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.