Filming Schedule For December

To help with our organisation we created a quick filming schedule for December, to help ensure we get all the necessary filming done for the deadline.

Feedback from first showing to our audience

We showed the first 1 minute and 40 seconds of our short film to are class to gain feedback on what our audience think about our piece, and how they think we could improve.

The feedback was incredibly positive with people really liking our idea. The consistent lighting was praised, and people thought the animation looked professional. People also liked how we kept a regular filming style and used a range of shots, despite it being an animation. The narrative and characterisation was well liked, with people immediately engaging with the lead character of the orange, and the narrative was also said to be clear and enjoyable, even despite the current lack of sound.

However, to improve our short film even further it was suggested to us that we could try and feminise the apple to a greater extent, to ensure it was clearly a love interest. Conversely, one person did say they liked the concept of us challenging the heterosexual normality. In addition, with regards to sound, it was suggested to us to add some form of narration or voice sounds to the fruit, to add another layer of depth and push the quality of our short film to an even higher level. 

Our short film so far

This is our short film so far, showing just under the first couple of minutes of our film. Some sections are just black clips, which represent sections of footage we have not yet filmed. Furthermore, we intend to add establishing shots - thing's like pans and tracking shots - at the beginning of the film.

From this we can see certain areas that need amending, the most significant of which being that some of the lighting equipment is visible in a couple of the shots, however this can be easily fixed by simply trimming the shots. In addition it was suggested to us that the shot's out and through the window are slightly too blue, and so in post production we could look to tone this down in the editing, possibly through Premiere Pro.

Setting up the Lighting

The vast majority of our filming takes place indoors, however we wanted it lit as naturally as possible. This is difficult due to how long filming an animation takes, and the inconsistency of natural light. To overcome this we used two large white studio lights, which emulated the impression of natural light, and the light was a constant for the entire time of shooting.

We used two lights, one several feet behind the camera, to act as an overall light source, and one slightly of to the right of the camera near where the window is, this to give the impression the light is natural and coming from the window.

Location Shots

Here is the living room in which we intend to do the majority of the filming. In these photos the setting is very cluttered and unorganised, however, before we film there we will ensure we tidy the set properly and ensure the only things in shot are relevant to our short film. It's important the setting is not cluttered with irrelevant items as it can distract the viewers attention away from the focus characters and the narrative.

We chose this as a setting as it represents a simplistic and common representation of a living room, one in which you may expect to see a fruit bowl with apples in it. I also think the use of lightwood furniture is a pleasing aesthetic to use as the backdrop for the events taking place around the fruit characters, it is also quite discreet so it should not be distracting to the audience. 

Dressing the Characters and Facial Expressions

As we were using fruit as our actors we had to consider how, and what we were going to use to create the facial expressions. After gaining feedback from our audience we decided to stick the facial expressions to the fruit - almost in the style of Mr Potato Head from the Toy Story film franchise.

I think this worked quite well, as it amplified the madness to the concept of living fruit, but also gave it a look that made it quirky, which should hopefully allow for the audience to really connect with it on an emotional level.

By attaching the facial expressions to the fruit, it allowed for easy changes to be made to the expressions when animating it. Furthermore, we created other facial expressions that we can switch between quite easily when necessary, which I think will really add to the overall quality of our animation.

Qualitative and Quantitative feedback

When trying to ascertain feedback from the audience there are two ways of collecting it - Qualitative and Quantitative feedback.

Qualitative: This form of feedback provides us with very in depth feedback that tells us what is good about are work, and what specifically can be improved. However the difficulty with qualitative feedback is that you generally don't get it from as many people, and as each individual's opinions are subjective, it is difficult to know if the changes we are making works to the benefit of the collective audience, or just the individual.

Quantitative: This form of feedback allows for a much larger collection of data and opinions, which allows us to see what the overall view is, and helps us to see any general trends of opinions. However, the scale in which this sort of feedback is collected, results in a lack of depth and constructive criticism in the feedback. While it allows us to see what people like and dislike, it doesn't necessarily specify where we could improve or possible changes we could make.

Having reviewed these two forms of ascertaining feedback, I think it is very important that we in our group ensure we collect a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative feedback. This is to ensure we have useful in depth feedback, but also that we recognise the likes and dislikes of the audience as a whole.

Filming Schedule

The vast majority of our filming will be done indoors, and so the weather is not too much of a concern for us. However there are a few shots through a window, showing rainy and stormy weather, but as we will be filming in November and December time, this should not be too much of an issue. If however, we can't get a day with the appropriate weather then we will create the rain with the use of a hose pipe out of an upstairs window.

As we want to get the filming done as soon as possible, I looked at the weather forecast for this week. From it, I found that this Friday looks like the most promising day to get the filming in the rainy and stormy weather done.

Time of day is also not much of a concern for us as the majority of our filming will be done indoors with set up artificial lighting. For the few sections we intend to film outdoors, we will likely try to film them around midday, as this is the point in the day when the sun is at it's highest and most intensive, providing the best natural lighting possible. In addition, my partner Isaac, is also more likely to be available during the middle of the day, and it will provide us with as much time as possible to film with good light.

Actors

Are short film only has one human actor in it, the main characters are pieces of fruit. And so to begin looking at pieces of fruit that we could potentially use, we went to our local supermarket to browse the fruit available.




Our focus characters are an apple and an orange,
and it didn't take us long to find two appropriate
pieces of fruit. These ones are large enough to
easily film with, and would clearly appear as the focus in the frame. We consider the Orange to take the male role, and the Apple the female role, with this in mind we tried to find a particularly shiny and rosy apple, so it would appear as feminine as possible.





We also intended to have other fruits present and together, to try and exaggerate the loneliness of the Orange, and also to help fill up some of the frames, and give the impression of a more active and alive environment.

The unity of a bunch of bananas, we thought would be a very good method of helping to emphasise the loneliness of the Orange. We also thought grapes could work to a similar effect. Equally, these different fruits create some diversity of colour within the frame, which will help to make it look more interesting and appealing.

We have the choice of using red or green grapes, or possibly even both. The green clashes with the yellow of the bananas, but the red clashes with the apple. So we will likely use both to balance it out.

Risk Assessment

There are very few risks associated with the making of our short film. However there are still some things which could cause problems, and so we will have to ensure we have precautions in place to avoid these potential problems.

One problem could be, that the fruit we are using as our characters could be damaged, or possibly eaten during the filming process. To avoid this, we will ensure to keep the fruit in a safe place, separate from the other fruit when we are not using it.

Furthermore, there will be a scene with a car moving in it. And so to ensure safety during this scene, we will ensure we have a fully licensed driver operating the car. Furthermore, we will ensure there is someone overlooking the filming of this scene to ensure that nobody, including the fruit, gets run over.

Media Language In Our Short Film

Anamatic

To create a more visual and in depth plan for our short film, we created an animatic, this to show what we want the shots to look like, but we also included some annotation stating what we want to happen in each shot - camera movement, sound effects, and transitions for example.

Storyboard

This is our storyboard so far, showing in depth the plan for roughly around the first half of our short film. As well as including a rough drawing showing what we want the shots to look like, we also annotated each slide and noted what kind of transition we were intending on using

Shotlist

Alongside creating our storyboard, and to help us visualise it, we created a written shot list to help us make an informed plan of how we want our story to progress, and what we want each shot to look like.

This is not necessarily the finished and exact shot list we will use for are final piece. After using this to help create the storyboard, and by extension the animatic, it is likely that we will make changes after we see what the shots actually look like.

  

Feedback From Audience

After pitching our idea to the group and receiving some overall feedback, we selected a couple of individuals to ask them more specific questions, and gain some more in depth feedback. We asked them questions to understand how are audience normally watches media products and there likes and dislikes about our idea.

Our Short Film Pitch

To gain some initial feedback on the concept for our short film we pitched it to our media studies class, who are also our primary audience.

The feedback was extremely positive, and our idea was very well received. The comedic aspect was very popular, however the concept itself with regards to the story and how we are going to create it was also well liked.

Now we know are audience like our idea, we are able to progress in the planning of it, and begin constructing a storyboard and an animatic.

                                                                           We were given advice on ways in which we could further improve our idea. The main suggestion for something we could experiment with was voices. Our initial idea was that the fruit would not talk, we would use facial expressions and an accompanying soundtrack. However people suggested we could attempt to overlay voice to the fruit, this to make it more interesting, and possibly add some vocal comedy. However if we were to do this we would have the added difficulty of lip syncing, and somehow finding a way to animate moving lips onto the fruit. 

 

So overall our pitch was very successful, and the advice we received was very useful. I think we will attempt to experiment with the idea of adding voices to the fruit, however there is no guarantee we'll use it until we have tried it and insured it both looks and sounds good.

Workshop With Sion Roe

Deconstruction on the short film Pong

I decided to deconstruct the short film Pong, as it is both one of my favourite short films, and is also made in the same style as I want mine to be. It focuses on personifying an inanimate object, which I think is a really interesting idea, and if done right can be very effective.

Opening shot fades in from black and slowly zooms in on the ping pong ball from a higher angle. This used to establish the lead and focus character. The use of a high angle shot makes the ping pong ball appear weak and lonely. Starts silently with just the sound of the ping pong ball shuffling.

Low down medium shot, possibly reflective of the ping pong ball. Wooden furniture and white wall used to frame the shot, and depth of focus employed to make the ping pong ball clearer. Ping Pong ball bouncing is the dominant sound with a fast paced drum track in the background, connoting some level of urgency. 

Right to left tracking pan, following the ping pong ball. Clean and steady movement. Conveys a more calm environment.

Elevating birds eye view tracking shot, following the ping pong ball upstairs. Again employing gentle and stable movement.

High angle shot of ping pong ball coming through a small gap in the door. Represents the ping pong ball as trying to navigate the house in secret, similar to many of the James Bond films. 

Close up level shot of the ping pong ball, again utilising the depth of field to put focus on the character. This is a particular shot I would like to use lots of in our short film. I also really like the use of warm lighting within this, and many of the other shots.

Fast paced tracking shot following the ping pong ball across the floor, the increase in speed connotes a level of urgency within the character.

Over the shoulder shot of the ping pong ball looking at someones feet, again using depth of field. This is another shot I would like to incorporate into our short film. I find it's very effective in creating a smaller space seem larger. The drum track quietens to convey how the ping pong ball is trying to hide. 

High angle shot showing the ping pong balls change in facial expression and emotion. As well as the drum track a violin tune begins playing as well, this presenting an increase in tension. 

Again using depth of field to present the two characters present in the shot. Close up used to show various differing emotions. Music track stops, and natural sounds such as birds tweeting begins, this to show romance.

Again using an elevating birds eye view tracking shot, this possibly to convey the upbringing emotions. Romantic violin track to convey the relationship between the two characters.

I particularly like this shot, as it seems very well constructed, with the brick wall acting as a backdrop, and then the contrast of nature in front, with the character spread across almost the entirety of the shot.

High angle close up shot showing the sad emotion of the ping pong ball, the high angle shot again works to convey the character as weak. In addition to this the use of the rain works to create a considerably more miserable atmosphere. Storm and thunder sounds to convey a problem occurring.

A close up shot of the two characters, showing their emotion to make a happy ending. Camera pulls away from these characters to further convey that it's the ending. Romantic violin sounds return to convey a bright happy ending.

  

Codes and Conventions In Our Short Film

Codes are a system of signs that create meaning, and conventions are the general and expected way an audience would expect to see something. It is very important we consider the codes we are going to employ in our short film, and equally how we are going to present them to drive a narrative.

In our short film we will be in part, trying to create a theme of romance, doing so in purposely the most cliche manor possible. With this intention, in terms of codes and conventions we will likely somehow incorporate, candles, a sunset, potentially a flower like a Rose. By using these as our codes we create a clear and obvious representation of romance.

Equally, in our short film we will at one point be attempting to present sadness and a deep depression. The

codes present to help us achieve this will likely be darker lighting, possibly rain or a form of poor weather, and the use of sound, likely a sad song.

Responding to Carravaggio and Tim Walker

In response to the work of Caravaggio and Tim Walker we created some of our own photos in the style of their work. We used candles to mimic the lighting effects in Caravaggio's work, and a chain of multicoloured lights to replicate Tim Walkers Style.

 
I found that the photo's in the style of Caravaggio worked quite well, however they only really work to create a specific atmosphere, which limits it's use. I liked the photos in the style of Tim Walker however I felt that the low intensity of the lights we were using made them slightly worse than what they could have been. Equally as they were only visible in an entirely blacked out room, it limits what they can be used for in the confinements of a short film or music video.