Likes and dislikes

Here I have made a chart of the likes and dislikes of each character in my film. I have done an uneven amount for each person as no one shares the same and people have different amounts, plus if I were to do the same amount for everyone the film would be either too long, too short, or it would drag on and be boring for the audience.

ASH	LOTTIE	GRANDAD	HARRY	CHRISTEL
Puppies	Yellow flowers	Family	Blue	Talking to friends
Rain	Sewing	Waving goodbye	chess
baking	writing			feet
art			Schoolwork	peas
	The ends of sausages
	Cleaning
	The dark

Editing Progress

All of my filming is complete and organised into the correct order. Now I have begun to add in my annotations alongside each clip, which is quite detailed and takes up a lot of time. Here is a screenshot of some of the annotations I have been doing:

Since completing my filming I have realised that editing takes a very long time to do and is the most important aspect of the aesthetics of my film; I have to concentrate on making sure the detail of it matches my idea and genre and planning so far.

My editing follows the pattern of the Formalist/Structuralist film theory.The audience needs to be able to read my text easily and they have to be able to understand it through my use of film language, which is important to consider in my editing process.

Recce of filming locations

These are stills from my film of areas that I have filmed in. I have filmed in a variety of places as my film revolves around multiple people that will be doing different things at different times and places.

Field

School

Home- bedroom

Camerawork

Camerawork is my favourite aspect of filmmaking. There are many shots I have had a chance to use during the production of my film that give different effects to everything. Examples of shots I have used are:

- Close up

- Mid-shot

- Extreme wide shot

- Medium close-up

- Extreme close up

- Point of View shot

- Weather shot

Extreme close up

Mid-shot

Long Shot

Very long shot/Weather shot

Extreme long shot

Medium close-up

Extreme close-up

Point of View shot

Close up

All of these examples of camera shots that I have used in my film have been vital to the quality of it. As it is avant-garde I have paid a lot of attention to detail and the effect of each shot for the audience to enjoy it; for example, I have used extreme close ups on the eye of my protagonist for a direct address to the audience and detail, which catches the audience's attention. I have used weather shots to show the passage of time as it is based around ordinary life. Point of view shots enable the audience the experience the film as if it were them in it; this is really good for my film idea as it is made for the audience to be able to relate to it.

Looking at how my camerawork affects the film has helped me to direct it a lot better as I know what the audience will want to see.

Annotation

As my short film is avant garde it has qualities that are not commonly seen in films of other genres. When I did textual analysis on short films with a circular narrative, I noticed that one of the films I analysed used a lot of annotation to give the audience extra detail and interest, especially if the clip could have been boring. I think annotation will be really useful to my film as the audience will need additional things to look at aside from the many 5-second clips to give story and some interest, plus detail and context.

I used Final Cut Pro to practice using annotation on a clip. This was really successful as there were many effects I could choose from to annotate the clip and I could personalise it easily. This is definitely a technique I will carry forward into the editing of my short film.

Adding sound to my film

I decided to use Florence & The Machine's 'Dog Days are Over' as background music to my film. I added it using Final Cut Pro:

As you can see I have imported the music I downloaded and dragged it below my film. I tested it out and found it fits the film really well and was easy to apply to it. Additionally I have added a typewriter sound effect from Final Cut Pro's own sound effects to cover the text appearing on screen. This additional sound effect has given variation to my film as otherwise it could be quite boring to not hear any realistic sound effects.

I also kept the original sounds from each clip, but changed the volume on them so they didn't clash with the music or annoy the audience. The reason I kept the sounds was to make the film appear more natural (and also not like a music video). As my film is based around natural life I didn't want to divert it form that by messing around with the sound too much, plus I think it adds enjoyment to the film as viewers can relate to everything still.

Audience Feedback on first cut

Since posting my first cut of my film I have received audience feedback from two members of my target audience on what parts they like and what parts I could improve on before I make my final cut. I made a short questionnaire to get this data:

From this I have been assured that I need to add either annotation, narration, or both to make my film more interesting beside the clips shown. After researching into Amelie I know what style of narration I would use, and from my textual analysis on a short film I have seen how to make narration fit films suitably. Now I can continue making my film by practicing annotation.

First Edit of film

This is the first edit of my short film. So far I have added and organised the majority of my clips, added background music, and begun to add in the other characters' parts. I still need to do my annotations and narrations before it can look like a short film, but I'm very happy with how it has turned out so far. 

I have used a lot of camerawork techniques in filming as I know that attention to detail when filming is crucial due to the type of film it is. I have overhead shots, midshots,  rolling shots, close ups, and slow motion. This detail makes the film more interesting and flows together a lot smoother as it isn't just a bunch of clips put together, it is organised and filmed in an artistic style.

I tested out a lot of different background songs before deciding that this fitted best, especially with the concert scenes linking in as it was a Florence and The Machine concert.

These were my two favourite tracks for the background as both flow smoothly beside the film, however I decided The Dog Days Are Over was best as it has more of a beat to it and is more interesting.

I am yet to sort out the sounds of the clips against the music as I know some of the clips are too loud. However I am still very pleased with the outcome of this first edit and I know what I need to do to progress further with it.

Location Recce

These are the main locations that I have used for filming. As it is predominantly about ordinary life and the normal things each of us do on a day-to-day basis, I made sure that all of my locations were ones I visit regularly in my own life, to provide the best possible look as it was very personal to me already.

         

WOODS: I walk my dog regularly in the woods and with the change of the seasons I thought it would be perfect to film there in the natural surroundings.

     

SCHOOL: As I (and the majority of my cast) go to school every day I chose it to be the perfect setting for a lot of my filming.

Florence and the machine concert

Call Sheet

LGBT Representation in the media

I have chosen to represent a minority in my film. This is because it is about ordinary life, so while I haven't made it the main focus of the film, I am showing that LGBT+ couples exist in ordinary life. This is important and reveals the personal aspect of the film and it relatable for many people in my audience, as LGBT representation is so often overlooked in the film industry and I wanted to show that it exists without making it the whole focus of the film. Additionally, members of my cast are from the LGBT+ community but are not main parts in the film, meaning I have a diverse cast and have included people of all minorities.

The LGBT community are always trying to combat stereotypes in the media, so by avoiding commenting on the fact the main couple are LGBT it removes possible stereotypes and just shows it as a facet of that person.

An example of a famous icon being LGBT in the media is Ellen DeGeneres. While she does a lot for the promotion of safe spaces for LGBT people in the media, she doesn't make it the main focus of her TV show which has inspired me a lot for the casual representation.

Specific Target Audience

Now that I have considered my general wide audience for my film, I need to narrow it down to something more specific. To do this I am going to look at age, gender, psychographics (aspirations), ethnicity, and class (socioeconomic group).

Storyboard

This is my storyboard for my short film. I decided to draw it by hand to get my ideas across easily and how I wanted them to look. This is a very basic outline of my film as it is not easy to get the 5-second clips idea across on paper, which is where the annotations came in useful.

Institutions

The majority of media texts produced are created for organisations and profit. The increase in popularity of use of the internet has enabled users of 'We Media' (YouTube etc.) to create and disseminate their own media texts that they have made- this is known as 'user generated content'. Not many outlets exist for short films so many are created for the purpose of entering short film competitions, which helps them to gain popularity and viewers that they would not ordinarily gain just from releasing them on YouTube.

Ideology

Ideology from charlotte_media

Uses and Gratifications

When watching a film (feature or short), audiences expect to get something out of it that is memorable and they can take away with them; this is called GRATIFICATION. Some examples of gratification that audiences can get out of a film are:

1. Information that people want to gain from the film about the world/society.

2. Models to look up to and find a personal identity from

3. To find out more about the circumstances of other people through integration and social interaction

4. For entertainment, enjoyment, and relaxation.

Most people have scopophilia, meaning they love to look into other people's lives and they can't help but find out more. An example of this is walking past houses and not being able to help but stare into someone's windows. Scopophilia in people is a major part of my film for my target audience; as it is about having an insight into multiple people's lives and their casual and extraordinary interests, this feeds audience's need for finding out more. This gives them many uses and gratifications for my film as it applies directly to a very common need within an audience.

Testing Narration

Here I have experimented with using narration in the style of Jean-Pierre Jeunet for Amelie. I think this worked really well as the full sentences in list form gave the audience something whole to listen to and apply to the clip playing, but is still unconventional enough to follow my genre. This is definitely a technique I plan to carry into my short film as it will be applied perfectly to suit the editing of my film and how the characters are introduced and portrayed.

Narration- Amelie

I am considering using simple narration over the top of some of the clips in my short film. However, there are many ways to do narration, and I need to make it interesting and follow the 1-5 second long clips that will play with it.

I recently watched the film "Amelie", which at the beginning of the film narrates over the scene describing the characters. However, it is not narrated in the traditional and obvious way by telling the audience a kind of prologue to catch them up to where the story begins; instead it describes each character in simple adjectives and a couple of their unconventional likes and dislikes.

I did some research via search engine to find the script from Amelie to see examples of this form of narrating over a film, so this image is from the Amelie script that I found on http://www.scribd.com/doc/249087771/Amelie-Screenplay#scribd. It shows the narrator describing Raphael's likes and dislikes. I love this form of narration as it is unusual yet simple and I think the technique would fit well over my film as I could correspond each part of the narration to the clip playing. 

Here is a clip I found on YouTube displaying Amelie's likes:

At the beginning of the clip it describes Amelie's favourite things to do in basic narration with a corresponding clip. I love this form of editing as it shows basic skills but looks stunning on screen. If I were to use this editing technique in my own film it would fit really well with the rest of my one-second clips going into more detail about the characters' lives away from their favourite/least favourite things, but makes a point about those too to have plot.

Amelie is an avant garde film that inspires me a lot for my own film; I love the various techniques used and would love to take the inspiration forward into my own work.

Researching split screens

As my film idea has developed I have added parts in that I think would have a good effect on the overall look of my film. I want to use a split screen effect in the introduction of my film, as it will show the multiple people that match my title and its definition and give the audience something to focus on. I have looked at the film 'Love Actually' for inspiration; at the end of it there is a massive split screen effect giving the audience an insight into people's lives and what happens to individual people. I love this effect as it in unconventional and fits into the 'artiness' of my genre.

Here is my own attempt at making the split screen effect, using Final Cut Pro:

I used two parts for my film that I had already filmed and used the 'transform' feature to put them beside each other. I think this was really successful and I will definitely take this forward into my film.

Linked together films

I find it really interesting and creative when a film has subplots for multiple characters that all have a link together. It shows insight into separate people's lives while keeping them all together in the same main plot.

An example of this happening in a feature film is Love Actually. There are many subplots to this film, but all based around the same event and storyline. The characters all come in together at parts of the film and are all related somehow, but without making it the same repeated plot and straightforward. I love how Love Actually gives the characters separate lives and thoughts but doesn't lose them in the main plot.

If I were to adapt this technique for my short film- especially for my idea of showing the lives of multiple people- I would feature them in minor roles around the point of one person's life. I plan to have an opening scene like the ending of Love Actually where a grid forms with clips of all the people- this gives the audience an idea of all the people featured in minor roles. Then I would show them in the background of scenes with my protagonist in or give them a few 5 second scenes of their own to give the audience an insight into their lives, as my title suggests.