PLANNING: OUR RADIO TRAILER

Today we mapped out a script and thought about what we wanted to include in the radio trailer. We wanted something sweet and original. We decided to start it off as if it were a story, this instantly gives away the themes of the film and gives a suggestion into the plot line.

Following on from previous research, we had to ensure we stuck to typical codes and conventions that go with a radio trailer and so made sure we included factual information such as what, where, who and what. We also wanted to use our tag line of "Shh quiet in the library" which gives hints as to the genre and style of our film. We followed this up by thinking about using a snippet from the film itself and perhaps using the music from our film or a sound effect taken from it.

I made a Bubbl to show the planning process for making our short film radio trailer. 

 Click here to see the Bubbl.

CONSTRUCTION: MAKING THE FILM TITLES

Today we created the final film titles to appear at the end of the film followed by an official end credit role. We chose to do this electronically as we felt it would look weird and unprofessional to go from our film title appearing electronically to a stop motion real life titles. 

We started by using the sticky note heart we had previously created on Photoshop, and putting the image into PowerPoint. We then added movable sticky notes onto it using screenshots of the sticky note feature on MacBooks. To add text to these we used text boxes which we then placed at angles to fit over the sticky notes and look as if they were written onto the notes. We had to decide on a text font that would work well with our overall look and thought that a handwriting font would look the most effective. 

CONSTRUCTION:CHOOSING A SOUNDTRACK

We decided that we would use a soundtrack that we had found on YouTube and then proceeded to purchase off of Luca Stricagnoli .

 In choosing this soundtrack we had to ensure we purchased the song in order that we were not at risk of being accused of copyright

We felt that this piece of acoustic guitar music fitted with the library scenes more effectively than previous soundtracks we had used.

The Music Video for the soundtrack we have purchased in order to use.

EDITING: FEEDBACK FOCUS GROUP DRAFT 1 OF FILM

After showing the first draft of our film to a small target audience these were some of the comments made by the audience.

This exercise proves both helpful and effective for us as we can now ensure the necessary changes are made to ensure a high quality and successful short film.

PRO'S

• The voice over was really good in sync explain plot could tell what she was thinking
• Really like the different effects cut away editing tell reminiscent
• Looked professional
• Liked that Zack featured in the background out of focus
• Delivers the narrative subtlety
• Like the appearance of the film title on electronic sticky notes

CON'S 

• Not so sure on the music/ needs to be silent in certain moments.
• Some kind of melody appropriate.
• Music in the library needs to fit better with the visuals.
• Noise levels of the library. not able to hear the dialogue between the player and the protagonist. in their initial meeting.
• Dubbing in sound seem fake.
• The reading scene seems to quick and ends abruptly.

Solutions 

• We decided to select an instrumental guitar soundtrack we purchased off of artist Luca Stricagnoli, which provides a soft melody to go over the library scenes.
• We decided to use Iphone application of Voice recorder, to make sure the dialogue was clearly picked up and sounds authentic. 
• We also thought about muting the background noise of the library or perhaps turning it down to ensure that the dialogue is the main sound feature of the scene. 
• We decided to extend the scene by making the final smile photo from the protagonist last longer, we also slowed down the whole scene to symbolise time passing. 

CONSTRUCTION: MAKING THE FILM POSTER

I have made an EMAZE to display my work on my short film poster.

 

PLANNING: EXPERIMENTING WITH OUR FILM TITLES

I have created a PREZI to display the planning that went into the film titles.

CONSTRUCTION: RECORDING THE MONOLOGUE

Today we recorded the monologue to go over the beginning scene. We had to work on expression, pace and timing. So we did a run through initially to get a feel for how to set it up. We had to ensure complete silence whilst we were recording and make sure that Aggie was close enough to the computer so that her voice was clearly picked up and the recording was crisp and of high quality.

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After initially trying the monologue recording, when we heard it played back it sounded odd and warped. We discovered it was because she needed to be closer to the mic and facing it straight on. Due to this I sat with Aggie and told her when to speak each line, so that Aggie could face the mic and focus on the lines and the delivery of them. 


 
Monologue Script

_{I wonder what’s in the romance section...}

_{hang on what’s this , a note..} 

You make time stand still..

Who, What, who left this, is it for me?..

Wait..

There’s more down here..

Awwww how sweet..

My smile? Where did these come from, who left them?...

Here’s another one and its right next to my favorite love story...

And there’s another one down here (laugh)...

These are so adorable.

CONSTRUCTION: ANOTHER COMPANY IDENT

We decided to create a co production company Ident as during our short film research we found that due to a small budget and not being able to have access to the resources a large budget production has,short films usually have more than one production company. As Aggie was missing during the creation of our first production company Ident she made another one to go with ours. To keep in with the genre and theme of our film she made a Ident which features a monkey popping up all around the screen with the production company name of "Monkey Moves Productions" We felt that this humour full company Ident worked well with our other one and stuck to the codes and conventions of short films. 

CONSTRUCTION: MAKING A COMPANY IDENT

The making process for our company Ident:

• We started by sourcing larger Jenga bricks to act as our "building blocks", We then set up a shooting area in our classroom. We connected the HUE camera to the computer and opened Istop motion. We placed a white sheet of paper down onto the desk in order that nothing would interfere with what we were shooting. We then got a desk lamp and used it to flood light over the set, to ensure a high quality of footage. We started by building up the jenga pieces in rows of three and then taking a screenshot and then repeating this process. After we had built a tall enough tower we then started to take away bricks, and then take a screenshot, eventually the tower started to fall and we were left with the collapsed bricks to finish the animation. After successfully filming this we put the footage onto iMovie, where we started to edit it slightly, and add titles to it. We chose to use a simple and clear white font that would appear at the beginning of the Ident. 

I have made a Animoto to display the making process.



Making our company Ident

Here is the finished product:

EDITING: THE OPENING SCENE

Editing this scene was mostly continuity editing and mixing all the different camera angles and shot types together. We decided to place a non diegetic musical track over the initial tracking shot to make the sequence look as if it were a dream sequence. We wanted to show a clear swap of mood between when the girl is in her dream like state, and when she gets knocked down by the guy rushing past her and so we included the diegetic noise of the books hitting the ground, this interrupts the soft music and alters the mood for the audience and the protagonist setting up her first line of dialogue, "why can't real guys be like the men in my stories".

EDITING: THE FINAL SCENE

Today we started editing the final scene to ensure the desired effect on the audience.We wanted an ending to fit with our genre of romance and so following the codes and conventions we had to ensure a happy outcome for the protagonist.

We started by selecting the best footage we had gotten and trimming it down so that one camera shot type flowed and fitted in with the next. For the pan up shot and the two person close up shot we wanted to hold the audience in suspense and so we chose to slow motion the clip, which made the footage look more romantic and effective.

The final bit of editing we did was add non diegetic music over the top of this footage to add to its overall romantic look and suggest to the audience that the protagonist has found love and happiness and all is well in her world just like in her fantasy stories.

CONSTRUCTION: MAKING A WEBSITE,FACEBOOK,TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM PAGE

Our target audience of younger women use social media in every aspect of their lives, making these platforms an obvious source of information about films such as mine. Therefore I have used these platforms to promote our film.

Below is the SLIDESHARE that I made to display the research and work involved with creating a Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram page.




Here is the live link to our TWITTER page.


Here is the live link to our FACEBOOK page.


 TWITTER:

 FACEBOOK:

CONSTRUCTION: FEEDBACK

When we invited feedback on the first cut of our finished film, one major criticism was the way that the film started: we went straight into the female protagonist talking to herself as she waked around the library. The issues raised included:

• the voice over comes in rather abruptly
• the context is not yet established
• the audience does not know how they are supposed to 'read' the text, that is, how we should feel towards the girl
• we intend the audience's reading of the text to be in sympathy with the girl (the preferred reading)

So we devised an additional scene to place before the old opening scene, It improves our narrative in a number of ways:

•  Its slows down the opening, to allow the viewer time to take in the setting and situation and work out the context, whilst also giving us time to lead up to the voice over. 
• It positions the protagonist as helpless and unnoticed, when she gets knocked into by a boy.
• It suggests that the girl is looking for love, through the books she is carrying and her daydream like state. 
• It clearly expresses how we want to position the protagonist and our preferred reading.