Thursday, 22 February 2018
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Unit 1 - Media Products and Audiences - Research Task (PRIDE)
- The companies that were involved in the production of Pride were, Calamity Films, BBC Films, Ingenious Media
- Sony Pictures and CBS were the companies that distributed the film to America
- The company that distributed the Film to Europe was Pathé
- Sony Pictures and CBS were the companies that distributed the film to America
- The company that distributed the Film to Europe was Pathé
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Unit 22 - D1 - THE BRIEF
Evaluation: SWOT analysis
Introduction -
Our film fits The Brief as it is a short narrative, no longer than 10 mins in a recognisable genre being a British Teen Drama. We, (James Bowes, Alex Hargraves and myself Patrick Campbell) are in a group of three and have all taken on specific job roles. James is our Director of Photography, Alex is our Editor and myself the Director, Music Director and sound. All of our product is original content and we have worked hard to achieve as original and independent footage as possible. Some music we have used is not our own produced, however, we have gained full rights from the artist and record label to use the music which will be referenced in our credits of the film.
Strengths -
In my script, aspects that went well were having a strong initial idea for the film I wanted to create. It had enough depth so that I didn't need to create scenes from complete scratch yet I gave myself enough room for improvement and constructive criticism. In my developed idea for my film,I made a clear description fro what I wanted to achieve which has made it easier in film development when thinking about potential locations and actors. Knowing the exact genre and outcome of the film, creating more context was made a lot easier. Such as how in my film the protagonist lost her mum three years before the film was set which create a stronger character for both the main character Chloe and her father. Knowing a deeper character profile will certainly help the actors when we come to shooting the film. They will be able to create moods and emotions using the back stories we already created. I believe I have been successful in my script from the peer feedback I have received about it. Aspects they liked about it was the level of detail that I went into with the characters and also the general flow of the film and how all the scenes slot together so well. I created believable scenes with understandable dialogue which transitioning from scene to scene was clear to an audience member. I believe the success of my script is down to the improvements I've made from each draft and spending time to just clarify what's happening and to know what's going on in the scene. That has been the most important aspect of my script writing process and I hope when it comes to film editing and bringing everything together that an audience will understand the film and that it will make sense.
Weaknesses -
Area's in my script that I felt didn't quite reach my overall intention was how I failed to incorporate more music into the screen play. Initially before I started writing I wanted music to be a big factor of my film and a lot based around this. I worked out it was difficult to achieve this whilst trying to keep the dialogue flowing and trying to keep the audience aware of characters emotions. What I also found difficult was screenplay format and making sure my script would make sense for people on set who would use it for camera angles, sound FX and dialogue for actors. As far as the script is concerned something I feel that mine lacks is possibly the amount of scenes I have created which may effect the outcome of the film. However we will discover all of this in the process of the film production when we storyboard etc. and see if we need to include anything else to make the chronology of the film understandable. My personal skills were certainly challenged when trying to keep the format however after writing the script I feel like I have succeeded in keeping to the style and format and overcome the obstacle. It has helped me improve my work receiving feedback and evaluation notes which I have been able to take on board and worked upon. This includes my format of the script which was an aspect I found challenging, especially with action which is only what you can see and not what's going on. In future I will continue to act on the feedback given and use the skills I have taken from this to improve work especially for when we begin shooting our film.
Opportunities -
The skills I have gained from this experience of screenwriting have exposed me to learn my own capability to actually write a screenplay and then to look deeper into the jobs screen plays offer such as sound engineers and story boarder's as well as learning about what it would take to work in the industry. Other opportunities in this course have allowed me to look deeper into specific genres such as my film genre and working out what works and what doesn't. Also learning about what an audience likes to see which keeps them hooked which I have been able to incorporate into my own film. The experience I have learned from this course also have been such as completing the script to a deadline which in the industry would certainly be the case. Then sending it off and receiving feedback to work upon and improve on in the script. Another experience for me is not only researching possible locations for films but actually visiting them to see how they look and if they would work for our film actually getting to the scene. It is opportunities like this which have given us as a group independence to make out own decisions and gain experience to learn what works and what doesn't and how you overcome challenges i.e. the actors bail out or the desired location would not be possible to film on. To practise our skills we can use software's and websites such as YouTube to look at potential ideas from previous films and also FinalCutPro to see what sort of editing would be capable when we reach that stage in production. After developing this film and producing it, I would be in a better state of mind and knowledge to go further into this subject along with other subjects I take such as drama and potentially join the industry in what ever part I discover is for me.
Threats -
The obvious factors that would prevent us from succeeding in producing our film would be if it didn't come out how we hoped and if what we aspired to reach was not possible at our level. This could include video quality, sound and actor ability which would create a big effect on the outcome of the film. Other threats is if members of the group fail in their area of the film. My area being the script and devising how the scenes will be acted. I could fail if the action created doesn't fit the flow of the film or if what I had hoped is no possible for the actor and we cannot achieve our desired take. The main threat for our group however is achieving what we've said we'd do in the time given. If we should fall behind at any stage in production then we may miss deadlines and when I comes to shooting the film we have to be able to film on certain days for when we've notified our actors when they are required. We will also need to remember to keep our work non copyright and be original in our ideas. One element is music which we will need to create ourselves. One of our scenes is a party so we will need to make sure the music sounds like party music and also try to make it sound like any other songs. The threat is that the music we produce will not bb to a very high standard and will put a bad atmosphere on the film if the music sounds rough and very basic. As a group we will need to support each other in production and maintain pace in completing tasks. Our efforts will need to be sustained and we will need to focus on sticking to the tasks and achieving to create a well worked script.
Meets the Brief -
My film clearly meets the client brief.
-It is a recognised genre of a drama as we follow a protagonist who is within a serious representation of life with heightened emotions such as with partying, drugs and drinking. I have an easily relatable main character as many young people can relate to not wanting to do any school work and just wanting to have a fun time. My film also has stereotypes that can clearly be recognised by the audience.
-I have produced a film that is under 10 minutes and written a script for this to follow.
Conclusion -
Ultimately, what I have learned from this part of the course is what I required when writing a film script. I have been given a new perspective on the task and providing I use the skills I will gain we will be able to achieve what we want the film to look like. However, not only has this course given me the skills to write a script but also to learn about different areas in film production that I was unaware of before and potentially leading me to a career in the industry. From this point we will be able to move forward in production and hopefully create our film. I am looking forward to facing the new challenges and tasks we will work on in later film production, and eventually shooting which will be my favourite area to work on.
Introduction -
Our film fits The Brief as it is a short narrative, no longer than 10 mins in a recognisable genre being a British Teen Drama. We, (James Bowes, Alex Hargraves and myself Patrick Campbell) are in a group of three and have all taken on specific job roles. James is our Director of Photography, Alex is our Editor and myself the Director, Music Director and sound. All of our product is original content and we have worked hard to achieve as original and independent footage as possible. Some music we have used is not our own produced, however, we have gained full rights from the artist and record label to use the music which will be referenced in our credits of the film.
Strengths -
In my script, aspects that went well were having a strong initial idea for the film I wanted to create. It had enough depth so that I didn't need to create scenes from complete scratch yet I gave myself enough room for improvement and constructive criticism. In my developed idea for my film,I made a clear description fro what I wanted to achieve which has made it easier in film development when thinking about potential locations and actors. Knowing the exact genre and outcome of the film, creating more context was made a lot easier. Such as how in my film the protagonist lost her mum three years before the film was set which create a stronger character for both the main character Chloe and her father. Knowing a deeper character profile will certainly help the actors when we come to shooting the film. They will be able to create moods and emotions using the back stories we already created. I believe I have been successful in my script from the peer feedback I have received about it. Aspects they liked about it was the level of detail that I went into with the characters and also the general flow of the film and how all the scenes slot together so well. I created believable scenes with understandable dialogue which transitioning from scene to scene was clear to an audience member. I believe the success of my script is down to the improvements I've made from each draft and spending time to just clarify what's happening and to know what's going on in the scene. That has been the most important aspect of my script writing process and I hope when it comes to film editing and bringing everything together that an audience will understand the film and that it will make sense.
Weaknesses -
Area's in my script that I felt didn't quite reach my overall intention was how I failed to incorporate more music into the screen play. Initially before I started writing I wanted music to be a big factor of my film and a lot based around this. I worked out it was difficult to achieve this whilst trying to keep the dialogue flowing and trying to keep the audience aware of characters emotions. What I also found difficult was screenplay format and making sure my script would make sense for people on set who would use it for camera angles, sound FX and dialogue for actors. As far as the script is concerned something I feel that mine lacks is possibly the amount of scenes I have created which may effect the outcome of the film. However we will discover all of this in the process of the film production when we storyboard etc. and see if we need to include anything else to make the chronology of the film understandable. My personal skills were certainly challenged when trying to keep the format however after writing the script I feel like I have succeeded in keeping to the style and format and overcome the obstacle. It has helped me improve my work receiving feedback and evaluation notes which I have been able to take on board and worked upon. This includes my format of the script which was an aspect I found challenging, especially with action which is only what you can see and not what's going on. In future I will continue to act on the feedback given and use the skills I have taken from this to improve work especially for when we begin shooting our film.
Opportunities -
The skills I have gained from this experience of screenwriting have exposed me to learn my own capability to actually write a screenplay and then to look deeper into the jobs screen plays offer such as sound engineers and story boarder's as well as learning about what it would take to work in the industry. Other opportunities in this course have allowed me to look deeper into specific genres such as my film genre and working out what works and what doesn't. Also learning about what an audience likes to see which keeps them hooked which I have been able to incorporate into my own film. The experience I have learned from this course also have been such as completing the script to a deadline which in the industry would certainly be the case. Then sending it off and receiving feedback to work upon and improve on in the script. Another experience for me is not only researching possible locations for films but actually visiting them to see how they look and if they would work for our film actually getting to the scene. It is opportunities like this which have given us as a group independence to make out own decisions and gain experience to learn what works and what doesn't and how you overcome challenges i.e. the actors bail out or the desired location would not be possible to film on. To practise our skills we can use software's and websites such as YouTube to look at potential ideas from previous films and also FinalCutPro to see what sort of editing would be capable when we reach that stage in production. After developing this film and producing it, I would be in a better state of mind and knowledge to go further into this subject along with other subjects I take such as drama and potentially join the industry in what ever part I discover is for me.
Threats -
The obvious factors that would prevent us from succeeding in producing our film would be if it didn't come out how we hoped and if what we aspired to reach was not possible at our level. This could include video quality, sound and actor ability which would create a big effect on the outcome of the film. Other threats is if members of the group fail in their area of the film. My area being the script and devising how the scenes will be acted. I could fail if the action created doesn't fit the flow of the film or if what I had hoped is no possible for the actor and we cannot achieve our desired take. The main threat for our group however is achieving what we've said we'd do in the time given. If we should fall behind at any stage in production then we may miss deadlines and when I comes to shooting the film we have to be able to film on certain days for when we've notified our actors when they are required. We will also need to remember to keep our work non copyright and be original in our ideas. One element is music which we will need to create ourselves. One of our scenes is a party so we will need to make sure the music sounds like party music and also try to make it sound like any other songs. The threat is that the music we produce will not bb to a very high standard and will put a bad atmosphere on the film if the music sounds rough and very basic. As a group we will need to support each other in production and maintain pace in completing tasks. Our efforts will need to be sustained and we will need to focus on sticking to the tasks and achieving to create a well worked script.
Meets the Brief -
My film clearly meets the client brief.
-It is a recognised genre of a drama as we follow a protagonist who is within a serious representation of life with heightened emotions such as with partying, drugs and drinking. I have an easily relatable main character as many young people can relate to not wanting to do any school work and just wanting to have a fun time. My film also has stereotypes that can clearly be recognised by the audience.
-I have produced a film that is under 10 minutes and written a script for this to follow.
Conclusion -
Ultimately, what I have learned from this part of the course is what I required when writing a film script. I have been given a new perspective on the task and providing I use the skills I will gain we will be able to achieve what we want the film to look like. However, not only has this course given me the skills to write a script but also to learn about different areas in film production that I was unaware of before and potentially leading me to a career in the industry. From this point we will be able to move forward in production and hopefully create our film. I am looking forward to facing the new challenges and tasks we will work on in later film production, and eventually shooting which will be my favourite area to work on.
Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Analysis of of the Film 'Thirteen"
The film 'Thirteen' has been very useful to analyse because it has a great deal of links and themes to the short film we are going to create. I was very interested into looking at how they portrayed these themes and how they were shot with what camera angles, lighting and sound.
This section of the scene is also very helpful to look at because the girl is in a drunk state which we will have a similar scene in our film. Using a medium close up again we the audience feel more like we're in the scene with the actors. The lighting is once again dim but with the bright lights of the street. Here the film makers have lit the scene very well, one so we can see the actors and two, they have managed to make it look realistic, like they're in the street. There isn't any harsh light which loses the effect of the city at night. The camera here moves with the actors in front of them which also helps us the audience feel like we're part of the scene and creates the feeling of walking. The costume for the girl in this film is quite party like, make up, hair done up nicely, going out clothes. We will try to achieve a similar thing for when Chloe is at home. We will need to be able to show two sides to her character. Going out and lounging at home.
The drugs scene in our film is very key because it is the cause of the protagonists downfall. As shown in the film the lighting is darker than before, the girls are being quiet. The lighting links to the fact the girls don't want to be found out. The shadows can hide their actions. The film makers have used a mid close up to keep the focus on the girls yet the door can be seen behind them telling us that they may get found out or that is what they're trying to avoid. This also links to the setting and how the girls are doing it in a dark empty room away from people. This is similar to our film in the way that the kids in our film will take the drugs on the moor away from civilisation and the law. In this scene the camera is still which mirrors how the drugs are effecting the girls and also how they have to be to not get caught. Their movements are minimal due to the drug consumption so the camera also stays still because there isn't a very wide angle to film.
This scene I found particularly helpful because in our film we have a conversation between daughter and father. In this scene the film makers have used an over the shoulder shot. They have also positioned the camera so that the mother is looking directly at her daughter and not down on her which would show power and control in the situation. The fact she is looking her eye level shows the parent does not have full control and is struggling to control her reckless daughter. Another factor is that the daughter is facing towards the door at the end showing that she doesn't want to talk to her mother who is blocking her way. The film makers have shown character intentions just through where they are stood without the need of dialogue. The lighting and setting here is also a comparison to the setting of the street where the girl goes out and is a different version of herself. It shows more of a warmth to the home having subtle and also natural light and not dim moods and dark lighting. It shows how the daughter is in a safe place. I would like to try create a similar atmosphere in my film between the father and daughter relationship.
Monday, 22 January 2018
Different Types of Camera Shots
Here we looked into the different types of camera shots that we will be able to use in our short films
Thursday, 18 January 2018
Early Stages of Film Production
We have assembled a team of three to produce a film for the film festival. The team consists of:
- Patrick Campbell (Writer & Director)
- James Bowes [me] (Director of Photography & Sound)
- Alex Hargraves (Editor)
- Music (Alex Hargraves & Patrick Campbell)
The film we have chosen was written by Patrick Campbell and is called 'Live For The Weekend'. We chose this film because it gained the highest vote in the democratic vote in class and also because it is unique (has a very different storyline to other films in the class). We know there will be challenges in filming this film but think if we do it right it will be very, very successful.
The plot of 'Live For The Weekend' consists of a girl who has lost her mother. She attends a party of one her friends on a Fridayevening. She has a great time at the party but does over drink a little and ends up being sick in the toilet. After this she heads home in the dark and goes straight to bed (overall she has enjoyed the night). The following day Chloe is invited to another party, she doesn't want to go but gets persuaded into it by her friends. That evening at the party, for the first time she takes some 'pills' (drugs) - she really likes the experience. The following day Chloe wants to party again and asks her friends out. Again, she takes some pills - this time it goes to far and she starts to feel very ill. We switch back to her Dad worrying about her and trying to ring her, then back to Chloe as she starts to stumble towards the road. She ends up stumbling onto the road, and a car comes out of nowhere. We here a crunch, then everything goes black.
We have discussed actors which would suit the roles in the film:
- Chloe - Ellena
- Nicki - Freya
- Joe - Matthew
- Austin - Daniel/Joseph
- Dad - Ian (TBC)
- Patrick Campbell (Writer & Director)
- James Bowes [me] (Director of Photography & Sound)
- Alex Hargraves (Editor)
- Music (Alex Hargraves & Patrick Campbell)
The film we have chosen was written by Patrick Campbell and is called 'Live For The Weekend'. We chose this film because it gained the highest vote in the democratic vote in class and also because it is unique (has a very different storyline to other films in the class). We know there will be challenges in filming this film but think if we do it right it will be very, very successful.
The plot of 'Live For The Weekend' consists of a girl who has lost her mother. She attends a party of one her friends on a Fridayevening. She has a great time at the party but does over drink a little and ends up being sick in the toilet. After this she heads home in the dark and goes straight to bed (overall she has enjoyed the night). The following day Chloe is invited to another party, she doesn't want to go but gets persuaded into it by her friends. That evening at the party, for the first time she takes some 'pills' (drugs) - she really likes the experience. The following day Chloe wants to party again and asks her friends out. Again, she takes some pills - this time it goes to far and she starts to feel very ill. We switch back to her Dad worrying about her and trying to ring her, then back to Chloe as she starts to stumble towards the road. She ends up stumbling onto the road, and a car comes out of nowhere. We here a crunch, then everything goes black.
We have discussed actors which would suit the roles in the film:
- Chloe - Ellena
- Nicki - Freya
- Joe - Matthew
- Austin - Daniel/Joseph
- Dad - Ian (TBC)
These were chosen by Patrick as he believed each person would be able to play the role of the characters well and understand how to turn Patrick's script into a reality. |
We have also begin discussing potential locations, in our local area, that will be suitable for the production of our film:
- Front Gates - Ilkley Grammar School
- Road - leading away from school.
- Bedroom - Freya's Bedroom
- Train - Northern Line
- Party - Freya's Kitchen
- Fridge Scene - Patrick's House
- Hall - Patrick's House
- Moor - Ilkley Moor
- Road - Moor Road
- Park - Ilkley Park
- Road - leading away from school.
- Bedroom - Freya's Bedroom
- Train - Northern Line
- Party - Freya's Kitchen
- Fridge Scene - Patrick's House
- Hall - Patrick's House
- Moor - Ilkley Moor
- Road - Moor Road
- Park - Ilkley Park
These are some ideas for locations, we plan on visiting them all to check that they are appropriate and suitable. If there are any issues we will make adjustments as required.
We have been looking online for film segments to take inspiration from. We came across a few examples for our party scene:
- 21 JUMP STREET [2012] Scene: House Party - click here to view (this is a rough idea of the kind of party we would be portraying).
- It's Party Time - Wild Parties In Movies - click here to view (this would be the kind of camera angles, music and shot types we would want to get).
Thursday, 11 January 2018
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