Animatic Feedback

This is feedback from our classmates and teacher after they watched our animatic.

Firstly our teachers feedback. The first bit of feedback was that our diagetic sound was good and therefore wot have to be changed. The next was that we had to cut down on the loneliness, as it appears to be the subject of the film, however it isn't as extremism is, we will cut down the classroom scene to 1 minute maximum to tone down the loneliness.  Next was the suggestion of changing the music throughout as only two soundtracks were used, however there should be more changes. Also the findabuddy.com website appeared comical to the audience and isn't how it was supposed to be portrayed, therefore must be changed. Finally the message of the film wasn't even shown until 5 minutes in and therefore should be drip fed throughout the entire film. 

Within the class feedback we found out that: the audience understood that Harry was lonely and was bullied as well as found comfort online. One thing that wasn't clear however was the extremism as it wasn't drip fed. It was also recommended that more of the conversation between Harry and the extremist is shown. We were also told that we had a wide variety of shots although tracking shots could be used as well. Our non-diagetic sound wasn't good as there was no variation between shots and movements. Also the music used was very boring after a while as it didn't change, therefore additional tracks should be used. It was also recommended that some dialogue between the bullies and Harry is exchanged as the non-diagetic ringing occurs.

Overall

Positives:

• Easily identifiable genre
• Good portrayal of isolation
•  Good range of shots

Negatives:

• Not a clear narrative
• Poor non-diagetic sound 
• Poor music use
• Too long of a classroom scene
• Dialogue 
• Unrealistic website name
• Not enough interaction with extremist

Considering these details we will go back to our storyboard and alter some aspects and well as keep some that worked well. There are elements that don't need to be changed, however there are elements which need to be extracted, and some elements that need additions. Over the coming days these aspects that we had feedback on will be altered. 

Animatic of Short Film

This is an animated version of our storyboard. We have done this to make sure that the the sound we want matches the actions, as well as the narrative flows well as is understandable, as well as bordering the 5 minute mark. Below is the animatic:

Camera Work in the Drama Genre

Mise En Scene in the Drama Genre

Textual Analysis 5:The Most Beautiful Thing

Just the portrayal that we want to achieve in our film. The protagonist is a lonely isolated boy, who looks for acceptance and confidence. Now nearing the end of his school days, all he seeks is to end it with someone who he can consider his friend/ girlfriend. Therefore half way through the film he meets a girl, a deaf girl by the name of Emily and they live out their relationship through the use of a pen and paper. Further following the convention of a simple plot, often not involving in-depth dialogue. Their love is momentarily halted by an arrogant "cool kid", who tries to steal and kiss the protagonists girlfriend. However she eventually speaks out to him and he ends up asking her to prom, which was one of his greatest concerns for the boy.

Due to the time constraints on a short film, plenty of enigma codes can be seen throughout. One enigma code that I first noticed was when the boy first returns home at the beginning he calls to his parents, only to receive no answer, but he called as if he expected them to be there at that time. They're not there and could be why he feels so alone and isolated. If this film were to be extended it could be easily drawn out, thus proving that the plot has depth and interest even though presented through a shortened format.

The film starts at the beginning relying heavily on the use of a bench, using it as a catalyst to fuel the relationship between the two characters. However as there relationship blooms you see her visit his home and other places around the school, thus broadening the variety of setting as well as delving further into the plot.

Going back to the repeated use of the bench, due to the position of the bench it indeed limits the use of cinematography. Thus leaving the shots to mostly consist of medium shots and close ups, as well as shot reverse shots. However close ups are used throughout the film, due to the emotional nature of the film to convey the characters true emotions, thus allowing the audience to empathise and relate to the characters.

Sound in the Drama Genre

Editing in the Drama Genre

Textual Analysis 4: 2am The Smiling Man

Often in horror, the narrative is not about the characters but rather focuses on atmosphere and tension through sound and music. This is why not much attention has been paid towards the main character. He is also made to be purposefully young so that the target audience of the film can relate to the position of the character to receive scares. Considering that the main demographic for horror is young adults and males, this is a perfect set up. 

We can assume that the genre of film this will be is horror. Going off the cliches of the horror genre, conventionally atmospheric music will be used throughout to portray how the characters feel throughout. In the beginning, the main protagonist is walking down a dark road in what we can assume is the US. There is no music, diegetic or non-diegetic throughout, but a few interruptions of musical notes every once in a while connoting to the audience that there is something wrong. Coupled with the stereotypical time of night, we can only assume that this will be of the horror genre. 

Whilst there is equilibrium, the shots are fairly slow, with the camera mainly remaining still with some pans to establish the setting. This is to establish the narrative that this man is clearly walking home from somewhere. However once the short film progresses the shots are edited together at a faster pace, to show that there has been a disruption. During the chase we see quick editing to make the audience feel frantic and tense. In these quick shots we see him primarily in either long shots or close-up shots of his face. The long shots place him in the centre third of the screen making him seem small and obsolete to his surroundings, meaning he is inferior to the smiling man. The close-ups also exaggerate his emotions, also blocking the view of anything else in frame, shrouding the killer, leaving the audience in a state of panic.

Representation of the main antagonist in the short film is very cliche to show that there is a threat to the audience. He is costume consists of nothing but an ordinary jumper and jeans. It usually plays on the fears of society, and more particularily the fears of the audience. The antagonist has a suit, and is designed to look like a rather abnormal, ominous man. He has no clear motive and that is what scares the audience. I believe it is playing of the fear of being attacked or robbed at night as he is alone and often in society, acts like this are blamed on those who are not mentally stable enough. By creating a deformed man who does not know how to act properly this is portrayed to the audience.

The only diegetic sound we hear is the man saying 'What the hell do you want?'. This being a stereotype of the genre as usually the main story arc of horror to find out why the antagonist of the film is performing the horrific acts. The sound has its climax in the last chase part of the film where the smiling man is chasing after our protagonist accompanied by a loud disarray of musical sound. This obviously reflects the manic thoughts of both of the characters and is a common trope of horror to build tension. Sound throughout is minimal, the non-diegetic sound dominates the film, with the atmospheric long notes to build up the tension, commonly seen in horror to climax to a jump. There are also several beats throughout, mimicking the sound of a heartbeat to show that there is a threat, setting up for the narrative of the man being a danger to his life.

Actor Interviews

After narrowing down the candidates to two, they both needed an interview, therefore Mia Simpson interviewed me and Owen to see who is more eligible. 

Owens Interview:

Sean's Interview:

After reviewing the interview we settled for out main actor to be Sean McGrath (me). We chose myself as I had previous experience in that field as well as an open schedule. Owen did have the GCSE grades to show his talent as an actor, however had an unpredictable schedule and couldn't be relied on.

Questionnaire Responses Evaluation

 This is the questionnaire responses that we got from random people that saw the questionnaire on our social media.

Over 2/3 of people that took the questionnaire were females, showing that they are equally or even more interested in films, or more specifically the drama genre, than males

The majority of people that took our questionnaire were from the age range of 15-18, landing them directly within the age range of out protagonist, with the next closest range of 19-25, which is also close within the protagonists age range.

For this question there was a near fair mix between the platforms of viewing films. By 8.1% was online and the internet. Followed by YouTube a more safer platform for viewing content and finally Netflix, a common platform for motion pictures. Showing us what platforms its preferable to release our film onto.

For this question a huge majority of 70.3% only watched 1-3 films a week. Meaning that we need to make our production and marketing as good as possible to ensure people want to watch it.

This question was also very split, with romance and comedy at the top, followed by horror and action. Below that was our genre of drama, only at 10%. Meaning that our piece may have to incorporate some of these other genre aspects or have the drama be outstanding to make sure people watch it.

If we were to release a DVD version, we wanted to know what price to sell it at, the final verdict from our responses was  the cheap price of £4-8.

Most people preferred a linear narrative as opposed to a non-linear narrative, so we have come to the conclusion our narrative will have a linear style approach.

For this question there was an interesting mix, with a thin majority wanting a happy ending followed by ambiguous and cliff hanger. We wanted a more cliff hanger and ambiguous approach. And when combined it had a total of 56.7% making it highly favourable. 

Over half of the responses for this question was learning bits gradually as the plot unravels, which is the approach we wanted to take, and what we will stick to as its what people favour.

Our protagonist a male and a thin majority pitied males more than females, meaning a male protagonist was the right choice for our piece.

Finally, most people found out about short films through social media with a large majority, meaning for the largest coverage on our film we will post out piece to social media as well a YouTube as it was the most realistic runner up.

Character Analysis

This analysis is to be provided to candidates that want the role, this will outline the type of personality that will have to be portrayed. Also this further develops the character to make him more sympathetic to the viewers.

Potential Actors

We interviewed boys for the protagonist role for our piece.
Below are the contestants who offered to act in our piece:

 Name: Ryan Dutch
Age: 19
Availability: Sundays
Experience: None
Contactable: Mobile

Name: Ellis Hutson
Age: 19
Availability: Monday evenings and Sunday daytime.
Experience: GCSE Drama grade B
Contactable: Mobile and E-mail

Name: Owen Taylor
Age: 18
Availability: All weekdays except from Saturday mornings and Thursday evenings
Contactable: Classmate, Mobile and E-mail

Name: Sean McGrath
Age: 17
Availability: Every day except from Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.
Contactable: Mobile, Classmate and E-mail

We decided as me, Sean and Owen are the most accessible and therefore it is necessary to conduct and interview to see who is most eligible.

Production Plan and Additional Planning 3

This is the final finished product of the roles we took and the completed tasks.

Props: Final Memorial Card Design

Our end product for the memorial card was created from a portrait of a man in black and white, to match the funeral theme as oppossed to an occasional picture. A Christian cross was also added to hint at a religious background, this also adds to the character profile as well as reinforcing the message of the film. Finally a few lines at the bottom were included that confirm the man is Harry's father.


This is the end product:

Props: Memorial Card Research

For our film we will have to create a memorial card of Harry's father to illude to the fact he is dead without using dialogue to reveal it. Therefore a believable card will have to be made on photoshop to ensure the audience know Harry's father is deceased.

Here are some example cards to act as models:



Costume: Harry's Apparel

These are the two main costumes Harry will be wearing throughout the film, possible alterations or additions could be made.

Props and Costume List

Target Audience Questionnaire

This is questionnaire we created to see to outline our demographic, as well as gather additional information that could increase the quality of our product.

Typical Film Credits

These are typical film credits as well as the order they appear in.

Audience: The Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo doll experiment was the collective name of experiments conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961 and 1963 when he studied children's behaviour after watching an adult model act aggressively towards a Bobo doll, a toy that gets up by itself to a standing position when it is knocked down. The children were then brought into a room full of toys and a bobo doll. 88% of the kids who were put into the room attacked the doll.

The experiments are empirical approaches to test Bandura's social learning theory. The social learning theory claims that people learn through observing, imitating, and modelling. It shows that people not only learn by being rewarded or punished, but they can also learn from watching somebody else being rewarded or punished.

This can also be applied to the new IT film that was teased. It caused people to wonder the streets in clown outfits scaring. There have been some reports of physical violence and a stabbing linked to the clown craze. The question that was asked however is whether the producers of IT have to take responsibility for what happened.

Audience: Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics is the physical difference between people such as: Ethnicity, Age, Gender, Religion and general belief. 

 Psycho graphics is the internal differences between people which categorises them such as: Likes, Dislikes, Lifestyle, Religion and Personality 

Our demographics are aimed at all classes of people as mental illness can affect anyone, so everyone would feel vulnerable. Also the film opening starts in a house, therefore everyone who can afford to go to the cinema or buy a DVD would have a house of some sort and therefore can relate. Our pschographics however can only be applied to strugglers and or  main streamers. This is because the main streamer seeks security and will get it as they come to realisation that they are more comfortable and in a better situation than the character. The struggler is similar as they want to escape from their world into different, where there is more struggle making them feel better. 

Audience: Effects Theory

Media influence is the actual force exerted by a media message, resulting in either a change or reinforcement in audience or individual beliefs. Media effects are measurable effects that result from media influence, or a media message. The audience is passive and powerless to prevent the influence. Whether that media message has an effect on any of its audience members is contingent on many factors, including audience demographics and psychological characteristics. These effects can be positive but are usually negative, abrupt or gradual and short term but some may last a longer than other but are rarely long lived. 

This has been seen lately by the "killer clown craze", after the teaser for the killer clown film "it" was released,people dressed up as clowns and roamed the streets to try and scare people, whether the acts were malicious or just an act is unknown however it lives on because video evidence is uploaded and it gets lots of attention which fuels people to keep doing it.

Audience: Two Step Flow Theory

The two-step flow of communication model says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. In contrast to the one-step flow of the hypodermic needle, which holds that people are directly influenced by mass media, according to the two-step flow model, ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population.The leaders tend to be people of power such as celebrities and the smaller population would be passive viewers,they often do not have solid independent views and they just obtain information from these leaders. This is mainly applied to things like elections politically, advertisements and reviews of products. 

An example of this is Justin Beiber who would use his social media to influence his followers so whatever he shares or sees his followers will also share and see the same thing.

Audience: Hypodermic Needle Theory

The Hypodermic Needle Theory is one of the oldest in the field of media studies. Also known as the Magic Bullet Theory, it states that media has a direct, complete and immediate effect on the audience. The message for the media is directly received and wholly accepted by the user. The audience is considered to completely passive entities that are left at the mercy of the media. Media is considered to be super strong with the potential of mesmerising its audience. 

Audience: Laura Mulvey's: The Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey's male gaze

 

Examples:

What is Synergy?

Synergy is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s the ‘strategy of synchronising and actively forging connections between directly related areas of entertainment’. 

For example, Legendary productions used to have a five year deal with universal, in that anything Legendary produced, Universal would have to distribute it. Meaning Legendary get high class distribution and Universal get good profit from the production.

Audience: Use and Gratification Theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory is a popular approach to understanding mass communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself. It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs.

An example of this is diversion and escapism which is a reason people watch films as they get to distract themselves from the pressures of the real world and can watch other people have to deal with problems. 

Audience: Barthes Enigma Code Theory

Roland Barthes came up with a theory that is woven into any narrative. This theory is the 'Enigma Code' and it is split into five parts.

Hermeneutic 

The hermeneutic code is associated with enigmas of the text, puzzles and mysteries that the text may or may not eventually answer but will most likely defer and misdirect that answer, keeping the reader guessing.

Proairetic

The proairetic code encompasses the actions or small sequences of the narrative which creates narrative tension. By telling us that someone 'is going to the gym', we now expect them to lift weights, which creates tension through the anticipation.

Semantic

The semantic code concerns meaning but at the level of connotation, that is the meanings beyond the 'literal' denotation of the words: the resonances, additional linguistic associations, the connections between images.

Symbolic

The symbolic code produces a structure of symbolic meanings that accumulate throughout the text to establish a larger structure in which the meanings of the story unfold. These symbolic clusters of meanings might be around such oppositions as hot/cold, black/white, round/square.

Cultural

The cultural code is constituted by the points at which the text refers to common bodies of knowledge. These might be agreed, shared knowledge or an assertion of axiomatic truths.

Richard Dyers Star Theory

Richard Dyers star theory is the idea that icons and celebrities are manufactured by institutions for financial gain. He believes that stars are constructed to represent 'real people' experiencing real emotions. Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose; to make money out of audience, who respond to various elements of a star’s personality by buying records and becoming fans. Stars are made for money purposes alone. Increasing the brand identity benefits the institution as they become a household name increasing sales in all of the media platforms they are in. The institution then models the artist around the target audience they choose. For example Lady GaGa, according to Dyer, was modelled around fashion forward people so the audience can relate to her as a person and also her music.


Hegemony


This is also know as 'culture'. It is the idea that the audience relates to the star because they have a feature they the share or admire with the star. Some fans may attempt to replicate the star in their behaviour, what they and what they do. But this could also be a negative impact as some stars often are heavy drinkers and drug abusers. For example in the 60's and 70's there was an increase of illegal sales of cannabis due to The Beatles being open about using it. Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes, and promote a certain ideology. Audience interest in these values enhances their 'star quality', and it is through conveying beliefs, ideas and opinions outside music that performers help create their star character to their fans.

History of the Drama Genre

Sub-genres of the Drama Genre

Institutes That Create Short Films

Short Film Distribution

Hybrid Genres Research

Characters in Short Films

Short films often have few characters, with long screen times in comparison of the entire film. This is as short films dont have time for more than a few characters, which allows the few characters to be developed and make a connection with the audience.

There is always a protagonist

The protagonist is the one that the audience pities or sides with, he is also most times the main character, he always has good intentions however has one detrimental flaw.

There is most times an antagonist

The antagonist is the one that opposes the protagonist, usually has bad intentions and is despised by the audience, the cause a disturbance in the equilibrium, and usually have the odds in their favour until the end.

There is sometimes a sidekick

The sidekick can follow either the antagonist or protagonist, they are the one that the antagonist/protagonist chose to have by their side. They are often the lover or the best friend and rarely contradict the person they follow.

Textual Analysis 3: Tick-Tock



Mise En Scene

The clock at the beginning and end of the film is very significant, as it is referring to the amount of time that Emit supposedly has to live. At the start of the film the clock is moving anti-clockwise, which is the audience’s first clue that this short film is backwards. Considering that the film is backwards, the clock at the start is showing the minutes that have passed since Emit has taken the “morphine”, whereas at the end the clock shows how much time Emit has initially since first taking the fake drug.



 Sound

The non-diegetic soundtrack Anthem by Emancipator, in the background is well-timed with the action in the film, which emphasises Emit’s moves and his emotions. For example, at the start of the short film once Emit goes outside of Rena’s apartment the music picks up and the texture of the song builds once Emit starts to run. The tempo of this song is relatively fast, again fitting in with the action and creates the feeling that the film is fast-paced, as Emit feels as though he only has minutes to live the audience can feel it too through the use of this sound. This also fits into Emit’s increasing heartbeat; the tempo of the music often changes to how Emit’s heartbeat changes, meaning the music is a vital part in the film and the plot.



All of the diegetic sound presented in the film is echoed to make the audience feel the sense of fear and panic that Emit is experiencing. When a person is in panic or shock, their input of sound tends to blur as if they can’t absorb things properly. This is the same with the sound of the heartbeat, which is infact non-diegetic but is a representation of Emit’s heartbeat that shows the audience what he is feeling and how his heart rate is reacting to this, which is an example of synthetic personalisation as it makes the audience feel closer to the character.



Editing
The font of the titles is serif, and the colour is white. This is so that they are simple, but so that they also stand out; the text that appears across the screen during the film is important for the viewer to read as it is significant to the plot, so it must be visible.



There are no cutting or transitions of shots in this sequence as it is filmed in one entire shot, lasting around five minutes. All the sound has been given an echo to enhance Emit’s feelings of panic and shock, as if the audience was feeling what he was feeling.



However, the ending of the film is in black and white, before emit has taken the pill. This signifies that Emit has almost ‘woken up’ after knowing he only had minutes to live, and how the shock and adrenaline had hit him. Because the shots are reversed the colour fades to black and white rather than the other way round. The colour starts to fade to black and white at around 3:50 and onwards.

Subtitles have also been added to the short film, since all the shots are reversed the dialogue cannot be understood.



 Camera Angles And Movement
The camera is hand held throughout the short film, creating a sense of realism so the audience can understand what Emit is going through in these few minutes. Hand held cameras also relate to social realism genre films, which ties in with the genre of this short film.

Enigmas
Throughout this short film, the main question on the audience’s mind is “What is going on?”. This question is brought up because the audience can only truly understand the whole of the plot once they have seen all of the short film, since the beginning is actually at the end. This is much like the film “Memento”, which the plot of the film is also presented backwards.