Final cut of It Ended.

Evaluation of film:

One of the first things that a good film should do it invite curiosity and introduce an enigma for the audience to hold onto so they watch until the end to find out the whole story. I think my film successfully does this by starting the story at the end of a relationship, this makes the audience want to know more about how the characters got to where they are.

This Short film on youtube was one of my main real media influence and inspiration:

It also starts and the end and is not chronological, so that the audience has to piece together the relationship.













There is clear sound in my piece, you can hear what you need to to understand the text. But there is one interruption which I would go back and improve which the dictaphone picked up on and recorded which could be distracting. You can here the page of the script being turned over during the dialogue.
I cut into the footage I got well, although I think there are still a few moments where the pace isn't kept up.
My opening of the film and the closing challenge conventions because I put my title at the end of the film instead of at the start, unlike most short films.
I think I could improve the variety of shots that I use, as | only use mostly medium and close up shots. Although using these shots allows the film to revolve solely around the two character, like there is nothing else going on around them.
At the start I use the sound of a shower in another room as a sound bridge. This could be classed as a foley effect because it is much stronger, clearer and louder than if I were to use a live recording of the shower running in the other room.
I use handheld shots because I wanted to create the sense of the uncertainty that comes after the break up.

Second cut

For my second cut I tried sticking exactly to my storyboard to see how it looked:

I noticed that the dialogue does not fit as well and so does not reflect the shots that are being shown on the screen. This was also pointed out by my focus group, so I shall remedy this for my final cut.

Title and Credits

I decided to put my title at the end of my film because it shows that its the end of not just the film but of the relationship between the two characters.
It is also the first words you hear spoken in the dialogue.

When I showed my first cut to my focus group the suggestion was made that I combine my credits and my last shot of the car:

I decided to do this as I have enough black space around the car for the credits to be clear and it will showcase more of my skills.

Camera Shots

To show that there are two opposing characters when shooting I tried to, as much as I could, keep the right side of the frame for the male character and the left side for the female.

I did this because I wanted to show my characters as two side of the same coin, so you can see that there was once something there between them, but because even though they have left space in the frame for the other character they are never in the same shot together showing that they are now separated and it hasn't been that long because they are still experiencing the repercussions of the ending of the relationship. This shot shows the use of the rule of thirds:

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo or shot becomes more balanced and will enable the viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the centre of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it. 

In the dialogue there is the line "She had these blue flowery curtains." so along the lines I have placed the curtains to show a correlation between the shot and the dialogue, this allows the audience to make the connection between the characters on the screen and the ones they can hear.
I have also filled every third with a different mise en scene to give the viewer a variety of things to look at in the shot.

It Ended - First Cut

I have done a rough first cut to look at timings on my dialogue and to compare this to how i originally planned it in my storyboard.

I showed it to my focus group and they gave me some suggestions to improve my film:

• I should break the longer shots at the start to keep it in time with the dialogue 
• Show another space, or something they shared, to reflect their shared traits like the fact that they both have messy rooms - so this could be a third messy room where they used to live together or a messy car that was shared between them
• Its good that I have 'families' of shots, for example the shots of the characters themselves. But I could add another family, of their past and the remiments of their good times like tickets, birthday cards, valentines day cards, text messages or a crumpled note.
• At the end of my film I could try fading out the 'It' and 'ed.' of 'It Ended.' to leave 'End' to further accentuate the end of the film and of the relationship.
• Lastly, I could also integrate my credits into the last car shot as there is enough black space around the car.

Shooting Location

I will need to use a few locations in my short film to represent different things.
The main two representations are the females house and the males house, I want these to contrast.
So I am setting the males house in a more rural area:

And the females house in a town:

Another contrast I have used is the colours in their bedrooms, but keeping a similarity of a messy trait in the characters to show that they once were connected:
Males room:

Females room:

When I showed my location pictures to a focus group, somebody in the group mentioned that the bedrooms reminded them of an artist called Tracy Emin who created a piece called "My Bed", where she exposed her emotions about herself and her life through the 'mess' around the bed. I think I have done this with my shots by using the busy mise en scene to represent my characters.

Emin reveals intimate details from her life to engage the viewer and establish an intimacy with them, she has used an empty Vodka bottle, cigarette butts and stained sheets to show her own bed in all its "embarrassing glory". By using her own bed as art Emin is sharing her personal space, representing herself as as insecure and imperfect as the rest of the world.

Audience Research and Feedback

Research
Short film’s industry’s audience is quite specific compared to a feature films audience. The main groups of people who will view my short film are people already involved in the film industry, such as film enthusiasts, film critics, directors and producers. Short films are often used as a means to show ideas for feature films or for producers or directors to show their talent and to have the short film noticed and their skills recognised. For these reasons people with film industry experience are an ideal target audience as they are most likely to visit short film networks hoping to find raw talent or inspiration.Whilst is it may seem that targeting film enthusiast would be best, I would like my film to not have such an enclosed target audience and be able to reach other audience so they can watch my film for enjoyment and maybe also take something away from it. The easiest audience to affect and give something good which they can take into their everyday life is children below the age of 17. There are many fcators and scenarios which can be used to relate to them, the one which I have chosen is bullying. It is for this reason that this is my chosen target audience. Additionally since my characters are within this age range it would make sense for the target audience to be similar making it more relatable.As most short film are viewed online on websites such as futureshorts.com or youtube or at festivals and not with feature mainstream films in cinemas, it means that I am creating something that will fit into these websites and festivals as well as for viewing by a wider audience.I made a questionnaire to find out what the public think of short films and what contact they have with them and to find any other conventions associated to short film drama genre. This will help me make my film more accessible to more people whilst still hitting my target audience. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q8HMVD7

Feedback
There are a few ways to measure the success of my film on its target audience, before I decide on my final cut I could get feedback on my first edit so I can improve to the audience requirements. After I've made my final cut I could then upload the video to YouTube and check for updates through the form of feedback comments from the public, also sending the link in an email to my friends and family for their opinions. Alternatively I could set up a film showing in our own time to invite students from all over the school. They could watch the film and I could give them a questionnaire to fill out with honest opinions afterwards. With recorded results the feedback would be easy to evaluate.

Genre Theory

Script for video post:

Carolyn Miller, 1984 - " the number of genres in any society depends on the complexity and the diversity of any society"

The term genre is French for 'kind' or 'class'. I think the genres that my film fits into are relationship drama, existential drama and docu- drama, it is also a romance although because its about a breakup it is challenging the traditional ideologies. 

Themes don't really help to focus what genre something is: David Bordwell, 1989 - "any theme may appear in any genre". The themes that are prominent in my piece are relationships, life events and human triumph. 

Bordwell's listed categories that become genres. Ones that apply to my film are period, style, narrative, purpose, audience and subject and theme.  

Robert Stam 11 years later made another list, some if these also apply to mine which are story content, budget bases and artistic status. Stam said that genres are no different from other sorts of groupings. 

Stam also stated that there was a problem with generic labels - "subject matter is the weakest criterion of generic grouping because it fails to account how the subject is treated." My piece may have monolithic definitions as it fits into many genre categories. 

In 1985, Andrew Tudor wrote about the empiricist dilemma. This is where you may try to define a genre using a body of text, but won't be able to identify the texts without a definition for the genre. This is a continuous circle like the analogy of chicken and the egg. 

The way genres are combined tells you the genre of the film. So because two of my themes are relationship and life events this tells me that my film fits into the Drama genre. 

Steve Neale - "genre are instances of repetition and difference". The repetition in the drama genre that I have used is having spoken words over the top of the shots e.g. The Lovely Bones. The difference is that the shots are continuously changing to things that are not noticeably to do with the dialogue. 

Tzvetan Todorov, 1985 - "any instances of genre will be necessarily different". So every film will approach a genre differently. 

Films have family resemblance based on similarities between texts in a genre. For example editing, music, parodies and pastiches, directors and actors.
It is also argued that there is a hierarchy of genres, for example news programmes could be considered higher up the hierarchy because they have greater influence over the media's definition of reality. Whereas Soaps could be considered lower down the scale as their purpose is entertainment of an audience. Films with anecdotes claim themselves to be higher up, as even after they have finished leave you with something more to take away.
Andrew Tudor showed how a sub-genre could be created. Tudor said that innovation within a genre leaded to differences which make it become a mould-breaker, this then creates the sub-genre for the text within its genre. Innovation and therefore differences in my piece are the dialogue of narration of a break up over the continuously changing shots, this creates its individual sub-genre of narrated-romance-drama.

Music and Sound Effects

I found a couple of royalty free music and sound effects websites which either have their work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License or an End-user License Agreement. So this means that I can download and use any of the files on their website as long as I credit them. The websites I found are freefx.co.uk and audionautix.com.

Script for It Ended dialogue.

Intent
I want my script to create melancholy atmosphere, and through the characters words convey emotions like sadness and loss. I want the dialogue to make the viewer empathise with one or both of the characters.

My two characters are a male and a female.

M: It Ended. I guess i felt kind of more vulnerable after. But I've started going out more now. Definitely, going out more.

F: I think, people really like me when they first meet me. But then they go off me. I can feel it. I can see the change in their eyes.

(Dialogue overlapping slightly)

M: She had these blue flowery curtains.

F: He's got this shirt. Its my favourite shirt. It's like a white one, a white plaid one. 

M: I didn't really like her friends at school. All of them felt so young.

F: He wore it for one week when I told him that I really liked it. And then, sort of, stopped. I didn't see it for a while, I really liked that one. 

(Finishing and starting each others sentences) 

F: he said

M: I don't remember being here, and she said

F: you wouldn't

M: he didn't understand

F: so he just smiled

M: she said 

F: I first met you when I was fifteen 

M: what she meant was, the subtext was

F: this has gone on for too long, things have changed, it's not the same anymore

M: because things have happened

F: things don't stay the same, people they grow

M: they meet new people

F: and the ones they used to know become less important 

M: because they don't really know them at all anymore. She said

F: if this is it then that's okay

M: but he didn't understand, what she meant was, what the subtext was

F: this is the last time and that's okay for me. He didn't understand 

M: so he just smiled 

F: she walked home. 

M: he took the train home. 

F: she didn't see him again. 

M: he didn't see her again. 

Second idea for short film.

My second idea is to make a film which reflects images off of dialogue, so my shots are cut in time to the dialogue of my two main characters to show a reflection of their lives to show who they are through a series of shots. And then over the top of the shots have a dialogue which tells a story of how the two characters are related and what happens to them.

I decided to use two characters because, in my short film survey, I found most people expected more than three characters in a short film so I want to challenge this convention by showing it can be done with just two. 

Here is a storyboard for my idea: 

Age rating and classification

What is classification and how does it work?

In order to protect children from unsuitable and even harmful content in films and videos and to give consumers information they might need about a particular film or video before deciding whether or not to view it, the BBFC examines and age rates films and videos before they are released. 
The BBFC watch films and videos all the way through and award the correct age rating by applying the standards and criteria included in their classification guidelines.
Normally, two examiners view a film for theatrical release and in most cases a senior examiner will confirm the examiners recommendation. If the examiners are in any doubt or fail to agree the work may be seen by other members of the board up to and including the director and presidential team. Occasionally the BBFC take specialist advice about the legal acceptability of a film's content or its potential to harm.
There is the same process for DVDs and Blu-rays, though these are generally only viewed by one examiner, However sometimes, opinions are collected from other examiners for more difficult works.
The BBFC look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous and easily imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, and violence when making decisions. The theme of the work is also an important consideration. They also consider context, the tone and likely impact of a work on the potential audience.
The release format of a work also affects the classification.  Their decisions on the age rating of DVDs and Blu-rays can occasionally be stricter than at the cinema because there is a higher risk of underage viewing in the home and a greater potential for watching scenes out of context.
At all categories heterosexual and homosexual sexual behaviour and activities are treated the same.


Bernie the Brave

This film would be rated a U because a U film is suitable for audiences four years and over. The film doesn't raise any significant issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex or violence. 
There is a brief fight scene where the character is placed in danger but the threat is quickly resolved and the outcome is reassuring. There is also no emphasis on the sword used and it is within a historical setting, this is what is accepted at a U classification.
A children’s work at U will generally contain positive messages about loyalty, honesty and friendship, particularly amongst children, which mine does. The film has a happy ending for the child and the overall tone is one of reassurance.


It Ended.

This film would be rated PG, this means that its suitable for general viewing and should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. All themes are allowed at a PG as long as they are treated with the appropriate manners.
References to sex are acceptable as the activity is implied and lacking in detail. Also, a child is unlikely to understand the references, so this is allowed a PG.

Bernie the Brave - first cut

This is my first cut of my footage, I haven't added in my animation yet but where there is a empty frame is where I will have a shot of my hydra so you can get an idea of how it will look.

I don't like how it turned out, I think it looks to student made and the quality of the combination of the filming, location, costume and acting makes it seem unprofessional. So I have come up with another idea for a short film which should work better with the resources that I have at my disposal.

I got a focus group together and asked them to write a list of things they liked and things they didn't. Feedback from the group:

Like
The change into fantasy/medieval
The costumes
Range of shots
Sword fighting
Sound Effects
The premise of it
The bullies reaction at the end kept it lighthearted

Dislike
Jump cuts don't flow very well
Script is repetitive
It feels kind of awkward
The young boy playing with a teddy looks a bit odd especially as it then turns into a baby
The background noise in most of the shots is distracting
The teddy into baby was a bit bizarre and fast

Props and Costume

Props

The only prop I need is a teddy for the bullies to throw and to also to be wrapped up as a baby for the princess to save from the hydra.

Costume

The boy in the real world will be wear normal everyday clothes to show he's a boy from modern day. In the fantasy he will turn into a knight, with armour and a helmet. However even though he as dressed as a knight he will be playing the part of the 'damsel in distress', this shows a contrast between his behaviour and his look. I'm  doing this to show that people aren't their stereotypes and many people break the mould, so this shouldn't be asumed of people on how they look.

The girl, simily to the boy, in the real world will be in modern dress to show the time period and to not make her look any more higher status than any of the other characters. In the fantasy she will wear a princess costume and so be the opposite to the boy whose the knight. I have tried to show, through the princess being the one to slay the hydra, female strength so my young impressionable audience can have a good example to use. Also, because of these contrasts to real media I am challenging conventions on the representation of female characters and male characters.

 

For logistics I may use a cloak and a tiara instead but they will give the same effect.

 
 

The costume for my bully characters is blue/green colours so that when they're turned into the hydra the same colours are used. So that you can see that these are the characters from the real world that are the hydra in the fantasy world. This is a colour signifier that alows the audience to see the connection between the two situatutions and to show thats its the same.

Character Research

The Three Bullies

I use the convention of three against one, and of the victim being smaller than the bullies.


The Hydra

A hydra is a creature from the greek myth, it was an ancient serpent-like water monster with lots of heads and for each head that got cut off it grew two more.

This is the style I want to do and how I would like it to look when put with my shot footage.

Script for Bernie the Brave.

Intent

Through this script I want to convey the narrative of the story, I also want the audience to be sympathetic towards the little boy.
Because I want to aim it at a younger audience, by using humour I lighten the mood at the end of the film.
My script could also be interpreted as having a moral that anyone can be a hero.

Characters

Girl
Boy
Bully 1
Bully 2
Bully 3

Plot

A young boys teddy is stolen by three older bullies, a young girl notices them teasing him and tries to help save the teddy. In the young childrens imagination the situation is changed into a fantasy fairytale where the teddy is a baby and the three bullies are a three headed hydra, the boy a knight and the girl a princess. The girl slays the Hydra and saves the teddy and returns it to the boy.

Script

(Boy is alone, playing with his teddy. Three older boys see him and approach him, joking and laughing to each other)

Bully 1: (to young boy) Hey, is that your sisters?

Bully 3: Yeah teddys are for girls, are you a girl?

Boy: (quietly) N-n-no

Bully 2: (to other bullies) I bet he's given it a name.

Bully 1: Here I think it looks like a (snatches teddy from boy, looks at it) Mr. Buttons!

Bully 2: (takes teddy from bully 1 and holds it up above his head) 

Boy: (reaching up, still quietly) Please... no!

(All the Bullies laugh and tease, they pass the teddy around. The young boy still quietly asking them to stop and give the teddy back)

Bully 1: (in a mocking baby voice) Oh do you want Mr. Buttons back?

Bully 3: Haha, I think he's gonna cry!

Bully 1: Cry baby

(All the Bullies start teasing and calling names, you see the boy become more scared and recline within himself)

All: Little girl, cry baby, ...

(Around the corner a young girl hears the Bullies, she goes and stands behind them with her arms crossed and a brave face)

Girl: (loudly and confidently but still scared) Give him the teddy back now!

(All the Bullies stop and turn to look at her)

Bully 2: (to other Bullies) Are you kidding me? (to girl) Go home.

Bully 3: (Mockingly) Does your Mummy know where you are?

Girl: (not quite so confidently) Give it back.

Bully 1: Don't be a silly little girl, what could you even do?

(the bully tries to tear off the teddys ear)

Boy: (reaching out) No!

Girl: (with renewed confidence) GIVE. IT. BACK.

(woooooooooooooooooooooooo fantasy time, the boy turns into a knight, the girl turns into a princess, and the three bullies into a three headed hydra and the teddy wrapped up like a baby)

Short Animation Film Examples

In my short film I want to include some animation. The style I want to do my animation is like an animated paper model.

Roy - this is a clip from a CBBC show which mixes animation and live action.

Shoe - I really like the style of this one and it is how imagine mine looking.

Munro - This roughly drawn style also appeals to me and I think I may do something similar.

Magical Umbrella - This is not how I  first imagined my animation looking but I do like the style and I think I will explore it more as another option.

Real Short Films Examples

Themes that will be in my short film: swapping roles, girl and boy, young actors, children, bullying, fantasy, hero, evil vs. good, happy ending.

Love is all you need: swapping roles, bullying, young actors

Imagination: fantasy, boys and girl, children

Water Song: evil vs. good, fantasy

Imagination: fantasy, boy, children, hero

I don't want to go back alone: girl and boy, young actors, happy ending

Short Film idea and storyboard.

Storyboard: 

Another idea I had was that I change around the roles of the girl and the boy. So the boy is playing with the teddy and the girl is the one who slays the hydra, but the boy is still dressed as the knight and the girl the princess. This idea challenges stereotypes and breaks away from the cliche knight and damsel in distress. 

Possible Titles

Bernie the Brave

Bella the Brave

Chloe the Courageous

Caty the Courageous