Location desicions - Harrison and Claire.

A large proportion of the shooting will be done at Claire's house in Lindfield, as the location fits perfectly with our film idea.

Things we considered when choosing this location -

- The house is not out of the way for either of the group members.

- The puppy being filmed will be used to the location as he lives there.

-  It is a small, homely, terrace house with a living room space that can be decorated appropriately for Christmas.

-  The dining room is small but perfect for the scene when the dog owner is wrapping presents up.  

-  There is also a small gate which will be used for when the dog owner and Finlay walk to the Jewelry shop.

(Pictures will be up.)

Living room -













Dining room -















Jewelry shop -

Our initial idea for our opening scene was to have some long shots of the countryside surrounding my house, with Finlay narrating over top. The shot would then pan round to the front of the house where Finlay would be sitting at the window, still narrating. As our idea developed however, our story went from being 'A Day in the Life of Finlay' to 'The Dog that ruined Christmas', so we decided that a voice over was no longer needed for our new idea. It was also a longer story which meant we couldn't fit these opening shots within the 5 minute time allowance.

 

 

Brief Film Ideas - Harrison and Claire.

#1

Our initial idea's are circulated around filming a day in the life of a pet, preferably a dog.

What this would include - We would join him on his adventures through out the day. From the moment he wakes up till when he goes to bed there are a number of incidents which could arise because of his mischievousness, such as an encounter with an angry cat, alot of mud on a clean carpet. Throughout the film despite seeing the comedic mischeif which the puppy creates, the loyalty and love which the dog has towards his owner.

We beleive that if we are to achieve this we have to make it a comic film, doing all the typical things you might expect from a normal person to do in their day to day life's. We found our inspiration for shooting a animal based film through watching a variety of short films on various short film websites, one short film 'Rocket Dog' particularly stood out to us. Although we wouldn't be doing the same story, we liked the comedic genre which was used.

 However one problem facing us is how to make the film about a dog's day, last for five minutes. This idea of filming a dog doing day to day activities a human would do, i beleive would achieve the comic genre we are aiming for, however it would be key to keep it entertaining and humerous throughout the five minute shoot, which perhaps would be difficult without dialogue.

 An idea was that we could put in a voice over for the dog, to give Finlay (the dog) a voice, this in turn will add humour to the film. Perhaps the best way to make this short film enjoyable, would be to make the voice over of the dog, to be a monotone older mans voice, perhaps patronizing of the human and how it talks to the dog. Other ideas we could develop on this would be, how it reacts to its owners treatment of him.We will show the dog doing its usual antics, such as sleeping, running and more comical things like an encounter with a cat.

#2 - This is the idea we have now chosen to use!

Another idea we have come up with is a christmas themed one, about a dog who ruins christmas for his owner, this idea has a much more clear story line. It is the night before christmas and the dog and it's owner go to a jewelry shop where the owner purchases a ring. The owner then expresses his concern for giving some one this ring, he then wraps up alot of presents, with particular focus on the ring. He then puts the last present (the ring) in the middle of the mantle piece. The owner goes up stairs and finley goes to sleep. The next morning the owner runs down stairs and finds that the ring is missing and Finley is sitting beneath the mantle piece looking very suspicious with the present's ribbon in his mouth.

Synopsis - Claire.

It is Christmas Eve and Finley the puppy is patiently watching the birds outside the window, waiting for his owner to come downstairs to take him on a walk. The owner finally comes down stairs and the puppy excitedly greets him, excited as he is put on his lead. The dog and it's owner walk to a jewelry shop where the owner purchases a ring. When they return the owner calls a friend and expresses his concern for giving some one this ring, he then wraps up alot of presents, and there is a particular focus on the ring. There is then a panning shot of the whole living room which is decorated beautifully with a christmas tree and lots of presents. He then puts the last present (the ring) in the middle of the mantle piece. The owner goes up stairs and finley who is originally sleeping in his basket, opens his eyes. It then cuts to the next morning where the owner runs down stairs and finds that the ring is missing. Finley is sitting beneath the mantle piece looking very suspicious with the present's ribbon in his mouth.

Applying the five key concepts to short films - Harrison

Pop

This comic short film is about a man with an unusual problem, that involves his head to randomly changing to a balloon. The story follows him as he confronts his doctor, and attempts to go on a date, eventually the story ends with the doctor accidently stabbing the man in an attempt to burst the balloon.

Representation

• In my oppinion, the majority of short films are not targeted at particular social groups, and like this film, it would be enjoyed by anyone, and it does not target a particular race, age or gender. However, this short, and most others, are made for film enthuiasts, and aspiring directors.
• "POP" is a comic genre, and it achieves this through taking a ridicuus condition, which in this case happens to be a man with a head that turns into a balloon, and unleashing it into society and gages their comic reaction to his unfortunate condition. Also we know its a comedy by how the man talks about his condition, as he says "oh, i've been better", this is comical as it understates the strangness and severity of his condion.
• It can be conseved that this short film is a comedy about the compitence of doctors, as the doctor in this short film, although shocked by the mans condition, still undertakes the same procedures as he would with a patient suffering from a cold for example. This point is backed up when the doctor, after days of delibertation, decides just to pop the balloon with a knife, which results in him stabbing his own patient.

Narrative

This short follows the simpple narrative theories of Todorov, by the fact that it follows a linear storyline, starting with equilibrium, then a disruption or dissequilibrium, and finally a return to a new equilibrium. This type of narrative gives the viewers a clear picture of the mans problem, and how it effects his life. It clearly and effectively acts as a way in which to present the disturbance to the viewer, then show how the disturbance is an issue, in this case stopping him from socializing, and finally ending with it being dealt with.

Genre

The short film POP would be categorized under the comedic genre, however, most shorts do not typically stick to particular genre's. This is one short that has chosen to conform to a particular genre, and by doing this it appeals to a more targeted audience, one that enjoy watching comedy's. However, it could also be said that the comic genre is not like a drama in the sense its more obvious to identify its genre, meaning that this short may not have been created with the individual comic genre in mind.

Audience

Personally i think that the audience for this short would be other aspiring film makers, as it comes across as a typical short film, in the fact that it does not take itself too seriously, and rather experiments with different style's. This is why i believe the film would attract more attention from a film enthusiast as they will look to this film for inspiration of idea's for themselves. Having said that, POP would still appeal to everyday film viewers as i feel that its comedy can be appreciated by all.


Media Language

These two shots highlight the comedy factor to the film through the use of mis en scene, and in particular the acting and facial expressions used to portray emotion. The above shot (a medium shot) shows the man, slightly embarresed and calmly describing his problem to the doctor, and his facial expressions and tone suggest that he'd be descrbing just another typical condition you would go to your GP for, which is why this peice is comical, because it seems that he does not quite understand the severity of his perculiar condition, that being that his head, without warning turns into an enflated balloon. Its the second shot (over shoulder close up) that humours the audaice, as the doctors reaction to his condition is fairly humerous, to what is a serious condition.


0507

This is a simple short film, based on humouros steriotypes surrounding men. The film sees a couple watching T.V, the woman asks wheather or not he had remembered to book the church for the specific date, and he unconvincly says yes. He asks his girlfriend to use her phone to check his emails, at which this point the audiance is lead to believe he forgot to book the church, and his intentions where to call the church now. However, the main plot to the story is him trying to remember his girlfriends password to her phone, which happens to be her birthday. Eventually she reenters the room to tell him her birthday was "yesterday".

Respresentation

• This film would be targeted at mature couples, who can relate to the issues raised by the film, these issues being stereotyoes about the two sexes, particulary in relationships. This film humurously presents men to be selfish and forgettful, however, they are not represented like this in a spitful way, but more with a comic tone, so that woman watching this can relate to the issue, that being the stereotyipical behaviour of men.
• Interrestingly, the idea for this short film came from woman, which suggests it is a film more targeted for woman, however men are also likely to be interrested in this film, as men would relate to the humurous antics of the male lead. The connotations linked to the male are mostly negative, although humurous, they have a serious undertone regarding the beahiour of men towards their other halfs.

Audiance

This short would expect its target audience to be similar to the characters involved in the sense that their in a mature relationship. The age group watching this film would range from roughly 25 to 35, both male and female audience's are represented, but you might expect this short to appeal to the male audience slightly more, as they can relate to the comic male lead.

Narrative

The film is shot in one single continous sequnce, the linear type narrative combined with minimal camera movement and the fact that the whole piece was shot using just two edits, means this film is easy to follow, and draws all of the viewers attention through using as little distractions (cuts and edits) as possible. Again this films Linear narrative means that Todrov''s theories would apply to it, as the classic 3 act structure narrative is used (the set-up, disruption, and resolution).

Genre

The most identifiable genre for this film would be a comedy, however, as John Hartly's genre theories suggest you could also link this to a romantic film as well, making it a romantic comedy. I came to the conclusion that this is a romantic comedy through studying the semantic codes used by the director, codes such as, the couple laying down on the sofa watching television whilst sharing popcorn, codes typically linked to romance. Also the comedic codes where less noticable through crops, but more obvious through the facial expressions and acting of the male lead.



Media Language

I feel that this single shot portrays the style and form of the director, and sums up the whole film. This medium shot of the man shows him looking dazed  and confussed about the date of his grilfriends birthday, the shot sums up the comical direction the film directors chose to go in, that being the compitence of men, particulary focusing on the typical male antics when in a relationship.



Truth In Advertising by Tim Hamilton


This truley funny short comedy shot in 2001 shows the thinking mastermind and creativity behind a marketing process, in which the employees from different ranks of the company come together to discuss a marketing campaing, however, this short makes fun of the corporate process by having the characters say exactly what they really mean, rather than what would usually be expected from them in  a typical formal bussiness meeting.

Representation

This film clearly comes across as a well developed, maturer short film, with the comedy more suited to an older audiance. The film repressents a very bussiness class socail group, and you would expect the veiwers to watch this with the perspective that they can relate to the issues raised by the film-makers, the issue being of the fair distrupition of work load in the working enviroment, and the equility in the bussiness lader (meaning that in this case, the higher ranking workers seem more incompitant then the lower ranking poeple, and that they get by through stealing their idea's).

The character above represents the boss in the working enviroment, and his charcter plays the role of a man in charge, that perharps has come to prominance as a result of knowing the right people rather then his own knowledge of the job. In the short, whilst the other lower ranking characters pitch idea's and give suggestions (do all the work) this character, their boss, sits their mindlessly agreeing and contributing to no extend to the work, and basically get's by on his employee's work.

Narrative

The film follows a linear narrative, following the chronological proccesses involved in making an advertising campaign. The short is divided into 4 sections, numbered according to where they come in the typical marketting proccess. the plot gives us an insight into the real charcters, like the guy saying "going to sniff some cocaine..."  and story is what we actually see and how the charcters present themselfs, the plot suggests their actual personalities.

Applying the five key concepts to short films - Claire.

Little Larry

Film maker: keychainproductions

Found on: http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk

 

Synopsis: In Larry's life every day is the same. Lonely. He is a mid-twenties, professional, single man who still feels like a child inside. Something is missing. Larry is finding growing up and fitting in so hard that he still sees himself as an 8 year old boy. However he then finds a girl who is just like him and he realizes that this is what he has been missing.

 

Why I chose this fim: I chose this film because it instantly stood out from the rest of the films I had been browsing through. The fact that it was in black and white definitely played a part in this because to me it meant it didn’t need to have colour for it to be interesting to watch. Another aspect that was interesting was the young boy dressed and acting like an adult, the contrast was intriguing and made me want to know more:



The main social group presented in ‘Little Larry’ is middle class. The typical middle class working man is the main character and the film reflects what a lot of the people amongst this class might be feeling – like they are growing up too fast. The location highlights this as they film him going from his house to the underground to commute to his job.

The fact that it is all in black and white represents the boredom and dullness which the commuter feels. It also makes it feel like it is an old film, which reflects how the worker doesn’t want to grow old and he feels like his life is black and white and no longer colourful.

Another shot which represents how the typical commuter feels is when he arrives at his block of offices. It’s a low angle shot which is taken from right underneath him, it has the effect of the offices looming over him which reflects the he feels intimidated and unwelcome by the place he works.

 

Essentially this short film is a silent film as there is no speech at all, just music. However the music represents the feelings of the young commuter. It goes from repetitive, strange track - which suggests confusion and bewilderment. To a more upbeat pleasant track when he meets the girl, which represents clarity and newfound happiness.

The main character is Larry his name in itself is a clue as to the kind of character the film maker is trying to create because of the saying ‘On your Larry’ which means on your own.

However what makes the film stand out, in my opinion is the fact that the character is in his mid-twenties is played by a small child. This again represents the feelings of a lot of young

Commuters who have just started to work in London after leaving university or their parents homes. This image was painted clearly because everything except the young boy was what someone in their mid-twenties would wear/do. The contrast between the child and the maturity of what he was doing was entertaining in some respects and caught the audience’s attention and at the same time made us realise what the character felt like e.g the ironing is something a child that young should not be doing.

 

I don’t think the film is direct at a specific group of people. However young commuters will be able to relate with the film the most because it might mirror how they’re feeling therefore it would be a good idea to target this film at commuters and if the film was to succeed it would be an idea to advertise in train newspapers of station billboards.                                                                                                                                  

The main issue dealt with in the film is young workers, going from university or from their parent’s homes, to living on their own, commuting to work everyday and how isolated and overwhelmed they feel. This is a good idea by the director as this issue is one which is often over looked because people don’t think of how depression can come from living alone in a repetitive job. When the young boy finds love with the young girl at the end it shows that two people feeling like this can make each other happier. This could give hope to young commuters feeling lonely.

The story is about a boy going to work in a large office building and coming home who then finds a girl and walks off into the sunshine with her. however the plot is a young commuter who feels like he is a young boy trapped inside someone else’s body, who is suffering because he is lonely and feels like something is missing and then finds a girl who he falls in love with and no longer feels whole. The story represents what the character looks like from the other character’s point of view, they can’t see what he is really feeling. However the plot represents how Larry himself feels. The chronology of the narrative is completely linear, which helps us see the commuter’s repetitive daily routine. In a very basic way, a narrative theory that applies to ‘Little Larry’ Vladimir Prop. Prop says that there are certain character roles which create the narrative that the audience expect within a film e.g the hero, the helper who aids the hero, the princess (the sought for person). In the film there is the hero who is Larry, the main character who then meets the princess who is the girl at the end. Although this is in a very basic form, in a longer film the theory would be more clear.

 

The genre of this short film varies, it starts off as an informative film where we see the life of the commuter and it then turns into a romance because he meets her and turns into a man.

The genre is very clear and simple which means the message of the film is much more evident.

In general for short films having a set genre is very useful. For their audience especially if the audience knows they like a particular genre then they will chose to see the film within that genre. Vis versa the film producers can chose the genre to attract a particular audience.

 A particular genre theory which applies to ‘Little Larry’ is Rick Altman’s semantic theory which states that the characters, archetypes, iconography locations, props, music, shooting style and others all communicate what kind of genre the film is. I thought this applied to ‘On your Larry’ because in this film there is no speech and the audience grab on to anything else e.g props, characters etc so they can classify the film into a genre.

 

 

The Black Hole

Film maker: Claire Neate James

Found on: http://www.thesmalls.com/film/black-hole

Synopsis:A bank worker is making photo copies when all of a sudden the photo copier prints a piece of paper with a large black dot on it, which he soon discovers is a hole which allows him to reach into anything he wants. After using it through a vending machine the power of ‘the hole’ goes to his head as he goes to the bank’s safe and steals money. However when he climbs in to the safe to reach more money, the piece of paper with ‘the hole’ on it drops to the floor and he is locked into the safe.

Why I chose this film – I chose this film because I appreciated the way the story was light hearted and slightly comical and at the same time there’s a moral message within the story.

A social group which is particularly relevant for this film are again, young office workers. Not the day to day officer commuter with little motivation, like in the film ‘Little Larry’, the type of worker which the moral message in particular relates to are the money hungry workers, who would do anything for a pay rise. The film isn’t naturalistic because the magical piece of paper is unnatural, however, everything apart from the piece of paper is completely natural and realistic. This contrast makes the film have a comedic element to it which grasps the audiences attention.

The worker is a stereotypical bank worker, standing at a photocopier looking impatient. Straight away we know he is in an office from the chairs and computers in the background. The stereotype of a bank worker at first isn’t particularly negative or positive. However when he steals all the money in the safe, this makes the us see the banker in a greedy and selfish way, giving the character a negative stereotype.

There isn’t a specific target audience to this film, except it would arguably, not be a film which anyone below the age of 11 would enjoy. This shows that the moral message within does not just apply to office workers, it applies to everyone. I think the message they are trying to put across is that being greedy when presented with an opportunity can put you in a worse situation than before, or something along those lines.

The plot and the story are very different. The story is a man discovering a piece of paper with a hole before getting locked into a safe. The plot is a bored bank worker who discovers a piece of paper with a hole in it and the enormity of his power goes to his head before it backfires and he gets what he deserves after attempting to steal. The plot has a whole new underlying meaning which highlights the key message about greed within the film. The light hearted storyline goes with the plot perfectly as it is contrasting.

Again it is a completely linear narrative which was a good decision from the film maker as a non linear narrative wouldn’t have highlighted the message of the film, again the contrast of the simple story line and meaningful message is what attracts the audience. Todorov’s theory is that every story begins with some kind of equilibrium, like a status quo which the audience comfortably recognise, which is then disrupted by an event which sets of a chain series of events. In ‘The Black Hole’ the equilibrium is the bank worker looking bored making photo copies, the disruption is when he photocopies a magical piece of paper which has a hole in it. This then sets off a series of events, him losing his coffee, then he reaches into the vending machine, then he goes into the safe.

The genre of the film is modern, naturalistic with aspects of non-naturalism and comedy. There isn’t a specific genre which can be applied, however a relevant theory is Steve Neale’s theory which states that genres are instances of repetition and difference, difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre: mere repetition would not attract an audience’. In ‘The Black Hole’ the repetition is him playing around with the piece of paper in a way that isn’t too dangerous, the difference is when goes into the safe because this is dangerous. The contrast between the repetition and the difference is what attracts the audience.