Unit 8: Final Film Project

 

Candidate Declaration - I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work* and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself

Lessons

Lesson 1 - Inciting Incidents

Task 1 - What is an inciting incident?

 The event that sets the main character or characters on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative. Typically, this incident will upset the balance within the main character's world.

Task 2 - Identify an example of an inciting incident:

 When Jack stops Rose from jumping off the boat in 'Titanic (1997)'

Task 3 (Part 1) - Write the inciting incident for an idea you have:

 'Shadows' - A person's shadow swaps places them, placing the person in the shadow realm, and allowing the shadow-self to roam free in the real world and attempt to take the person's place.

Task 3 (Part 2) - Create a mood board for your idea:

Task 1: Analysis

What are the important elements that must be considered during the production of a short film?

•  Lighting
•  Equipment
•  Scheduling
•  Catering
•  Budget
•  Story
•  Colour

Why are they important?

Lighting

 The cast must be well-lit in order for the audience to see them properly, and to also raise the production quality.

Equipment

 Equipment is very important. High quality equipment is required to create a pleasing experience for the audience. 

Scheduling

 There will likely be a deadline and time expected to complete the film, so efficient scheduling is important in order to make sure that deadlines are met.

Catering

 All cast and crew must be well fed, as hunger would most likely cause distraction.

Budget

 Short films are often made on small budgets, so it is important that it is taken into account in order to produce the best results possible for the amount of money that you have.

Story

 The main ingredient for a good short film is a good hook, and a good story. The film would be nothing without the story, as nothing would happen without out it, and it wouldn't be very entertaining or engaging.

Colour

 Colours tell a much bigger story than you might realise, and are one of my favourite things to utilise when it comes to visual story-telling.

How will you fulfil them?

Lighting

 The college has some good light panels, and there are also a lot of locations in which we want to film that are naturally well-lit by sunlight.

Equipment

 All equipment used will be provided by the college.

Scheduling

 We are working really hard in order to make sure that everything is able to be filmed within the short time frame that we have for our production period. This means checking when cast members are available, and also what times would work best for us too.

Catering

 It's only a small shoot, so no catering is necessary.

Budget

 Our film is on a budget of £5 which we used to buy the Vimto to use as our prop, other than that, we really have no budget.

Story

 We have used the pre-production period to form a concept that we liked, and then a story from that concept. I have also been writing multiple drafts of the script to ensure that the script and the story reaches its fullest potential.

Colour

 We have looked at other films that use things like colour grading and colours in costume design to their advantage, and we aim to do the same by paying close attention to the colours that we choose in both of those areas in particular.

Task 2: Research

 Research for this film mainly consisted of looking at media that has inspired us.

Movie - Don't Worry Darling

 One of my favourite dystopian thrillers is 'Don't Worry Darling', and was the very film that inspired me to make my own film along similar lines. The film's heavy visual style was something that Tamara and I both looked into, and how colours and lighting were used to create imagery that was happier than the tone of the film, like a façade. This went on to influence my choice of lighting and colours when making our short film.

Video Game - We Happy Few

 'We Happy Few' is a game where the protagonist breaks free from a society that takes pills in order to stay happy. I discovered it shortly before having to come up with a concept for a short film, and the game's concept is one that stuck with me, and one that I aimed to put my own spin on with our short film. I used the game as a reference for the things it did right, but also as a warning for all the things it messed up or executed poorly.

Movie - Smile

 'Smile' is a horror movie that aims to make something so innocent, a smile, into something scary, which is a concept that was perfect for our film. We looked into all the different techniques, shots, lighting, music, and even writing that was used in order to make someone fear a smile.

TV Show - Black Mirror

 'Black Mirror' is a TV show which depicts different dystopian situations. I initially had never taken any interest in this show, but people kept mentioning it when I was explaining the premise of our film to them, so I thought it might be worth looking into. 'Black Mirror' preys on the "what if?" elements of life, and each episode tells a new story about an alternate reality where things are different, and usually for the worse. Looking into this show really helped me define what kind of film this was going to be.

The Greenlight Pitch

Task 3: Planning

The Script (Draft 1)

The Script (Draft 2)

The Script (Draft 3)

Shot Lists

Storyboard (Example)

Cast & Crew List

CREW

DIRECTOR - Alex Temperley & Tamara Mills

PRODUCER - Alex Temperley & Tamara Mills

DOP - Alex Temperley

CAMERA OPERATORS - Tamara Mills & Alex Temperley

CAST

NINA - Milly Shield

MR. FELLAWAY - Alex Temperley

SARAH - La Toya Borg

LILY - Charley Hill

HANNAH - Laura Lillystone

TORI - Sienna Pounder

OLIVIA - Freya Hebron

STALLKEEPER - Elliot Rumbold

SCHOOL STUDENT #1 - Alan Tarkil

SCHOOL STUDENT #2 - Jack Pavey

SCHOOL STUDENT #3 - Phoebe Howard

Schedule

Tuesday 9th, from 4:30 PM

Wednesday 10th, from 2:30 PM

Thursday 11th, from 11 AM

Thursday 11th, from 4:30 PM

Tuesday 16th, from 4:30 PM

Wednesday 17th, from 2:30 PM

Risk Assessment (by Tamara Mills

Release Forms

Casting Call

Audition Scripts

Project Proposal

Task 4: Production

Pre-Production

Week 1

 My focus this week was getting the script finished, as I had already made a start on it before pre-production even began. This week was also about getting an outline for our schedule, though a detailed one was not possible, as we needed a cast first so that we can work around the availability of each of the actors. We knew there was a storm coming in that regard, as we were aware that actors were going to be rehearsing for a show all throughout the next 6 weeks, especially during our filming period.

Week 2

 We held auditions this week, then spent a good amount of time considering people for roles. We didn't have a crazy amount of auditions, but enough to have to make us decide between two or more people for some roles. Once everyone was cast, the rest of the week was spent communicating with actors, giving them a chance to read the script, talking through their roles with them, and also going through things like costumes and extras, which we were having a hard time casting as not many people were volunteering.

Week 3

 We initially planned to begin filming this week, but due to scheduling issues, we had to cancel that. So instead, this was the paperwork week, where we aimed to complete any paperwork which had not yet been completed. Now that we had an official cast, we could now commence with proper scheduling, which turned out to be a more difficult venture than we had expected, as not only was actor availability pretty stiff, but we were also still having problems casting extras, and many revisions to the script were being made to account for all of these issues.

Production

Day 1 (09.05.23)

 Today, the plan was to film scenes 11 to 11D, however, we only ended up filming 11 and 11B. This was due to us underestimating how long these scenes would take. For scene 11, we got the location which we had in mind. There was a blue bulb installed in the room, which we ended up using as it created an ominous vibe and a distinct look for that scene. As for scene 11B, it got done very quickly towards the end, as we only did around 3-4 shots. Bailey Gamble also helped us today with camera operating, so he has been credited as a camera operator on our film.

Day 2 (10.05.23)

 We planned on filming on the afternoon today, so on the morning we had volunteered as runners on a classmate's (Robert Dobson's) film called 'Red Herring'. We spent almost the entire day with their crew, making check-ups on the make-up team and supplying batteries for the cameras, and then we left to set up our own film at around 2-3 PM.

 We filmed scene 4 today in the cafeteria, and also a little bit from the end of scene 3 in the main corridor. We had trouble getting a hold of extras, and in the end we only had around 4 of them, but we had to make do with what we had. It was a struggle, but we completed the scene, however one thing that did leave a bad taste in our mouths, was that we had still planned to do more that day. That's two days in a row that there were things that we had to miss. Due to the lack of availability of actors, the schedule was already tight as it was, and now with the the fact that we need to find more room for the bits we missed, we're not feeling too great.

Day 3 (11.05.23)

 We planned on filming scene 5 this morning, though it was cancelled last minute as the actors realised they had rehearsals for a show that morning. This left us feeling really bad about the project, as this was yet another scene that didn't get done and a big one too. I decided it was time to reconsider the film once again, but this time we needed to do more than just change the ending again. After speaking with Kane, he suggested that instead of making a film, we make an extended trailer. This new concept alleviated stress from not getting the entire plan completed. We still had the actress who plays Nina scheduled to film that afternoon, so we filmed scene 10 in a college bathroom with our new method of only filming our favourite shots and pieces of dialogue.

Day 4 (15.05.23)

 Since our schedule got muddled when we changed our idea, we decided to take a break away from anything scheduled or planned, and we filmed a number of dramatic shots in the hallways that will serve as filler shots with a lot of shock value. 

Day 5 (16.05.23)

 Today we filmed Scene 5, the scene that we most wanted out of the way at this point, but one we also really needed in the trailer. We had a few issues with equipment as there were things that we didn't realise were broken until we started using them, but other than that, it went pretty smoothly. We also did a few miscellaneous shots we thought were necessary.

Day 6 (17.05.23)

 We were almost done with everything that we wanted to do so we just started polishing off the list of all of the things that we wanted to do here and there, such as certain dramatic shots. We also utilised today to film all of Nina's voiceovers that were in the script, which turned out to be very useful during post-production.

Post-Production

Week 1

 The deadline for the project was the Friday at the end of the week, which meant we only had one week left to complete post-production, but luckily I had already begun my editing process from the moment we began filming. Every night after filming I would go over the footage, take it into my editing software, and do what I could with that footage at that time. So, the post-production week was more about stringing it all together in terms of editing. Thursday was our last day in college for the rest of the academic year, and we utilised this day to have a little photoshoot and take the photos for our poster, which I'm glad we did, as I'm really pleased with how the poster turned out, and is probably my favourite poster that I've done out of all the ones that I've done throughout year 1.

The Poster by Alex Temperley

The Film

Behind the Scenes & Bloopers

Task 5: Evaluation

What Went Wrong

•  The schedule did not go to plan at all
•  We didn't end up with a film after all, but a trailer

What Went Well

•  I feel momentarily happy with my performance in this film
•  All pre-production paperwork was completed
•  Cast members suited their roles very well
•  The end result is very visually enticing
•  This was a good opportunity to show off my editing experience

What Have I Learned

•  Scheduling, especially during a shortage of actor availability, is very difficult
•  I need to be more assertive with actors
•  Planning many scenes with a lot of extras is probably a bad idea

What I Should Improve On

•  My scheduling skills
•  My ability to work/think straight under pressure

 Overall, this was probably the most stressed I've been during a project since the Christmas project. However, we pulled through, and we ended up with something that I think is half-decent, unlike the Christmas project. I am happy to be done with this year, and am looking forward to the summer holidays.