Font choosing

      Before I choose my main font for my films title I did some research int some different styles-

I like this font because it stands out and suits the thriller genre

I definitely think this font is poor because my film is not a romance

This font has an rough , rigid style.My film is gritty , so I think this could be applied to my poster

In the end , I chose to pick this font because it is uneven and unuaul , exactly what my film is aiming to be.The red and blue work well together as a color scheme.I decided to have it in capitals to leave an impression on the audience.I found it difficult to choose the font , but I am happy with this example as i think it suits my product perfectly.

Ideas for soundtracks/sound effects

To gain a good knowledge of film music I decided to look online on internet sites ,such as youtube,to experiment and see what genre of music I could add to the film when I have finished. I believe sound and music is very important for  film as it make the audience feel emotional or excited. I want to use music in my film to mainly build up tension or a sense of danger.In my opinion , I believe that it is essential that the music matches the action because it can be the difference between a strong piece of work and a dreadful project.To find suitable music and effects I visited Free sound , a website allowing video makers to use these for free.

Top 10 memorable movie sound effects

Dramatic suspense sound effects

Potencial problems and plan B

There are some problems I anticipate during the planning and making of my short film. One of the main concerns I have is that I will not be able to get all of the cast and crew together at a specific time because of other commitments. Another is that the weather could affect filming and totally change the quality of my film. I think that another problem is that I will have to make the film adhere to the five minute length. Furthermore, I will have to use some techniques to make the low budget less noticeable. I will also have to find costumes for the actors to use, which may be difficult.

If these problems above arise and continue to disrupt filming I will have to alter my script and locations, possibly setting the film in more indoor environments. This will take more time and planning but I think that changing the setting will not affect the overall quality of it.

Video-seven ways to challenge yourself as a filmmaker

Shot list

Before I went out to film , I thought it would be a good idea to plan which shots I would take.To do this , I filled in a short shot list which I may not completely follow with my final product,but it will allow me to have some guidance whilst shooting the footage. Please note that it is fairly basic as I am still deciding some of the shots I will take.With this in mind , here is the document-

After creating this document , I felt that my film would be too structured if I followed this shot list. The reason for this is that you are attempting to surprise an audience with a thriller and I thought that following this agenda would diminish this effect. Another major issue was that when I was making this shot list my film was completely different to the one I eventually made , as I re drafted it several times first.

Technical problems on Adobe Photoshop and Prime Films logo final draft

After the technical issues I had on photoshop I decided to use the same program on a different computer. I found that photoshop was now working properly and I created the logo from scratch.In my opinion this second logo is a vast improvement on the original , which was too simple and dull. I added some curved edges to the logo to make it appear much more modern and have some resemblance with an app. I changed the color scheme to make it look more appealing and professional and I was now able to use the line tool correctly to get the effect I originally wanted-

                                                 Famous logos with hidden meanings

This short video explains a few reasons why a logo is a key marketing technique.For instance , it is the face of the company and it instills trust in an audience. Also , a logo makes something a lot more memorable and easy to distinguish. My logo is memorable because of the film reel , so I hope that people easily recognize this image and the brand.

My production company

                                                                       Prime Films 
Prime Films are a small , independent company that produces a number of indie projects. Established in 2011,this upcoming company aims generate a bigger interest in short films and make them better known by the public. The company is based in Manchester and started out when film fan , Peter Jameson, decided to set it up with three of his friends who together built the business up themselves. The small company is quickly growing in popualrity thanks to a better knowledge of the short film form. Here is the first attempt at creating a logo for the company,but it is not the final version due to technical errors in photoshop preventing me from changing colours and making straight lines.

                                                                The design process
Before I started creating my logo on photoshop I wanted it to be modern and slick.My first attempt at this logo. I think that I should drawn it first in order to make it clearer what I wanted to do , as this first attempt its too simple.In the end , I decided to completely change this design so that the whole of "Prime Films" was included instead of just the "p" that was used here.Overall , I was not happy with the colors either as they were not as striking as I intended.

                                                            Logo-first  and second drafts

Pinterest short film board

When I was researching short films , I found this website useful as I could store all the relevant stories on one page. Using Pinterest helped me to explore the problems and benefits of creating a short film and helped me find examples to add to my inspirational texts. I have included a link below to take you to the page as well as some screenshots of the board-

                                                                  Pinterest short film board

Institutional logos

                                              Below is a Powtoon on institutional logos-

When researching company logos I found a few factors that they all had in common. Firstly, they must be simple and relate to the company in some way. This is to reduce confusion to the audience and make the logo stand out against similar examples.A lot of online websites explain that the key to a successful logo is that they are timeless and versatile.I believe that it is important to take time when creating the logo as it is representing the whole company and if its poor in design many people will not be drawn to the company behind it.I have tried to take these tips into account when making my own production company so that it is successful.

Pitch presentation

Below is a link to a Prezi I created for my pitch presentation.It contains an overview on what I set out to make my project-

http://prezi.com/rlzdaa4omefu/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Additionally my colleagues in the class criticized my work , by giving the presentation two positives and negatives on which I can improve. Below is the chart containing this information-

What I learnt:
This feedback told me that I had to include more about my films plot and details as I had been too brief. There was also very little on my target audience , which I have took a great deal of time amending. I think that this process is important as different people can see different flaws on my posts. On a more positive note , the audience noticed that I had a strong knowledge of my genre and that I have gone into more depth than my previous blog. I think that my inspirational text suited the thriller genre and I spend a lot of time making sure that my blog was an improvement over last year.

Short film reconstruction

Before I went ahead and begun filming my project , I decided to try to reconstruct another short film to see how similar I could make mine to the original. Please note-I have reconstructed half of the film in order to make it more focused.It was a challenge to reconstruct the film because the quality special effects were difficult to imitate with a smaller budget. I tried to emulate the films dull blue visual style by adding a filter on movie maker. I wanted to try to test my ability and not choose something that was too simple.I gained more experience with camerawork whilst filming which will enhance my final product.

The original short film

                                                          My reconstructed short film

Looking back at this project:

In retrospect , This reconstruction was quite poor and did not include any variation of location or mise en scene. Another major issue that was detrimental to the reconstruction was that I was to ambitious when choosing the short film. The special effects were simply too complex to begin to transfer to my film because of the expensive equipment involved. If I was to have another reattempt in the future I would choose a simpler film to reconstruct so It would fit my budget.

List of resources

Here is a list of the resources I found when looking at similar products for my research:

http://www.shortoftheweek.com-I found an archive of short films in many genres
https://www.youtube.com-youtube contains some of the best short films I have seen and helped me to          find my inspirational texts
http://www.thesmalls.com-This website includes lots of the latest short films
http://www.globalshortfilmnetwork.com-Another website that includes projects in different themes and genres
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/-I found this website very helpful because it has lots of magazine reviews.his will help me in my ancillary task
http://www.google.com/imghp-This website allowed me to browse thriller film posters , so it helped me in my ancillary task

Action plan

To help me with my time management, I decided to complete an action plan that monitored my progress and made me stick to deadlines.I felt this helped me to keep my work on track.At the moment , I am currently on target with all my work.

Recce research

Before choosing the location for my filming I decided to do some research into the areas I could film.I firstly had a look at the map feature on  Flickr to help me decide on a suitable area. The website is very useful for getting information on places. It allowed more to zoom in and out of the world map. The site allowed me to think about where would be suitable to film a thriller short , and I finally decided to complete filming in the local area.

Ideas for soundtrack

For my short films soundtrack , I tried to focus on music that built up tension and that has a faster pace.That way the film would be more effective in making the audience uneasy towards the resolution.Another focus was on having some effects that added to the short films shocking moments.I decided to use Free Sound as it had a huge collection of effects and music for free that I could include in my own production.In the past , I have previously had to much emphasis on my music in short films , so this year  wanted to have a script too.


                                                                  Psycho- shower scene

A strong example of a strong score in a film, Psycho slowly grows more terrifying as Janet Leigh travels to Bates Motel.The shower scene takes the audience completely by surprise sue to the shower being commonly known at the time as a place of safety and relaxation. Another major success with he scene is the music is very abrupt and loud , which heavily contrasts with the slow music the film

contained previously.

Jaws Theme 

This is again another iconic theme that compliments the action , in this case a shark approaching someone in the water.It is effective because it creates a sense of dread and panic whenever the monster appears , making us feel like one of the actors or actresses desperately trying to escape. This certainly influenced my climax , as it has a similarly hectic score.

Pitching my product-storyboard

Before I created a pitch for my product online , I decided to storyboard my ideas on paper. This helped me to plan and gather my thoughts on what exactly my finished product was going to be and if there were any problems which needed fixing. Now I have a plan which I can follow when designing this piece of work

My audience

                                                Below is an Animoto for my Audience

Deconstructions for my main task

                                      The films I have chosen to deconstruct are drama /thrillers-
                                            
                                                    The Black Hole (Phil and Olly,2008)

This short film is clever because it includes a funny simple idea that would be unable to fill a full feature. There is also no dialogue in the film making it work better as we are not distracted from the simple story. The location of the office is familiar to a lot of the audience to make it realistic and relatable. The main character is wearing a simple outfit you would put on for work , so the film has synergy with its location. I like this film because it is simple but effective . I want to make my film similar in that mine will also feature a main protagonist and relatable setting. The dull blue hue captures the monotonous everyday routine the protagonist caries out. This film inspired me because I liked the unique gimmick and mix of drama and comedy.

Ten Minutes(Alberto Ruiz Rojo,2010)

 

This Spanish short film cleverly focuses on two people , one who wants to trace the phone number of his girlfriend and an office worker who refuses to give the information to him. It works well because we feel as if the ten minutes he is allowed on the phone  is running out because of the repeated music ques and close up shots of the time. The film mainly focuses on close ups and mid shots so we can see both the characters expression's and see how they change throughout the run time. There is a strong focus on dialogue which works in the films favour as its simplicity fits the short film form perfectly.I liked the dynamic between the two characters and enjoyed watching them develop .I want to make the characters in my own short film to be complex and interesting , as they are here.There are quick cuts between the two main characters , making it simple and fast paced despite the lack of action happening.These cuts between the characters I have decided to include in my own film , with Paul and Phillip taking over the phone.The films conversation builds up tension, and my film is similar in that two people are communicating via a phone.

Snap(Manolo Cell,2006)

This short film is again based on a clever idea that could not sustain a feature films length. The cinematography is impressive as the camera angles are varied and unique. The film is fast paced with its long chase scene so  never feels uninteresting. The upbeat music compliments the energetic moments on screen and makes us feel as if we are part of the chase. I enjoyed it because I was not expecting it to be so original , after watching so many generic short films online found this short film inspiration as I wish to emulate the fast pace it has and build up to a climax. I enjoyed it how the film never took itself too seriously and had a pleasant and ambiguous ending.The chase sequence at the end is similar to the climax of Illusion, as the protagonist is also chased by an unknown force.

Questionnaire graphs and charts

The previous post concentrated on my written questionnaire but I thought the information would look more visually more appealing in graph form.To do this I used Microsoft Excel to generate the information I had collected from the audience into bar graphs, pie charts and more.



Me using Microsoft Excel



This graph hints that comedy is the most
popular genre with audiences

The majority think that a script is
what makes a film

Most of my audience have not seen any
short films which surprised me

This pie chart dictates that cinema is still a very popular
viewing experience with audiences,but internet
services are catching multiplexes up

The actors audiences prefer are quite
different from person to person

This graph is quite divided on opinion as
no one seems to know a specific location they would
prefer to be the setting

Moving image questionnaire

For this Questionnaire , I decided to ask 7 people on their thoughts and opinions about what makes a great short film and task their advice on board. I find it helpful as an audience are the best judge of what is entertaining and what is not. I compiled their answers on this Microsoft Word document:

The results show that most people think that the script , actors and plot are the main elements to a successful short film.The majority of the people who I questioned preferred comedy films, showing it is a popular genre.A surprising result is that not many people have actually seen any short films that they can remember.The cinema also seems the most popular choice to watch films , showing that the multiplex is still making a lot of money despite online services such as Netflix.