Post 11: Treatment

Our film starts with a troubled teenager, who keeps getting himself into difficult dilemma’s, we find out that reason is due to his father recently passing away.  Josh is a sixteen year old secondary student, who in the past has been an example student with top grades in all subjects of which went all down hill after the tragic death of his father. Throughout the film we follow the story of the grieving process the boy Josh is going through and how his way of coping is by getting himself into rebellious situations. Such as under-age drinking and smoking. As a result of his rebellious behavior, Josh sees his grades go dramatically downhill and starts to be threatened to be kicked out of school, which therefore, creates problems at home with his mother who is also grieving from the loss of Josh’s father.

Towards the end of the film we see Josh meet a girl, Sandra who helps him to overcome the issues surrounding his fathers death and his grieving process. We see Josh stop being friends with the group of rebellious teenagers who he kept getting into trouble with and makes a new group of friends who assist  him to overcome his problems. Josh then visits his fathers grave and confides to his father about his heart break and how he has met this wonderful girl who has helped him overcome the situation and progress further in his life.

Throughout our short film, we watch the life of the young character Josh as his life slowly falls apart in front of his eyes. Josh struggles to cope with the tragic situation and finds being rebellious a way to block out his emotions, as does not know how to confront them nor has anyone he can discuss them with. This is why meeting Sandra helps him overcome his issues because she encourages him to talk about his feelings towards the death of his father and visit his grave.

Feed Back on Treatment

- Could be more specific, adding more information and depth about   what's going to happen   
- Might not be enough time to portray this idea in a five minute
  short film, may need to cut out some elements and make it 
  slightly shorter.   
- it is a very conventional idea, seems like it has happened in 
  many films,although it does have a good core potential  to 
  succeed as a short film.

Post 10: Film Development

Character Development

Josh Miller 

To gain ideas on what we wanted our male character Josh to be like, we looked at a handful of drama films and did further research into their protagonists. I specifically looked at and researched into Star Trek - In to Darkness characters, focusing on James Kirk. As he has a strong, influential role within in the film, he becomes vulnerable and then falls in love which are all concepts that are going to be used in our shorts story line. I particularly picked this film as inspiration to develop our character josh further as the main character. I developed the idea of Josh rebelling from this film. Also the fact that the character is trying to live up to the expectations of his father, which could be an effective idea in our final product, developing on the Idea that josh is rebelling against his fathers death and his fathers Job/ role in society. 

James Tiberius Kirk

The character James Kirk from star trek and Josh Miller from Dead End, have very similar personalities. I have tried to portray Josh to react in similar ways and manners as James, whose character has help to develop my character Josh further, gaining a wider understanding of ways in which a main character would react in different situations. I feel that by developing my character further I have created a more realistic image and mad Josh as a character more believable and genuine. 





Narrative Theory

As a group we have used and based our film around and using Totorov's theory of narrative. We have tried to include as many of eight distinctive characters from the theory.

Characters

Josh - could be seen as a Hero.

The Gang - portrayed as the Villains

The Teacher - could be seen as the Donor, making josh suffer for his actions and giving him a way out from being manipulated by the Gang.

Police Officer - The Dispatcher, who helps the Hero on his way.

Amy - The helper, helping Josh to overcome his problems.

The only two I would not be able to fit into my short film would be the Princess and the the Princess' Farther. Other than those I feel that Todorov's Theory has highly influenced my short film in an effective manner. 

Location Development


Originally as a group we decided on these two locations as our main settings for the majority of the film, but as we developed our film idea we came to the conclusion that these two locations would be too noisy, as would be filming during school hours, so had to decide on two alternatives. which resulted in a different corridor and in outside of the school gates. 

Other obvious locations which are going to be used in our film, is a bedroom, for the opening and end of the piece, stairs and a front room/living area. We also looked around different areas of the school to see what would be most suited to our piece and decided to try keep a majority of our piece under shelter so that we do not have to delay filming if is bad weather. Overall due to our pieces locations being so versatile, if the location is unavailable we would be able to make do in another, such as for example we intend to have a scene shot in an office, which may be difficult to find a school office free, during school hours for the amount of time we would need to film, meaning will have to book and make sure the office is free and available before filming, otherwise could form an obstacle and hold us back on our filming. 

Post 9: Film Language

History of Film Language 

I have researched into the History of Film language in the cinema, and found out that it arguably started and was introduced with the very first, most famous cut, from The Great Train Robbery from 1903 by Edwin S. Porters. Which in the first shot of the film where the robbers are bursting into the train depot office, where in the back ground we can see the train pulling in and then in the next shot were outside with the robbers and the train once again pulls in and stops near them – this is significant as the audience realise that the train in the first shot was the same as the one in the second shot and it all happened in one action meaning the train didn't pull in twice.

Here is the part of the clip that is described above showing the cut shot:

History of Film Language further.

The film terminology ‘Montage’ was developed when film maker D.W.Griffith weaved together four separate story lines by cross cutting scenes from different places and times creating a montage which is most famously shown in Battleship Potemkin.
Continuity editing, shot sizes, the use of colour, parallel editing and camera movement, has developed over the years in new and exciting ways and allowed film makers to speak to audiences. 

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/07/scorsese-essay-explains-importance-of-visual-literacy/

Here are some scans of notes I made about Film Language:

Post 8: Audiences

STUART HALL
Views audiences as both the producers and the consumers of the text. His approach to textual analysis is that the consumer actively negotiates the meaning.

In Stuart Hall’s Essay he wrote about the four stages of model communication, which is the production, Circulation, use of distribution/consumption and Reproduction of media messages.  Production is where the encoding of the message takes place, working off society’s beliefs and values.  Circulation is how individuals perceive things and how the audience will receive the message.  The use of distribution and Consumption is the decoding of the message which requires active recipients. And the Fourth stage is Reproduction which is the stage after the audiences have interpreted the message in their own way and style based on what they believe. Once all stages complete Stuart Hall said to wait and see whether different individuals take action after they have been exposed to a specific message. The decoding of a message is how an audience member is able to understand, and interpret the message. This is Stuart Hall’s main theory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_%28cultural_theorist%29

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/18/professor-stuart-hall-multiculturalism-film

NEW MEDIA 

There are many new ways in which we can measure audiences...including:
- Facebook and other social networking sites 
- Online forums - comments tools 
- Views on YouTube and Google +1
- Twitter

When looking at audiences, there are two main types of research:

Quantitative research
Questionnaires.
Number based 
Closed questions to generate exact answers 
Very factual 

Qualitative  research
Interviews, focus groups 
Analysis of exciting products 
Open questions to generate answers open to interpretations
Individual preferences 

Audience engagement 
This describes how an audience interacts with a media text. Different people react in different ways to the same text

Audience Expectations 
These are the ideas of audiences have an advance if seeing a media text. This particularly applies to genre pieces. 

Audience Fore knowledge
This is definitive information that audiences bring to a media product - rather than vague expectations. 

Audience Identification
This is the way audiences feel themselves connected to a particular media text, in that they feel it directly express their attitude or life style.

Audience Placement 
This is a range of strategies media producers use to directly target a particular audience and make them feel that the media text is specifically for them. 

Audience Research 
 Audience research is essential to any successful film, as the institutions need to know who their target audience is and what they like and dislike. Audience research is a vital part to any campaign.  Questions such as “what will people buy” need to be asked while in the process so that they know there film will be successful, research techniques that are popularly used are questionnaires. Audience research is carried out in all stages of production and once produced the audience will still be monitored.   

Unique Selling Point 
Is a marketing concept where there is an aspect or element in the film which is unique and makes the audience want to pay to go watch the film. It is something that makes a film different from everything else.

Post 7c: Sub-Genre and Hybrid Genre

Sub-Genre: 

Sub Genres are sub categorizes that are almost like sub headings within a larger film genre, but have their own distinctive subject matter, style, iconography and formulas. Some examples of Sub Genres include, Action Adventure consisting of Battleship and Avatar, Rom Com’s such as Pretty Woman, Slapstick Comedy, Black Comedy, example films such as Anchorman and Burke and Hare, Spy Fiction, Survival Stories and Epics such as Lord of the Rings.

Hybrid Genre

Hybrid Genres have rapidly developed over the last few years, as directors have had to create new ways of telling similar stories in different ways and producing different movies. Overall a Hybrid Genre is when conflicting genres that might not seem like an effective match are put together. Examples of Horror Hybrids are Twilight which is a Horror Romance, Dead Snow which is a Horror War, Shaun of the Dead is a Horror RomCom and Pride and Prejudice is shown as a Horror Historical Drama. These are all unconventional matches but the directors have managed to make the film hybrids work effectively to create new, modern, successful films.

Post 7b: Genre

 

 

My short film will be classed as a Drama as the central focus of the piece is a conlfict where the main protagonists faces realistic struggles, difficulty and pain. My short film will also be classed as a drama as the audience will be able to relate with the character 'Josh' and follow his emotional journey. My piece also exhibits real life situations with a realistic charcter, setting and story which are key elements in any Drama piece.

Post 7a: What is Genre?

Definition of Film Genre 

Film genres are identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films that have similar techniques and conventions. such as Content, Subjects matter, Structures, Themes, Mood, Plot, Setting, Props.

Conventions and Paradigms

Definition of Paradigms

Genres function according to sets of rules and conventions, which govern their capacity and range. They respond to theses rules and conventions by developing formulas and patterns (Paradigms). Overtime, these formulas and patterns may acquire not only typical, but even archetypal force, dominating ways of seeing and of representing the world around us. 

Here is a link to further information on Paradigms: 

 http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=969&Itemid=29

Definition of Conventions

What you expect to see or hear in any given media product. e.g In Action films we expect to see Heroes and Villains and car chases.

Here is a link to a media studies website of which looks at media codes and conventions:

 http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-studies/Media-concepts/Codes-and-conventions

How are Paradigms Grouped? 

Theses Paradigms may be grouped into those relating to:

Iconography - The main signs and symbols that you see/hear
Structure - The way the text is put together and the shape it takes
Theme - The issues and ideas the program deals with

Why do we Categorise Films?

Film genres are categorised according to the setting of the film. Although films with the same setting can be very different from one another due to the use of different themes or moods. One of the reasons films are categorised is so that it is easier to find different types of genres and also so that audiences know what's suitable for their age group and if they are going to appreciate the film.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_genre

Positives and Negatives of Genre 

Negative:
Creates stereotypes 
detailed sub genres 
makes people stereotypical 
people are not open minded to different genres 

Positive:
Its Identity is a key demographic 
Easy to divide genres into categories  


Do Genres Change Over Time? 

Target Audiences often change over time, it is said that over time younger audiences have become more interested in films and movies making the target audience much younger. This is know as 'Juvenilisation'. Audiences Expectations - audiences are becoming to familiar with the codes and conventions which are becoming to predictable. Audiences have also changed due to different age groups, gender and different rates. The change in society of women, conflicts, disease, immigration and  emigration and the attitudes towards sex and violence, are just some of the issues that have and will influence representation and trends in the media. 

Censorship and Code of Conventions - In the 1960's different codes and ethics applied to films, which banned nudity, swearing and excessive kissing. It is obvious of the changes that have been considered acceptable by audiences and shows that the film industry has moved on. Modern audiences now are interested in films that consist of more graphics, sexual imagery, nudity and violence. Which has become much more acceptable in the current day. 

As well as particular texts being influential, specific stars and directors are of influence to the film industry, effecting what is produced and shown. There have been dramatic changes in technology as it has advanced in the film industry for example the Steadicam was created which allowed the camera to appear to float and enabled the stalking shots which are important today in horror films and developments in digital video editing techniques which then led to fast paced editing and pacing of music with on screen movement. The Blair Witch Project is an effective example of a film that has been influenced by new technology.  Technology now days has enabled anyone to download programs and buy cameras and produce home films and videos at a cheap price, making films develop and making them accessible to everyone.

Special effects have also developed and improved over time meaning that anything and everything can be represented as real, without it actually being there or even existing. Special effects also allow film industry to cut down on sets by using green screens to represent and place actors and places in to different, effective locations which could not otherwise get to. But a disadvantage is that films can be seen as being flat as it not real and not there also makes it harder for actors to act against nothing, making the reaction not as believable.
While researching and learning about Genre it has given me a wider understanding and more depth into and around all the different elements and aspects, allowing me to explore new ideas, within media theories, Also giving more ideas of what I could include in my own short film to make it stimulating and dramatic.

Post 6: Group Work

Now that I have a better understanding of how to write a script, as a group we are going to select, from our four individual loglines and pick the best logline that has been written by one of my group members, of which we will then develop into our final film.

Group Logline:

"A young boy struggles to come to terms with the death of his farther"

As a group we decided on the logline that Rosie created, we chose this logline as it seemed most appropriate, as we are able to have easy access to the location of which is centred around the school. Also the characters within the short film would be able to be played by our group members and fellow class mates as the main characters are two teenagers one male and one female, meaning we can portray them realistically.

GENRE - DRAMA

Beats
1- Pan around Josh's room showing all his awards
2- We see josh sitting on his bed looking through photos
3- Josh meets a gang of boys at school - Feeling UN-supported by his grieving mother. Josh turns to the support of a gang.
4- Josh getting himself into trouble
5- Gang makes Josh prove his worth, by bringing a knife into school and gets caught
6- The school call the police
7- Josh meets his old school friend called Amy
8- Amy tries to discover a solution to help Josh stop being in a gang and convinces him to resolve his issues by visiting his grave.

Post 5: Formatting Scripts

When Formatting Scripts there is a lot of attention to detail that needs to be followed so that the script is set out well and easy to understand by the whole film crew including actors. Also the layout is important as if follow the correct format then each page of script, should equal to a minute worth of dialogue. Below is what is expected of a films/screen play script and what I will need to follow correctly to make the script for my short film successful and as professional as can be.

Margins

Each element of the script has different margins to show that’s what it is.  

Stage direction and shot headings - have a margin of 1.7" of the left and 1.1" on the right. 

Dialogue has a left margin of 2.7" and a right margin of 2.4".

Character names over dialogue - (speaker) have a left margin of 4.1".

Scenes transitions - such as CUT TO: and FADE OUT, have a left margin of 6.0".      

Top page margin - is .5" (or three single lines) before the page number. A single blank line separates the page number from the body of the script, which begins with either a CONTINUED: or a new shot heading/slug line.

Bottom page margin - is at least .5" (or three single lines) following the (CONTINUED) or the end of a scene.

Total page length - is a maximum of 60 lines,which included everything even the page number (but not including the 3 line margins at the top and bottom of the page).

                       

Formatting dialogue

Words are never broken by a hyphen at the end of a line of dialogue unless it's a naturally hyphenated word, such as twenty-three, point-blank, etc.

Formatting shot headings

All shot headings are placed on a line by themselves with two blank lines above and one blank line below. This includes any so-called "hidden" shots which may be embedded in descriptive passages.

Scene transitions

Scene transitions such as CUT TO: and DISSOLVE TO: are entirely optional, but when used should be preceded by one blank line and followed by two blank lines. When breaking pages, the scene transition must remain with the shot just completed. In other words, it is never permissible to start a new page with a CUT TO: or a DISSOLVE TO:. It must be placed at the bottom of the previous page.

Here are some links to websites of which I researched and gathered information from.

http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_format.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/send-a-script/formatting-your-script

Here is an example script with added notes round the side to show where and what should go where on the script. This image made it easier for me to understand the concept of Formatting a script.

Post 4: BEATS