Feedback

Please turn on your sound for this blog! Our feedback was overall good. They liked the narrative and said that it was realistic and emotional. If we were to make another film, we would know that using a voiceover was one of our strong points, and also the actor used would be used again if needed. We did this because we felt the speech we recorded in a recording studio sounded much better than the sound quality of a video camera. Had we had more expensive equiptment or a microphone, the quality would probably be better. The feedback told us that the cast we chose was realistic and well cast. The characters were natural and gave the effect of normal family home films, this was the impression we wanted to give so to receive such great written feedback was very rewarding. The script was also given great reports as it keeps pace and stays interesting throughout, this was important as it is difficult to keep a monologue interesting for 5 minutes. The camera was also described as 'great' and 'natural' this was good news as the camera work was difficult to maintain at a high standard and had so many different locations and environments it was hard work to keep a fluency when editing.

Evaluation

Original Idea - Possession Horror Film

Our original idea was to produce a horror film aimed at teenagers. This fell through however when we went to film and none of the shots were usable in the editing process and the weather was too unpredictable to film outside. This left me and Abbi with 4 weeks to create a new film when we came up with the simple, yet effective Love You Always idea. This is the original planning for "Possession".

MINDMAP



ANIMATION




 MISSING POSTER

ORIGINAL PITCH 

Merchandise - Advertising

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Like a real film, we decided to create an online store with film merchandise such as t-shirts.

Final Radio Trailer

Final Poster

This is the final version of my poster. Firstly, the colours I used were a baby blue and a soft pink to represent that this film is gentle and also the story of a little girl. This way, it will probably appeal more to a female audience, especially with a little girl on the poster, but the blue could also make audiences think that it is suitable for both genders. I also chose to use these colours as they reflect the logo's of two huge cancer charities, prostate cancer awareness and breast cancer awareness. This shows that the story in the film can affect both genders and that it is a unisex film. 

I wanted the font that I chose to reflect hand writing. As the father has written an email to his daughter I thought of it as him writing letters to her. This makes it seem personal and directly to the little girl. I also used an image of a crumpled piece of paper behind the title of the film, which again made it seem like last letters to his daughter before the father passed. I chose to use that particular image of Elle for a few reasons. The first being that it showed a picture of a young girl who looks sweet and innocent and it sets the tone for the rest of the film. The title and  image together indicate that this story may be a heart warming tale about a family. With the quote "Tear jerker of the year" from The Guardian which is a reliable source, audiences will immediately link the 3 things (- the title, image and quote) together and assume that this will be a sad story. 


Finally, the tagline "A picture speaks a thousand words" relates to the emails that the father sends his daughter. As he only had a limited amount of time, he shares his memories through photos that he has sent to her. There is only so much that he can write to her, and the photos say the rest about their time and relationship together. 

Film Music and Trailer Song

Graveyard song Elle's Lullaby Email Montage

Flat Plans

This is my first plan for a poster. I decided to use just a single photo of Elle to avoid unnecessary photo-shopping, as short film posters are very simple and don't involve a lot of images meshed together. It is usually just one still. Also, I wanted the poster to reflect the type of film, making people feel appreciative of their lives and making them feel better about themselves. I didn't want to reflect on the death in the film, but rather the memories and life that is involved. This flat plan is a portrait version, I wanted to draft one of each to see which I preferred. It simply has the cast at the top of the film, and a quote from a reliable source with a small review. The photo then takes up the most room and is in the centre, making it eye catching and the first thing that you see. Finally, I put the title at the bottom of the page  in big bold letters.

For this plan I decided to create it landscape as I noticed after conducting research that many posters for films are in this orientation. I liked this plan more than the other one as i felt the text and image would flow together more. I decided that as I was going to put one simple image, that I could be a bit more creative with the text. I decided for the title to split up the word "love" and put "you always" underneath. I also put the tagline next to the title. 

The colour scheme that I chose was soft pink and baby blue. This is to reflect that it is a story about a little girl, but is also a gentle and heart warming tear jerker. I chose the soft colours to represent the sensitive topic of cancer, as two of the most talked about appeals are breast cancer and prostate cancer, which use both of these colours. The house style is as much about awareness as it is to show the gentle story of a little girl. 

The fonts I experimented with also represented the father's goodbye. I chose a text that would look like hand writing, as the father has written a goodbye to his daughter, although it is on the computer, it is still a letter to her from his heart. 

Radio Trailer Scripts

Photo Ideas for Poster

These are all photos of Elle (the daughter) as a young child. I decided that I wanted to use a picture of Elle on her own for the poster as the film is about her, and she is the only person we see throughout it. 

Photographs

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Health and Safety

As we used a young child in our film, the main health and safety issues were in the scenes that involved her. We had to make sure that when she was running that she had appropriate footwear on, and as we filmed a lot inside a house with slippery flooring, we had to make sure she wouldn't fall over.
We had to sign a form also as she was a young child with parent/guardian permission for her to be in the film and on the internet.
When we were outside in the park it was important for us to make sure that she listened to our instructions properly so that she didn't get hurt. As it was an excitable environment for her, it was really important that she payed attention so she wouldn't run off or get hurt. We also had to try and film each shot as quick as possible when in the park as it was freezing outside and we didn't want her to get cold. When outside we also took baby wiped and plasters with us in case of an accident. As Elle was under 16, we had a parent/guardian of hers sign a consent form to say that she was allowed to be in the film and for it to be published online.

Marketing our Film

Love You Always - Short Film

Love You Always - Teaser Trailers

Costumes and Cast List

CAST

Grace Winspear - Teenage Elle
Elle Birkbeck - Young Elle
Robert Clilverd - Father (Voiceover)
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Ancillary Task Research: Poster and Radio Trailer

For my first ancillary task I want to create a poster for my short film. When looking into posters for short films, I noticed a few defining features between them and mainstream film posters. 

 




















These are the posters for the film "Across the Hall". On the right is the original short film and on the left is the mainstream Hollywood remake.

• Short film posters tend to have a still from the film as its main image on the poster. Only one cast member is clearly visible.
• The short film poster emphasises the name of the film, and the actors are shown in smaller print.
• The poster for the short film is very simple and uses plain colours and sticks to a limited palette of dull colours.

• The mainstream poster has various different images all intertwined together in Photoshop, and shows all the main characters of the film.
• As there are major actors in this version, the names of the actors are made visible above the pictures of themselves. This is because the actors will sell the film, whereas the short film will depend on the actual storyline.
• The mainstream poster uses brighter colours and more photo shopping than the short film poster. 

This says to me that a short film poster needs:

• A simple yet eye catching image, most likely a shot from the film
• Names of the actors small or not there at all.
• Title of the film bold and eye catching
• Short catchy slogan

RADIO TRAILER

Script

Questionnaire and Research

QUESTIONNAIRE

Are you male or female?

Male___     Female___

Age group?

12-15___    16-18___     19-21___     23-25___     26-29___     Other___

What genres of film do you like to watch?

Action___     Comedy___     Drama___     Historical___     Horror___     Musicals___   

Sci-fi___     Romance___

How often do you visit the cinema?

Never___     Once a year___     Once a month___     2-5 times a month___     Other___

What films have you seen this year?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What makes you want to watch a film?

The director___     Cast___     Storyline___     Plot___     Good trailer___

How often do you purchase films?

DVDs___     Hire___     Online___     Cinema___     Film festivals___

Do films that get promoted a lot attract you to watch them?

Yes___     No___

Have you ever bought film merchandise?

Yes___    No___

Love You Always - Pitch

Schedule

Schedule powerpoint

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Storyboard - Animation and Drawings

Animation


Storyboard

The Idea

Shooting Schedule
DATE: 24th February 2012
TIME: 9-12am
ATTENDING: Abbi Elliott, Hannah Sowerby, Rob Clilverd
SCENES: Father's voiceover

DATE: 25th February 2012
TIME: 4-7pm
ATTENDING: Abbi Elliott, Hannah Sowerby, Jennifer Hayes, Grace Winspear
SCENES: Father and Elle scrapbook, Family Memories, The Will Scene (Office), Elle's e-mails, Graveyard scenes
DATE: 26th February 2012
TIME: 4-7pm
ATTENDING: Abbi Elliott, Hannah Sowerby, Jennifer Hayes, Grace Winspear
SCENES: The Will Scene (Office), Elle's e-mails, Graveyard scenes

Research: Mind Map

Research: Film Influences and Audience