2013 Post 25- Pre-production Mise-en-scene Table

For the pre-production process of our short film I created a mise-en-scene table to inform my group and I of what mise-en-scene aspects will be required for each scene. This would notify our actors on what they would be wearing and doing during production, as well as how each scene will be set.
Each scene will progress the story, therefore key aspects relevant to our main character and the events will need to be visually clear through our mise-en-scene.

2013 Post 24- Pre-Production Storyboard

My colleague Laura created the storyboard for our short film 'Catalyst', and it can viewed in two parts on these PDF files:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8zVTMkwU8ADZnduWnpRdHdNblU/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8zVTMkwU8ADU2ZhM3g4NWpZNTQ/edit

2013 Post 23- Pre-Production Final Script

Here I have posted the Final Script I have written for our short film, this was finalised from all the feedback we received and consists of five pages as five minutes will be our maximum film duration.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7nvhlRXwtYuTk13SEY4cTgwUm8/edit

2013 Post 22- Film Distribution

A filmmaker’s general reason for creating films would be because they have something to say or a vision to share with the world, thus having as wide an audience as possible would be ideal. The filmmaker’s goal for what they would like their film to achieve plays a key part in a potential distributor’s decision on investing in their project. The larger a film’s budget, the more effort should be put in to ensure the widest audience possible can reach it.

There are different ways of getting a film seen, Film Festivals are most important for independent films that have not spent a lot of effort in distribution, but ultimately a theatrical release is still the most economic way of distributing films. Many short films today follow these promotional ways of exposing their films: Film Festivals, sell to sales agents to appear on television, DVD sales and finally Internet exposure. Sales agents have a range of contacts that can help give a short film the exposure necessary to reach a wide audience, usually globally by setting up connections with television companies. Money is gained from advertisements of the film or per download of the content online, but DVD releases can also be made through an agent, wherein the film could be sold as a single or in a compilation with other short films on online sites such as Ebay or Amazon.

 

Short films usually don’t make as much money as feature length films on theatrical releases and festival screenings, but it would be unwise to skip the festival screening option. These festivals screen to audiences looking for new, unique films and potential distributors, with awards for the best that draw in attention. The lifespan for a short film at festivals is around 2 years as many will not accept content older than this age, but an online lifespan can last much longer if effort is put into keeping it alive. Digital distribution however, is quickly gaining in popularity for streaming short films online; with this a filmmaker can use viral marketing to promote their film on the internet where millions of people can potentially view it, for example on iTunes or Youtube. All short films have the opportunity to reach as wide an audience as feature-length projects, it is just up to the producer of the film to put in the effort required to successfully distribute it.

A link to a popular distribution company for short films: http://www.dazzlefilms.co.uk/

I researched film distribution from this useful booklet: http://www.scottishscreen.com/images/documents/short_film_distribution_guide.pdf

2013 Post 21- Film Funding

It is a known fact that if a filmmaker intends to get their short film funded, a good idea is more important for their project than high production values. A frequent problem for getting short films funded is that the filmmaker usually wants to include too much information in their film, which may ruin the dramatic effect and confuse the audience.

The most crucial consideration for potential funders will be the script, which requires the three basic elements of a world, a character and a problem; the best short films generally involving a story that follows one character and one event. What must also be apparent in the story is an obstacle that makes it difficult for the main character to pursue their need, this would be the crux of the plot and without this problem for the character to face there would be no interesting film for funding.

Little development work on scripts is often the reason why submitted work to funding bodies is shot down. To resolve this, my group and I have given our script to a professional scriptwriter  and pitched our short film to our friends, from this we gained useful feedback that allowed us to see where the problems were so we could plan how to fix them.

Two principals are the key to good cinematic storytelling: Unity and Causality; Unity meaning that every scene should be increasing the audience’s understanding of the problem and character, and Causality suggesting that each scene must move the story on. The first audience for any film will be the reader of the script, who may have the power to get it funded, thus a filmmaker will be a disadvantage if they cannot help the reader visualize their project as they read. These people looking to fund short films would be hoping to find writers and directors that have something to say and in a unique way, ‘simple’ stories can make a big impression if they are told in such a way that encompasses all their depth and the idea behind it.

Using social media and having an online outlet for a film can help make the public more aware of your film, inviting film investors to view your work. ‘Kickstarter’ is a popular ‘crowd-funding’ online platform that can help raise significant funds for a filmmaker’s project (http://www.kickstarter.com/?ref=nav).

The BFI, UK Film Council is an example of a UK film funding body; they have a variety of schemes to fund new films from rising British talent, who can create distinctive and entertaining work. They have £15 million to invest on the funding of a variety of feature films, providing assistance, advice and practical help to filmmakers along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2013 Post 20- Media Language: Editing

The EDITING of a media text is its last post-production process, modern editing is done on software such as AVID and FINAL CUT PRO wherein the editor puts together the sounds and footage to convey an overall meaning to the audience.

 

 

In the opening of the short drama film ‘Vacuity’(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDbm4hpVs58 ) below, the titles slowly fade into the black screen mysteriously and dramatically, reflecting the drama genre. The colour is silver with a metallic gradient to resemble metal and connotes action and is sci-fi in appearance with the rounded lettering and reflection.

The touch screen in this film has been created through the editing process with CGI. It appears very technical and sophisticated, to make the audience aware that the film is set in a distant future where technology has advanced significantly. The editing is made to interact with the character’s actions, adding a sense of realism for the audience.

In the short drama film ‘Husky’(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btbsueqSviA) a Dissolve is used to change scenes. This transition gives the audience a sense that time is passing in a subtle way as the shot gradually changes, maintaining the solemn mood of the scene and showing that the man is still alone on the bench.

 

Fade in and Fade outs are key for our short film to achieve the dramatic effect intended for the audience, Dissolves as well would help keep the pace during the build-up to a climax.

 

My group and I began looking into what editing we would use for the post-production of our film. We would be using Adobe Premiere Pro, so we looked at tutorials on Lynda.com and experimented with the effects.

 

2013 Post 19A- Sound tests

We tested the sound quality by recording with a Boom Mic and the Camera's microphone to see how sound would be recorded for our short film.

Boom Mic


Camera Microphone