recollections of what she did. The rude Ralph tells that she bought expensive clothing and hurt their daughter Bonnie during one of these blackouts. Dr. Luther begins her therapy and soon Eve shows a new personality, the reckless and wild Eve Black that hates Ralph and loves to drink and dance with other men, and Dr. Luther diagnoses a case of multiple personality to his colleague Doctor Francis Day. Ralph moves with Bonnie to Jacksonville and Eve continues her treatment. She tells that she is hearing voices, and Dr. Luther uses hypnosis to disclose more about her trauma. Out of the blue, a third personality emerges and tells that she is Jane that shows that is a balanced personality. Dr. Luther questions which personality should be the predominant. In this scene we are being shown in the psychiatric hospital the 3 personality of eve and in each personality different characters with different life story is highlighted. The narrative structure in this film is used linear as we are being told from the beginning of a housewife woman who tried to strangle her daughter and how she ends up in the psychiatric hospital yet changing to different characters at the same time. The film is shot in live action in a real life normal setting. Theme: drama, love, losing your loved ones, mystery, hope. Character and groups: Woodward plays a conservative southern housewife Eve White who, at times, transforms into a bold and bawdy woman named Eve Black. There are three characters, or personalities portrayed in the movie. At first she's Eve White, a troubled and plain young woman, and soon enough Eve Black, a brazen and hard woman, polar opposites in many ways to Eve White, comes to the forefront, doing battle with her nemesis. As the characters psyche continues to degenerate, a third identity, Jane, comes to the forefront a third personality appears, the smart and level-headed Jane, who knows both Eve White and Eve Black and attempts to help Dr. Luther untangle their inner workings. It is soon revealed that Eve suffers from a severe dissociative disorder caused by horrible childhood trauma. Out of all the characters it is the character of Jane who helps to end the story. Eve black and white are being portrayed as the most important characters in the film as there are more scenes on them than Jane. Camera: medium shot of eve white expressing her concern about her headaches and how it’s distressing her. Editing:      Shot reverse shot between the psychiatrist and eve conversation. Along with this shot we see her 2nd personality at the same time. This shot closes up the excitement of the scene as we eve being opened up about her life. Sound: Mainly diegetic sound: shouting, screaming, breaking objects, crying etc. But non-diegetic sound (soundtrack) builds more nervousness and excitement to see her 3rd personality.          Mise-en-scene: Black and white colour scene contradicting the 3 personality. Different facial expression from each eve: naughty, curious, upset, serious, friendly, happy. Formal suits and black and white dress highlighting her position in society with her different personality, giving her less importance in society because of her illness. The black and white screen and her dress connote her struggling with her personalities and her real life. Target audience: 19+ onwards because of its mature theme: multiple personality disorder. Ideas for my film: The use of sounds and less camera shots being used.

production schedule

Short film task 1 and Summer summer task A

OUR FIRST STARTER IDEAS/ OUR FIRST IDEAS

THIS WAS OUR FIRST IDEAS FOR OUR  SHORT FILMS, SAMMAH AND MY FIRST CASE STUDIES WERE SIMILARLY BASED ON THESE IDEAS. BUT DUE TO TIME, LOCATIONS EQUIPMENTS AND THE FEEDBACKS FROM OUR TEACHERS IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO SHOT THE FILM . WE ARE THINKING TO CHANGE IT TO  DRAMA FOR E.G ADD COMEDY SCENES

Main task : to create a short film

A Level Media Studies

Short Film Practical Assignment 2014-15

The Task

For the Advanced Portfolio, you will be required to work in a group of 2 or 3, on a portfolio of work that uses two or more media.  You will produce a main text, using video, and two ancillary texts, using print.  For the short film option, you will work on

• An original short film in its entirety, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both (maximum 5 minutes). 

This will be accompanied by

• a poster for the film
• a film magazine review page featuring the film

You will produce the video artefact first of all.

Alongside your production work, you will also be producing a blog in which you regularly reflect on your progress, and which will be used for the presentation and submission of the coursework project.  You will be required to blog at least twice a week and those students achieving higher grades will blog more often.