Short Film Exercise

Aim of activity
The aim of filming this scene was to get us back into the routine of planning before we film, for example by story-boarding and scripting, and then recapping on how the film process works.

What did I learn?
From this activity I developed skills I already knew and then also learnt new skills. An example of this is when we were editing we named the clips when we imported them into premier pro. This was so they were easier to find the clip we were looking for at a certain time and made the process quicker. We named each clip mainly by what sort of shot it was e.g close up. I also learnt to let the camera roll for 3 seconds before and after we started the scene, this made sure that we didn't cut any of the footage off that we needed. We also used a different camera from the one we used for our film in year 12 so this took a lot more getting used to as there were features I had never came across before

How to improve?
Next time we film we will follow our storyboard more closely and use more types of shots that we wrote on the storyboard as we didn't use a wide variety when it came to filming. Also we will need to film each scene 3 times to make sure it is right and how we want it, because we found that in some of the scenes things went wrong but we didn't have another film of it. Also I think we should of filmed more clips because when we were editing we found clips we didn't like but if we got rid of them the scene wouldn't make sense and it would of been too short. Furthermore we need to follow the rules of continuity editing more closely.

Task 3: Generating Ideas for Our Music Video

Our final choice for a song is Heaven by Beyonce. We originally chose White Noise by Disclosure because its upbeat and energetic but we thought that we could get a clearer narrative and better representation using Heaven. The narrative is based on Beyonce having a miscarriage and loosing her child and we want to go with a similar theme of loosing someone because we believe it will be a clear storyline for the audience.


 

We got inspiration from other music videos to help with ideas of what we want to include. For example we looked at Sam Smith - Lay me Down because it has a church setting and includes the ideas of funerals/weddings which corresponds with the Heaven theme of life and death and we liked how at the start there was dark low key lighting with just candles lit so you could only see shadows of people. 

Also we looked at Leona Lewis - Run because we liked how it was set in a rural setting of fields, forests, trees etc. This created a suburban feel which emphasized the lyrics of the song.

We looked at Whitney Houston - Always Love You because we wanted to get some inspiration from classic songs, and this is one of the most classic love songs. In the song she is sat on a chair on an empty stage which gives a feel of isolation which would work well in our video because its about loosing someone. This gave us the idea of having the singer sat surrounded by mirrors and panning the camera round so you can see the singers reflection in the mirrors. Furthermore we looked at Gabriella Aplin - Power of Love and Ellie Goulding - Your Song.

Task 3: Mind Mapping

Short Film

Activity One

The short films we have looked at so far are about childhood in some way so we developed a mind map on stories and memories of our childhood, of other people we know's childhood and memories that most children experienced in their childhood. The memories of an individual are more unique and specific where as the memories that most children experience are very generic e.g fights in school. 

Activity Two

We then considered the mise-en-scene. Which is the arrangement of scenery and stage properties. These include:

Props - 
May be something which establishes the time period 
Costume - 
Fashion 
It may be having to wear something you didn't like, a big jumper or unfashionable shoes.

Activity 3

Here we discussed character. We talked about characteristics of a person which makes them distinct from other people for example hairstyles, body language, facial expressions, habits etc.

Activity 4

There are different types of narratives in film which are tropes. A trope is a commonly followed formula or plot which is reproduced and becomes familiar to audiences. The mind map states different types of tropes and films that demonstrate this trope.

Christopher Booker is a theorist who claimed to identify the following types of narrative. Again, I have identified some films that demostrate these narratives.

Narrative can also be a 'man versus...' narrative.

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Task 2.2: Print Products Drafts

This is our first draft of our print product which will be a CD digipak. We chose to keep it simple and not have too much going on on the cover because it could look too overcrowded.We chose to have the artists name and a picture of her on the cover to brand the artist as much as possible. We named the CD 'One Night Only' as we thought it would fit the type of CD well and its catchy like a slogan, making it memorable. Due to it being an album cover and not a single cover we did not want the cover to reflect the music video we are producing and wanted to represent the album as a whole. Despite this we did incorporate elements of our video into the cover such as the black hat as this is our artists trademark style that will help brand her.

This is our second draft of the front cover. This design includes the title of the song and the artist only, with a background that is bolder and darker round the outsides then gets lighter towards the middle. I like this design because although it's simple the text stands out and the way the background goes from dark to light is like a spotlight on the text.

This is our third front cover design. We got our inspiration for this one from the Leona Lewis Spirit front cover as she uses an extreme close up. However the only problem with this cover is that we did not know where to incorporate the text or what colour to have the text as we didn't want it to cover her face. But if we had it covering her hat, having a white text would blend in with the background in either corner but black wouldn't be possible either due to the colour of the hat. For this design we would need to try a variety of colours to see which worked best.

Task 2.2: Print Products Research

To generate ideas for our print products we analysed album covers by Beyonce herself along with some by other similar artists. 

This is the front and back cover of Beyonce's album called "Beyonce" that includes 'Heaven', the song we are using. It is a very simple design, which can be quite effective because it draws your attention to the information of the album e.g who the album is by and makes it easily noticeable. However as we are trying to brand the artist, this probably wouldn't be most effective as having a picture of the artist herself on the front cover would help this branding as the picture will reflect the artist's personality and style. I do like the back cover having just the names of the songs on it because when back covers do have pictures they can look quite over crowded.

This is the single cover for Heaven. I like this cover because the photo reflects the music video itself, however we are producing an album cover, not a single cover so we want our cover to be more universal to the whole album rather than the video.

We also looked at the album cover for Beyonce's I Am Sasha Fierce and Leona Lewis' Spirit. They are both quite similar in the fact that they both include a picture of the artists face which I liked because it is helping brand the artist, which is what we are aiming to do.

I think the black and white and the colour both look as effective as each other, so I think when we are creating our print products we will draft our designs in both black and white and then choose which looks best. However I think if we do use colour they will be quite neutral or darker tones because the sort of songs our artist will be singing are slower, more emotional ones rather than up-beat pop songs.

Task 2.1: Research Into Existing Products - Music Videos

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

The first shot we see is an establishing shot where Lady Gaga is sat in the middle and is surrounded by men and women, the men in black and the women in white. This could indicate that the women are innocent and the men are evil/dangerous. Gaga is wearing gold which could indicate power and royalty. The glasses she are wearing indicate there is going to be a flashback from the way they look and they are made out of razor blades which shows the fictionality of the video. There is a close up on a parrot music player and also there is an ipod nano in the background. This is product placement and companies pay Lady Gaga to feature their products in her videos to advertise them. Lady Gaga is a popular worldwide celebrity so companies would choose her to feature their products in her videos because she has a lot of fans meaning a lot of video views.  

Shortly after this product placement is used again but this time with a vodka brand named Nemiroff which is Ukrainian. We see a montage of shots featuring some pods, one with a red cross saying "Monster" on. Similar pods have been used in films like The Matrix, and Prometheus which is intertextuality between films. The red cross could represent religion. There is a sign saying "Bath Haus Lady Gaga" which gives the impression that the video has an element of prostitution in. People in white costumes climb out of the pods, the costumes covering the their hole body and half of their face, only revealing their mouths. The costume may be covering their eyes to indicate they are blind to what is happening (prostitution) and to emphasise their naivety. There is a wide shot which reveals all 7 pods and the people climbing out/dancing round them. The fact there is 7 may represent the 7 deadly sins, further connoting the religion theme. 

There are a few mid shots/close ups of Lady Gaga in the bath where her eyes have been enlarged. This may emphasise her innocence, like when babies and puppies have wide eyes. She is wearing headphones which is further product placement but this time they are from her own products range, to advertise her own products. She makes a gun gesture with her hands which foreshadows the violence further on in the video, and contrasts her innocence and connotes danger.

Lady Gaga is then force fed a liquid, which looks like water but is probably vodka, by women. This may represent celebrity women in society, who all do inappropriate things because other women have and its complicit to carry the behaviour on. She has her top took off which is sexualising her, like how society sexualises women. She raises her arms in a gesture that indicates that she is giving up and is going to let herself conform to the other women.

Lady Gaga is trying to cover herself with a shawl but that is ripped off her by the women, which is sexualising her again. She tries covering herself, emphasising her innocence that is left. She is dancing for the men like she is a stripper doing provocative gestures. There is a mid shot of her with low key lighting in what looks like a cage surrounded by two tiled walls. This further supports the idea of her performing for the men because it is like she is a caged animal at a circus, and is locked away until she has to perform again. The men are drinking the vodka shown previously in the video, bringing about the idea of alcoholism which is widely associated with violence and sex, which is what they are probably planning on doing to Lady Gaga. There are beats laptops in this scene, further product placement. On the screen there are numbers which are going up, which comes across as if the men are bidding for Lady Gaga. This is further sexualising women and is turning Lady Gaga into an object.

Lady Gaga is in the middle of a room surrounded by the men watching her, which gives a feel of a show room where people look at cars, further turning Lady Gaga into an object. She starts posing in a provocative way while the men evaluate her, which comes across as if she has came to terms with what she is doing. However she starts doing religious gestures which makes it seem like she wishes to be innocent. She is shown in the centre of the room surrounded by rings, this gives the impression that she believes she is the centre of her own universe. The gold outfit is very abstract just like Lady Gaga's fashion sense in real life. it is like she is incorporating her own style and advertising it through the video. She is wearing a polar bear coat she is wearing gives a sense of strength and beauty and the fact she is wearing it shows her powerfulness. This is further shown by the dead deer on the wall.

She makes a further gun gesture but this time she pretends to shoot it. This may indicate she has gained power and strength to kill someone, foreshadowing the end shot. She used to be innocent and conform with the rest of society over how she should act, but is now expressing her individuality and power. Power is further shown when she steps on the dead bear. The last shot is Lady Gaga sat on the burnt bed with the skeleton of the man she has killed. She is expressionless, showing she has no remorse or emotion over what she has done, also she is still shooting fire, indicating how she is no longer innocent, she is evil.

Task 2.1: Research Into Existing Products - Music Videos

Lady Gaga - Paparazzi

There is a montage of a series of establishing shots on flowers, water, trees etc, which sets the scene and creates a calm atmosphere, contrasting the chaos that is to come in the future. This calm atmosphere is further shown through the dietetic sound of birds tweeting, the water fountain and rustle of the wind. There are also shots of a mansion and a chandelier involved in the montage which indicates the wealth and power that Lady Gaga has. These shots are low angle, making the audience feel like they are looking up at the mansion and the chandelier which further connotes the power Lady Gaga has.

The titles have a comic like, 1950's film feel to them because of the font and the bright colours, which keeps in with the comic like feel of the whole video.
There is a mid shot of a marbled balcony with statues and the view of the sea which has a Mediterranean feel to it, connoting luxury, high status and wealth. Also this paradise contrasts with death that occurs later in the video. Then there is a close up of dollar notes with Lady Gaga's face on, further connoting wealth and power which is a main theme throughout the video.

After this montage the narrative begins with Gaga and her lover on her bed. They are speaking romantically and in Swedish due to the director and the man in the video being Swedish. There is a close up on jewellery with a G on for Gaga, this is because Lady Gaga has her own jewellery range, so it is advertising her products. She is also shown wearing a Dior ring as Dior has created various outfits worn by Gaga, so she is advertising this in the video. He takes off her jacket revealing a corset which are usually worn in a sexual way or to emphasises a woman's figure. The champagne of the balcony could indicate wealth but could also indicate alcoholism and violence. When the paparazzi start taking photos of the couple they are in black and white which could further indicate that this video is set in the 1950's, along with the titling. When Gaga realises that they are being photographed she believes that he has set it up and is only using him for fame so she punches him, causing him to push her off the balcony.  

The black and white swirly pattern in the background could indicate a brainwash/hypnosis, and that celebrities in today's society are brainwashed by the media or that the public are hypnotized by pictures and stories posted in the media. Gaga is in the Jesus cross position which could indicate nearly dying and being reborn. Her blood has glitter and jewels in which could connote that her death is being glamorised. The newspapers are yellow and washed out and the cameras are old fashioned, further indicating the 1950's era. The fact that paparazzi are taking photos of her dead shows they have no ethics and only care about getting a photo and not the actual person, which could be the message Lady Gaga is trying to get across in the whole video. 

The purple carpet connotes wealth and royalty. The fact that Lady Gaga is shown looking glamorous could be seen in two ways, one being the preferred way that despite being disabled you can still be glamorous, fashionable and high status, and the other being the deferred way, and that Lady Gaga is making fun of disability. The representation of ethnicity is challenged here, as there are black men acting as her "slaves." Segregation was an issue in the 1950's. She is shown wearing lightening bolt earrings and doing hand movements which are highly associated with Lady Gaga.  The fact that her neck brace is glittery shows she is trying to stylise her disability. She is later shown in what looks like gold armour which shows that she is not powerful any more and needs protection.

There is a montage of dead girls which could indicate they are victims of male violence and are innocent. They are in fancy dress which may further connote the comic like feel of the whole video. She does a gun gesture with her hands which could foreshadow the later killing of her husband.  One dead girl is shown hung, making the audience believe she has commit suicide. You can only see her legs, lingerie and heels which makes the representation of gender relevant as it is very sexualised. In the media in the past there has been rumours of Lady Gaga being transgender, and this is represented in the video as Lady Gaga is wearing half a dress and half trousers. The flashing could indicate that either Lady Gaga is in a living nightmare due to the paparazzi and she can't get out or it may be cameras flashing. 

She is shown wearing a yellow Minnie mouse outfit which again further connotes the comic like feel to the video. Also the colour yellow could show innocence which contrasts her actions of the future, and also could show happiness and that she is happy that she's killing her husband. The man is wearing an eye patch as if he is blinded by Lady Gaga's plan. She is wearing sunglasses as if she is hiding behind them from her plan. The drink is red indicating danger and she pours in the powder out of her glittery ring which shows she is glamorising his death. There is a close up where she looks directly at the camera which breaks the fourth wall and gives an intimate feel to the video and makes the audience feel as if they are on her side. She licks the spoon  as if she is tasting his demise. 

Task 2.1: Research Into Existing Products - Short Film

Lynne Ramsay

Lynne Ramsay is a Scottish female director, however she does not like to be considered a 'female' director as she believes she is a director in her own right and her work shouldn't be affected by her sexuality. She has a very definitive style, using poetic framing, not graphic representation. 

Gasman

The film starts by showing a family getting dressed. From these shots you can tell that the film was set a long time ago due to the old fashioned outfits and decor. There are close ups on a boy shining his shoes and also a medium close up on a little girl's shoes and tights. These are old fashioned as shoe shining is more commonly associated with the olden days and the shoes the girl was wearing are old fashioned along with the fact that her tights are a mustard colour which is less common in today's society. There is then a mid shot of the girl in a yellow puffy dress. This further connotes that the film is set in the olden days.  The mid shot of the room indicates it was set in the past as the features of the kitchen look very old for example the stove. The wallpaper also has a funky pattern with shades of green and orange in which you don't see around in society today as it is no longer considered fashionable. The shots of them getting ready give the film an intimate feel as if you are really looking into their family life and are there in the scene.

The first few shots don't really reveal the characters faces, only their body parts which creates a sense of mystery for the audience about the personalities of the characters. 

Throughout this series of close-ups the diegetic music of the Christmas songs ‘Let It Snow’ and ‘Winter Wonderland’ are also heard, hinting towards the time of year in which the film is set. These cheerful Christmas songs and the joyous time of year juxtapose with the sound of the family arguing and shouting at one another in the background.

There is a wide shot of the father, daughter and son walking up a hill. The sky is very gloomy and bleak which connotes the stereotype of it being grim up north. There is no surroundings in the shot apart from some grass and lampposts which gives a feeling of isolation and creates an eerie, uncomfortable atmosphere. As they get closer to the top of the hill the Father picks his daughter up and is spinning her round. At the same time the sun starts to come out as the sky gets a bit bluer and the road gets lighter which could reflect the happiness from the father and daughter. The fact that the boy is trailing behind the Father and Daughter gives us the impression that the boy, being older than the girl, may have an idea to his dad’s other family and so resents him for that. The fact the boy also runs in the other direction from his sister and dad suggests that he wants to break free.

You next see the family walking along an abandoned railway line. The slow tracking shot of the family walking along the neglected tracks stretching into the distance may indicate a sense of hopelessness, which may show that the family have no hope and will be in this situation forever. However the high key lighting used gives the scene a positive element.

The family continue to walk with the girl being picked up by her dad, when all of a sudden he puts the girl down and walks out of the frame. Then we meet the other family who we assume to be the man’s mistress and their two children. The children from this family's clothing is dirty and simple unlike the girl’s pretty yellow party dress. The simple, dirty clothing the children are wearing suggests deprivation and how the father is unable to provide for both sets of children. The two boys are also of a similar age, as are the two girls, suggesting that the father was building both families at the same time. 

There is then a conversation taking place between the father and this other woman, shown through close-ups. These shots give a sense of intimacy and show how close the man and woman are to each other. Also it shows the emotions the characters are feeling, for example we can see from the man’s eyes that he is stressed and under pressure but we can also see how much he loves this woman and wants to be with her. However it is clear the woman feels nothing for him with the extreme close-up of the man touching her hair and her ignoring him  shows her rejection towards him. 

The family then arrive at a run-down pub where the camera pans to follow the father to a table full of men drinking, taking us into a drinking culture where kids are forgotten about, which raises the issue of neglect and a toxic childhood with the audience. The issue of neglect is also presented through the following shot of the boy sitting in a chair that swamps him in the corner of the frame, with this portraying him as lonely and isolated. The brown haired girl is later seen dancing with Father Christmas while the blonde haired girl is isolated and alone, this is representative of the two girl’s relationship with their father with the brown haired girl being close to her father and the other girl rarely seeing him. A wide shot of the blonde girl on her own is then shown, highlighting her isolation from everyone else in the room. This shot pans around the room and is handheld, conveying a sense of intoxication while showing the chaos that is going on in the room, also brings a sense of realism for the audience. The blonde girl then goes over to sit on her father’s lap with the brown haired girl immediately noticing this and attempting to pull the girl off her dad’s lap saying “That’s my daddy” over and over again. The girls begin to fight with the quick cuts and editorial pace showing aggression and loss of control. 

The family then leave the pub, meeting the woman at the train tracks. The man and the woman don’t speak; instead they walk in opposite directions, the man with the brown haired girl and her brother and the woman with her two children. All of a sudden the brown haired girl runs back to the other family, picking up a stone as if to throw it at them which symbolises hatred, however for some reason she throws it on the floor which could show that she knows the other children are part of their family. The lighting of the scene is now darker and bleaker with the train-tracks lit up by the moon, perhaps showing the two families hopeless fates.