Post 9: How I want the film to look.

In class we watched many films, some that had the biggest influence on me was the French New Wave films. There simple yet effective enabled a much more enjoyable viewing experience. I will intend to replicate shots such as long tracking scenes (like the famous traffic jam sequence in Godard's 1967 film Week End), use jump cuts ("Jump cuts are sudden, jarring editing cuts which take place out of sequence or during an unexpected moment. They often involve camera angle changes of less than 30 degrees, which can have a disorienting effect on the viewer. Traditional filmmaking rejected such cuts because they threw the viewer out of the onscreen drama. To New Wave filmmakers, that was precisely the point."http://filmdirectors.co/french-new-wave-film-techniques/), the use of jump cuts is well documented/used in films such as Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (À bout de souffle). The cinematic stylings of French New Wave I will attempt to produce as they brought a fresh look to cinema with improvised dialogue, rapid changes of scene, and shots that go beyond the common 180° axis. 


These new techniques where revolutionary to the time and that in turn is why I want to replicate them as I feel even today these techniques could shock and force the  audience into a state of awe. I was impressed with the work of Jean-Luc Godard and his films such as:

Une Femme est une Femme (1961)                Week End (1967)

Both these films were very bold in the use of jump cuts, coloring and effortlessly breaks the 

bounds of  modern day film techniques.

French New Wave films also influenced me to want the film to be in black and white as when I

watched some of the black and white films I focused more on the story and less on the colours.

This is what I feel best suits the film i wish to construct as I want the audience to concentrate on 

the message of the film rather than the aesthetic aspects.

Another influences to my concept for the film was the Dogme 95:

Dogme 95 was an avant-garde filmmaking movement started in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vow of Chastity". These were rules to create filmmaking based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. They were later joined by fellow Danish directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, forming the Dogme 95 Collective or the Dogme Brethren. Dogme is the Danish word for dogma.

The genre gained international appeal partly because of its accessibility. It sparked an interest in unknown filmmakers by suggesting that one can make a recognised film of a quality to gain recognition, without being dependent on commissions or huge Hollywood budgets. The directors used European government subsidies and television station funding instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95

This is a perfect fit to my film as I have equipment of a basic nature and not need for special 

effects or technology.

Goals and rules

The goal of the Dogme collective is to purify filmmaking by refusing expensive and spectacular special effects, post-production modifications and other technical gimmicks. The filmmakers concentrate on the story and the actors' performances. They believe this approach may better engage the audience, as they are not alienated or distracted by overproduction. To this end, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg produced ten rules to which any Dogme film must conform. These rules, referred to as the "Vow of Chastity," are as follows:

1. Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in. If a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found.
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. Music must not be used unless it occurs within the scene being filmed, i.e., diegetic.
3. The camera must be a hand-held camera. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable (if there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action (murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden (that is to say that the film takes place here and now).
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10. The director must not be credited.

After reading the goals and rules i will attempt to follow rules 1 (this will allow a natural look to my film), 2 but only in parts as i do want music in my piece and 6 as this will not benefit my film. The rest of the points I will take into account and use elements of them such as the hand held shot.

Post 8: Script Writing

Synopsis:

Script attempt 1:

This is our first draft for our script, we followed the template of scripts such as Ridley Scott's "Alien" and John Carpenter's "Halloween". The idea of the script about a boy suffering with schizophrenia, originated from films such as David Fincher's "Fight Club" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". We are greatly influenced by Hitchcock's work and the suspense and mystery he managed to make with only the most basic equipment. David Lynch also inspired us to create a surealistic atmosphere with films such as "Eraserhead". For this reason we will film in black and white.

After numerous drafts and help from others in the industry we came up with this as our final draft:

As you can see the script is completely different as the previous script draft followed an incorrect format that had been adapted on the internet to better suit the website. We also extended the length of the script as we needed more content to fill up 6 minutes of footage. We kept the narrative simple to ensure it would be easily understood and followed by the actors and gave us a chance to work more on the use of camera and different shots.  

Script feedback

After showing my script to people they all seemed to like it, the found it simple and easy to understand and felt the dialogue represented a standard household and school environment well. They was also able to get a clear image in there head on how the film will look. Although they did believe there was a need for more dialogue, but I justified that by saying too much dialogue will ruin the flow of the film and it cause too much pausing in scenes where it is unnecessary. 

Post 7: The Film Idea

After the first spider diagram we elected to choose the film topic as Schizophrenia as we felt there is not many if any films truly based on how the mental disorder of this magnitude can affect every day life. We took inspiration from films such as Psycho, Donnie Darko, Identity and Fight Club

Storyline

Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.Written by Col Needham <col@imdb.com>  

Storyline

Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure. Written by J. Spurlin 

Storyline

Strangers from all different walks of life: a limo driver escorting a fading television star, parents with a young son whose marriage is in crisis, a cop transporting a dangerous convict, a beautiful call girl, a couple of young newlyweds, and a nervous motel manager are caught up in a severe rainstorm, stuck at a motel in desolate Nevada. Soon they realize they may be at the motel for another reason when one by one, people start getting killed off. As tensions flare and fingers are pointed, they have to get to the bottom of why they're there. Meanwhile in an undisclosed location, a psychiatrist is trying to prove the innocence of a man accused of murder in an eleventh hour trial. How these two through-lines are related can only be found in Identity. Written by mystic80  

Storyline

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion. Written by Anonymous  

http://www.imdb.com/

After Finding some films that involved Schizophrenia I then decided to do some of my own personal research on schizophrenia and this is what i found:

Schizophrenia

mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness.  It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction. The onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood, with a global lifetime prevalence of about 0.3–0.7%. Diagnosis is based on observed behavior and the patient's reported experiences.

schizophrenia does not imply a "split mind" and it is not the same as dissociative identity disorder—also known as "multiple personality disorder" or "split personality"—a condition with which it is often confused in public perception.

The disorder is thought mainly to affect cognition, but it also usually contributes to chronic problems with behavior and emotion. People with schizophrenia are likely to have additional (comorbid) conditions, including major depression and anxiety disorders; the lifetime occurrence ofsubstance abuse is almost 50%.  Social problems, such as long-term unemployment, poverty and homelessness, are common. The average life expectancy of people with the disorder is 12 to 15 years less than those without, the result of increased physical health problems and a higher suicide rate (about 5%)

Positive and negative symptoms

Schizophrenia is often described in terms of positive and negative (or deficit) symptoms. Positive symptoms are those that most individuals do not normally experience but are present in people with schizophrenia. They can include delusions, disordered thoughts and speech, and tactile, auditory, visual, olfactory and gustatory hallucinations, typically regarded as manifestations of psychosis. Hallucinations are also typically related to the content of the delusional theme. Positive symptoms generally respond well to medication.  Negative symptoms are deficits of normal emotional responses or of other thought processes, and respond less well to medication. They commonly include flat or blunted affect and emotion, poverty of speech (alogia), inability to experience pleasure (anhedonia), lack of desire to form relationships (asociality), and lack of motivation (avolition). Research suggests that negative symptoms contribute more to poor quality of life, functional disability, and the burden on others than do positive symptoms.  People with prominent negative symptoms often have a history of poor adjustment before the onset of illness, and response to medication is often limited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/schizophrenia/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Schizophrenia is a long-term mental health condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms. These include:

• hallucinations - hearing or seeing things that do not exist
• delusions - unusual beliefs that are not based on reality and often contradict the evidence
• muddled thoughts based on the hallucinations or delusions
• changes in behaviour

Doctors describe schizophrenia as a psychotic illness. This means that sometimes a person may not be able to distinguish their own thoughts and ideas from reality.

The exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown. However, most experts believe that the condition is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

How common is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is one of the most common serious mental health conditions. The 2000 National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity in the UK found that 5 in 1000 people experienced a psychotic disorder (including schizophrenia and manic depression). Men and women are equally affected by the condition.

In men, schizophrenia usually begins between the ages of 15 and 30. In women, schizophrenia usually occurs later, beginning between the ages of 25 and 30.

Misconceptions about schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is often poorly understood and many people have misconceptions about it. Two of the most common misconceptions about schizophrenia are:

• People with schizophrenia have a split or dual personality.
• People with schizophrenia are violent.

Split personality

It is commonly thought that people with schizophrenia have a split personality, acting perfectly normally one minute and irrationally or bizarrely the next. However, this is not true. Although the term schizophrenia is a Greek word that means 'split mind', the term was first used long before the condition was properly understood.
It would be more accurate to say that people with schizophrenia have a mind that can experience episodes of dysfunction and disorder.

Violent crime

Most studies confirm that there is a link between violence and schizophrenia. However, the media tend to exaggerate this, with acts of violence committed by people with schizophrenia getting a great deal of high-profile media coverage. This gives the impression that such acts happen frequently when they are in fact very rare.
The reality is that violent crime is more likely to be linked to alcohol or other substance misuse than to schizophrenia. A person with schizophrenia is far more likely to be the victim of violent crime than the instigator.

http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/schizophrenia

When a doctor describes schizophrenia as a psychotic disorder, they mean that, in their view, you can’t tell your own intense thoughts, ideas, perceptions and imaginings from reality.

How is schizophrenia diagnosed?

When you become unwell, you are likely to show significant changes in your behaviour. For some people this can happen quite suddenly, but for others these changes may occur more gradually. You may become upset, anxious, confused and suspicious of other people, particularly anyone who doesn’t agree with your perceptions. You may be unaware, or reluctant to believe, that you need help.
In making a diagnosis, doctors will want to rule out other physical or mental health problems. They will look for various ‘positive’ symptoms and ‘negative’ symptoms, and make a diagnosis based on the presence and duration of some or all of these symptoms.

Positive symptoms

‘Positive’ symptoms are symptoms that most people do not normally experience. They include: strange thinking (‘thought disorder’), hallucinations and delusions.
Strange thinking (‘thought disorder’)
Your thoughts and ideas may seem jumbled and make little sense to others. Conversation may be very difficult and this may contribute to a sense of loneliness and isolation.
Hallucinations
Hallucinations can affect any of your senses. You might:

• see things that others don’t
• smell things that others don’t
• hear voices or sounds that others don’t.

Voices can be familiar or strange, friendly or critical and might discuss your thoughts or behaviour. The voices you hear might tell you to do things. People who are diagnosed with schizophrenia seem to hear mostly critical or unfriendly voices. You may have heard voices all your life, but a stressful life event might have made the voices harsher and more difficult to deal with.

I can ignore the voices most of the time but some days it’s insistent and frightening.

According to some research, up to four per cent of the population hear voices. For most people, the voices they hear present no problem and are not associated with schizophrenia.
Delusions
Delusions are usually strongly held beliefs or experiences that are not in line with a generally accepted reality. Delusions associated with schizophrenia are probably distressing for you, or those around you, as they may be unusual or extreme. For instance, you might believe secret agents are following you or that outside forces are controlling you or putting thoughts into your mind. For more information, see Mind’s booklets, Understanding paranoia and Understanding psychotic experiences.

Negative symptoms

‘Negative’ symptoms are a lack of some emotional responses or thought processes. ‘Negative’ symptoms include: lack of interest, emotional flatness, inability to concentrate, wanting to avoid people or to be protected. 

I was finding it difficult to talk, the words in my mind just would not come out.

Being withdrawn, being apathetic, and being unable to concentrate are all described as ‘negative’ rather than ‘positive’, because they show a reduction in thought or function. It can be very difficult to tell whether negative symptoms are part of the schizophrenia, or whether they are present because you are reacting to other frightening or distressing symptoms. For example, a person with a mental health problem may be discriminated against or ignored which may cause them to feel isolated and depressed and so withdraw.

What causes schizophrenia?

There’s no complete answer to why some people develop symptoms of schizophrenia when other people do not. And, because of differences of opinion about the definition of schizophrenia and its symptoms, it’s not easy to identify what might cause it.
It’s generally agreed that schizophrenia is probably caused by a combination of factors; someone’s genetic make-up could make them more vulnerable, but stressful events or life experiences could trigger the onset of symptoms. It can be helpful to think about potential causes of schizophrenia in terms of how much evidence there is to support the idea that a particular trait, event or factor causes schizophrenia.

Dopamine

Dopamine is one of the chemicals that carry messages between brain cells. There is evidence that too much dopamine may be involved in the development of schizophrenia, but it’s still 

After gathering information I decided to create a second spider diagram showing what i had learnt and how it would affect the film.

Post 6: Short Film Research.

The first task we was set was to read articles and then give feedback on our opinion of what a short film is.

Article 1: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-life/7593291/The-long-history-of-short-films.html




This article from The Telegraph shows how short films have come about and developed over the past few years. During early film making all films were short. The short films that developed where "one-shot 'actuality' or 'interest' film depicting celebrities, royal processions, travelogues, current affairs and scenes from everyday life". From this I can evaluate that audiences preferred films about everyday life. This is mainly because audiences are able to connect and build a bond with the film as it will be about something they have experienced or seen happen. 


However these 'shorts' didn't last long. "In the early 1900s, improvements in recording and editing technology allowed film-makers to produce longer, multi-shot films". Technology developed meaning that it was easier to produce longer, better, multi-shot films. This will benefit us when we come to create our films because we will have the equipment and facillities to experiment with the camera and filming techniques. 


Although using the school equipment, it is expected that it will be off a poor standard to that off the equipment used by actual production companies. 


In the article Chris Hilton is mentioned. He is a general manager at the Odeon and says that he "began working in cinemas in 1966 and recalls the unpopularity of some of these documentary shorts 'In the Sixties, you would still occasionally get short films in the programme, things like the Rank Organisation's Look at Life series (which depicted scenes of 'Swinging Britain'). But most of these were pretty boring and the audience used to use them as an excuse to pop to the loo or get some more popcorn"'. 


From this we can seen that the short film documentaries were unpopular and audiences like films were they can escape from reality and embody them self in a new experience. However they also like films to have believable aspects that they can relate to. 


This means that I will base my short film on issues and everyday life problems that the audience are able to relate to but also have parts which help the audience to escape reality.


I Found this article very useful and i felt i had achieved the required knowledge to make a short film of a high standard.


Who are the target audience for the short films I have watched
Most of the short films I have watched are set in a teenage school environment and often tackle issues that this age group face, these include violence and bullying. There was not many however that tackle more personal subjects such as mental and health diseases. 
The majority of the audience watching these films are around the same age as the characters shown on screen.


How is a short film distributed:
A short can be distributed in a number of ways, the first way being to take your film onto the "circuit", the circuit being taking it to film festivals, screenings, etc. The second way is to try and get an agent to aid in the distribution, this could mean your film ends up on television. Another technique would be to try and get your film on DVD and sell it to shops or on markets. This however can be very expensive and you will need to be able to produce a lot of copies to effectively sell your product. The final way being to put your film on the internet and hope that is found by the right people, this in turn could allow it to go viral.


Film Festivals


Film Festivals target sophisticated audiences who seek out short films that are unlike any other, it is also a way to see award winning short films and if providing a film gives you a chance of winning one yourself. 
Film festivals are also a good way of distributing your film because producers, distributors and company representatives of major film industry companies. 
However you need to be aware when distributing your film because some festivals only accept feature films or are genre pacific. Film festival can also be difficult to find because many target certain categories, some target comedy films whereas others only target shorts. 
When entering your short film into a festival there are also awards to be one, an Oscar, Jamieson European Short Film Award, BAFTA, Scottish BAFTA, Scottish BAFTA New Talent Awards and a Jim Poole Award.

Online Downloads and Streaming

Digital Distribution is very appealing to short filmmakers as you are able to digitise your film, upload it to various websites. This gives the chance of your film going global. In some cases filmmakers will be able to make money from this method of distribution if the film has distributing rights or is brought by a major company.

Sales Agents/International Distributors

Sales Agents, either a company or an individual are in an agreement with you, your short film will be attempted to be sold to the widest audience possible via the use of there contacts in the industry.

Conclusion:

It seems the easiest way to distribute my film would be to put it on the internet and hope it gets watched by the right people. But potentially the most effective if successful is to sen your film to a Film Festival such as the LSSF or the ASSF. Contacting distributors would be useful but they are unlikely to listen to me as this will be my first short film.

 

Post 5: Narrative Theory

Narrative in terms of media is the specific order of events or facts in order to create the desired meaning/ give the audience satisfaction. This means that the audience are given a beginning, middle and an end in order to create a structure that we can easily understand and have grown accustomed too. 


 It is easy to confuse Narrative with story, but the main difference is that story is more like a summery of event and not how the story is told which is more commonly known as the narrative.

One of the most highly regarded theories is that of Todorov. He suggests that every narrative has the same simple structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and then return to a state of equilibrium. 


This is a simplified version of a five step theory.
1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of order
3. Recognition of disruption or a disequilibrium
4. Attempt to repair the disequilibrium
5. New equilibrium


Narrative theory in an existing film:
Another well recognized narrative theory is Volger's 12 Steps of the Hero's Journey which can be applied to The Wizard of Oz shown in the table below:
The 12 steps of the Hero's Journey: Wizard of Oz


This further links to Todorov as they both indicate change from equilibrium to disequilibrium and returning to equilibrium.

Post 4: Genre Theory

Genre Theory.

Genre theory is used in the categorization of films. Genre itself is dependant on factors such as audience expectation, the story line and the influence of the director.

A genre film such as a western, from this we expect to see horses, gun fight, Indians and the solitary cowboy who save the day.

Another example being a horror film, from this we expect to see some sort of creature in the form of zombies, vampires etc. (villains), and the majority of the cast to die other than one survivor (usually the innocent girl), also the implement of tense music and dark scenes.

A final example being an action film, in an action film we will see car chases, explosions, big fight scenes and certain cast members such as Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt as these kinds of actors are what is expected to be seen in a film of this nature.

Things to consider when choosing my genre:

Audience:  A target audience must be selected and the genre must fit their preferred requirements to a film. To increase chances of the film being successful questionnaires and interviews should be done to obtain audience feedback to help structure the piece.

Achievable genre: I don’t think choosing a genre such as action or horror would be suitable for me to film as first the budget for the film is zero. An action film would require lots of special effects and explosions which our school wouldn’t be able to accommodate for due to the basic equipment and editing software available. Horror would be unachievable as it would be too hard to build the tense atmosphere and constructing a villain in only 5 minutes is too big of a task. 



http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/168430/168430,1255203438,1/stock-photo-movie-poster-of-film-genres-vintage-background-38614918.jpg

The image above gives a brief insight to certain aspects that affect genre as so much variation can occure when choosing a genre.

There are seven codes that are used in genre these are

• Technical codes - Camera, lighting techniques, sound
• Symbolic codes - body language, use of colour, mise-en-scene
• Character codes - costumes and make up of a particular character
• Written codes - captions,anchorage
• Narrative codes - the shape and structure of the narrative 
• Enigma codes - a sense of mystery that intrigues the audience 
• Action codes - action that make us realise where we are in the narrative and that the story is developing.

This slide helps define genre as an idea that can be altered and involve more than one genre per piece and indicates the creation of sub-genres. This is indicated by the audience recognition of a genre and the predictability of certain genres. For example an action film will have a chase scene and a horror film will have a scary character or creature.

Post 3: The skills table

The Skills Table:
In small groups, using sugar paper and a pen, we had to produce a grid that follows a specific format and complete the boxes noting which skills you have developed during media over the past year.

The "SMART" Targets:
The next part of the task was to create 5 "SMART" targets. The targets had to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant/Realistic and Time Bound. These are the targets i came up with.


1.The first target for me this year will be to improve the quality of my camera work and continuity, last year both I and the group in which I worked struggled to effectively notice when we had continuity errors or in one case the tripod being visible in the opening sequence. Also prevent ‘crossing the line’ in our filming. This affected the continuity of our production and therefore obviously had a knock on effect on the grade in which we received for our final product last year.


2. My next target is to ensure that I and others work well as a team and group. This will be done by evenly distributing tasks among the members. Also I will look to utilize my stronger aspects (such as directing and coordinating a scene/shot.) and allowing other members to excel in tasks which I am weaker in, such as camera work. This I will hope will improve team cohesion over the year and allow us to produce a better film as a result.


3.Editing was a real weak area in my previous tasks, next year I wish to not only improve on the areas I can already do on adobe premier plus but to try and successfully carry out new and original editing styles. I would like to alter contrast and adapt brightness to improve image quality. Basic editing techniques were developed in our products last year, this year I intend to extending my skills on the editing suites as to boost the grades I could possibly achieve in our short film.


4. My next task would be to do better research into the task ahead as I felt my previous work was not up to the standard to that of other groups. I want to do more audience research and look into more detail on concepts that determine the outcome of a short film. What shot lengths are recommended and what genres best suit them.


5. My final target is to understand the background aspects to making a short film. We will also be creating a ‘postcard’ for our film in terms of marketing. To create the ‘postcard’ we will need to use Photoshop. In the editing we will need to abide by the conventions so that it is possible to create our ‘postcard’ to match our film.