Production Diary: 9th December

Since my last diary entry, production for my short film is now well under way. November 20th saw the footage take place for the 1930's scenes of my film, which was completed in just over an hour - with next to no difficulty or disruption (apart from a Border Collie that tried to show its affection for the tripod).

Filming began at 2:00pm and finished at roughly 3:05pm. An hour and five minutes of filming usually wouldn't be seen as an adequate amount of filming in my views, but my actors were brilliant and were incredibly easy to work with, which meant I could get the same quality of filming done in a shorter amount of time.

The location of the shoot proved to be quite difficult to manage, which was something that I was aware of, underestimated at the same time. The scene was shot in the grounds of Eastcote House, which is currently being worked on - meaning that the quality of the footage would have to be altered, due to large amounts of scaffolding. I had originally planned to film outside the house itself, because it is aesthetically pleasing, but the presence of builders and scaffolding ruined that idea.

Instead, I proceeded to film around the back of the house, where the scaffolding and firm vans were out of sight. This move ended up to be one that was rewarding in some ways, because I needed a bench for the scene. But even though the scaffolding was evaded, the disruptions didn't stop. I should have probably considered the fact that people are going to want to walk their dogs from time to time, and with plenty of residents backing onto the grounds, it was likely that they would take them here. Dogs are disruptive and get in the way, to put it softly.

But, nonetheless, filming was a success. Because my short film does not have any dialouge in it, it meant that the actors weren't as reluctant to do as I asked as they would have been if there was dialouge. However, Dylan seemed pretty reluctant to run around more than once...

Signing contracts.

 

 

Signing the health and safety contracts.

 

Pictured below are my two main actors, Dyland and Thomas. Before we began filming the 1930's scenes, I gave them both a health and safety procedures contract sheet, so that they were aware of the importance of health and safety when working on a film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filming schedule - 29th November 2014

Filming schedule 29th november from Connorevansmedia

Filming schedule - 20th November 2014

rtFilming schedule 20th november from Connorevansmedia

Production Diary: 11th November

Today marks a fresh start for my short film production.

As you will be aware of, my main actor who I was previously planning to use, dropped out of the project. This was a huge blow to my progress. I would be lying if I was to say that it didn't slow me down.

However, I have resolved this problem, using external resources that I had at my disposal. As I mentioned, I wanted my original actor because he dresses in a smart and stlyish way, which was very much the style back in the 1930's. Once he dropped out, I thought I was lost. Luckily for me, I wasn't. My cousin Dylan kindly offered to work on my film with me, taking the role of the main character. Dylan has a certain style in the way he dresses, which is almost perfect because it is very "smart casual" based.

Another benefit of using Dylan is that working with him will be very easy. I know that he is reliable and will always want to help me.

As for my film...
On sunday afternoon, I went to pick up some props from my Grandparent's house in Rickmansworth. These props are extremely conventional to the time period that my film is set in, and I will be putting some pictures up later on today. I plan to transform my bedroom into an office for a few scenes in the film, so these props were vital when trying to add a feel and look to my sets.

I am going to be picking up a camera from school today, along a tripod, and I will hopefully be filming my short film by Thursday.

Thank you once again for reading my blog.

Production diary : 24th October

Production diaries are meant to be written by the producer of the coursework to give updates on the considerable amount of progress that has been made, however (and unfortunately) for your eyes, this is not.

In fact, this is an update to highlight my sheer dissapointment regarding the fact that my main actor (who shall remain anonymous) has dropped out of my film literally one day before filming was meant to begin. As expected, this huge set back has caused a lot of problems in terms of producing the film. Now, I am not only left with an absent acting position, but I am also left with the job of having to find another person. My previous actor was perfectly suited for the role of my main character, and I don't think that I will be able to find someone that perfectly suited again.

This is actually a fairly negative blog update, and I apologise for that, but I guess this what they are for. To give you, the readers an update of where I am with my short film, however much I have done.

I am sure that I will eventually find an actor, but none of them will be this perfectly suited, which is a real shame, because finding a modern day teenager who looks like a grown man from 1930's England is a difficult task.

However, despite how much of a set back this may be, you can never have success without struggle (That's my quote, but you can have that one). I guess I will have to live by quote for the duration of production.

I will update my diary as soon as I find a replacement actor. I cannot promise that it will be a long update diary, but it's something to read a guess.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this,

Connor.

Audience research

Audience research from Connorevansmedia

Conventions of a short film

Conventions of short film from Connorevansmedia

Equipment list and research

Equipment list and research from Connorevansmedia

Film festivals of the world

Film festivals from Connorevansmedia

Health and Safety.

I have conducted a health and safety sheet. I need my cast and crew members to sign this sheet to show that they agree with my strict and clear rules. I will upload images of the signed sheets as well.

Health and safety procedures from Connorevansmedia

Films that I admire.

For part of our research, we have been asked to speak about two films that we feel have inspired us with our work. The following document shows a list of differen films that I love, as well as the ones that have inspired me the most.

Inspiration from films from Connorevansmedia

Production Diary: 1st October 2014

Hello,

Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of posting over the course of the summer and early school weeks (In terms of production diaries). I know that it has been a long time, but it means that I can talk about a lot more over the next few entries.


Work for "The unfortunate life of James Flint" is coming along nicely. A lot of lesson time has been spent doing research tasks, which have all given me a more than adequate amount of inspiration for filming. The research tasks have vaired, from creating mood boards, to looking at films that personally inspire us. I found the film inspiration to be most helpful, because I could list down films that I would love to be able to recreate, as well as give my reasons. One of the films that I absolutely adore is "The huge snooze" by Ciaran Davis. Ciaran was a student here at Haydon School just like me, and is actually a very close friend. The fact that a film of this quality was produced by someone of my age gives me the confidence I need to be able to gain the highest grade as possible. If you have not done so already, then watch it. It will blow your mind.


The research and planning does not end there though. Last week, I presented my ideas for my short film to my A2 media class and teacher. In the presentation, I explained the plot of my story, the audiences and some shots that I would like to recreate, before answering questions and getting feedback from my peers. I found the results to be most conclusive.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZWr0qCukmP4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 Storyboarding is now in full throttle and will be completed sooner than expected. I would once again like to say sorry for the lack of posting on the blog, I can assure you that there will be more to come. Thank you for staying with me on this journey!

Until next time, thank you!

Short film pitch.

Film presentation

Film powerpoint from Connorevansmedia

1930's mood board

To ensure that I have obtained the best information as possible whenr researching for my video, I have created a mood board based on the fashion that men were subject to in 1930's England. Usually, a mood board is just a piece of work that people do to fill up space on their blogs, but this one is genuinely important to me. Because of the difference in time between the 1930's and modern day, the change in fashion and proliferatiobn of different types of clothes has caused a lot of previous fashion to become redundant and forgotten. I needed to get a real feel for how people of the 1930's dressed, so I could fit it to the character of my film and so I could see whether or not I had a realistic chance at finding clothes like this for cheap. Another option would be to go to a fancy dress shop/party shop to look for older clothes. However, my mum is pretty old - I'll probably find something from the 30's on her wardrobe.

1930's mood board from Connorevansmedia

Production Diary: Week 4 - 20th July 2014

So, the summer holidays are finally upon us. 6 weeks of sun, relaxation and most importantly... school work. Yes, despite the school year officially being over, our year 12 Media coursework still requires us to be hard at work, all through the summer. But oh well, after all - If you put in the hard work, you get the best results.

This week's diary entry is a special one for me, on a personal level - but I am sharing it on here, because it is relevant. But first, let me keep you up to date with the progress of the planning for my short film - "The unfortunate life of James Flint". As mentioned last week, the idea to make a film that has elements of the 1930's came from the inspiration that my friend Ciaran Davis' film gave me - which was brilliant, might I add.

To get into the feel of a 1930's film, I realised that I am going to have to create props and other parts for a set in order to make the film and mise-en-scene convincing. Having studied pictures from Great Grandmother's childhood (She is 101 and going strong), I have identified particular items or props that I will need to either purchase somehow or create. The MAIN items that I need are listed below.

- Old cameras.
- Pictures of 1930's cartoons.
- Plain cotton shirts with strings by neck (Football shirts from the 30's)
- An old football.
- Knitted jumpers.
- Suit jackets.
- Boater shoes.
- Ties.

There are many more items that I am going to be creating, such as old pictures, propaganda posters and many more. I feel that all of the above will make my short film seem a lot more convincing in terms of when it is meant to be set. The use of filming in a strange tone may also add to the effect.

I end this week's post with something that I have been meaning to say.

The end of this school year sees the end of an "era" for me... if you will. This is because next year, I will be moving to a different media class to complete my A2 course. Having spent nearly 5 years in this class, I have grown fond of the people I shared it with and learnt next to every week. But if there is one person that I owe a lot to, and will perhaps "miss" the most, then it's my brilliant teacher Mr Fisher. Since the very end of year 9, Mr Fisher has been my media teacher, as well as film studies for year 11. It is often said that if you enjoy being taught by somebody, then it makes the learning easier. This is 100% true.

I have never been particularly confident in class, or strong with different software... but Mr Fisher managed to help me develop my skills and create several pieces of coursework that I am now extremely proud of. It is hard to believe that I have learnt so much from just one person. The knowledge, logical thinking and experience of Mr Fisher has helped me to become a better student than I ever could have hoped to be - and for that, I thank him. When I look back on my days at school, in many years to come - I will always remember the fun that I had when learning from Mr Fisher.

So this post is mainly a thank you really. A way of showing my appreciation for a teacher who doesn't just teach because he has to... but because he loves to. Thanks once again Sir.

A picture from our year 11 film studies trip to Harry Potter studios. Me (Second on the left), Mr Fisher (Third on the left).

Production Diary: Week 3 - 13th July 2014

Hello and welcome to another one of my weekly production diaries, I hope you have been well.

In this diary post, I have an awful lot to speak about, so I will try and keep it as short and sweet as possible.

The end of last Tuesday's media lesson saw me take a longer the usual route home from school. As I walked back to my home in the searing heat, my mind was working in full throttle. This long walk home sparked new ideas into my mind. As those of you who read my blog already know, the idea for my short film was based on the harsh reality of life, when looking through the eyes of a person who had to shut out their dreams. Having discussed this with a few peers, as well as my parents, I figured that this perhaps wasn't the best idea I had ever come up with.

So it needed to change... and fast.

Luckily, the boring walk home gave my mind enough thinking time to conjure up an idea that I truly feel will be successful. "The unfortunate life of James Flint". The title may not sound very enthralling or intriguing at first, but let me give you a brief outline of the story. James Flint is an everyday, working man who lives in 1930's England. One day, whilst doing his day to day maintenance of the house, he falls off of a wooden stool and smacks his head, causing him to fall into a coma. James wakes up in modern day London (2014). A land where everything has changed, from technology, languages and the ways in which people socialise with each other. These drastic changes cause James to become scared and confused about the world he has now entered. The different way of life becomes too much for James and causes him to force his way back into another coma. As a result of this, James wakes up in 1930 again and everything is solved.

There is meant to be a comedy aspect to the film, as well as bewilderment within the audience during the film.

I had gained inspiration from a popular 30's song - Putting on the Ritz by Harry Richman - which I will use as my opening credits song.

Harry Richman.

So there is the idea for my new short film... I personally think that it is better than the last idea, but I will leave it with you.

I thought that I would also take the time to give an insight into what I will be doing in terms of production during the summer holidays. I will apologise in advance, because the amount of posts (Particularly production diaries) during the summer holidays may be few and far between because of the decrease in the amount of work that I will be able to do.

My summer holidays, vacation wise looks like this:

New Jersey, USA - 22nd July - 9th August.
Lanzarote, Spain (Canary Islands) - 21st August - 28th August.

The gaps in between these holidays are going to be the most likely for me to do work in, because I am back in England for all of them and probably wont be leaving the London area for the duration of my days back. I plan to construct props that would look like they are from a 1930's home. During the summer, I will be making fake pictures of James and his family, as well as other miscellaneous items such as ties, clocks and football shirts. In addition, I expect to get some sort of filming done over the course of the 6 week holiday. This footage will not be used in scenes, but in the opening credits montage. I feel like this work should be done first, because I like to work in chronological order.

That concludes this week's diary entry. Stay tuned for more updates!

A brief history of short film

Hiatory of short film from Connorevansmedia

Research task: Short film poster.

Poster analysis from Connorevansmedia

Research Task: Magazine review article.

Research task from Connorevansmedia

Production Diary: Week 2 - 6th July 2014

Hello, and welcome to my second weekly production diary for my A2 media coursework.

I feel that in the last post, you would have gotten to know my course and my ideas a little bit better than before, so there is no real need to go over anything from last week. However, this post is going to simply be an update of where I currently am with my work and what I have been up to regarding the research tasks for my coursework.

Similarly to last year's coursework, we have been asked to conduct research into two of the three ancillary tasks that come with our coursework choice. Because I am producing a short film for my coursework, my ancillary tasks are different to those who are making a music video. The ancillary tasks for both the music videos and short films are typical conventions in the promotion of the respected product. In my case, I have been asked to create two out of the following tasks listed below.

1 - A movie poster.
2 - A radio advertisement.
3 - A magazine review article.

After carefully thinking of which two tasks I would like to create, I finally came to my decision. A movie poster and a magazine review article were the tasks that I felt I could get the highest grades on, because of my past experience of making posters and magazines on Photoshop and InDesign. With my small, yet effective arsenal of skills and experience with these software types, I think that I will be able to achieve a good grade, which will reflect on my tasks. I believe that I can bring a range of different skills to this year's coursework, that I have perfected from last year's magazine. Dealing with adversity is definitely one of those skills. There were countless occasions last year, where I felt that my magazine wasn't going anywhere or that it wasn't ever going to be good enough. Whilst some people may not ever feel this way, for a person who doesn't have confidence running through their blood, this is a serious matter. Luckily, I found ways in which I could deal with this. Speaking to my teacher Mr Fisher and staying behind after school are just two of the many ways that I managed to deal with it. Other skills that I feel I can bring to this year's coursework are my overall Photoshop and InDesign skills from year 9 and year 12's coursework. Making an entire magazine with InDesign has really bolstered my skills and confidence.

 I have already had plenty of ideas for my poster, as I have taken inspiration from other short movie posters - Including the one that I have used in my research task for this week's homework.

The poster that I have analysed for my homework was from the film "Done In". I will not be going into detail about this poster in this diary, because I already have a dedicated piece of work that I have written for it... but I thought that I would help you become comfortable and familiar with it. However, whilst on the topic of posters, I may as well share my feelings on it. NEVER in my life has a poster actually made me want to go and watch a film. To me, posters do not entice me to go and see a film, which is the same for star ratings and reviews (Of the magazine kind). In fact, I find posters almost completely redundant... sooner or later, I think they will lose their place all together. But in this rare case, the poster for "Done In" has actually MADE me want to watch the film. The choice of seriously contrasting colours, as well as an emotion and thought provoking image have made my mind wonder... sometimes a little too much. Questions such as "What is the guy thinking?" or "How has he been done in?" have taken a dominant place in my daily thoughts for the past week. Whether I will see the film or not is a different story all together... but if I do, then i'm sure it will deserve a place in on of my diary entries.

As for the magazine review article, well... that was tricky. Talking about magazine articles in an evaluative way is never easy, but check out my next research post that is based entirely on a magazine article.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog once again, it really does mean a lot!

Keep an eye out for next week's diary!

Take care.

Production Diary: Week 1 - 25th June 2014

Hello and welcome to my G324 media A2 blog, the blog that will be taking you through the coursework side of my A2 course. Within this blog, you will be able to view all progress that I have made with my coursework, planning and evaluations, as well as short, weekly diary entries and production Diaries. Each of the above will have their own specific tab, meaning that they can be grouped and viewed with minimal effort and frustration. I must inform you now, that this specific diary entry is also my first official Production Diary post, so it will come under two different labels. However, the two types of entry will have content that is only relevant to them, unlike this post - which has a mix.

So, here is an insight into our coursework task. Similarly to last year's course, we have been asked to create a piece of coursework of our choice. This year, our options were either; A music video or A short film. Whilst both of these are extremely tempting, I know that unfortunately, I cannot proceed with both of them.

As soon as the task was thrown upon me, hundreds of ideas filled my head as I tried hard to battle against getting lost in my thoughts, whilst trying to listen to my media teacher, Mr Fisher. A music video would have been ideal for me, because ever since I find out the task for A2, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted it to be based on. I was planning to use my band from last year's music magazine - "Roode Pelikaan", as a way of continuing the work that I had involved them in and to give the band an even more realistic feel. However, this idea was short lived. None of my friends who were in my fictional band can actually play an instrument, so this meant that filming a convincing music video would prove to be a little more difficult than I had originally thought. If there were any lingering temptations to make a music video, they were surely gotten rid of after I stupidly agreed to watch a "Wannabe" death metal band's music video. Having to turn the video off 12 seconds in was a sign.

So this has left me with my one and only other option. A short film. Now, I don't usually tend to work outside of my comfort zone in life. But for this work, I felt I had to. Mainly because I didn't have another choice, but also because I felt that I should try and enhance my skill development and probability of success, by "taking the plunge", if you will.

This sudden change of plan has somewhat changed my normal way of thinking (If you can call it normal). I tend to spend a while thinking of an idea, developing it and then finishing it, rather like my idea for using Roode Pelikaan for a music video. But this task has changed that. Once I knew that I was going to have to produce a short film, thousands of ideas filled my head. I would sit there, thinking in silence before frequently gasping during a eureka moment, only to find that I didn't like it. Despite sounding like quite a tedious and long winded process, I developed an idea for a short film that I feel can be successful and thought provoking (This is where the production diary element comes in).

The name of the film? No idea. I haven't really thought about minor details such as characters, props or editing at the moment. It's more of a pitch.

<b>My short film:</b>

My short film is based on the life of a small boy, who has frequent nightmares of monsters and other things that make him uneasy. The opening scene depicts the boy being attacked by a monster from under his bed, which is in his imagination. This nightmare ends when the boy goes to his "happy place", a tranquil forest that he sends all of the nightmares to in his head, so that they cannot bother him.

This attack from the monster provokes other nightmares of the child's to come true. The child constantly sees what he fear sin everyday places, such as the reflection of a mirror. A few different clips show that the boy is terrified at his young age. However, as the film progresses, so does the ageing of the boy. With every new chapter (Highlighted with a fade out), the boy has aged 4 years. Each time the chapter changes, he becomes less and less afraid of the monsters. The film reaches a point where the boy (now in his late teens) gets fed up with the monsters. He is no longer scared of them and is finding them annoying. Every time he sees a monster, he ushers them away from wherever they may be, and guides them to his happy place. The monsters are locked away in a see through, glass prison cell that is sat in this tranquil field.

The boy then goes on to working in an office. It has now been another 4 years since the monsters were gotten rid of. His job is going well, until he gets extremely stressed and goes home early one day. As a method of escaping reality, the man tries to daydream and reminisce... but he can't remember anything. He then sits up and realises what has happened. He then visits his happy place, which is now dark and cold, instead of warm and sunny as it was in his childhood. He approaches the cell to see all of his nightmares sitting in there together, cold and alone. He places one hand on the glass. One of his nightmares goes to do the same. A single tear runs down the man's face as he takes away his hand before the monster can place his. He then sulks and says "I'm so sorry" and walks off.

The scene then fades out and a quote (From myself) appears... it reads: "Don't ever try and forget your dreams, even if they are nightmares. Because it will be far scarier when you can't remember them, than when you used to all the time".

So that was my brief synopsis of my short film. I am sure that it will change and be altered a little bit, but there we are! I hope you enjoyed this first post. Keep and eye out for more. Thank you.