Actor Release Form

It is important for my actor to sign a release form because you must have proof of consent to film in certain situations. Normally a legal requirement in industry, it helps to have this used in my coursework because it gives me an idea of what I will have to use if I make it into the filming industry.

I filled the entire form out for my actor by providing his name and my own in the correct spots. I then handed it over to him in order to receive his signature. My telephone number and email is not provided on the form as I didn't see it fit to include those. I also opted to not have him write his phone number and email as I didn't write my own and that would be unfair.

Having something like this also adds professionalism to the short film and in some way I feel that it makes my actor and I work harder as the project seems far more real than just a school project.

 

Audience Feedback

 I gathered feedback by using a website called Survey Monkey in order to construct a survey that I then posted onto my social media accounts, alongside my video in order to receive viable feedback that could possibly help me with refining my video. The first question asked the audience what their age was. This is important in terms of feedback as you need to be able to gauge what sort of people are giving you your feedback.

The next question asked the participants to rate each aspect of my video on how proficient it was on a scale of one to five. The aspects I asked them to rate were Camera, Mise-En-Scene, Acting, Editing, Lighting, Props and Visual Effects. The scores for this question were generally mixed with editing being the only aspect that received the highest average score of 4. This is helpful as it allows me to gauge which aspects people liked the most and then in turn it allows me to refine the aspects people didn't like.

I then asked for the audience to let me know what I should do about the elements that they rated as poor or mediocre. This allowed me to understand what I did not do correctly the first time round and what I could correct this time round. Some participants went into detail but others remained vague meaning their feedback was not as helpful as it could be.

 

I then asked my audience about the soundtrack used in the film and inquired whether it added or detracted from the atmosphere of the film. This question ultimately lead me to change the soundtrack for the next rendition of the film.



The next question let the audience rate each of the aforementioned aspects of my video in order of their favourites. I let them select more than one answer for this question just in case viewers had more than one favourite aspect. Props was clearly the most favourite aspect as it got 50% of all of the votes. 

  I then asked for an explanation as to why they chose what they did in the previous section as this helped me get an idea of what areas of my video people actually liked.

The final question was a general question that inquired whether my audience had any specific ideas of what needed to be improved in my short film. This allowed me to really get the opinions straight from them and this is where I drew the most helpful feedback from

Actors used - Arun Sharpling

 

Name - Arun Sharpling

Age - 18

Location - London, UK

Ethnicity - Anglo-Indian

 

Arun is the actor I have used in my short film, I chose Arun because I felt that he had a serious mind set and would be the best to work with. Arun is 18 years old and fits the role well as he is around about the age of my target market, this is probably the best out come as the nameless/faceless protagonist is used for the audience to project themselves onto and having an actor that shares an age with the audience means it would be easier for the audience to relate to him.

PRODUCTION LOG - Narrative sturcture

Today I looked into narrative structure and how it applied to my short film. I knew that my short film had a linear narrative and therefore I just needed to find some nice pictures that described a linear narrative and then I had to write about what a linear narrative meant in terms of my short film.

Narrative structure of my short film

My short film follows what is known commonly as a linear narrative. This means that the story plays through in a straight line with no jumping backwards or forwards.

The advantages of linear storytelling are that the film feels consistant and does not confuse the audience with ostentatious jumping backwards and forwards that could possibly confuse and unsettle the viewer. I chose a linear narrative as I wanted the message in my video to be the main thing that people focused on and saw.

PRODUCTION LOG - Working on my film poster

In today's lesson I spent a lot of time working on my film poster in order to get it completed in time for the deadline that has been set for us to meet. I have created a portrait and a ladscape version of my poster so that it can be put up in different places and still look correct. For example; The portrait version could be placed at a bus shelter because it suits it as it has the correct size and shape. The landscape one could be placed on a billboard.

Draft Short Film

Font Feedback

I created a survey to get feedback on what font I should use for the title of my short film and during the opening credits. I chose 11 fonts that I could possibly use and then I distributed the surveys amongst some of my classmates for them to tick and hand back to me. The font 'AGENCY FB' won out (Fourth from the top) and I then implemented it into my short film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

PRODUCTION LOG - Prop List

I worked through making a prop list today, a prop list comes in handy when reviewing your work and going back over everything you've done as it allows you to see what different items you used in order to get where you did with the short film.
I went through my video and took a screen shot each time a new prop came into it and then placed the screenshot into paint where I then drew a box around it so the viewer could see what I was referring to I then wrote a small segment about why I chose to implement this prop.

PRODUCTION LOG - Influences of my short film

This post may seem a little like the 'Evidence of Short Films I Admire' post but it differs in many ways. For this task I had to look into what I would need to emulate in my film and how I could possibly achieve that. I had to take note of what films would suit what I am trying to present and see how they present their own messages and engaged with their own audiences. For this I thought of films that I know that have a powerful message behind them and then I asked myself how do these films convey their messages.
This was all very useful as it got me asking questions about films and in turn it helped me to improve my own short film.

Props List

My props are basic household items that almost everyone has and everyone uses on a day to day basis. I chose these items for varying reasons. Some were purely coincidental and other has a deeper underlying meaning.

The mug and the kettle are two items that I selected specifically to use as they are common items that people can naturally relate to. The mug was chosen specifically because I wanted a very plain looking mug without it becoming boring. The moustache on the magazine has recently seen a lot of popularity after being adopted by the fashion movement known as "hipster". Having an identifiable item like this allows the audience to relate to my video far more as they will be able to identify with it.

The newspaper was used in order to juxtapose against the whole idea of the film, most people nowadays would get their news from the internet, the TV or their Smartphone so having this juxtaposition in the film gives a small nod towards the paper print industry.

The phone is used to demonstrate how much of a wasteful society we are; the protagonist has the TV on as background noise and is now on his phone. It is key to the film as it forces the audience to question the ways that they live and how much they have wasted.

The television head itself creates the idea that the protagonist is now consumed y the media and he is now unable to actually save himself. He has gone too far into the world of the media. This prop also makes the audience question their morals and ideals; it causes them to rethink their lives and the way in which they act and how they use their time.

 

Influences of My Short Film

I had a lot of different things that influenced me throughout the preproduction and production phases of my short film. These influences ranged from all sorts of media platforms. The most prominent of which was The Matrix. 

 

The Matrix (1999) came out when I was only three years old, of course I never saw it in the cinemas but when I finally got around to watching it, it became a film that stuck with me for years and years. Even to this very day I find myself looking back fondly on my times viewing the matrix. I can honestly say it is one of my favourite films I have ever seen. The reason why I took heavy influence from the matrix is that it is the tale of a hero that is unlike anyone else. Neo (the film's protagonist) remains completely and utterly isolated. Despite being surrounded by his teammates Neo is isolated in his mind as he surpasses the rest of humanity as he is the chosen one. I wanted to portray this isolation without forcing it too much; therefore I only cast one actor for my short film. 

Another film that I admire for its use of camera and sound is The Hurt Locker (2008). The hurt locker creates an intense atmosphere around the scenes used and I admire this and it has influenced my film as it is what builds the scenes and it sets the audience on edge. I really wanted to replicate this because I felt that if I was able to mimic this then my audience would be more drawn into the film and perhaps they would enjoy it more than they already would. To mimic the hurt locker in my short film I used a mixture of music with several breaks in the music to create an intensified tone that serves to complicate and to excite the audience.

 

Media Theory - Question 1A - Digital Technology

Throughout this year I have used all manner of digital technologies in order to achieve the standard of coursework I deem acceptable. This has been a particularly interesting task as I’ve had to get to grips with new technology that I had previously no experience with and that has been very difficult. Primarily I had to get used to new program packages such as the Adobe Master Suite which features many of the products that professionals would use in industry, for example; Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Premiere CS6. I had to harness my previous abilities with the older versions of Photoshop in order to get to an ability level where I can easily create a professional looking poster and article. One tool I found very helpful on Photoshop was the magic wand tool because it removes the backgrounds of you photos allowing you to replace it with a new background or to manipulate images. I also used adobe premiere to make my video the best quality it could possibly be, during the re-arrangement of my clips I found that the razor tool came in very handy because it lets you split clips into two with the press of a mouse button. I also used the camera to film my video, it was the first time I have every used a DSLR and I found it very tricky to get to grips with certain elements because it is very tricky. I used the ISO clicker to find the correct ISO for my video in order to make sure that the lighting looked correct.

Media Theory - Question 1A - Creativity

My short film is very creative as it harnesses different ideas and genres in order to present a hidden message to my audience about their media consumption. The idea of the television head prop came to me when browsing the internet, I then adapted it and created it so it was suitable to be worn by my actor with comfort. Creativity was of the up most importance when I was filming as I needed to make sure that the message was brought across accurately and with a good enough focuses to not blur the entire film. I used creativity in my shot variation as well considering I used many close ups and I then started to play around with the focus of my clips. Creativity was especially relevant when I was creating my poster and my article; I had to think up questions that my actor and I could answer in order to make sure the magazine was still interesting.

Media Theory - Question 1A - Research And Planning

Research and planning have been key to the production of my short film as they have helped me mould my short film into the ideal product that I wanted it to be. Through research I have managed to see a whole host of short films and from there I have been able to build on it and implement the ideas from those short films that I was fond of into my own project. The research also helped me create my poster and my article as I read loads of articles and looked at many posters in order to get a clear understanding as to what I should be producing if I wanted my own poster and my own article to look like it was professionally made. The planning phase of my project allowed me to gather my ideas that I collected from the research phase and implement them into the ongoing project. This was very helpful as I feel without the planning phase I wouldn’t have been able to implement all of my previously established ideas because I may have forgotten them along the way. I found using the internet and YouTube very helpful when it came to research and planning as it allowed me to watch thousands of videos that could possibly give me ideas relating to my own project.

Media Theory - Question 1A - Post-Production

After I had finished the production of my own short film and the article and the poster it then became apparent to me that I needed to refine my work in order to achieve the grade that I needed. I started to go back to my research and my planning in order to refresh my ideas that I had at the start. This also helped me to see if I had missed anything that I had previously wanted to implement in my video or my poster. I had to render out my video, in order to make it the best possible quality it could be I had to consult an online guide that helped me with getting the correct render settings. I opted to render it out as a draft first to make sure everything I wanted to be in the video was there and in order to ensure that the video looked as good as it possibly could. I also had to export the other two tasks. These were slightly easier to export and I managed to do it with ease.