CONSTRUCTION: FILMING

Filming- DOG SCENE

Today, my partner and I filmed the "dog scene". This was very important as is a key indicator to the audience that Daisy-May is very unwell. We used a charities dog called "PAT Dog", which is a charity which has professionally trained dogs which work in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices in order to provide a companionship to people who are unable to have dogs of their own. The idea behind this scene is that Daisy longs for a companion and dog, showing her wishes and dreams get less extreme and adventurous the more ill she gets.

We managed to shoot some very convincing and professional scenes, and overall we were happy with the way the scene turned out. Some problems we came across were making the dogs obey to orders and commands and getting both Daisy and the dogs to come across as though they have a close bond, underpinning a heart-warming moment. We also made sure the dogs leads with the charities name and logo were displaced well for the audience to clearly see and notice.

In this scene, we made the dog raise her pawr. This shows the companionship and bond through visual. This was a really important factor we wanted to make sure we captured.

I have also used a new technology called Boomerang which takes burts of pictures and makes a short video. I have taken one of the dog we used on the set.

CONSTRUCTION: INSTAGRAM

Instagram

As part of the props in the film, I have created an Instagram account that our character Daisy uses. The audience is able to get to know the main protagonist, before the film release creating a close bond, building the relationship, and giving a ‘backstory’ to Daisy the character. Each Instagram post has a little personal description which links back to the film, and way of booking seats in the local cinema. I have linked the Daisy's Instagram account at the home page of my blog. We have also created the account as part of our distribution strategy to reach your young female audience. This strategy has also been seen in Hollywood films such as Wolverine.

Editing the Instagram's

In order to edit the Instagram's, I have been using an app called Fuzzle. It allows me to add stickers, effects and borders. 

Its easy to use, and even involves a sticker with the tagline of the film. 

It adds a personal touch and underpins the Instagram is a young teenage girls.

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING

Filming- SLEEPOVER SCENE

Today, my partner and I filmed the sleepover scene. This was one of Daisy's final dreams in her scrapbook and underpins her close friendship with Elli- meaning it was very important. 

My duty was to layout the scene and place the camera in the appropriate place. I used a plain bed and covered it with sweets and pillows, things often found at sleepovers (as seen in the boomerang I have added).  I also added magazines, makeup and perfume to allude the fact it was a girly, stress-free sleepover.

We kept the camera running and worked around with various angles and idea we could use that would help convey the fact it was just lots of fun. The footage worked out very well, and I look forward to editing it.

CONSTRUCTION: TITLE FONT

Title Fonts

Today, my partner and I were deciding another very important stage of the construction of our poster. We had already planned the layout, picture and other factors of the poster itself, we just needed to finalise our decision on font. We had to decide out of 3 various designs, and decided the best way to do this was asking the market audience to vote for there favourite.

4 votes

12 votes





4 votes



The votes gave us a clear indication of what was best for our poster. We will now continue editing our poster now that we have this.

EVALUATION: WHERE MY SHORT FILM SITS IN THE MARKETPLACE

Where my short film sits in the marketplace

After reading an article by Mark Kermode in the Guardian on cinema 2015 (audience admissions) I noticed that many parts of the article are relevant to my own production. the article discusses how by only looking at the box office revenues it dose not provide a reliable idea as to what has progressed in cinema in 2015. The points made can link with some of the evaluation levels in the syllabus. 

My short film, like many short films, is a low-budget, independent production. It is very much less likely to enjoy cinema release than full length feature films. Short films have a set of genre conventions, including their brevity, that make them suitable for internet consumption. In this, they are similar to other independent productions that are mentioned by Mark Kermode in his review of 2015 film releases. 

'Like it or not, simultaneous distribution is the future. We are moving towards an environment wherein audiences will decide whether to watch a film on the phone, their laptop, their television or projected on the big screen in a cinema. With more films – and, hopefully, more varied films – vying for our attention, the keyword for audiences in the 21st century is “choice”. In releasing our short film Dreaming Daisy for internet distribution, I am following in the footsteps of more major films, a trend that for Kermode may well be the future model. The article mentions that recent advances have  allowed films to be viewed at home as well as in theatres. For example in 2013, Ben Wheatley's Beats Of No Nationreceived a theatrical release as well as being streamed on Netflix. For short films in particular this kind of internet release is a really effective way of reaching audiences as the small budget normally makes that very hard. However some exhibitors demand that there should be a 'defined' window that the film can only be viewed in cinemas. Althoughdue to technical advancements but also the determination from the distributors of short films platforms such as Curzon Home Cinema and the BFI-Player have been used and  make it very difficult to only be able to watch films in cinemas

For Kermode, it was not only the blockbusters, franchises and superhero sequels that drew audiences in 2015; independent cinema  held its own in the marketplace in 2015: 'Look at the evidence. Among the movies that have played the UK independent or “arthouse” circuit this year are: Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood, a vibrant evocation of Parisian banlieue life; Carol Morley’s The Falling, a sublime tale of mass fainting …; Debbie Tucker Green’s Second Coming, a suburban British drama with a boldly mysterious quasi-Biblical twist; A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, the attention-grabbing monochrome first feature from Ana Lily Amirpour, which was billed as “the first Iranian vampire western” …; and Suffragette, Sarah Gavron’s adaptation of Abi Morgan’s empowering script.’”

For Kermode, a key theme of the London Film Festival 2015 was the role of women in film. In my own production my partner and I have clearly established that the majority of our audience will be female, as both of our main characters are female and it is a chick flick/ romance. The festival director Clare Stewart expressed the need to support women directors but not only during the development but also making sure that their are equal opportunities for the screening of the films. Furthermore the short film that we are creating is being pro ducted strictly by a completely female production team.

REPRESENTATION: THE BECHDEL TEST

The Bechdel Test

Through research I was able to come across the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel testasks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.

Only about half of all films meet these requirements, according to user-edited databases and the media industry press. The test is used as an indicator for the active presence of women in films and other fiction, and to call attention to gender inequality in fiction due to sexism.

The test is named after the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, in whose comic strip first appeared in 1985. Bechdel credited the idea to a friend, Liz Wallace, and to the writings of Virginia Woolf. After the test became more widely discussed in the 2000s, a number of variants and tests inspired by it have been introduced.

In my short film, "Dreaming Daisy", characters Daisy and Elli pass the Bechdel test. As both myself and my partner are females, we found it extremely important to involve a teenage girl friendship in our short film, as this is something we have obviously experienced but also is very easy to relate too. Both of these character share an extremely touching friendship, where Elli is trying to help Daisy complete her bucket list as she is diagnosed with cancer. 

PLANNING: FILM POSTER TAGLINE

Film poster tagline


Today, I decided what the tagline of my film poster would be. After much research of other film posters, I realised just how important it was for the advertisement of the film. Taglines (often called slogans) are catchy, enticing short phrases used by marketers and film studios to advertise and sell a movie, and to sum up the plot, tone or themes of a film. Many films have multiple tag lines, though short films usually only have one. 

I began by looking at previous successful tag lines of films of the Filmsite website. 

Often the tagline is original and witty, and entice you to watch the film itself, after giving you a brief summary of whats to come. When it came to deciding my tagline, I wanted it to relate to the title, ideally underpinning the main work "dreaming".

I have finally decided that my tagline will be-

"Today is a perfect day to start living your dream"

I believe this is catchy, original and relates with the overall narrative of the film and title.

PLANNING: FURTHER FILM POSTER RESEARCH

Further film poster research

When I was analysing similar genre and market audience film posters, I was inspired particularly by the "Angus, thongs and perfect snogging" design. I started looking at other media posters that have this same style.

I discovered Natalie Rudd's book which opens on Peter Blake (2003 Tate Publishing) with an acknowledgement of how "many people know his famous design for the cover of The Beatles' Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club". This was a very famous and renowned cover, leading me to further wondering how I can add this effect on my own poster.

I have collaged both poster/covers together to get a closer look to see similarities that work in which I can carry forward. The variety of colour in both makes it eye-catching and underpins a young, relaxed vibe, which would perfectly complement the audience of my short film. Another feature that I believe works well in both is the use of more than one face/character. I think this is a very hard to make work effectively as often it can look crowded and distract from the main messages of the poster itself. Because of this, I will have to try different concepts of integrating other characters into my poster, and be accepting if this doesn't look as good.

After further film poster research today, I will continue trying various softwares to demonstrate my influence of both these posters in my short films.

CONSTRUCTION: INTERROGATING YOUR CHARACTER

Interrogating your character

Through researching many different short films, I feel that due to the film being an average of 5 minutes it can sometimes be hard to engage with a character, and I feel the connection between the audience and character/actor is vital. In my short film, "Dreaming Daisy", I want to insure the audience feel a connection with Daisy herself, and feel likewise involved with the plots and twists.

On the FilmEscape website, they have a whole article about how to interest your audience with your character in such a short space of time and making sure your characters are interesting and have depth.

Due to this I have made sure I have developed my main character, Daisy's backstory by creating some key questions I feel are important and hot seating her: an idea from FilmsScape.

1. What are your main hopes and aspirations in life?

2. What 3 qualities would you use to describe yourself?

3. What 3 qualities do you look for in a friend?

4. Whats the most challenging thing you have had to overcome?

5.What makes you happiest?

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING

Filming- GET READY SCENE

Today, we filmed the first few scenes in our short film.