Pre-Production Initial Ideas

Here are some of our initial ideas that we have come up with that could be used as the story in our film. We have scanned in our notes from our planning ideas to give you a little taster of what we are wanting to include.

 

We took into account the audience that we wanted to target and we were aware of what sort personality we wanted to give our character. Since we used female characters in our thriller opening we thought it would be appropriate to divert from females and use as male as the main character.

 

 

 

 

This is a rough noted version of our narration, where we jotted down any appropriate ideas that could be included.

 

This is the very first stage of our planning: we created a branch of ideas so that all our concepts can begin to blossom and come alive. This is an individual way to foretell parts of our story and portray all of our ideas. 

 

In these notes below with have begun to establish the opening shots and what other shots we wanted to incorporate. We tried to be slightly more ambitious with our use of shots and techniques so that not only do we portray the story in an interesting way but we also express the narration through an eye of technological brilliance.

This is again more of our notes showing all the stages we went through to complete our final ideas. We spent a long time discussing possible ideas and whether they would work or not. Although we wanted to film something original that foretells a deep meaning we also wanted to ensure it was capable to film. When planning we took everything into account so that our film can be the best it can possibly be. 

We also noted down any shots that we wanted to consider- for example high angles and close-up's have been written in our planning. This is so that when it comes to filming we can take along these notes with us and return to any relevent notes we made; we wanted to include any shots that would work in the film.





Fiming at The Derelict Fairground

 

(Shot One)

 

 

(Shot Two)

(Shot Three)

 



(Shot Four)

(Shot Five)

 



 (Shot Six)

 

 

As we had never visited the derelict fairground prior to filming, we didn't know what to expect, however, once we saw the isolated bumper cars and trashed surroundings, we knew it was perfect for what we intended on creating.

 

Above are some shots that we managed to capture on the day which gives an insight into parts of our short film.

Analysis on Shots Taken

 

 

Shot One

This is a long shot showing the remainder of a broken house surrounded by overgrown greenery and unwanted rubbish, which help to create that derelict, mysterious feel. Behind the house is an array of dead, long-forgotten trees which symbolise how our character is feeling and assist in setting the atmosphere. During this day of filming, we managed to shoot some hand-held shots of our character running alone through the forest, and this broken house is to be seen in the background, which enables the spectators to understand where he is and how he feels. 

Shot Two
This is a shot of one of the abandoned bumper cars that we found at this location. In our short film we have added a pan of the area into the film to set the scene and show what the character sees when he first arrives. We found these aged bumper cars so very intriguing as they are something that is unlikely to be seen in everyday life. We also include a shot of our character cautiously running around desperately looking for answers.

Shot Three
In this photo you can see us trying to gain as much footage as we could so that if we wanted to set the scene more clearly then we would have plenty more footage showing where and how the character has arrived. This shot of the bumper car is part of our mise en scene as it is part our background surroundings and is something that we chose to incorporate into our film for specific purposes.


Shot Four
Here you can see Dilys honing in on our character as she begins to shoot our first few scenes. In the background a large heap of rubbish is visible, and we chose to add derelict and broken pieces such as these so that the location looks distort and hair-raising. As our character is alone in this frightening environment we felt that filming parts of the aged cars and demolished house will create a location that no one would want to be trapped in. Fear is created that affects the audience as well as the character.

Shot Five
This is again a medium shot which foretells some of what is to come in our film. Not every aspect to the rubble is visible in the outcome of the film, but in our pans and hand-held shots various parts to the location speak words of fear and desolation. The trees also play a major role in this film- the fact that they stand lifeless looking over the forest shadowing our character assist in creating a fear of the unknown.

Shot Six
This is a shot taken of the camera whilst filming is being done. As i have a creative eye for photography and telling stories a different way, i thought it would be interesting to fortell parts of our film through quirky images. This image is from one of the shots when he arrives at the desolate fairground. Here he grasps a block of white paper, in what he uses to draw creating the locations that he wants to visit, depending on his moods.

Finding Inspiration for Our Short Film

A lot of our inspiration came from a variety of short films, for example 'The Camera' reflects the narrative in our film. This inspiring short tells a story of a young girl who discovers a boy hiding away in her photos. After he disappears from her images, she too decides on joining him in the photographs by taking a picture of herself. This is similar to our film, where our character is trapped inside the painting.

The location used in this film is also very similar to the locations that we will be using, such as, the girl in 'The Camera' finds herself wondering around in a desolate peaceful house in the middle of no where; we have also planned on filming our short in peaceful, quite locations to give an insight into how our character is feeling.

Additionally, in this short film there is no character narration throughout the film, and after watching it, we felt inspired to also experiment with the same idea by encorporating it into our film. It is evident that in this short that having no narration works very effectively as it enables the audience to piece together character thought and emotion. However this means that we are going to have to accurately plan some background sound, just like they have done in 'The Camera'.

Risk Assessment Form

Location Survey - Dilys Latham

Location Survey

Directions to Locations

Shoreham by Sea

1. Head south on Queen's Rd/​A2010 toward Upper Gloucester Rd

Continue to follow A2010

2. Turn right onto King's Rd/​A259

Continue to follow A259

3. Turn right onto Ship St

4. Turn left onto North St

5. Turn right onto West St

6. Turn right to stay on West St

Royal Pavilion Gardens

 1. Head south on Queen's Rd/​A2010 toward Upper Gloucester Rd

 2. Turn left onto North Rd

 3. Keep left at the fork

 4. Turn left onto Gloucester Pl/​A23

 5. Keep left at the fork

 6. Turn left onto Gloucester St

 7. Turn left onto Sydney St

Destination will be on the left

 Brighton Pier

1. Head south on Queen's Rd/​A2010 toward Upper Gloucester Rd

Continue to follow A2010

2. Turn left onto King's Rd/​A259

 3. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Madeira Dr

Destination will be on the left

Derelict House

 1. Head north toward Wolstonbury Way

 2. Slight right onto Wolstonbury Way

 3. Turn left onto Station Rd/​B2113

Continue to follow B2113

Go through 2 roundabouts

 4. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto London Rd/​B2036

 5. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Jane Murray Way/​A273

Go through 2 roundabouts

 6. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Coulstock Rd

 7. Turn left to stay on Coulstock Rd

Destination will be on the left

 Louis’ House

 1. Head south on Station Cottages toward Station Approach W

 2. Take the 1st left onto Stanford Terrace

 3. Continue onto Station Approach W

 4. Sharp left onto Keymer Rd/​B2116

Go through 1 roundabout

 5. Turn right onto Downs View Rd

 6. Continue onto Bonny Wood Rd

Destination will be on the right

 Nearest Hospitals

Princess Royal Hospital (Lewes Rd  Lindfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 4EX 01444 441881)

Royal Sussex County Hospital (Eastern Road Brighton and Hove, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 5BE

Nearest Police Stations

 Burgess Hill Police Station (The Brow  Burgess Hill, East Sussex RH15 9BU

0845 607 0999)             

 Brighton Police Station (John St Brighton and Hove 0845 607 0999)

 Newhaven Police Station (South Road Newhaven East Sussex BN9 9QJ)

 Nearest Stations

Burgess Hill Station (Burgess Hill RH15 9DG 0845 127 292)

Brighton Station (Queens Road  Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XP 0845 127 2920)

 Hassocks Station (Hassocks Station Approach, West, Hassocks, West Sussex BN6 8JD 0845 127 2920)

 Shoreham-By-Sea Station (Brunswick Road, Shoreham-By-Sea, BN43 5WX)

 Local Taxis Firms

Burgess Hill Taxis (York House, 13A Station Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9DE)

 Brighton and Hove Taxis (86 Goldstone Villas Brighton and Hove, East Sussex

01273 202 020)

Five Star Taxis’ (3a Stanford Terrace, Hassocks, West Sussex BN6 8JF 01273 846666)

What technical facilities are there?

Many of our chosen locations are outside and in public places, making it slightly harder as there are fewer facilities for us to use when setting up our equipment and doing our actors hair and make up however we shall be creative and bring plenty of umbrellas and coats in case the weather changes, making sure we still get our great shots.

 We are going to have to rely heavily on natural lighting in the outside shots as there will be no where we can use for electricity and so won't be able to make big use of any artificial lighting We shall have to carry the equipment with us but this shouldn't be too difficult as we only have a couple of props and only ever one character in the shots. We shall have plenty of space for filming as most shots are outside and in rural locations.

 

Environmental factors that may affect the location:

Many of the locations we are filming in our outside, so if there is heavy rain on the day of filming we will wait for it to stop or post-pone filming. However the rain could help to create some pathetic fallacy as our character often feels isolated and the rain could reflect his loneiness. So we are taking umbrella's and tarpaulin so if we want to we can experiment with the rain and get some interesting shots.

Our scene on the Brighton Pier and at Pavillion Gardens may also turn out to be difficult to film as there may be the general public around but hopefully we will be able to get a few good shots without interruptions. We want it to be a lively atmosophere to show that he desperately wants to be accepted and have fun so the public may work in our favour when filming. We will need permission to film on the pier as well.

 

LENGTH:

Approximately five minutes

GROUP: 

Dilys Lisa

SHOOT DATES:

LOCATIONS:

Brighton Pavillion, Brighton Pier, Shoreham by Sea, derelict house, deserted fairground and my home

CREW:

(With mobile numbers)

 Dilys Latham: 075283475502

Lisa Walden: 07900585280

CAST:

(With mobile numbers)

Mani Latham 07825641103

Daisy Latham 07748151080

CAMERA EQUIPMENT:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Steady Cam

LIGHTING EQUIPMENT:

• Portable Light
• Bright light

WARDROBE:

• Floral Shirts
• Tie
• Bow Tie
• Shoes

PROPS:

Magazines

Piano

Designs

Drawing Book

Pencil

Approximate Time needed for each shot:

Our shots will be between five to 15 seconds long

 

Applying The Five Key Concepts To Our Short Film - Dilys Latham

Genre and Style

Our short film deals with many modern issues faced by young adults such as growing up in an ignorant society, coming of age and finding acceptance, it is because of these themes that we believe our short fits into the genre of social realism. It could also be said that short has an adventure element to it due to the journeys the character takes when he enters his drawings. 

In the short the young man is portrayed as having more traditional feminine characteristics and also as being a homosexual, it is because these traits that he is treated like an outcast and inferior by his family. This is unfortunately still apparent in many society's and cultures around the world today and because we address such issues our film is of the social realism genre.

Representation

There is a strong representation of middle class throughout our short film as it very important for us to convey to the audience that the boy has had a very comfortable, traditional, structured upbringing which has left him imprinted with strong outdated beliefs. However he goes against his families ideals and it is because of this that they treat him badly, thus making him want to escape.

When choosing the locations for the film it was important for us to pick open and peaceful places for the boy to draw and escape to, as it helps to show the pain in his real with his family but also highlight his want for freedom and escape from a constricting and un-accepting place. The long shots will show our characters isolation and he has been outcast by his family as a result of his mistreatment from his family.

Our short film is a study of society norm and the effects of the traditional middle class home on a young and homosexual boy. It was important for us to clearly show the audience our protagonists sexuality as it is the reason he is victimized by his family and we show this through costume, props and mise en scene. The clothing our character wears will be styled quite loudly and with floral prints to clearly differentiate him from the stereotypical male characteristics and convey his stereotypical homosexual nature.

The age of our character was also a very important factor for us to consider and portray effectively as

Audience

The expected audience for our thriller would probably be for the ages of 16+ as they may be able to relate to the coming of age themes, understand the problems with society expectations or simply to be able to see the problems with a strict suppressed society and the consequences of one. The gender of our audience will be very much a mixture of female and males as although the lead character is male the issues dealt with are very applicable to both genders. The same goes for social as even the film heavily represents a middle class family the issues can be apparent with any social class.

Ideally our short will be screened all over the world and we will become millionaires through its success!
Our short film would be screened on short film websites for film enthusiasts as it has an interesting and unique plot but also has an eerie disconcerting truth to it. Perhaps the short would also do well being screened at schools to show power the discrimination to young people so they are aware of it from a young age.

Narrative

The structure of our narrative will be linear to show that the boy's ill treatment is never ending and is getting worse thus making him want to escape more and more which will eventually lead to him getting stuck in the drawings.
Propp's theory of narrative can be applied to our short film as we see the young boy as a victim of a strict, close minded traditional middle class family and his parents as the villains as they treat him unjustly. It is important that we make the two roles clear from the start so that the audience understand the boys need for escape but also the harsh reality of a un-accepting society.

It is also interesting to consider our short from Todorov's theory of narrative as we establish the equilibrium of the boys life at his home where he is an outcast, the audience are then presented with an disruption in the form of his harsh family but there is no resolution as he ends up stuck in his drawing. It is necessary for the short film to end this way as it shows the audience that for many people that live in a society which doesn't accept them, don't have a way out.

Media Language

In our short film we'd like to use many point of view shots to help the audience empathize we our lead character, we will do this by shooting many close ups and medium shots. The film will also include many hand-held shots and tracking shots to help show the boys growing fear as he becomes trapped within the drawings. When it comes to editing the short we want to make the transition from drawing to location as smooth as possible so there is no clear cut between the two.

The external monologue and non-diegetic sound will help the audience in understanding our lead character and make the film more personal to the viewer. The peaceful locations chosen are important to show the characters want for escape and the pain he feels at home. The effective use of mise en scene when the boy is at home will help to show his unusual character traits which lead his family to isolate him; such as his fashion designs, his choice of clothing and even his choice of music.

The short film 'Ronan's Escape' deals with many of the same themes we wish to include in our own film. The themes of discrimination and escape are very clear in this short film and the narrative has a great impact on the audience. We hope to achieve the same with out own short film!

Our Sound Choices By Lisa Walden

 

Throughout our short film we will be using an external monologue to allow the audience to hear the characters thoughts, emotions and reasons for wanting to draw picturesque, dreamy places. We have seen this technique in various short films that we have analysed, and have seen how effectively they work; we wanted to create this relationship that our audience have with the character. 

In the scene when our male character is playing the piano, the music he plays is very traditional and classical. We have opted for this particular type of music for certain reasons: first of all, our character is a feminine male, who enjoys traditional music. Secondly, whilst he is creating beautiful music, a family member comes in and slams the piano shut, showing that they don't accept him for the man he is. Our intentions are for the audience to feel sympathetic towards him, and although they may not be able to relate to him, they will be able to feel towards his situation, and understand his pain which is evident in his external spoken monologue. 

Finally, we have decided to add a soundtrack of slow, slightly muted music to piece in with the scenario, showing that his has escaped from the loud home atmosphere. At certain points in the film, for example when he first arrives at the beautiful boating dock there will be a moment of silence. As he is relatively shocked, and isn't able to say much, we thought it would be perfect to express this with a moment of silence. The majority of our sounds are natural to his environment, such as birds on the seafront, laughing on the pier and the shouting in his home life. This creates the best possible, realistic atmosphere possible, enabling the audience to truly connect and understand his world. 


Changes we have made
After watching 'The Camera' we have come to a decision that we are now going to abandon our idea of having a monologue, and continue with the idea of only having music with no dialogue. This worked so ever effectively in 'The Camera', and since we were so very inspired by their narrative and use of camera, we have come to a decision to also work with that idea.

As there is going to be no dialogue throughout our short film, we are going to be having a soft soundtrack running through the film. We are currently researching various possible sound solutions, as, our sound from last year's thriller was disappointing, so we need to ensure that this year the sound ties in with the story and is effective.

When deciding on a music soundtrack we wanted to opt for something a little more happier so that the overall film doesn't come across with the theme of depression. Here are a few possible songs that we came across. The lyrics connect well with our character and the places that he visits, for example, "Be Ok", will be played when he arrives at the joyful and wonderful places portraying that everything is okay.

Our next possible soundtrack is "The way i am" which would be played in the ending scene as this song speaks about being accepted which is what one of main issues is in our film. We may choose to shoot a happy ending as appose to a sad one, and this song would tie in perfectly with the issues in the film and additionally with what our character is going through.  

 

Mood and Style of Our Music

When our character, Louis, arrives at the neglected locations and when things begin to go wrong we have opted for sombre and obscure music to marry in with the narrative.









 

Our Finished Storyboard

This is the finished storyboard of our short film. We used detailed drawings and a voice over so it is made apparent what we are aiming to create. 

Costume Ideas - Dilys Latham

Costume Ideas for Lead Male Character

When considering our lead character's costume, it is important that we carefully choose items which will not only portray his characteristics externally as a fashion designer and creative individual but also a style which effectively portrays his individuality and difference to the modern society norm. 

It is important for the narrative of the film to have fluency and for our short this means making it clear to the audience why our character uses his drawings for escape. From the very beginning of the film our lead character if portrayed as an outcast and underdog, he is very talented but his gifts are being shunned by his unaccepting and fearful family who believe he is strange and abnormal. Using his costume we can show his unique style which his family condone as weird thus causing him to want to escape. 

 

Representation:

The main character in our short film has a middle class social background and for our film to be successful it is important for us to clearly portray this from the beginning as it is because of his strict traditional middle class parents that he feels outcasted as they don't accept him. The clothes which he wears need to clearly show his individuality and unique qualities

His ethnicity as a white British male is significant as it is a fairly traditional middle class ethnicity for someone in the South England and so highlights his strict upbringing and also his unique style and defiance against his parents.

 

This floral shirt has a slight feminine quality to it, which his family perceive as abnormal for a teenage boy and thus isolate and bully him because of his style as they do not understand him which gives him reason to want to escape.

Genre:

As the genre of our short is social realism it is crucial for our audience to clearly understand why it is of the genre and we can effectively portray the genre through our characters presentation as his choice of clothing shows his individuality which is why his parents resent him.

Audience:

As our expectant audience for the short is 15+ age group and aimed at male and females so we must make sure that it is clear what our characters predicament is so the audience empathises with him and also perhaps to some extent relateable as many feel outcasted and need for escape for many different reasons.

 This tweed waistcoat and bow tie combination again suggest a unique and modern style.

Finally this floral shirt and pink tie suggest a rather stereotypical portrayal of a homosexual but clearly clarify the audiences growing suspicions of the families concerns with the son. 

Final Locations by Lisa Walden

Shoreham-By-Sea

Our first location that we will shoot parts of our film at will be at the picturesque Shoreham-by-Sea. We chose this stunning location as, not only is it peaceful enough to hear the waves against the shore, but it perfectly contemplates the story in our film. 

As we wanted the male character to draw places which define beauty, peacefulness and memories, this place was an excellent choice to choose. And thereby, Shoreham-by-Sea is the very first location our young character will draw, and arrive in.

Brighton Pier

The second carefully chosen location choice is Brighton pier. Not only does this place thrive with entertainment, fun and laughter but it's the perfect hang-out location any teenage boy would desire, and so we have therefore contemplated on taking shots of him inside the loud, bustling arcade. 

 Brighton is a city that attracts young males for its excellent social and entertainment purposes, thus we thought that our character would have chosen to draw, and opt to be in the heart of the city of fun. 

Compared to our previous location, this one has great contrast, which works in ways perfect for telling our story. Altering from a silent, peaceful location and then switching to something much more vibrant bustling with people can either be quite a drastic, risky change, but in our case, it has great significance. 

Brighton Pavilion 

Since our second location is in Brighton, we thought we'd search around for some other locations close to the pier. The Pavilion is such a beautiful, breathtaking location that one can't possibly resist filming here. Furthermore, our last location, Brighton Pier, was so wonderful yet so loud with lots going on, we thought we'd play with contrasting surroundings and allow our character to escape to somewhere much more peaceful and relaxing. Somewhere where he can soak in memories and thoughts. Brighton Pavilion is perfect. 

So, after our character ends up on the pier and goes back home again, he contemplates on a new visit, this one being the Pavilion. Another reason why we chose this is because it seems to be a popular location among families, so it would have been somewhere that our character, as a young boy, visited; we wanted to make our locations personal to him. 

Derelict Playground

Shooting at a derelict playground was a must for our film to truly speak to the audience. We wanted to show that his drawings and transportation's were beginning to go wrong. This too has an impact upon the audience; it leaves them bewildered, questioning what is going on. 

As our plot reveals, the boy draws and intends upon visiting a beautiful, lively playground, but is then deeply distort when he arrives at something a little more dead. This reveals to the audience that something slightly spooky is happening. The questions left are those such as, "why is the playground derelict", "what's going on"

We intend on creating this effect on the audience; we want them to feel spooked with unanswered questions flying around, leaving them with a passion to watch more.