Synopsis

 After we had started to storyboard someone in our class read through our synopsis. They pointed out a fault that we hadn't noticed. They said that surely it wouldn't be a vision of what they want to be in the future it would be what their future turns out to be. This is as the girl who kills herself wouldn't be shocked if she wanted to kill herself. This fault hasn't really changed anything major just a change to the synopsis.

Pre-Production Roles

Location Scout- Kate

Prop Buyer- Ed

Story Board Artist- Ed

Animatic Director- Kate & Ed

Sound Director- Kate

Lighting Director- Ed

Screenwriter- Kate & Ed

Camera Operator- Ed

Costume- Kate

Hair & Make-up designer/Buyer- Ed & Kate

Initial Plot Idea's

This is our first mind map of our ideas, after watching the short films each other analysed we discovered we would like to do something involving a mirror. After thinking up a few different possibilities we got the idea of including a mirror like something out of the Harry Potter series where it shows what you want to see not reality. We thought this would be the one we would be able to pull of the best without it getting to complicated with the editing and it would be the most understandable for the audience as its only going to be about 5 minuets long.

After a few different plots we drew out a more detailed plan of what we are going to do, involving a beginning, middle and end. We worked out how many characters we wanted and the order of which things happened.

"Brady" - Short Film Analysis

The opening shot of this short film is a close up of someone being dressed. After two jump cut we fee a close up of a little boys face. Because of the close up we can see that his facial expression is very sad looking. Aldo we can see that there are handles behind him, this shows us that he is in a wheelchair. The titles then come on screen after a fade to black. The font is very simple with the letters in capitals on a black background. This is the point the non-diegetic starts. It is fairly loud and has a sad and emotional feel to it despite having only a few instruments. A long shot of the little boys bedroom is very stereotypical of what you would expect someone his age to have, because of the shot type and the composition in the frame we are able to see props such has a globe, world map and solar system poster. As well as this we also see Brady's mum carry him from the wheelchair and onto the bed. This lets the audience know right front he beginning the severity of his disability and that he cant use his legs at all. The non-diegetic sound then drops when his mum exits the room and turns the light off. It goes from quite a high pitched tone to a lower pitch, this signifies the drop in his emotion as she leaves, therefore telling the audience that he doesn't like to be alone or away from his mother. By doing this it shows that the relationship between Brady and his mum is very close and he is quite attached to her, this may be because of his disability.  Along with the change in non-diegetic sound, there is a heightened Foley effect. The sound of the clock ticking suddenly gets very loud, showing how Brady is listening to it, thinking the time is going very slowly.









The next shot is of a new setting, the kitchen. A cleverly composed shot of the mum reveals a lot about her life. Firstly you have how cluttered everything is. There are pieces of paper pinned up on every bit of spare space along with a box filled with loose sheets. She also is drinking some wine, and not just a glass. There is a large wine glass and a bottle, and when she pours it we can see it is nearly empty. From this scene we are also let known that she is a single mother as there is no partner around or anything suggesting there is someone to help her. During this scene we can see that she isn't thinking about the work shes doing as when she pours her drink, she imagines it as someone jumping into water. The red in the wine shifts over to red swimming shorts, along with this the change in colour from very bright yellow light to dark grey shows us it is an imagination.

We start to get hints that the mother in in love with the swimming instructor from her on, through a mixture of shot type, angle and body language. The first hint we get is when there is a long shot of them arriving at the pool. Both the mum and the swimming instructor touch bend down to talk to Brady and when they touch hands it is shown through a close up. This shows that it is significant and the director wants us to notice it. The time when Brady is in the swimming pool with the instructor, the mother is pretending to read a magazine however you can see that she is not reading it but watching. Normally you would think that she was watching her son but a very important shot shows that it is not the case. There is a medium shot of the group following from an eye line match from the mums point of view, in the pool and then it zoom in, however the closer it gets it goes into a close up of the swimming instructor not her son. Accompanied by the non-diegetic music the shot is something similar to one you would get in a teenage high school movie when someone has an inappropriate crush on the teacher or hunk of the school.







After this they are drying off. There is a long shot which lasts for a very long time, nearly a minute. This shot is from the point of view of Brady. He watches his mum get rejected from he instructor. During the conversation you cant really hear what they are saying but the swimming instructor does shake his head and then pass the number back. Brady may think that his is because of him.

https://vimeo.com/74238810

"Ham Sandwich" Short Film Analysis

Genre: Comedy

This short film starts out a close up of the main character asking for a promotion. His costume and hair give away that he may be a bit of a loser and push over. He is wearing a washed out shirt and comedic patterned tie with a very out of date hairstyle. Also the fact that his boss laughs when he asks for the promotion says that he isn't very accomplished or lucky. We can also see that he works in an office due to the long shot when he leaves the room as there are many props giving that away. He then talks to a female work college and gets shouted at then he gets the door shut in his face when he goes for lunch. His body language tells us that he is shy as he has his hands in his pockets and looks down a lot.

When he enters the sandwich shop the lighting changes to a very yellowy tone and it is very hazy. This conveys the view that is is not used much and is old and has been around a while. However the fact that it has remained open yet being so quiet and run down is a mystery. When he walks in the non-diegetic music changes to a magical kind of tune. There are also a lot of comical over loud Foley effects such as the creaky door and spreading the mustard on the roll. A point of view shot shows us what the shop looks like on the inside, and all the props and their composition in the frame tell us it is not somewhere you would really want to buy a sandwich but as we know his character we know he is a push over. We then see the sandwich maker. His costume really gives us an insight into what he is like. HE is wearing a dirty out of date uniform with a hat to small fro him which is also filthy. His facial expression all scrunched up and intimidating and he is hunched over the "making station". The lighting behind his counter is very dark and resembles a lair or little den. When he starts to make the sandwich the non-diegetic music gets a little louder and turns very magical and childish. The sequence is similar to a scene where a witch would cast a spell. This is giving us a taste of whats to come.

 




It then cuts back to him in the office eating his sandwich, the diegetic sound has gone back to phones ringing and typing. Also the lighting has got more dingy and depressing. When he bites into the sandwich there is two different heightened Foley effects, the first being the bite sound and the second being a magical twinkle sort of noise. These effects are much louder which makes them comical and extenuated. After he realizes that taking a bite of the sandwich takes you back in time the sound is used so cleverly to convey his different emotions. It changes every time he looks in a different direction or thinks something. His body language changes instantly and as does his facial expressions. Also with the sound changing, the editing pace quickly picks up as well. It gets very fast pace witch I think is also conveying his emotions changing.

There is then a montage of outrageous things he has done throughout the day due to him being able to go back in time this is done through jump cuts. The non-diegetic sound picks up, becomes louder and one long track. This is very upbeat and funky and is accompanied by diagetic sound also. Throughout this montage he becomes more and more undressed as he is getting more wild and unlike his usual self.

 Things soon get out of hand and he realizes that  he has gone to far and after a turn of events returns to the office back with the dingy lighting. He then laughs to himself but things are not quite as he has left it and its his fault. There is a close up of his face and it goes back to his depressed and concerned usual self. 

https://vimeo.com/23925061

"Grace" - Short Film Analysis

The first shot is a long shot of Grace exiting her house. We can tell that she comes from a fairly poor family as from the size of the shot we can see that her house is very close to her neighbors house. Also the things around it seem a bit run down and abused, such as the gate and water butt. There is also a wired fence separating the two houses which is not aesthetically pleasing and would be the cheapest option to separate the two houses.

There is then two shots of Grace riding her bicycle, firstly down an old country road and then down a main road. These are both shot at an high angle as if the camera is following her. From these two shots we can see that Grace is on her own, there are no cars or other people surrounding her, this tells us that maybe it is quite early in the morning. The shot of Grace on the main road is when you start to question what she is doing. This is because she turns off the main road down an old dust road. This is strange on its own but we can also tell this is odd because the camera which has been following her the whole time actually carries on down the main road instead of following her. There is then a fade to black to reveal the title of the short film. During these two shots there is non-diegetic music in the back round, it is only quiet and only consists of a few instruments. It is just enough to give the beginning an eerie feel and build some suspense. Along with this there is diegetic sound also, this is prominently the sound of birds tweeting but also the sound of the bike. All the sound carries on when the title comes on screen, which along with the plain black background and simple font really works well here.

 After this we then see Grace's face for the first time along with another character. She is waking up a boy. There is a long shot which sees them sitting down in the middle of a deserted field. She tells him he has been asleep for "too long". It is shown that the boy is older through the way he looks and his voice. This is a common convention used typically in thrillers but also in drama, this is enigma. It instantly makes us start asking questions, for example "Who is the boy, how does she know him" and"Why is he asleep in a field". Through the use of props and costume we build up a picture in our minds of what Grace's character and personality is like and start to warm to her. We see a teddy bear in her bag and her water bottle which has a smiley face on it, also she is wearing very childish clothes and the colour of her clothes is very girly. They then proceed to have a conversation about how the boy doesn't notice her in school and he calls her "cute". Through the dialogue it is very clear she has a crush on him.

Through the conversation they then go in for a kiss. The first time it begins with a close up and then cuts to a long shot. The second and most important time it is a close up all the way through. When they pull away we see that he has left a speck of blood on her cheek. This is very odd and is where things take a turn for the worst.



 When the boy has gone out of shot there is an eye line match from Grace to the boy. This is the reveal shot. He is lying down, dead, and with a bloody nose. The non-diegetic sound then changes from the previous tune to a high pitched note held, just one instrument and is very piercing. This adds to the shocked and confused feel the film has which the director has cleverly created. We, as an audience, think that this is the only shock but as Grace gets up to leave the camera follows. It zooms out into a high angle extreme long shot revealing a car crash scene, involving the boy and another man. Through Graces actions of going there so casually it is clear that she has made the trip several times and isn't phased by it - which is very disturbing. The lighting in this shot and throughout this short film is very different and in-stereotypical as usually in a short film containing death it is very dark and gloomy but in this it is very bright and yellow lighting. This may be because we are seeing the situation through Graces point of view which is normal and quite peaceful. This then massively uses enigma again and leaves the audience with so many questions and luckily there is a fade to black followed by a screen of on screen narration about what happened after they were eventually found.

https://vimeo.com/128282019

Graffiti Area Ed

the opening scenes of graffiti area begin wit two men running enigma is created right of the bat as the audience have no idea why the man are running or what from. the storyline follows a non-linear narrative as the opening scenes are from the middle of the sequence. as the men run a diegetic sound of a police siren can be heard adding a sense of urgency to the men's run. after a few scenes of the men running a close up is finally seen and their facial expression can be clearly seen for the first time, the men's faces tell the audience they are distressed and panicked. their heads twitch from side to side looking at the plain grey walls, for a short film named graffiti area the scenery is lacking in graffiti as the walls look empty and concrete grey. the title sequence is shown as the men hide around a corner, the title is done in the style of a graffiti artist and moves as paint drips down, this imagery runs parallel with the imagery in the scene at the time as cans of graffiti spill out the man's bag and onto the pavement. the men exchange a few lines of foreign dialogue in a shot reverse shot, the use of a close up helps to get across the panic on the two men's face. the two men are talking about needing to get out of where they are but do no to talk about what they are running from, all of this is building up enigma amongst the audience as the protagonist are visibly scared but the audience does not not why.

the sequence then fades to black and cuts back to the very beginning of the sequence the fade to black shows that time is being past or in this case the opposite. all shots up until now have been medium to extreme close ups of the two men and have not revealed an awful lot about the scenery, from the language used the audience can tell these men are European. after the fade to black there are a few long shots of the alleys the men are in, they are grey and bleak and lack much colour like the men's costume, which is normal for graffiti artists as they are doing illegal acts and cant stand out too much. one of the two men can be seen spraying graffiti onto one of the walls in a black monster shape the other man is keeping watch, the use of this 2-shot helps to show the audience how the men feel, very on edge as graffiti is illegal. the paint on the wall begins to move and shapes appear in the black monster. it is at this point a diegetic sound is introduced of police siren identical to the one in the open scene is heard this puts the timescale of the non-linear narrative into perspective for the audience. A very effective shot is used to shown the man's reaction to his paint magically moving, the camera appears to be located inside of the wall with paint over it and as the paint moves more the man's face is seen inspecting his work and his reaction can clearly be seen. at this point all other sound is lowered showing that this discovery has taken the mans attention and this focuses the audience attention on the focal point which is the moving graffiti paint. a non-diegetic soundtrack is introduced slowly building up as the man is investigating his art work violins can be heard until they realize the piece is alive and coming after them a sudden drum beat is heard and the men break into a run, the drum beat increases the pace of the music and with this the pace of editing increases too making the feel of the film return to how it was in the opening scenes.

the pace of editing increases and the two man's fear can be read in the desperation on their faces and the effort put into running, a tracking shot is seen and the monster is meters behind them, this is the longest shot in the fast pace of editing period this shows the audience how close the monster is to the men and the scale of the monster.as the camera tracks past obstacles a swooping diegetic sound is heard as the pass like cars and pillars, this shows the speed the man are traveling at and their sense of urgency is emphasized to the audience. as the chase scene continues the non-diegetic soundtrack continues to build up towards a crescendo, until the two men are met with an alley of colourful and peacefully moving graffiti, it is a dead end but the men are in awe of the beauty of the alley a close up of the mans reaction to the alley shows how in awe they are even though danger is just behind them, a 2-shot of the man and the monster in the background shows how near the men are to peril. It is here when the chase music reaches its crescendo and comes to an abrupt stop, this is replaced with an almost alien space like diegetic sound that can be heard coming from the walls.

one of the men touches the wall and the monster can be seen shying away form the colourful dead end and trowing up a rainbow. despite the lack of danger anymore one of the men goes up to the wall and touches it, paint is seen traveling from the wall to the mans hand, as if the paint has left the wall, this is a really effective shot and probably required so post production editing to finish it off. at this point the pace of editing has slowed down almost one long shot, this is used to show the vibrancy of the walls and the two men's reaction to this a long shot is shown to show the scale and magnificence of the wall in scale to the man standing in front of the wall. the diegetic sound of the wall increases in volume pace and instruments when the man puts his hand on the wall. another fade to black is used after the hand shot however this fade to black fades a lot slower than the others showing the importance of this scene and the importance of the wall. when the fade returns only one man is in the alley and the other man can be seen painted on the wall. the finishing dialogue is of the man in the alley saying 'are you happy now?!' in reference to the other man being the art he always creates.