Risk Assessment and Release Forms

Role Charts

Location Footage

We will also shoot the first scene of our short film in this bedroom:

The space is great for what we want to capture in these first few scenes, but there are definitely going to have to be some prop adjustments and set design planned before shooting. In the intial drafts of the script, Seb's room is described as 'Spartan'. There's going to have to be some changes to the room in order to portray it as such. However, the group member is more than willing to help move items about. 

We're really happy with this location. It's close, easy to set up, and really fits what I wanted from the initial few shots.

Final Research

Location

With Badlands, I found that early location scouting allowed us to have a really good idea of how certain shots would work, which then helped streamline the shot planning process as well. We've recently been to Soar Lane, in Leicester, to do the same for our piece.

Locations marked in red are where we spent most of our time collecting Test Footage

 A compilation of all footage captured on that day will be saved for a later post, but here are some screengrabs:

Actors

James May

I think James is a really great selection. Not only is he already well experienced with the performing arts, but also lives locally and goes to the same college we do. His body of work so far is comprised of: 

 

• Playing Wishee Washee in an 'Aladdin' production at the Little Theatre, Leicester.
• Playing The Royal Herald in a 'Sleeping Beauty' production at the Little Theatre, Leicester.
• Playing 'F' in 'Status Update' at the Curve Theatre, Leicester.
• Being a member of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain
• Recently accepted into the Bird College of Dance

This is (clearly) an extremely impressive range of experience, however I was juggling with the idea of whether he was right for our character. However, It's clear from his work that range and adaptability really won't be an issue. I really want him to bring a real sense of maturity and believability to our final short, and am confident he can do just that. 

Narrative

Moving into our narrative, I really want to find adequate time soon to develop characters, screen cards, and a full script. Right now, it seems like our price will be divided into two key areas: Seb's Reality and Seb's Mind

• Seb's Reality

Here, we want to showcase a single day where he decides that the only course of action he has is to leave home at an early age. This is because of his abusive father, unperturbed by multiple non-molestation orders, is due to come home, as well as Seb failing various subjects at school and feeling alienated by his friends. This one day shows him leaving home and walking to the nearby park to meet with a friend. During this, they have a short conversation, which will be fully planned and fleshed out before shooting. 

The basic 'reality' structure will be as such:

1. Seb in his house, packing for leaving home. He walks out his door and plans to never come back. 
2. Seb walking past the bus stop he usually waits at for the school run, turning away from it and leaving it too. 
3. Seb meeting with his friend, easy conversation at the start. 
4. Conversation with his friend, with various reveals, implications and sub textual moments. 
5. Seb turning away from his home, and leaving it all behind. 

• Seb's Mind

On this side of the narrative, it's less about establishing a clear order and more about collecting a series of striking images that we can put into various points of our main narrative to act as compliments or counterpoints. Again, these shots need to be planned appropriately, including not only their locations but how they fit into the end piece so we're not just collecting irrelevant footage. However, if we execute this 'mind' side of the production well, it will provide us with a striking, cerebral and interesting side of our short that will be incorporated well into the 'reality' section during the editing stage. 

Conclusion 

A well-prepared set of ideas, plans and researched locations is necessary when moving into the demanding production stages of the project. For the short, scene lists, a script, and a well thought-out storyboard are particularly important; without them, we'll lack clear direction on the days that matter. However, I'm confident we've made the right choices in the research stage and I'm positive we'll continue this confidence into production. 

Social Media Questionnaire Results

https://a2mediaproductionmge.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/social-networking-audience-feedback.html

Focus Group One: Lewis and Luke

• Question 1 (0:13): Have either of you ever heard of vimeo?

Both Luke and Lewis awnsered that they had actually accsessed vimeo before, which is suprising considering the relatively narrow audience scope the site attracts. 

• Question 2 (0:30): Have you ever seen a short film on social media?

Neither had said that they'd seen a short film on social media. This isn't suprising, because, from personal experience, I know that the type of content people are looking for on Facebook, Snapchat etc. is often very short-form (sometimes even just seconds long). 

• Question 3 (1:00): Do you think it's important to show social issues in films?

Both argued that there should be a balance between ideology/entertainment. Lewis also made the distinction that some films should seek to enterain, while others do have a right to employ a message. I think this shows us that, as long as a film establishes to its audience what to expect, social commentary is permitted to a certain degree. 

• Question 4 (1:44): Is there an issue you think is under-represented?

Both participants seemed to agree with my question, argueing that male suicide is an under-represented issue in mainstream media. I think this means that the topic we're going for, in a general sense, is somewhat unique as a social issue.

• Question 5 (1:56): Is there a proper way to present suicide and depression?

Lewis awnsered that he thought a short film may work better as a means to present the subject matter (as a feature length may get 'boring') and also that the presentation needs to be 'gritty' and 'shocking', which I interpreted as realistic. 

Both agreed that 'being honest' is the best way to present it. Frankly, I think it's the only way. 

• Question 6 (2:34) Is it the duty of a filmaker to present social issues?

Neither of the participants said that it was specifically a filmmakers duty to capture and present social issues, but that, if they were to, it wouldn't be to the detrement of anyone (proivding they did it well). I think this shows a willingness to accept a given social issue in film, providing it doen't intrude on the quality or entertainment factor. 

• Question 7 (3:11): What is it about a film poster that grabs your attention?

Luke awnsered that he prefferd a poster that got its point across and made sense, which seemed like a very pragmatic approach. Lewis said that he preffered colours and action, as well as a 'smart' poster that gets you thinking about the film rather than blatantly telling you the plot. Both of these are unique and interesting perstpectives, and we'll be sure to consider them when designing the poster itself.

• Question 8 (3:55): Is there anything that you feel has to be on a film poster?

Luke argued that the title, as well as essentiall parts of the story and characters, should definitley be included. Lewis argued that the 'barebones' of a title, release date, and tagline are also necessary. This helps us understand the bare minimm of what most audience members expect when looking at posters.

• Question 9 (4:25): What posters are you favourite?

Luke again stressed he enjoyed posters that got to the point, while Lewis gave the example of the Star Wars posters, which he linked to franchise heritage and nostalgia. This is a good reminder that the external history or associations of films often dictate how famous a poster is. 

• Question 8 (5:00): When you read a review, do you look at the scores or the opinions?

Both Lewis and Luke preffered an overview-style when reading reviews rather than in-depth opinions. This shows the importance of offering an overview rather than solid blocks of text. 

(Note: The aburpt end of the video is due to unfortunate audio errors that have made the rest of the focus group (around a minute more) unuseable.)

Overall

This focus group gave us a lot of rewarding information. 

They reminded of us of the importance of sharing and showing equality in content when making our short film, or, on other words, making sure we have a social message that is also able to engage and entertain viewers in a meaningful way. 

The awnsers surrounding the poster also reminded us of the importance of getting the essentials right, and making sure style does not exceed substance. Much of the same feedback was given in relation to the review page, includuing awnsers surrounding the desgin (which was lost to previously mentioned audio issues). 

Overall, it was a rewarding effort, and we'll incorporate their advice and answers accordingly. 

Pilot Questionnaire Results

In order to make sure that subsequent drafts of our questionnaire had the best possible questions and yielded the most useful answers, we distributed the first draft of our questionnaire to the small sample size of my media class. We thought that the size of our class would be an ideal size as it allows us to get a number of responses and feedback  without us having too much to work with.

Here are the overall responses we go from the questionnaires that we received back form our class. We are going to take these all into consideration for our final questionnaire.