Friday 2 October 2015

The Final Blog

Closing my blog on a funny note. Here is the bloopers of my short film "Dream".

Wednesday 6 May 2015

A2 Short Film: Dream

This is my A2 short film.




Question 4 Part 2

New Digital Media is rising, it has changed the way how media is viewed in the different forms in the media industry from TV, radio and posters. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have enabled a faster way of synergy to change the way of promoting. Due to this expansion, people around the world are enabled to view content faster than TV advert viewings for example. On the other hand, new digital media is  still growing and only being  recent to others however it has changed the way users see it with the change of synergy as it has increased the capabilities of the media industry today. 

David Gauntlett in 2007 states: 

"New digital media have fundamentally changed the ways in which we engage with all the media"

Evaluation: Question 4 Part 1

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?



Tuesday 5 May 2015

Question 3 Part 7

From my audience feedback, I've learnt that my short film has created a positive impact towards my target audience. From most of my questionnaire feedback, the plot was understandable and one admired the use of no music in the opening scene as it "made you question what will happen next?". I've identified that due to the age rate of the cast it made  interest to my target audiences age group that made a positive approach. Responses like "inspirational" and others have agreed it looks professional shows I have obtained my intention of making a understandable and fluent short film.

Question 3 Part 6

Open Questionnaire

1.       How old are you?

                16

2.       Male or Female?

            Female


3.       Did you enjoy the short film?

 Yes I really enjoyed the short film.

4.       What was your favourite part from the short film?

My favourite part was when Joe was dreaming in his bedroom in the middle of the film.


5.       What was your opinion on the storyline?

I liked the idea of the storyline and found it very interesting how it was based on a true story.


6.       What was your opinion on the choice of locations?

I felt that the choice of location suited the storyline and age of the actors.

7.       How was the acting by the characters in the short film?

The acting was solid and very professional

8.       Would you recommend this to others and why?

I would recommend this as it shows true dedication and grief of a loved one. It aspires teenagers to fulfil their dreams and to overcome obstacles in life.


9.       What was most effective?

The most effective was when Joe was standing behind stage at the end of the stage gaining full confidence reaching his goal. Seeing David, the director, was good also how he told him good luck and “Make him proud”. 

10.   What was your least favourite part in the short film?

My least favourite part in the short film was when Joe was practicing in the living room.

Question 3 Part 5


Open Questionnaire

1.       How old are you?

2.       Male or Female?

3.       Did you enjoy the short film?

4.       What was your favourite part from the short film?

5.       What was your opinion on the storyline? 

6.       What was your opinion on the choice of locations?

7.       How was the acting by the characters in the short film?

8.       Would you recommend this to others and why?

9.       What was most effective?

10.   What was your least favourite part in the short film?

Question 3: Part 4


Closed Questionnaire
How old are you?
16
Male or Female?
Female
Did you like the short film?
Yes
Did you enjoy the storyline?
Yes
Was the storyline clear to follow?
Yes
Would you recommend this to others?
Yes (Already have)
From 1-10 how would you rate the acting in the short film?
9
What did you enjoy the most?
·         Music choice

Do you think it looks professional?
Yes

Question 3 Part 3

Closed Questionnaire


  1. How old are you?
  2. Male or Female?
  3. Did you like the short film?
  4. Did you enjoy the storyline?
  5. Was the storyline clear to follow?
  6. Would you recommend this to others?
  7. From 1-10 how would you rate the acting in the short film?
  8. What did you enjoy the most?

·         Acting

·         Music choice

·         Camera shots

·         Narrative None

       9. Do you think it looks professional?

Friday 1 May 2015

Question 3 Part 2



Evaluation: Question 3 Part 1



Question 3 of my evaluation is: What have you learned from audience feedback?

This is part 1 out of my audience response. Jack was a cast member and I allowed him to see the full film to see what the final product is and to see his views about the film.

Evaluation: Question 2

How effective is the combination of your media product and ancillary texts?


Wednesday 29 April 2015

Evaluation Question 1

I have started my evaluation for my short film, ancillary task and the progress of the whole task. My first question is:

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


Saturday 18 April 2015

Dream (Draft)



This is my draft version of my short film. I will evaluate my work once i have completed the final version. i have an alternative ending to my newer version which i will discuss based on the storyline. I'll also evaluate the comparisons of my case studies to my film and also talk about how i was influenced.

Friday 6 March 2015

Rough Draft

Some scenes do need redo. However this scene came out better than i imagined when i edited it.  A rough draft will be uploaded and a newer version will be uploaded also it has been finished.

So far, so good

Only two more scenes need to be filmed to complete my short film. These scenes are only walking and exiting locations so they aren't as important as other scenes. The other day i organised filming and booked a meeting room in school to film the read through scene. This went out well as it was fluent and a group of people were willing to help.

Saturday 28 February 2015

Ancillary Task: Stylistic Influences

 
I decided to change my stylistic influence towards Little White Lies magazine as I found their layout to their reviews more attractive to my other influence. I started to change my layout and got the measurements for my review which are:
 
Height: 19.4cm
Width: 24.4cm
 
They also have a box at the bottom right corner of the page with three different opinions towards the film that have been reviewed. This allows comments from the reviewer to be shown but three certain aspects. Anticipation, Enjoyment and Retrospect.

Friday 27 February 2015

Ancillary Task: Review Part 5


Repositioning the text and image. I managed to allow space for the two. I also added a quote from the review on top of the image to hint what the story is based on.

Ancillary Task: Review Part 4

 
So far, this is what the review looks like importing the image. I have some issues with positioning the text and the image.

Ancillary Task: Review Part 3

 
This is the image I will use for the review. It captures the main issue the character faces in the short film. Hints what is wrong with character and the review allows the reader to understand another obstacle in his way.

Ancillary Task: Review Part 2

 

 
After placing my review onto InDesign, I placed it in three columns to spread the information across the page. I left space for an image to go above to have a screenshot of the short film.

Ancillary Task: Review Part 1

The new drama "Dream" has hit the internet dramatically the past week as the story of teenagers issues and inspirations mix in this short film has created such a hype online. Starring Joe Donnison playing the difficult role with the short film written, filmed and even edited by David Connelly.


The story of the issues and inspirations mix together and form a difficult pathway for a teenager as he deals with the odd balance of happenings in his teenage stage.

With the internet ringing with response over the short film, many teenagers suffer the issue of loss and may lose their selves. The film is based towards a young and older audience due to its plot. Most seem Drama is a popular genre to be viewed. So for this plot to be into a drama, it was a strong pair.

Writer David Connelly discusses his views and how he portrays his pathway into a five minute piece.

"I wanted to tell a story, nothing too dark and nothing fantasy like. I thought this through with a lot of care and how to portray what a person would feel. However its not all doom and gloom for Joe’s character, his ‘dream’ gives him hope in success. This is the stir of the story."

The production of this film was short and sweet, it was mostly Connelly and Donnison working together for this film. It was tough for the two as their commitments belonged to other things as well so filming was on and off at times. The filming began December and came to an end in late January. The film was uploaded as soon as the editing was complete.

The views came in incredibly after a few days and started to grow after a week. It’s even been stated to be used as a film for those in a situation of loss to give inspiration. The BFI London Film festival got involved as the short film was played, it even invited down Connelly and Donnison for a panel to discuss what it was like to have this opportunity. The two received an award, the writer received "Best Drama Short Film" and the actor "Strong Performance 2015".


During production, Donnison stated it was a difficult role he took on.

"He guided me with how to feel but yet not allow me to picture myself really in the situation. We had this technique that I found helpful for us both with the script and my skills. We filmed David’s directions then another shot with what my own. Then compare the two."

Connelly did admit directing this film wasn’t easy as he believed he had to be careful.

"Like the script, you’ve got to be careful. I picked Joe because of his capabilities and I wanted to push them. He amazed me and blew my expectations."

Donnison played a difficult role of a teenager experiencing loss but however his dream of performing comes into his life as he’s offered not just a part but the main role in his schools show. Seeing flashbacks on his past that makes sense, we see him deal with his unstable emotions. Joe fights his feelings and copes with things a way you would not believe. The emotional, good feel factor short film has received strong results and made the actor and writer sit back and relax on the thought they succeeded on their goals.

I believe this film presents such a strong piece of drama. The realism shown in this short film holds success and nothing better than a writer and directing take control and give out advice towards an actor. It is something which I advise to those for inspiration.

Ancillary Task: Poster Part 6

 
Finally,  I removed the black tape on the stage floor. It looks rough so far but I will adjust it. I then made the text bigger to read underneath the title.

Ancillary Task: Poster Part 5


Adding another industry involved with my short film. I also painted the bottom of the stage black as it was a lighter shade and made it slightly difficult to read the texts. The black background makes the texts easier to read especially with the colour being white. 

Ancillary Task: Poster Part 4



 
After playing around with the settings of the images quality, brightness, contrast etc. I managed to create a black fade around the border of the poster, this is to allow more attention directly to the centre of the page. I also used a lens flare to create a spotlight effect.
 Filter >Render> Lens Flare.

Ancillary Task: Poster Part 3

 
Once I started to place the quotes, the film industry logo, credits I started to feel the poster was coming together quite well. Although the texts create an impact but the photo however doesn't seem to reach out. This was the next step in my development.

Ancillary Task: Poster Part 2

 
I started to import the title and centre it at the bottom of the page. I'm happy with the titles effect on the poster so far, however I find it doesn't fit somehow with the photo.

Ancillary Task: Poster Part 1

 
 
This is the photo for my Ancillary Task poster. I few issues being with the seats of the stage being pushed back, the stage floor have a mixture of colours. Joe is wearing a purple shirt so I thought to use a black and white effect t o hide it. Also to foreshadow the colours and mood of the short film.

Friday 30 January 2015

Filming Issues


We filmed the final scene the other day due to the theatre being free. Unfortunately we experienced a few issues. One being the lighting of the room, it caused an issue of the quality of the footage. Another was the sound quality. This scene includes two lines of dialogue unlike the others focus on body language. This was because i didn't have the boom mic, so this will be used as a draft to have an idea how long the whole piece is so far. Once all the other scenes are filmed, i will film this again. Plus i will sort out any possible lighting on the stage and backstage to make it look like an actual show will begin to create a more realistic point of view.

Friday 16 January 2015

Location: Cemetery Entrance


Location used to film flashbacks scene of the funeral. I did not use any close up shots or any shots at all showing gravestone names or any used in the scene. This was for a respectful reason. My main intention however is to make a scene that tells the audience what has happened with hints than having an obvious reason right in front of them.

Filming Update



More filming has been completed and edited. Most of the flashback scenes were filmed and start to make the footage flow, adding sense to the story. 

Ancillary Task: Review


Ancilary Task: Poster

 
This is a draft version of the poster. The issue was due to the setting of the stage as we didn't have the opportunity to have a spotlight on Joe and with the seats come out to look like an audience is about to come in. I will take a new picture next week as the setting will be ready.

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Ancillary Task: Poster Update

 
This is the basics of my poster so far for my ancillary task. The next thing I need to do is take a picture of my model and the backdrop to start to make a lot more progress.

Sunday 4 January 2015

Script Update

After going through my script i decided to remove dialogue in some scenes as it may cause the short film to go over its set time, five minutes. i have completed the script now and set to continue filming this week coming.