Short film Narrative.

The film opens with a sequence of shots showing empty rooms within a house - particular objects are given prominence; the first of these rooms being the bathroom, living room and finally bedroom, where the camera zooms to an alarm-clock seconds before it goes off. The protagonist proceeds to wake up and move through the house - each of his movements and actions clearly shown in close-ups on his hands (which both begin and end the film). Once the alarm-clock stops a soundtrack begins to fade in and proceeds to accompany a montage of actions made by the protagonist i.e. getting dressed, making a meal - all of which will involve a number of rituals for example over obssessivley turning light switches on and off multiple times. At around the half way stage the protagonist will exit the house and the screen will fade to black with the soundtrack also proceeding to fade into silence.

The film then continues with the re-entering of the protagonist into the setting where he is suddenly confronted with the seemingly painless task of taking out the rubbish but this instead leads to a shocking climax where once performing the task the protagonist proceeds to wash his hand with obsessive amounts of soap and hot water which leads to his hands getting burnt to the point of needing bandage treatment. the signifigance and drama in this scene is highlighted equally by a series of dramatic shots - some of which may be shown in black and white or different frame rate etc.

The final sequence begins as the film ends with a sequence of shots showing empty rooms within the house, the first of these rooms being the bathroom, living room and finally bedroom, where the camera zooms to an alarm-clock seconds before it goes off. The protagonist then also proceeds go through the many strange habits of his condition with the re-entering of the original soundtrack at the point that it last cut off; though this gives the impression that nothing has changed, the real resolution comes from when the protagonist leaves the house and instead decides to leave the light switch on as he leaves the house.

The camera then fades into darkness with the continuation of the soundtrack but at a louder volume.

Possible Film Soundtrack (Emancipator - Anthem)

Short Film concept (June 2012)

Straight from when the specification for this project was given i already had a vague idea of what kind of film i wanted to make, i learnt a number of important lessons about the film-making process through the mistakes i made last year, and overall i would say i have taken a very conservative approach to this task in comparison with that of a past project when i had a huge lack of experience. i have not yet gone into specifics in regards to dialogue or other detailed aspects of the film as those have to be deliberated with my project partner, however i do know what genre and story arch i want the film to follow. In this film we essentialy follow the daily and strange routine of a teenager who suffers from OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), a disease which manifests itself in a number of unusual and shocking ways. My goal is to show some sort of insight into the life of an individual with a real condition that can not only evoke sympathy and fear from the viewer, but also be truly absorbing. Through my research of this topic I have come up with many possible sequences to take place in this film - the majority of which will be in story-board format initially.

Inspection - Short Film Evaluation

'Inspection' is one of literally dozens of short films I have viewed over the past week, however this is the first one that I decided to evaluate as it includes many of the elements I wish to incorporate in my own Short film.
Firstly the film containes a wide variety of both shot and camera techniques - with little use of film or sound editing involved; these directorial choices immediately interested me as I also had the desire to create a Film  that was minimalist but at the same time with a very defined and solid concept.

The film also runs with next to no dialogue in the lead up to a dramatic and quirky conclusion that uses both elements of shock and humour to great effect.
Some complaints I have about the film include the use of a vast location that I may struggle to acquire for my own project  as well as an overall very high quality camera that I may also have trouble providing.

This film also includes no running soundtrack - musical or otherwise after the title has appeared, this is a very effective decision in this case as there is no straying from the action as well as making the climax even more unexpected.
Overall this is a very proficient short film that I will likely take much inspiration from in order to enhance or improve my own in the future.

A2 Media Course - 2012/13

In this preliminary term of next years A2 courses, we have started media studies by being asigned the task of creating a short film in any genre/medium etc. with the minimal requirement that it be less than 2 minutes. This task resembles many projects we have been given in the previous AS media course as well as providing a basic guideline on what media projects we will be given in the coming year - if We have aspirations of continuing this course after september. In a slight alteration to last years work, we have been put into random pairs for the duration of this task however I've been placed with James Turner - a student who I already have media project experience with from last year. For this task I will research 'short film' with a priority towards English-speaking, live action films that are between 3 and 8 minutes in duration; the film production will also include story-boarding and a full evaluation of the film concept and other aspects of development.

Concept Film Trailer (Walking the media line.)

AS Media studies Evaluation.

How does your media product represent particular social

View more presentations from Samox2.

'Full Time'(final draft) - AS media film opening.

Sound in 'Full Time'

Sound in Full Time.


The song that has been chosen for our intro is Encoda by Pendulum. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB74qeRghrw

We have chosen this because of many reasons for example; the fast paced filming links into the fast and exciting music which will be in the background. Also in certain areas of our intro we have parts which involve loud or sudden sounds however we will not just have the normal sound of footsteps for example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsZUGoa3JHc&feature=relmfu

We will hopefully increase and edit the normal sound and make it more harsh sounding and painful for various effects.

Also there are many different parts in out intro which have desired bits of intensity this means that in some areas it will have quick and fast paced music while in other parts it will have slower less exciting music and sounds effects.


resourced by Josh Poole.

http://prezi.com/ufojivrqlbfi/film-opening-201112/

Primary shot list.

The primary shots we decided to use in our film opening included:

Panning Shot - Used when Jonny is being chased across a ledge, the camera is situated at a lower level moving with the action, emphasising the pace of the chase. This is also used when nearing the end of the film, with the camera panning around the victims head, showing his worried, panicked emotion.
Close-Up - A shoe of each actor is shown closely as they run past, emphasising who was chasing who and increasing the tension as these short clips are transitioned with a black screen with the sound of someone panting.
Still - This was probably our most commonly used shot. The actor(s) would run past the camera, giving the audience a chance to establish characters clothes etc. This shot is also used towards the end of the film opening when the victim is at gunpoint, we feel this shot was necessary as it shows the victims vulnerability and the attackers dominance. This shot was most effectively used when we incorporated the sunset into the shot. The sun coming through the railings allowed us to show the actors as silhouettes, which would only be possible with a still.
P.O.V. - This was only used once and we are unsure whether or not to use it in the final draft. This was used from the point of view of a chaser, showing him running down a flight of steps. This shot was very unsteady and the light intensity was poor, however, it gave an alternative view and emphasised the pace.
Zoom Out - Whilst running across a bridge, the cameraman stood at the end waiting, as they approached the camera zoomed out with them, they ran past the camera showing the intensity of the run.
Extreme Close Up - Used when iPod is being plugged in and on the gun near the end. Showing the gun close up emphasises the importance of the weapon.
Pan-Up - The final shot used, as the victim leaves the house the camera pans up into the cloudy, white sky, locating an ideal spot for the title Full Time to appear.

Each shot considered typography and titles. Where necessary we tried to keep the camera as stable as possible.

-Resourced from Michael Roberson.

'Full time' opening draft feedback

Well done!!!
Some great camera angles, and the sun really adds to the production values.

- Ernie Limbo

The framing of the shots were great, as was the research into typography.
Good luck editing :p

- rosie & clara

USE THE FIRST SHOT OF JOHNY NOT THE OPOSITE ONE!!!!!

- Elliot Goodwine

'Full time' Narrative

The conventional '3 Act Structure' that is used in film construction, has been specially adapted to fit our own film opening; it is difficult to use this structure in our film opening as we do not have a conventional climax.
However we structured our film opening sequentially and clear changes of pace are made between transitions of environment.

Our proposed film embodies multiple genres as we have chosen a blend of thriller/action with a hint of sport-related mystery in the narrative.
The thriller/action genre is one chosen by many groups for a number of reasons; first of all many groups find it to be an easy genre to film as it tends to focus more on the directorial and editing aspects of film production, for example: camera shots, angles, lighting, sound, video editing etc.
Resulting in less emphasis needing to be made on plot and story which is in my opinion the most time consuming aspect of the film making process.

preliminary task (Nov 2010) evaluation.

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In October 2011 I completed my preliminary task with my media group; we followed the mark scheme that was assigned and tried to incorporate the necessary camera shots, angles and the video manipulation and editing techniques that we were unfamiliar with.

This particular preliminary task - which was completed in November of last year - was similar to our groups in a number aspects.
Firstly the film is that of a 'thriller/action' genre that we - amoung many other media groups in the past - had chosen; consequently the camera shots and angles were limited by the popular choice of filming inside buildings or in confined and limiting space.
Secondly, and emphasing the genre further, the script of this prelim video was kept minimal and the audience were immediately placed in a situation of conflict and climaxing with a cliff hanger;
However this group was kean to show parts of the filming process through the use of bloopers and comical outtakes - this would never happen in a feature thriller as the filmakers are determined to never leave the genre they have chosen.

Finally the editing in this film was minimal and though this is sometimes a choice by the director to enphasise the sluggish/low budget genre of the film, in this case there was little consideration to advanced shot sequencing and the typography and choice of font was changed from the default setting; I know this because the font in our piece was the same.
In conclusion this prelim task was indentical to ours in parts but unlike ours there was very little if any at all consideration for emphasing genre through the use of props, costume and editing.

Film Language And Semiotics.

Film is a means of communication and any means of communication has a language. The language of film communicates in many ways, through costume, casting, dialogue, music, sets, editing, camerawork - a combination of signs specific to the techniques of film making, drawing on our own experiences and knowledge of the world.

Semiotics is the study of signs and their operation in codes. It is applicable to language itself and to any cultural phenomena, from film to fashion. In semiotic terminology, messages and meanings are coded or encoded in cultural products, to be decoded by audiences.

Ideologies are able to operate through discourse. Discourse theory requires us to grasp the fact that we do not merely use language as a neutral medium of exchange in which to conduct or reflect on our social life.
Our social life is the language in which we conduct it. Through discourse, the relations between groups and classes are constantly being re-negotiated.

ipod board - youtube clip(nappynoo22)

I found this video while researching 'camera lenses' its a great stop motion piece that may be a creative away of displaying the opening titles in our film opening.

To be honest this phone works better than mine at the moment.

Video Diary #1 - Storyboarding (resourced from michael roberson)

Film opening storyboard - first draft - sheet 1

This is the first storyboard draft of our film opening, "full time".
In this draft I have chosen a simple sketch format that can be changed easily; it can be seen that in this first sheet I have left some aspects of the edit open to later development.
In this case I have not made any finalisations regarding the opening credits as I am not in charge of title design.

I hope to upload the further 2 sheets in the new future...
If you have any suggestions or feedback, leave a comment or email me at www.06lockwoods@cherwell.oxon.sch.uk

Marking criteria for the evaluation.

Candidates will evaluate their work electronically. This MUST contain an element of audience feedback and may be either integrated with the presentation of the research and planning material or may be presented separately. Where candidates have worked in a group, the evaluation may be presented individually or collectively but the teacher must allocate a mark according the contribution/level of understanding demonstrated by the individual candidate. The questions that must be addressed in the evaluation are:

TO BE INCLUDED BY STUDENTS: (1000 words)

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

• How did you attract/address your audience?

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?