Setting/Props/Actors/Special Effects/Costumes

SETTING

   I will set my film within a school, as it involves school children. It will take place both within the school and the outside/peace garden. Most of my special effects will take place indoors, but the major shot will take place outside in the schools peace garden

PROPS

   The props that will be used in this film include two wands, a Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone book and a handwritten book that I will have created myself.

ACTORS

   The actors that I will need for my film include a young girl, a young boy and a teacher.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

   I will use various special effects in my film, of which will mainly be spell cast offs. I will learn how to do this by using various turorials from Youtube and other sources online.

COSTUMES

   The costumes that my characters will be wearing are thier everyday school clothes, and the teacher will be wearing evryday clothes for teaching.

Feedback

1. Annotate pictures by looking deeper into the visuals and considering the impact on the audience.

 

2. Complete  feeback that was issued previously, 11 days ago.

 

3. Look into the film movement German Expressionism, and link this to films such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Sleepy Hollow.

 

4. Take some still shots of landscapes that fit into the realm of fantasy.

 

5. The expectation is to post at least three blog posts a week.

 

6. I exepct to see a treatment of the film by next Monday.

Collage of Inspiration

   Here is a collage of images that have inspired me. As the key prop in my narrative involves a Harry Potter book, I have looked at different types of books, some of which are used in the Harry Potter films and some that I think look appealing. I am yet to decide whether to have an actual Harry Potter book, or design one of my own. As you can see from the visuals that I have chosen, all of the books have some sort of 'old' and 'magical' feel to it, and most are lavishly decorated with engraving or drawings. This is something, that if I choose to re-create, would like to have on my book. Most of them lack in colour, and where there is colour, it is faded. I would include pictures and information from the Harry Potter world, such as magical animals, spells and objects that allow the audience to escape in the fantasy of the film.

Pan's Labyrinth - Inspiration

 

Here is some inspiration, that if I did design my own book, of what might be shown inside. These stills are from Pan's Labyrinth. Pan's Labyrinth includes a book that the main character uses throughout the film as a sort of guide. Although my main character will be seen with the book, she will not use it in any other way; guide, help, ect. The drawings in the book include creatures and eerie structures. I will hopefully be able to re-create or do my own drawings relating to Harry Potter in this kind of format. I also really like the use of fancy handwriting as it allows the audience to see the antiquity within the work, and also gives it an ancient and magical feel about it. I will try and recreate handwriting like this to give my book a more magical feel. 

Feedback

Here is some feedback that I received from my teacher.

1. Pitch Black Heist needs more detail, focus on scenes that I particularly liked. Look at locations and moments within that narrative that hold significance.

2. Look into films such as Son of Rambow and Pans Labyrinth and look at the fantasy element/how imagination is used. Think about how I am going to shoot the scenes. Find some pictures of old books for inspiration.

3. Write a treatment/premise. Look for where it could be set, possible actors, special effects, costumes and props.

Own Learning - Film4 Short Film

   The film I have chosen to write about is the short film Pitch Black Heist which features on the Film4 shorts page. It stars Michael Fassbender and Liam Cunningham. The film is shot completely in black and white, which I thought was very effective as towards the end of the film, there is a scene in which there is no visuals, just a black screen, which I personally don't think could have been done if the film was in colour. The heist scene, which was filmed with no visual, was effective as it allowed its audience to concentrate more on the audio, which towards the end reveals a plot twist which makes the heist end badly.

Watch Pitch Black Heist - Film4

Examiner Report - The A2 Exam

1 - Ensure that your research is linked to generic codes and conventions, which will influence your planning and construction phase of your work.

2 - Ensure that you research into existing ancillary productions.

3 - There must be a clear focus on your target audience.

4 - Detailed storyboards shooting scheduals and detailed treatment e.g, mood boards, narraive.

5 - Annotate all locations and prop shots. Explain why are using them and what purpose they serve.

6 - Your planning/research informs deatailed planning. Annotate your research.

7 - Ensure the narrative is clear within your short film.

8 - Take the approach of creating a mood and telling a short story.


Construction - There msut be a strong sence of synergy and promotion. It has to have an explicit campaign feel.

The Film - Must consider your Mise-En-Scene carefully. Avoid drugs and street violence. Use a tripod for still shots, ensure audio quality is distinct. There is a focus on sound effects and use of foley sound. Make sure you search out copyright free music.

Short Films - Inspiration 2

   This film is called Elixir and is a Harry Potter fan made film. Although my narrative will revolve around the Harry Potter books as an object (a copy of the book itself), it will not be a fan film. This short film will inspire the Special Effects for my film, and not the narrative. Although the special effects in this short film are not exactly what I want, they have still inspired me as to what kind of special effects I could use.

   This short is Little Wizards, which is what I am basing my narrative and VFX on. I really like the idea of how at first the audience thinks that whats happening is real, but as the film progresses, its really just the children's imagination. That is what I want my film to pocus on, the power of a childs imagination. I would like to use the same kind of special effects as the ones that are used in this short film for my own project. I would like to re-create the shot in which the spells clash and send off red and green sparks everywhere. This is a similar scene used in the fourth Harry Potter film, The Goblet of Fire.

Story For A2 Film Project

After watching a short film called Little Wizards, I have been inspired to make a short film about the younger generation and the impact of imagination and reading at their age. The narrative will revolve around a young girl and a young boy. When the girl is seen reading Harry Potter, a boy comes up to her and asks her why she reads. After a short confrontation and argument whether books or X- Box is better, and after the boy steals the young girls book, she lets her imagination take over, and they have a 'wand duel' across the school grounds. The young boy soon joins in and learns that using your imagination is one of the best ways to have fun. After being spotted by a teacher, the two stop and the boy gives the girl her book back, she accepts. Just as they are both about to walk away, they girl turns to him and asks if he would like to borrow the book, he smiles and gladly accepts.

Short Films - Inspiration

The first film I have chosen is called Time and is 7 minutes long. The film tells of a young boy who has discovered the powers of time travel and changes events in the past to save the future. I like the idea of this film because the idea of time travel is presented very simply. I also liked the location used within the film, especially the forest scene, as it showed the audience the possibility of a futuristic Earth in a natural location. As the film progressed, the reason why the boy used time travel became clear, and I thought that it was a very clever ending in the fact that the boy traveled into the future to save the past/present. I especially liked the tracking shots within the forest, as it is a place that I personally love. The vast environment of the landscape gives scale and depth to the film, not just the setting.

 The second film that I have chosen is called Cargo, and it is also 7 minutes long. The film tells of a father who's wife has been turned into a zombie and he himself has been bitten. With his infant daughter in tow, he must get her to saftey before he turns into a zombie himself and leaves his daughter at risk of being killed. The film has no dialogue and is also quite clever in its narrative. I like how simple yet powerful the narrative is and also like the theme of sacrifice for someone you love in order for survival. One particular shot that I like is when the camera pulls focus on the infected mother, revealing her to be a zombie. The focus pull also showed the mental state of the father, which I also liked and thought was very effective. The make-up used in the short film is also very believable and adds a grotesque feel towards the audience.

   This film is called Sight and involves a heavy amount of special effects. I am inspired to make a film with special effects as I feel that it will be a challenge as I have never used special effects before in any of my films. I also thought that because I want my audience to be a young audience, the special effects will keep their eyes on the screen and help them to be more involved with the narrative.