Rough Cut

This is our short film so far, it is currently still a rough cut and contains no sound, there are also several changes that need to be made to the current footage.

Feedback on rough cut:

We showed our unfinished rough cut to a small audience in the interest of gaining feedback on how we can improve. In general our short film was very well received, however there were a few suggestions made to us on how we could improve. One of the more signifiant suggestions made was for us to put a filter on the lighting as currently the lighting appears too blue. Another suggestion made was to speed up the editing in the middle section to help further convey the tension, although this will also be supported by the sound. In other areas however, we were advised to slow down particular shots as they were almost too fast to see. We were also told to re-film one particular shot as the zoom in was incredibly shaky, although we intended to re-film that shot anyway because there were significant continuity issues.

Deconstruction on Blur - Coffee and TV

In the interest of gaining more inspiration I looked at the music video for Blur's song, Coffee and TV, directed by Garth Jennings (Director of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Son of Rambow). While the narrative in this is very different to my short film, this music video, like mine, makes the focus a personified inanimate object that has been designed for the audience to become emotionally attached to. This music video was also very well received both publicly and critically when it was released.  

In this music video the milk carton is the focus character - similar to how the orange is the focus character in mine. The music video begins with the milk carton being in shot, but it is not immediately apparent that it is a character. This is something that I have also incorporated in to my short film, it works well to emphasise the shock when the object appears to be alive.

The milk carton in this, like the orange in my short film, uses close ups and extreme close ups on the character to present the facial expressions, which in turn emphasises emotions and reactions. The use of facial expressions on an inanimate object works to personify the character making them more likeable and allowing the audience to both sympathise and empathise with them. It also adds a comedic element, as an object like a milk carton or orange, with an exaggerated shocked face, appears quite amusing to the audience, possibly making the character even more likeable.

The music video for Coffee and TV also follows the established short film convention of containing a twist, this to make the story more interesting and exciting. I have attempted to incorporate this convention into my short film, by having a shocking twist it makes the story considerably more interesting and is easily achievable in the short time frame. Coffee and TV also ends with a happy resolution, this to help show the progression throughout the story and allow closure for the audience. I again, have attempted to achieve this in my short film, as I think it is a really effective way of both telling and ending a story, it shows a clear progression of events despite the short time frame.

Location Filming

The majority of our filming takes place in the same indoor location, however to film the cliche romantic shots we had to travel to numerous different outdoor locations. This created several new difficulties that we had not previously had problems with, the most significant of which being the inconsistent lighting. To remedy this lighting issue we used a different camera filter called "retro" for all of the outdoor shots, which meant the natural change in light was not a problem and it created a warm atmosphere which further supports our attempt to present the shots as romantic.

One location for a few shots was a small bridge we found in a nearby village. We had not originally planned to film here, but when passing we thought it would be a really effective shot, largely because the small size of the bridge over a stream works well to support the novel and humorous concept idea. 

We thought a good romantic shot would be a picnic in an orchard. To create this we used a T-towel as a picnic blanket, which we found to be very effective, and to further build an aspect of humour the picnic food was a mixture of conventional foods such as bagels, and slightly stranger foods like Heinz Big Soup.

We also filmed with the fruit in a children's park, which again worked to build upon the humour and make the characters more likeable. However, we found there were risks with this, as the fruit being thrown around so much meant it got considerably damaged. 

When getting to certain areas to film, we found we had to traverse particularly difficult terrain, made difficult by the weather. From this we learnt that when planning the filming of outdoors shots, we should first check the weather, and then ensure we were in the right attire. 

Planning and Inspiration for Ancillary Tasks

Alongside our short film, which provides the basis for our coursework, we are also required to create two ancillary pieces to support this. For my ancillaries I decided that I wanted to create a film poster and a film magazine front cover. The two of these appealed to me the most as they seem the most enjoyable, but also because to make them, requires a high level of familiarity with Photoshop, which I think I have. Being familiar with Photoshop should allow for me to make high quality ancillaries within the short time frame we are given to do so.

Movie Poster Inspiration:

To help gain some inspiration and allow me to begin planning what I want my poster to look like, I began researching what posters of popular films looked like. I think my favourite of these posters were the more simplistic ones which centre the main subject and are framed by titles. I also think the use of colour is very important, as the posters that use soft but vibrant colours looks very effective.

Film Magazine Front Cover Inspiration:

Most film magazine front covers appear to follow a very similar layout, each presenting an image depicting a significant setting or character from the film, with text layered around it. The aspect of these posters that I like the most is the way in which the image from the film comprises the entirety of the background, with text then layered over it. I've also noticed that each bit of text is a different font and size depending on it's importance, for example the title of the film and lead actor is often made the largest text, with supporting actors and additional pieces of information being printed as slightly smaller text.

Cinematography in Stop motion animation

Cinematography is the artistic use of photography within film-making and is vitally important in the creation of films. It largely contributes to the atmosphere being created, and can be used to help develop the narrative. It consists of framing and positioning the shot, supported by the lighting. A skilled cinematographer can make each shot in a film look like a piece of art.

Cinematography is something that was going to be very difficult for us to do well, as it being an animation set in a living room, there are obvious difficulties with trying to make the shots look impressive. We had to use numerous household objects, quite often a fruit bowl to try and create depth with the shots, this to try and exaggerate the scale of things like height and distance when necessary. We also relied heavily on the lighting to support the quality and aesthetic of shots, achieved primarily through minor light tints, most commonly blue in our short film.


Aardman Animations:

Aardman animations is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. Aardman is known for films made using stop motion animation techniques, often achieved with clay, with one of their most famous and popular pieces being "Wallace and Gromit". Aardman have also created films with the use of computer animation, first in 2006 with the release of "Flushed Away". Aardman films are some of the highest grossing animations of all time, on average earning $163 million per film, with their highest grossing film being "Chicken Run".

We researched Aardman and tried to take influence from their work to help us improve our stop-frame animation, as neither of us previously had much experience in it. I particularly looked at Dave Alex Riddett, a prominent English cinematographer mostly known for his work at Aardman animations. From him, I learnt the importance of trying to light the set as if it were life-size, meaning we needed to position the lights where they would be if they were from a natural source. For example, if are set is suppose to be lit as if it were midday, we would put the light almost directly above the set, this to emulate where the natural lighting of the sun would be.

Sound in our short film

All the sound that will be in our short film we intend to record separately and then add during the editing process once all of the filming has been completed.

The majority of our sound will be music tracks that will be used to help support the present atmosphere at several points throughout our short film. We will have to follow the necessary process to get permission to use each of these songs, but we have done this before and it is not too difficult, we will just have to email whoever we find to have ownership of each song.

We also intend to record any sound effects we may use that will not be music, these include sound effects such as footsteps, the fruit rolling, the door lock and door opening. By recording these separately we can ensure the sound is the best quality it can be, however this does create difficulties with syncing the sound perfectly with the video. We are also considering recording grunting noises and using them to act as the voices of the fruit, which we hope will add an element of comedy to our short film and also make the fruit characters more likeable.

Below is a list of all the songs we intend to use and the atmosphere that we are using them to try and create.

Visit From Simon Hall

To help give us an insight into what a life in the media is like, BBC Journalist Simon Hall came in to give a presentation on what a life in the Media can be like. He explained the sporadic and high pressure work environment of a media journalist, caused by the continuously changing and developing events that are happening internationally everyday. While many may consider this a very stressful working environment, he expressed how the enjoyment and opportunities presented by his work far surpass the negatives of his job.

He explained the opportunities of travelling that come with a job as a media journalist. He is provided the opportunity to travel all over the world, visiting numerous different countries, and this is seen as one of the biggest attractions to working in this field. He also explained the difficulties of trying to give unbiased accounts of events, and trying to not allow his personal view to be shown in his reports.