Film Evaluation- Second Draft

In my film class I was given a task to produce a short film in either a group, a pair, or by myself. Firstly I decided to work in a pair, we planned the story line but then realised we had completely opposite ideas which did not work together, therefore we decided to go our separate ways and complete our own project.
The genre for my short film is a gritty, drama, thriller that explores realism and drug/violent issues and conflicts. The generic signifiers that support this are the use of weapons- baseball bat, knife, and petrol (with the intention to set someone alight). The use of drugs is also a generic signifier of gritty, drama and realism, as drugs are one of the main problems in the society of today.  The narrative is a drug deal gone wrong, which leads to death. The short film begins as the gang leader is strolling through the woods alone, searching for the local drug dealer, but not for drugs. This was a set up so that he could get the dealer on side by talking/ befriending him and trying his produce. The gang leader had held a grudge over the dealer for a while now which he was unaware of, although this hasn't been made obvious because if so the dealer would have been watching his back and have been armed with more than just a baseball bat, this is why the leader wanted to complete his murder discretely. Near to the ending of the film the reason for the killing is revealed, making it a mystery throughout, "A life for a life, you killed my brother".
For mise-en-scene I ensured that the costume reflected my characters personality in the film. I wanted the character's roles to be easily identified by the audience, and for them to detect their purpose throughout the film. For my gang leader I dressed him in a smart suit, which has connotations of business and loyalty. Also purposely cast on actor with tattoos as this reinforces the stereotype. This is how i wanted to portray the character, as though he took himself seriously, he wasn’t going out to murder for the fun of it but he was doing this for an important reason, the loyalty that remained between him and his brother. I dressed the drug dealer in every-day casual clothes worn today by most teenagers so that he would appear as a typical youth, which will helps the audience to understand the issues in the characters life and how he has taken the wrong path somewhere along the way.
The props that I used in my film was a pack of flour wrapped in tape for the fake drugs, fake money, a baseball bat, a knife, a carton, fake blood and a laser pen to make the audience think that the gang was backing the leader with the use of guns. The lighting in my film was originally broad daylight as I wanted the film to be clear and good quality. Although I have now edited the lighting to make the scenes appear dark, gloomy and secretive, which adds emphasis to the narrative of being a shady drug deal resulting to murder.
The setting I have used for my film is the forest. I have purposely done this because forests are typically discrete and isolated. The reason I needed my setting to be under these conditions was because of the private drug deal and murder, no crime like this would take place conspicuously eg. Outside someone's house, a city centre, so this is why a setting like this would be inappropriate towards my narrative. 

I have added special effects downloaded from the Internet and used in iMovie at the end of the film, the gang leader pours petrol on the dealer and the sets him on fire. For this I have added an effect of a small amount of fire coming off the lighter, which then spreads, into a fire, which takes over the screen, this was done using pre-keyed special effects downloaded from the Internet.
I began the film with an establishing shot to familiarise the audience with the setting. Another shot I used was crabbing/ long shot, following the gang leader around the forest, which showed complete isolating making the scene appear suspicious. I also ensured I had put in quite a few of close-up shots which was to emphasise on the character's emotions and facial expressions throughout. For the viewing of the props I also used close-ups to highlight their significance, as they are strong generic signifiers of the genre. For example the flour spilling out of the package so that the audience could understand the drug related narrative.
With the sound I did ADR (addition dialogue recording), used foley for artificial sounds, and downloaded a forest soundtrack for the background noise. The soundtrack made the film sound more natural and fitted the purpose.
The overall product is successful and I am very please with the way it has worked out. I like how the sound has been gathered from other materials but still fit appropriately. I really like the way the mise-en-scene (costume and props) worked; I think that they really support the characters and genre, which makes the film, appear realistic.
The main weakness are the scene where the blood drips on to the money, it would’ve been more realistic if I had purchase some fake blood beforehand instead of using tomato sauce mixed with water. Also another weakness that showed was the ADR, it could possibly have worked better whereas on the film the characters were not moving their lip syncing in time to the voice overs but it was still better to do this than use the original sound footage where the voices were unclear. Another thing I would alter if I were to film this again is the problem that occurred with using two different cameras; I would've made sure I had possession of a reliable one that I could have stuck with throughout the whole of the filming process.

Film evaluation- first draft

In my film class I was given a task to produce a short film in either a group, a pair, or by myself. Firstly I decided to work in a pair, we planned the story line but then realised we had completely opposite ideas which did not work together, therefore we decided to go our separate ways and complete our own project.
The genre for my short film is a gritty, drama, thriller that explores realism and drug/violent issues and conflicts. The generic signifiers that support this are the use of weapons- baseball bat, knife, and petrol (with the intention to set someone alight). The use of drugs is also a generic signifier of gritty, drama and realism, as drugs are one of the main problems in the society of today.  The narrative is a drug deal gone wrong, which leads to death. The short film begins as the gang leader is strolling through the woods alone, searching for the local drug dealer, but not for drugs. This was a set up so that he could get the dealer on side by talking/ befriending him and trying his produce. The gang leader had held a grudge over the dealer for a while now which he was unaware of, although this hasn't been made obvious because if so the dealer would have been watching his back and have been armed with more than just a baseball bat, this is why the leader wanted to complete his murder discretely. Near to the ending of the film the reason for the killing is revealed, making it a mystery throughout, "A life for a life, you killed my brother".

For mise-en-scene I ensured that the costume reflected my characters personality in the film. I wanted the character's roles to be easily identified by the audience, and for them to detect their purpose throughout the film. For my gang leader I dressed him in a smart suit, which has connotations of buisness and loyalty. Also purposely cast on actor with tattoos as this reinforces the stereotype. This is how i wanted to portray the character, as though he took himself seriously, he wasnt going out to murder for the fun of it but he was doing this for an important reason, the loyalty that remained between him and his brother. I dressed the drug dealer in every-day casual clothes worn today by most teenagers so that he would appear as a typical youth, which will helps the audience to understand the issues in the characters life and how he has taken the wrong path somewhere along the way.

The props that I used in my film was a pack of flour wrapped in tape for the fake drugs, fake money, a baseball bat, a knife, a carton, fake blood and a laser pen to make the audience think that the gang was backing the leader with the use of guns. The lighting in my film was originally broad day light as I wanted the film to be clear and good quality. Although I have now edited the lighting to make the scenes appear dark, gloomy and secretive, which adds emphasis to the narrative of being a shady drug deal resulting to murder.

The setting i have used for my film is the forest. I have purposely done this because forests are typically discrete and isolated. The reason I needed my setting to be under these conditions was because of the private drug deal and murder, no crime like this would take place conspicuously eg. outside someone's house, a city centre, so this is why a setting like this would be inappropriate towards my narrative. 

I have added special effects downloaded from iMovie at the end of the film, the gang leader pours petrol on the dealer and the sets him on fire. For this I have added an effect of a small amount of fire coming off the lighter which then spreads into a fire which takes over the screen, this was done using pre-keyed special effects downloaded from the internet.

I began the film with an establishing shot to familiarise the audience with the setting. Another shot I used was crabbing/ long shot, following the gang leader around the forest, which showed complete isolating making the scene appear suspicious. I also ensured I had put in quite a few of close-up shots which was to emphasise on the character's emotions and facial expressions throughout. For the viewing of the props I also used close-ups to highlight their significance as they are strong generic signifiers of the genre. For example the flour spilling out of the package so that the audience could understand the drug related narrative.

With the sound I did ADR (addition dialogue recording), used foley for artificial sounds, and downloaded a forest soundtrack for the background noise. The soundtrack made the film sound more natural and fitted the purpose.

The overall product is successful and I am very please with the way it has worked out. I like how the sound has been gathered from other materials but still fits appropriately. I really like the way the mise-en-scene (costume and props) worked, I think that they really support the characters and genre which makes the film appear realistic.
The main weakness are the scene where the blood drips on to the money, it wouldve been more realistic if I had purchase some fake blood beforehand instead of using tomato sauce mixed with water. Also another weakness that showed was the ADR, it could possibly have worked better whereas on the film the characters were not moving their lip syncing in time to the voice overs but it was still better to do this than use the original sound footage where the voices were unclear. Another thing I would alter if I was to film this again is the problem that occurred with using two different cameras, I would've made sure I had possession of a reliable one that I could have stuck with throughout the whole of the filming process.

Final Film

Reflective Analysis- first draft

In my film class i was given a task to produce a short film in either a group, a pair, or by myself. Firstly i decided to work in a pair, we planned the story line but then realised we had completely opposite ideas which did not work together, therefore we decided to go our separate ways and complete our own project.
The genre for my short film is a gritty, drama, thriller that explores realism and drug/violent issues and conflicts. The generic signifiers that support this are the use of weapons- baseball bat, knife, and petrol (with the intention to set someone alight). The use of drugs is also a generic signifier of gritty, drama and realism, as drugs are one of the main problems in the society of today.  The narrative is a drug deal gone wrong, which leads to death. The short film begins as the gang leader is strolling through the woods alone, searching for the local drug dealer, but not for drugs. This was a set up so that he could get the dealer on side by talking/ befriending him and trying his produce. The gang leader had held a grudge over the dealer for a while now which he was unaware of, although this hasn't been made obvious because if so the dealer would have been watching his back and have been armed with more than just a baseball bat, this is why the leader wanted to complete his murder discretely. Near to the ending of the film the reason for the killing is revealed, making it a mystery throughout, "A life for a life, you killed my brother".

For mise-en-scene i ensured that the costume reflected my characters personality in the film. i wanted the character's roles to be easily identified by the audience, and for them to detect their purpose throughout the film. For my gang leader i dressed him in a smart suit, which has connotations of buisness and loyalty. Also purposely cast on actor with tattoos as this reinforces the stereotype. This is how i wanted to portray the character, as though he took himself seriously, he wasnt going out to murder for the fun of it but he was doing this for an important reason, the loyalty that remained between him and his brother. I dressed the drug dealer in every-day casual clothes worn today by most teenagers so that he would appear as a typical youth, which will helps the audience to understand the issues in the characters life and how he has taken the wrong path somewhere along the way.

The props that i used in my film was a pack of flour wrapped in tape for the fake drugs, fake money, a baseball bat, a knife, a carton, fake blood and a laser pen to make the audience think that the gang was backing the leader with the use of guns. The lighting in my film was originally broad day light as i wanted the film to be clear and good quality. Although i have now edited the lighting to make the scenes appear dark, gloomy and secretive, which adds emphasis to the narrative of being a shady drug deal resulting to murder.

The setting i have used for my film is the forest. I have purposely done this because forests are typically discrete and isolated. The reason i needed my setting to be under these conditions was because of the private drug deal and murder, no crime like this would take place conspicuously eg. outside someone's house, a city centre, so this is why a setting like this would be inappropriate towards my narrative. 

I have added special effects downloaded from iMovie at the end of the film, the gang leader pours petrol on the dealer and the sets him on fire. For this i have added an effect of a small amount of fire coming off the lighter which then spreads into a fire which takes over the screen, this was done using pre-keyed special effects downloaded from the internet.

I began the film with an establishing shot to familiarise the audience with the setting. Another shot i used was crabbing/ long shot, following the gang leader around the forrest, which showed complete isolating making the scene appear suspicious. I also ensured i had put in quite a few of close-up shots which was to emphasise on the character's emotions and facial expressions throughout. For the viewing of the props i also used closeups to highlight their significance as they are strong generic signifiers of the genre. For example the flour spilling out of the package so that the audience could understand the drug related narrative. 

With the sound i did ADR (addition dialogue recording), used foley for artificial sounds, and downloaded a forrest soundtrack for the background noise. The soundtrack made the film sound more natural and fitted the purpose.

The overall product is successful and i am very please with the way it has worked out. I like how the sound has been gathered from other materials but still fits appropriately. I really like the way the mise-en-scene (costume and props) worked, i think that they really support the characters and genre which makes the film appear realistic.
The main weakness are the scene where the blood drips on to the money, it wouldve been more realistic if i had purchase some fake blood beforehand instead of using tomato sauce mixed with water. Also another weakness that showed was the ADR, it could possibly have worked better whereas on the film the characters were not moving their lip syncing in time to the voice overs but it was still better to do this than use the original sound footage where the voices were unclear. Another thing I would alter if I was to film this again is the problem that occurred with using two different cameras, I would've made sure I had possession of a realiable one that I could have stuck with throughout the whole of the filming process.

Mid project feedback

Initially I began working with Beth, however after speaking properly about it and trying to arrange filming dates we found it was a struggle. Therefore, I decided it would work better if we did our own separate films. I have filmed mine, which is a thriller, mystery, and gangster film. I am now up to doing the editing, then i am going to re-record the sound and put the sound in over the top of the film.

Micro element essay- finished first draft:

 This essay analyses the ‘shopping scene’ from the film ‘Pretty Women’. The two micro-elements I have chosen to use are mise-en-scene and Performance and how both elements create meaning for an audience.

As the scene begins the main character, Vivian, is seen strolling through a busy city. The streets are lined with luxurious boutique style shops, with an expensive content. Most of the sidewalk is lined with old fashioned, vintage-looking cars. This communicates to the audience that this city is a wealthy location, emphasized by the people seen shopping around her and their appearance.

 As the scene is introduced the contrast between both Vivian and the people around her is immediately identified, everyone around her is dressed in smart, sophisticated clothing, communicating their wealth. In contrast, Vivian herself is seen wearing black PVC thigh-high boots, this material suggests lack of wealth as they are a cheaper, tackier version of real leather. Boots like this carry connotations of prostitution as they are usually worn with mini skirts to show off more flesh; stereotypically they are worn by hookers and strippers so she is reinforcing the original stereotype. Vivian wears her boots with a skin tight blue and white dress, the skirt part of the dress is extremely short and tight, it goes on to have cut out parts in the middle round the hips to reveal more flesh, and the top of the dress is a white, again skin tight vest top. They are held together by a silver, circular loop.

She has a red coat tied around her waist almost like she is rebelling towards the classy sophisticated appearance even more so, as she is not wearing her coat to cover herself. The fact that she does not feel the need to cover up also reveals how much confidence the character contains and her occupation even more so. The looks she is receiving off the people around are looks of disgust, making it obvious that she does not fit in.

 When Vivian enters the shop, the audience can identify a contrast between hers and the shop assistance’s appearance. Vivian’s make up is very natural which connotes to the audience that she is very care-free, she has a youthful, intriguing and exciting look towards her. She is not interested in how she presents her self, her interest is more captured by having a good time. Her hair also reinforces her attitude towards her life as it contains a look of wildness, it is big, tight curled and red which again connotes to the audience an element of her carefree personality. The colour red connotes fiery and fierce, and the curls signify wildness; which reinforces her chaotic personality and lifestyle.

 Where as, the shop assistance’s appearance contrasts with Vivian’s, their makeup is extremely prim and proper. They look as though they have taken a large amount of time and effort with their appearance as they want to give off a classy impression towards the shoppers, which reflects the store they work in and the style of clothes they are selling. Their hair has a carefully styled and ridged look towards it. Overall, their appearance could signify their narrow-minded outlook on life. They are extremely snobby and instantly judge whoever and whatever they lay their eyes on.

 Most of the people passing by Vivian on the high street are holding quite a few shopping bags; this again signifies

wealth to the audience. Where as, Vivian is not carrying any, this could suggest to the audience that she is not as wealthy as everyone around her. She is strolling down the high street with no newly purchased possessions which is another reason why she stands out to the audience as different and contrasting.

 Vivian walks around the streets with a smile on her face, happily browsing at the clothes in the shop window, connoting her air of innocence. Whilst entering the shop she begins to bite her nails and look around awkwardly, communicating to the audience that she feels judged by the shop assistants. This is emphasised as they all suddenly stop what they are doing and gaze up to her with a look of disgust. Both the shop assistants look Vivian up and down as though she does not belong there; connoting that they are insulted by her fashion sense, as though she is a lot lower in society then themselves. They are constantly looking down on her making her feel even more awkward whilst wearing a sly smirk upon both of their faces. Vivian appears shocked towards their expression and the way they are both treating her as she cannot understand what she has done to insult them. She finally walks out on to the streets with a look of disappointment, covering herself up in embarrassment. The fact she covers herself up allows the audience to almost predict the narrative, focusing on her outfit and the drama and judgments created around it.

 Firstly one of the ladies who work in the shop ask “can I help you?” in a confused and unfriendly tone, as if to ask why she is shopping in such an expensive place way above her budget. Vivian replies “no, I’m just checkin’ things out’ in a friendly informal manner. The audience can already indentify the contrast between both of their voices as the shop assistant is portrayed as a judging, high class snob and Vivian has a sweet, innocent tone to her voice. Vivian’s voice being innocent and sweet also contrasts with her occupation as a hooker, as her tone challenges what she does, but also has connotations of trustworthy and naïve which could reinforce her occupation as she is willing to trust whoever. After a few other judgmental questions asked Vivian decides to ask her “how much is this?” again in her sweet tone, despite the way she is being treated, the shop assistant replying “oh I don’t think this would fit you”, meaning she doesn’t want to see this outfit on her as she doesn’t want to gain the shop a bad reputation. Vivian replies “well… I didn’t ask if it would fit I asked how much it was” the audience are able to detect that she is getting angry and frustrated within her tone of voice. “How much is this Marie?” almost mocking her and receiving her friends judgment also, Marie responds “Its very expensive” suggesting that they have been able to figure out by judging her,  her occupation and are adamant that she cannot afford this item, despite their lack of knowledge. The lady repeats Marie to add an extra emphasis of what she said, trying the make her feel even more intimidated and bullied. After all of this discussion the lady demands “I don’t think we have anything for you, you are in the wrong place, please leave!”, Vivian decides she is fed up and wants to leave anyway and she does not respond.

 The shop assistants are an extension to their surroundings of a perfectly organised shop. This is evident with how they constantly alter tiny details and attempt to diminish imperfections; communicating to the audience that they strive to live in a wealthy, sophisticated environment.  The interaction between the shop assistants and Vivian communicates the film’s message of how society judges. An example of this would be Vivian wandering around the shop with the shop assistants being reluctant to approach her and enter her space as if she is dirty and carries some sort of disease.  This connotes meaning to the audience that Vivian doesn’t fit in and the shop assistants remain physically distant from her signifying to the audience that she is not welcome in the shop and does not belong in their ‘world’.

 The micro-elements that I have focused on communicate a message to the audience that society is very judgmental. Most people in today’s society are most likely to look down on people who are less fortunate or are in a lower class than them selves, and instantly judge them. Mise-en-scene connotes this because of the makeup and hair on certain characters and the way they dress. Appearance is seen as an essential in society; that people must appear attractive and well groomed. Performance is also a successful micro-element to explain judgment that I have chosen, as it is generally used to connote judgment within society, because of the way people act towards others around them or ‘below’ them. No matter how friendly or how much some people try to get along with others sometimes they still manage to shut them out, mostly due to appearance. People mainly do this because they do not want to end up being judged themselves by associating with certain people. 

Progress Plan:

This lesson i have focuses on the makeup section of mise-en-scene, next lesson I plan to get the location and costume section of it finished and continue with my story board.