The chosen one!

The idea I have decided to go with idea 3 - coffee shop daydream. Its the concept I think I can do the best, I have access to appropriate locations and actors suited to the roll. I really like the idea of the parody aspects, especially of the romantic comedy genre as I feel it is so over done and contains so many cliches. I need to think about the idea in relation to the 5 theoretic concepts in order to make it more 3 dimensional.


1. Genre

My short film idea encompasses several genres. It is parody of the romantic-comedy genre. The set up (the male main character walking into the cafe, seeing the girl) will be all serious with no hint of comedy. Only when the daydream sequence of the film starts will to parody aspect come in. It will be a montage of classic rom-com situations but either ridiculous, over the top or with the characters in the opposite roles to what would be expected. For example, the couple will be curled up on the sofa together watching a sad film but the male will be cuddling a cushion in tears rather than the female. This plays with the audiences expectations and turns the romantic-comedy conventions upside down nd creating the comedy aspect.

2. Narrative

I explained my idea in an earlier post (Initial Ideas Part 3) and the order of events is quite simple, however I have not yet decided the order of the montage scenarios.

The film will take this structure:

The first minute and a half will be in the cafe establishing the location and the situation. It would start with the main character entering the cafe, maybe an establishing shot of the exterior. He would walk through, and order a drink. Whilst waiting for his beverage me will see the girl, this is when the inner monologue will start. He will proceed to sit down away from the woman and steal glimpses of her. Commenting in his head about her appearance and the conclusions he can draw from it, i.e from what she is reading, her shoes and so on. The camera will then pan upwards and with a white fade transition shift to the next segment of the film. 

Between 1.30 and 4 minutes will be the main characters imagination. This is when the parodies of the romantic comedy will appear. I have yet to decide which ones will feature and hope to gain insight through my audience research. The visuals will be accompanied by non-diegetic soundtrack. 

The final minute will feature the main character returning from his imagination and deciding (communicated through the voiceover of his inner monolouge) to go and approach the woman. However, as he gets closer another male character gets to her first and sits down. The main character changes direction as if he planned to walk the other way all along, he curses under his breath possibly saying "not again" before leaving the cafe. 

3. Audience

My target audience will be both men and women aged between 16 to 25. I feel this age may be able to relate to the main character as at that age love and relationships are more relevant than before and a lot of people after this age tend to be in a relationship. Everyone in that age gap has been single and either known or seen some one they find attractive and maybe never acted on it, thus can relate to the feelings of the main character. It's important that they don't take pity on him, I don't want the audience to feel sorry for him too much because the tone of the film is quite light hearted. I think my short film would appeal to both genders, females because of the romantic comedy connection, rom-coms have a mostly female audience. Similarly I think it will appeal to males because of the parody aspect, making fun of films they may see as silly and unrealistic. 

4. Representation

   

The three characters in my film need to be presented in a particular way to create a persona to the audience. This way they can make the assumptions I want them to. It's important to get this right because with a short film I don't have the luxury of time to tell back story of the characters my self. 

The main character

He is a likeable person, an average guy. Not unintelligent, sweet and innocent. I need to convey this at near enough first glance. To do this will be difficult, but not impossible. The first thing the audience will make assumptions on is how he looks. The characters costume will probably be just every day clothes, perhaps a patterned shirt over tee shirt. I'd like him to wear glasses, straight away hinting at imperfection and vulnerability. His inner monologue will reveal more about his personality and this will need to be well written. It will hint at his self doubting nature, he will assume (at first) that he wouldn't have a chance with her or that she won't like him. I think this is something most people particularly the target audience could relate to.  

The love interest

She will be intriguing to both the main character and the audience. Quirky isn't the right word to describe the look I want this character to have, I want her to be different. Striking. The actress I have in mind has the most wonderful slightly curled hair, long eyelashes and just an overall beautifully interesting way about her. This is exactly what I want my character to be. She will be first seen sitting in the corner of the coffee shop on her own reading a book. I have yet to decide what book but it will be complex, most likely a classic. What ever it is the man will comment on it through his thoughts. 

The second man

It's wrong to call him the antagonist as he doesn't consciously ruin our characters plan and he doesn't mean to. It's just the main characters bad fortune, he spent too long day dreaming and someone had the same idea. Because of this he will be presented fairly similarly to the main character in terms of looks. He is just an average guy in everyday clothes. Not much more will be revealed about this character because the film isn't about him. 

5. Editing

I have several ideas for editing and sound and so on. For example when the day dream montage starts, I want to signify this clearly. I plan to use the same technique uses in the short film 'Easy Reader' which I analysed in a earlier post. The main character looks upwards, the camera then pans upwards and fades to white. The subsequent shot will fade from white signifying these images aren't reality. Also this is when there will either be a change in music or the only music of the sequence will start.

I have yet to decide on the music, I have been playing around on the program Garage Band to get a feel for it and it has great potential. But, composing is by no means my strong point. As it stands I may ask my friend Arabella if she can compose something for me. She is the incredibly talented musician that composed the soundtrack for my AS media project, an opening sequence to a film. 

The next step is audience research, but to do this I need to better identify my target audience...

Initial Ideas Part 5

My final idea is rather more serious than the others. It centres around a subject I have had first hand experiences of and I feel I could make a really worthwhile film that could help people understand it.

5. Quirks of OCD

Genre: Drama

The idea in a sentence - A woman with OCD explains her daily life to her therapist.

The film would start with the main character entering a therapists office. The therapist asks how she is and the patient sits down and says "I'm...well, it's tough" (or something along those lines).
A montage would begin depicting the situations the woman is describing as a voice over on top of the visuals.  This would show how she is misunderstood and highlight many peoples ignorance or misconceptions of Obsessive compulsive disorder.

Possible situations in the montage

• Main character not being able to shake someone's hand. The other character thinks she is just being rude. 
• Washing her hands a lot. 
• Using anti-bacterial gel to enable her to use things (like door handles for instance).
• Having a cup of tea from the same mug at the same time every day -A daily ritual where she becomes distressed if she can't do it. 
• Having labelled tooth brushes, one for each day. 
• Having a bowl of mixed cereal but sorting each component into groups.
• Keeping things on her desk straight. 
• Taking prescribed medication whilst she explains that she doesn't think it helps.
• People telling her to pull herself together

The end of the film would feature no resolution reflecting that there is no cure. The main character would just be sitting in the chair, still with the therapist and say something like "And it's just really hard, I'm so tired..." before the screen fades to black.   

Character representation 

The main character - Its important the she is presented as a usual person with no outstanding differences from anyone else apart from her behaviour in the montage. This is due to the nature of the disorder - the symptoms aren't clear. This is why so much stigma surrounds the disorder; people don't understand it because they can't see it. 

Possible problems 

• The biggest problem would probably be me. I think throughout the process any criticism received may come across a bit personal making it hard for me to focus on the film from a media point of view rather than a personal one. 

Initial Ideas Part 4

I came up with this idea over the holidays, the inspiration comes from watching my Mum knitting. She seems to be knitting in all of her spare time.

4. The life of  Knit-aholic

Genre: Mockumentary

The Idea - The main character is a knitting enthusiast who devotes hours of her day to the craft. The mockumentary will follow a her life from day to day and how her addiction effects her. Lots of  metaphors to other obsessions would be made by the voice over. The five minute film would feature several situations such as:

• The main character at a wool shop looking into the window, or visiting a wool stall on the local market. As she does this the voice over will refer to the stall holder as her 'supplier'. 
• She would talk to the camera/interviewer as she visits a weekly 'Knit and natter' group where she meets with other knitters. The group would be late and she'd start to worry with increasing intensity. 
• Undercover cameras would catch her looking in the windows of wool shops and looking at knitted items people are wearing as they walk past. 
• The film crew visits her house and she has knitted things every where - seat covers, blankets, jumpers and tea cosys among other things. She will tell the camera how her family loves her knitting, but interviews with family members would reveal the extent of her obsession. 
• In the end her family stages an intervention.                   

Character representation

 The main character - She would be a middle aged woman who's interests include only knitting. To convey this the mis-en-scene would reflect her hobby. For example she would wear knitted clothes and have knitting things (such as balls of wool and needles) laying around the house in abundance. Her demeanor would be fairly relaxed and her attitude would be that she doesn't have an obsession with knitting, she treats it as a healthy hobby. 

Her Family - These characters would be at their wits end with the main characters knitting. She could have a daughter that is bullied at school because she only wears knitted clothes. There could also be a husband that is really worried about her growing obsession. 

Potential problems

• Finding an actress that is the right age to portray the lead character could be difficult. I know lots of talented actors but they are all a similar age to me. 

Initial Ideas Part 3

This is my third idea and stands out by a long shot in my mind. I think it has the potential to make a really sweet and funny short film.

3. Coffee shop daydream

Genre: Romance - It will have a romantic theme throughout
           Comedy - The film will feature a comedic twist at the end
           Spoof - I want to produce a parody of situations in and conventions of romantic films.

The idea - A guy will walk into a coffee shop and sit down. Across the room he sees a beautiful girl similar in age. The camera pans upwards into a white transition to the next shot. He daydreams, imagining what it would be like if they were dating. This segment of the film would be a montage of situations featuring the pair, these could include things like:

• The couple having dinner - sitting opposite each other, sharing dinner and going for the same thing. 
• A walk in the park - feeding ducks and such things. I want to do a piece here where they are spinning round and use point of view shots to show their faces. 
• Watching a film cuddled up on the sofa - The man hiding behind a cushion at a scary instance of the film. 
• On swings - Children waiting in a line beside the swing for a go whilst the couple oblivious to the children are smiling and laughing on the swing.  

He returns from his imagination and musters up the courage to go over and talk to her. As he approaches her realises whilst he was deliberating whether to go over and doubting himself another man has already got there first. The main character swiftly changes direction and leaves the cafe.

Character representation

The man - He will be a typical teenage/young adult. He may come across as a kind of hopeless romantic but predominately he will be a nervous, self doubting character. For example he will be unsure about going over to the girl and hesitant to act, hence at first he just imagines what could happen.  This could be presented with an inner monologue communicating his thoughts to the audience. 

The girl - A beautiful intelligent woman, quite reserved just sitting out of the way in the corner of the cafe and could go unnoticed. She will be reading a book, minding her own business only becoming aware that the man is looking at her when they momentarily exchange a glance. Her character needs to have an air of mystery about her, to intrigue both the male character and the audience. The male character could communicate his opinions of her building a a picture of what she is like by what she is doing, wearing, drinking etc. 

The other man - He will not be a dislikeable character despite him disrupting the main characters actions, instead he will just heighten the commiseration felt for the main character. 

Possible Problems

• Regarding locations I presume I will need to get permission form the owner of the coffee shop to film there. I haven't had to do this before and I'm not sure how easy to find an establishment that will let me film will be.  

Initial Ideas Part 2

I now have several ideas for my short film but I'm not sure any of them are developed enough to span 5 minutes and still be interesting. Here is another one of my ideas (and note these titles are for reference, the finished product would be called something completely different).

The inspiration for this idea came from... Brian Griffin and Peep Show.

2. The inner mind of my dog (Dog/Peep Show/Family Guy)

Genre: Comedy

Basically, the idea is a day in the life of a dog. However, the video becomes more interesting and unique is how I plan to present this. My idea is telling the story of a dogs daily routine but in a way similar to the techniques of Peep show - this involves lots of point of view shots and using inner monologues.

Character representation
The Dog -  The dog will have a similar demeanour to the character of Brian in Family Guy. For example Brian holds extremely complex views regarding subjects such as politics and yet when he sees his reflection in the mirror he believes it's another dog. So he will be really intelligent but still hold the personality and interests of a dog, this will be expressed through the dogs inner monologue, actions and attitudes.

The owner/s - The dog would live with its owners. These characters will be totally oblivious to the dogs intelligence and treat him like a typical pet, for example talking to him in a simplified fashion and in a playful tone.

Possible problems:

• The saying "never work with children or animals" exists for a reason. Getting the dog to do what I want to do could be challenging. 
• I might be way off the mark and what I think comes across as funny might not to other people.  

This was one of my earlier ideas and I have gone through phases of liking and not liking it. I'm still not sure about it at the minute. I don't think I will use this idea for my final film. 

Textual analysis of Leeroy Jenkins

I've spent a lot of time analysing these short films and I've purposely tried to use five films with very different features, genres and themes in order to form more of an idea about what type of film I would like to make. For my final analysis I am looking at a film that is based on a viral video called Leeroy Jenkins. But before I talk about the sort film it may help to explain the origins of the story. 

Background information
The original video has amassed over thirty one thousand views on Youtube since being uploaded in 2006. The three minute long video is footage of game play from the online multiplayer game World of Warcraft. In the video a group of players are concocting a very detailed battle plan whilst one of the group (Leeroy) is away from their computer. Leeroy returns  and oblivious to the proposed strategy he storms into the battle roaring his own name. In doing so he jeopardises the attack causing the whole team to die in battle much to the annoyance of the other players.

This short film takes that situation and characters and applies it to a real world situation.

Title: Leeroy Jenkins: Reimagined as a short film
Diraector: Finn O'Hara

Narrative
In this short film four characters are undercover outside a bank planning a heist. Leeroy, disguised as a hot dog vendor is asked by a member of the public for a hot dog, not wanting to break cover revealing he isn't actually who he is posing to be Leeroy serves her. As he does this he drops his walkie talkie (his only means of communication with the other three) into some water, causing it to malfunction. Jamaal, Ritter and Abdhul are discussing the plan whilst Leeroy serves this woman and is attempting to fish out his walkie talkie from the water. When he finally retrieves it it's not working properly and only emits some of what his accomplices are saying. Leeroy hears the word "Go" thinking it was a signal to move when in reality it was part of Jamaal saying that he would go in first. Leeroy pulls a balaclava over his face and as he runs past the two security guards and lets out an almighty battle cry, screaming his name he enters the bank and alarms go off. The other three guys can't quite believe what he has done and leave the scene.

Characters
I'm going to split the numerous characters up into three groups to analyse: the gang, the others and then there's also Leeroy, he is a group of his own.

The gang
 This group consists of three characters: Jamaal, Abduhl and Ritter. These are the men who along with Leeroy are planning to rob the bank.

• Jamaal - Jamaal is the ring leader organising the heist, he is instructing the others through his walkie talkie making sure they have everything and know everything they need to for the plan to work. This character is out of sight on a rooftop all dressed in black - a typical representation of what you would expect a bank robber to look like.

• Ritter - Dressed as a street sweeper he is undercover on the street. Not only is he in place ready for action he responds to Jamaal and is attentive to the job in hand. 

• Abduhl - Dressed as an electrician working outside the bank he also is the one in the group who works out a success rate, showing he is a useful member of the team. 

Leeroy

From the start the audience can tell even without any prior knowledge that this character may be the downfall of the team. He is presented as unprofessional though his costume, from the first shot if him panning upwards we see his shirt is too small exposing his stomach. Unlike the others he has to reach for his walkie talkie rather than having it as part of his outfit and within hearing distance. He also has an overly excitable expression on his face as he responds to Jamaal. 

Leeroy could be identified as the antagonist in the film as he is the character who disrupts the plan, albeit in an unconventional way is at was not his intention to do so. 

Other characters

The guards are the authority figures in the film which the robbers need to overcome to ensure the robbery is successful. They represent law and order and also power in the film as they are what will ultimately ruin the plan if it were to go wrong. 

The over the shoulder/two shot shows one of the security guards facial expressions and feelings towards Leeroy running into the bank, he is less thank impressed. The guards don't even bother chasing after him because they can tell how unplanned and laughable his attempt at robbery is. 

Finally there is the woman who orders a hot dog from Leeroy, believing he is a real vendor. She is a very minor character only featuring in one shot but her involvement results in the failure of the plan: because she talks to Leeroy he accidentally knocks his walkie talkie into the water causing it to malfunction. There is nothing particularly eye-catching about her, she is a passer-by dressed in everyday clothes. 

Locations

The film take place in a typical city street, with the characters stationed at different points. Jamaal is on a rooftop overlooking the street whilst the other members of the gang are at their designated undercover spots at ground level. The location as a whole looks very grey, the lighting is quite low-key. This reflects similar films particularly of the action and thriller genres.
Having one location but making it an intricate one with multiple levels reflects the amount of planning the characters have undergone within the narrative, it shows how well thought out the plan was. 

Cinematography

• Lots of camera movement - Not many of the shots are completely steady, this give the impression that the filming was done under over. Of course, it wasn't as this is a planned film with actors, but it reflects the undercover nature of the characters within the story. 

• Half in focus shots & Concealed action - Similarly to the unsteady shots these shots also reflect the fact that the characters are undercover. This shot depicts what Jamaal is looking at and in turn showing that he is hidden from the view of the guards. 

Similarly as Ritter is making his 'casual' exit half the shot consists of an out of focus wall or drainpipe (I can't quite tell) again obscuring the view of the character keeping with the theme of being undercover.

• Close ups - Close up shots are used of the characters face to show their emotions. In this film a side on close up of Jamaals face is the final shot, this amplifies to the audience his disappointment along with his disbelief over what Leeroy has just done. 

Editing

• Eyeline match - The eyeline match is a continuity technique used to show what characters are looking at. In this sequence Jamaal is shown looking through some binoculars and the following shots shows the audiene just what he sees. This technique along with other continuity techniques helps the narrative flow and the film appear continuous to the audience. 

•  Quick cuts - When Leeroy runs towards the bank letting out his battle cry lots of quick cuts are used and the shots don't last more than a second. This conveys the pace of the action to the audience along with perhaps the confusion of the other characters. 

• Slow cuts - Slow cuts and shots that last longer are also used in the film, again they show the pace of the action but instead it being fast (like when Leeroy is running) it conveys a much slower pace. The leisurely speed of the shots reflects the time taken to plan the heist and the amount of thought and planning required to pull it off. 

Sound

Subtle non-diegetic backing music is present throughout the film. Its very similar to the type of music featured in spy films: it's not melodic and features mainly percussion instruments. The music starts out barely audible and quite slow but gains speed as the film goes and the plan is constructed before becoming silent as Leeroy enters the bank. At that point the alarm sounds. As the other characters leave the scene similar but differing music starts up again accompanied by diegetic police siren sound effects.

Titles
The only titles in the film appear at the start and do not include anyone other than the director Finn O'Hara. This is followed by information on the video: "(Finn O'Hara) Took a viral video and turned it into a short film" and then the title. These minimal titles do not detract focus from the film but at the same time failing to follow such conventions seems a bit unprofessional to me. Not only that is seems a bit self indulgent, creating the impression that only the director created the film when it took a whole team of people to make.

My thoughts
This short film primarily appealed to me because it was based on the viral video but it turns out it was a good short film by itself. It was well made and appears to be well thought out..  I'm not sure the genre really appeals to me as something I would like to make, although it was successfully done here I think making a spy/thriller type film would prove difficult for me. This comes down to one main reason: it would be really hard to make it look genuine. Failing to make it realistic would result in it being unintentionally laughable, which quite frankly would be a disaster. 

Textual analysis of It's a dogs life

Title: It's a Dogs Life

Directors: Kate McCoid and Oliver Evans 

Narrative

It's a dogs life is a short film telling the story of the breakdown of a relationship through the eyes of a dog. 

The film starts with the male character bringing his girlfriend into their flat where their new puppy is waiting for her, she's really happy and they are both excited about this new member of their family. From the following shots it is clear to see the characters have busy lives, they pass each other in the morning without exchanging more than two words to each other. The woman says goodbye to the dog and hurries off.

Later the man returns but gives the dog a treat but has no time to play with him or care for him properly. This cycle repeats: the people come in, have no time for the puppy and leave. The dog becomes distressed and starts misbehaving, this adds to the strain on the couples relationship which is worsening. The relationship deteriorates to the point that the woman moves out and the dog is given up and placed into kennels. 

Enigma codes

The film poses questions that aren't answered in the sequence, they leave the audience questioning and thinking about the film after its finished. 

• What else is going on in their lives to cause strain on their relationship?
• What happens to the dog after he is given up?
• Why did they get the dog in the first place?

Locations

The film takes place in only two locations: the flat and kennels.

The majority of the film is set in the couples flat with the finale scene taking place in the kennels/rescue centre. Having one main location highlights (in this case) the lack of time and understanding the couple have for the dog. You never see him anywhere else, out for a walk or on a trip to the vets. They seem to have no idea of how to care for this dog leading the audience to believe that he could be a cause for their relationship deteriorating. The dog is always in the same part of the flat re-enforcing the feel of reppetitiveness in his life.

The final two scenes are set in the kennels. The pen the dog is placed in has a bar covered entrance resembling a prison. The pen is also small, dull and bare - not a desirable place to be by any ones standards.  It's really very much open to interpenetration why he is there, but the bleak location creates the impression the dog is to blame. However  he has ended up there through no real fault of his own but through bad circumstances of his owners.


Characters
The three main characters in this film are divided, each causes conflict with the other. The four characters in the film are:

This is the couple that own the dog. They are a typical representation of a modern couple, average looking, living in a nice home with what at first appears to be an average relationship. Both of them lead busy lives driven by work and naively purchase this puppy without looking ahead or preparing themselves.
Believable and relatable characters makes the whole film more believable and adds weight to the message behind it.

The main character is the dog. The film is shot almost entirely in first person form the dogs point of view. He is the victim in the film, suffering due to the couples attitude towards owning a pet.
The audience feels sympathy towards this character due to the first hand view of the situation. This helps the audience understand and comprehend how the dog is feeling and also shows the audience that the dog has done nothing wrong and nothing to deserve the type of treatment he receives.

The final character is a minor one, in fact she only features in one shot. The woman at the rescue centre  shows only limited sympathy towards the dog. Not only has the dog been abandoned by his owners he is somewhat abandoned by this woman as she walks away from the pen. This reflects the nature of the place the dog now lives, people will undoubtedly come and go in and out of the dogs life giving him no real stability.
Overall humans are represented as negative and selfish characters in this film, with the dog falling victim to their attitudes.

Cinematography

• Point of view shots - Almost the entire film is short through the eyes of the dog using point of view shots. The shakiness of these shots mimics the movement of the dogs head adding to the realism of the film. Showing the action through the eyes of the dog allows the audience to identify with it and sympathise with him as well. 

• Low angle shots - The use of low angle shots presents the human characters as more powerful and superior to the canine. 

They also connotate how the dog looks up to the humans and how he relys on them to look after him and care for him.

• High angle shot - The final shot is a high angle shot depicting the dog in his pen at the rescue centre. The cameras position above the dog creates the impression he is small and also creates/adds to the sense of vulnerability around the character. 

All of these techniques influence the audiences opinion of the dog and build up the representation of him as a character. 

Editing

• Fade transitions - Each shot (apart from the final one) is joined by a fade transition, they are used to how the passing of time within the narrative. They accentuate to the audience the expanse of time that has passed for the characters further conveying the emotions of  the characters.

• Quick shots - The pace of the shots quickens as the film goes on. This reflects the amount of time the people are spending with the dog, as the narrative goes on they spend less and less time with him. It could also reflect the patience the couple have for both the dog and each other. 

• Straight cut - The transition between the final two shots is the only one in the film which isn't a fade transition, instead a straight cut is used. This is a lot harsher, reflecting the cruel reality of where the dog now lives. It also signifies a change in the dogs life, the difference in transition connotates the difference in environment the dog is now in and the life he will now lead. 

Sound

There is no overlaying music through the film, instead the director relys of the action of the visuals alone to convey the desired tone and tell the story they want the film to tell. Similarly there is no music accompanying the credits allowing the message of the video to simple sink in be reflected upon by the viewer. 

Diegetic sound effects for the dog have been added to the film. Barking, panting and whimpering noises tell the audience how the dog is feeling and reacting to current situations. Apart from the camera movement this is the only way the audience knows the dogs mood. This is more of a challenge due to the film being nearly all point of view shots because the audience cant physically see how the dog is reacting to the situation. 

Titles

The credits and text within the film are in a simple white font on a black background, this doesn't take away from the action or message of the video. I'm not sure I like the idea of having no opening titles but in this case launching straight into the film is effective. I feel this is due to the serious message of the film but still I can't help but thinking it looks unprofessional for a short film. 

My thoughts

I like this short film and I feel it was very useful for me to look at as it holds similar qualities to one of my own ideas. This film is a really good example of the use of point of view shots and how they can be used effectively. I like the underlying message of the video but I think I'd like to make a more light hearted short film given that we will be working on it for months and putting so much time into this project.