Friday 5 February 2010

Planning Coursework - Short Film Ideas

For my coursework I am working with Matt Pettifer. We have chosen the short film idea, as we feel it will benifit us most becuause we have already experimented in this area and enjoyed it. Looking at the conventions of short films I've discovered that they often start at an eqilibrium, something happens to disrupt this then returns to an equilibirum by the end and also include a variety of different shots. Our ideas our only very vague at the moment and need to be discussed and finalised first.

Representation - Our initial idea was to base it around social class. We will include two main characters around the age of sixteen. They both go to the same secondary school but have very different backgrounds and home lives which therefore is leading them to get treated very differently in school. They don't know eachother well, however the equilibrium is disrupted by something happening and eventually they will meet. By meeting, they will discover the differences in their lives but also the common similarities. This is representation of how social class can have an affect on your life but the message being that social class doesn't matter in friendships, everybody has things in common.

Institution - The institution is clealy Film, but the sub genre of a short film. I think it would create the best impact if it was shown in secondary schools, targeted at the audience we catered it for. It could work alongside an anti-bullying campaign and even shown in 'Anti-Bullying Week, noramlly at the end of November. It could be shown next to adverts like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMAu09MZa3s.
We want the film to be shown as a realist film, similar to Adulthood and This is England. It is not going to be a clean polished film because we feel it will get through to the audience better this way. It acts as a shock tactic by telling the truth.

Values - The film is going to need skilled camera work so me and Matt will organise slots of times to work on the film with extra incase things need to be fixed at the end like in our short film 'The Package'. We will also need a co-operative cast, who will be our friends willing to work for us.

Audience - This film would be given a certificate '15' as we want it to appeal to the age of the characters. It is not going to be very violent or contain swearing but may deal with bullying and depression so would not appeal to a younger audience. By making the film in a realist way it should hopefully have more of an impact on the audience so they can relate.
By showing representation of social class, and how it makes a difference to your life we want the film to leave an impact on the audience, they can decode the text to find the message teaching them to not be shallow or naive when making judgements of people. It shows that everyone should be treated equally and that even with contrasting backgrounds you can still have lots of similarities too.

Language - The music and the body language is going to play a big role in the moods of the film as there will not be a lot of speaking. ALso the use of camera edits and things like zooming on objects of importance like an expensive watch etc. to exaggerate the differences between the lower and higher social class. And two contrasting shots like the lower class character running for the bus to school and missing it while the higher class character drives past.

Ideology - The film will deal with real issues in society that affect lots of people. Things like bullying because of class, depression, neglection from families and how broken families can affect school life. The main agenda being to teach the audience to not be judgemental of people and teat everyone equally. We are displaying this message through class, however it is the same for gender inequality, racism, nationalism (like This is England) etc. We want to tackle some of these issues, make a real film, not one that escapes reality.

Narrative - The story will be set over a typical day for the characters. It will start by showing the two children in their homes, using the camera to exaggerate the differences in their lives – the way they ineract with their family, their houses and the areas they live in. There won’t be much talking, just a natural type of interaction.
Then the story will show the two different characters on their journeys to school and clips from their school day, showing their status in school and interaction with friends. Perhaps also, how well they are doing in school.
The school day ends and two contrasting characters end up meeting by co-incidence or an accident resulting in them discovering the differences in their lives, but more importantly the differences similarities between them. It then creates the desired impact on the audience without being too harsh.

Genre - Looking at the paradigms of the film it will be catergorised in the 'Drama' title, one of the broadest genres.The characters face conflict at crucial moment in their lives - a convention of a drama. It revolves around families and everyday life, dealing especially with emotions. The theme of the film is about social class but this will be shown through events happening throughout the film and a change in equilibrium. The structure will be shaped around the conventions of a drama. As i said before, it will be a realist film impacting on the iconography of the drama to create the most impact and look slightly like a documentary in the way it describes the two different lives through the camera work.

3 comments:

  1. Well done Grace, this is exacly what I wanted you to do. To further develop this so you are working at an A profile you would do further research into theories of narrative structure, representation etc. You also need to re-consider t5he genre you are placing your film in. Check to see which genre the comparable films are in. Re-draft asap.

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  3. Hi Grace, I think you need to push a bit harder to get the A you need. I need to see evidence of key concept research i.e. some explanation of the theory behind the concept and then how this will work for your product. Do you follow the theories/conventions or challenge them?

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