Call Sheet 4: Park Scene

Finalized Group Members for Short Film Extract

The image above represents my finalize group members that I will be working with for the overall project as they have also chosen and prefer to do a short film extract as that's what I intended to do as well. It was my first time meeting them and as a team, we have worked well together and assigned each member to do something whilst we helped each other on the way so no one can get stuck on whatever they're doing.

Treatment/pitch

This is our treatment pitch as it is part of our planning and research criteria based on developing our short film. We, as a group, have already come up with initial ideas that will help us build up and produce in the future filming sessions as well as the house style of our genre, which is horror/thriller.

Our Treatment Presentation & Feedbacks Gained

Based on the feedback we received about our treatment (initial ideas), they mentioned how we need to change the ending of our idea of Diana dying in the end. Some suggest drug overdose, committing suicide and so this had led us to re-think the ending of our short film; if we should change it or not.

This has led us to improve the narrative story of our short film because we did not want to make it seem like it's a drama issue because this will make the target audiences feel sympathy, which would go against the genre of our short film - which was horror/thriller. I also have noticed how the use of black and white, as in flashback was useful to include it onto our story as it will add value to the narrative and perspective part of our film.

Case Study: Horror Short Film 'Scrambled'

Call Sheet 3: Toilet Scene

Case Study: Horror Short Film Extract 'Scrambled'

This case study is based on another example of a short film extract as its based on a middle aged, asian guy whose always mysterious and curious on the things thats happening around him. Tension starts to build up as he keeps on having strange dreams, such as waking up with blood on his white duvet- but he's unsure whether it's real or his living in the dream. Only we, the audiences for this short film extract, can judge and interpret our own way of understanding the plot of the movie; whether its right or wrong. 

The target audiences for this short film extract are teenagers who are slightly mature, around 16 year olds and above as most of the people in the age group prefer mysterious and thriller events happening rather than a drama based genre; which I can relate to as well.

The genre for this short film extract is thriller as the mise-es-scene, camera techniques, sound and editing is used to portray something to scare and frighten the target audiences well.

The first scene for this 'Scrambled' short film extract opens with an opening title as it reads out, 'Scrambled' in a suitable type of font style that would link well with the genre, which is Thriller. Also, take a note on how the background portrays multiple of blood dripping slowly, one by one on the white floor which indirects and hints that there may show a scene in relation to blood. This would give the target audiences a warning as it will terrify them, especially on younger audiences; as it may not be suitable for them to watch a type of genre like this. In addition, you can also spot how the video had not filled in the whole screen as there's two black borders (down and up) in order to create a more serious and dramatic effect towards the target audiences to take in.

The next scene moves along with the main character, as mentioned above, appears to be a middle aged, asian man who happens to be in a hotel relaxing when suddenly- some strange and mysterious events starts to happen; as he confuses whether is just illusion or its really happening in real life. In addition, a hand held camera technique is being used from a high to a low angle shot when the man got up from his seat in order to show a more surreal portray of the mans character as what he's going to do next. Also, extreme close ups on the tv showcases what the man was watching alone in the hotel room as the sound of the tv can still be heard, slightly, as an act for the background noise in oder to make it more believable in reality. There's another camera technique used as the camera at times tries to focus on the background of the man's hotel room then pull focus on the man itself; as he got up from his seat whilst being on the laptop and watching the tv. This will be a great effect when trying to portray a horror or thriller types of genre due to the fact that it creates tension more and more towards the target audiences nor viewers.

Furthermore, the screenshot image above represents the man having a phone call off someone as it leaves the viewers a mysterious feeling on who could it be, since there's no dialogue used for this short film extract included as well. A hand held camera technique can be seen when the man was holding the phone. 

Onto this next scene, a high to low angle is used between the man and the camera as the audiences are able to watch this part of the scene looking down on our eyes as if we're next to the man that accidentally cut himself with a knife and started to bleed. This is also at the peak of the short film as it links back to the first opening scene where blood starts to drop one by one, which it all works and blends together.

As the scene goes on, the man starts to become more and more intrigue by the fact that he kept collecting pieces of letters as they were random until the word 'Scrambled' was figured. A close up shot had been used for this scene in order to captivate the man's facial expression as its letting the audiences know how he must be feeling at the time in order to relate to us as well. 

Based on all of the screen shot images above, a variety of camera techniques and angles are being used and composed in a way that will be relevant to the type of genre this short film extract is trying to portray.

 Also, the lighting used is artificial light as its using the room and hotel's light sources as an act for the whole full scene in order to make it seem more surreal and believable towards the main target audiences. 

 for the sound effects, since it's no dialogue used- you can hear diegetic and non-diegetic sounds as you can hear the sound of the tv when the man woke up from his 'dream' and non-diegetic from the sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect and rise in tension. 

The editing techniques for this short film cut rate is quite quick and fast, as it may be twice as fast as it takes us to every angle of the set for tension. This way, it will be suitable for the genre since its horror/thriller as you don't know what's coming next. Also, the editor must've purposely blurred most of the background elements when it's only focusing on the man or an object in particular; as its a way of telling us the hints and it also tells us who to focus mainly on.

Case Study: Pretty Little Liars 'Aria Smash' Short Film Extract

Case Study: Pretty Little Liars Short Film Extract

As for my second Case Study, I have decided to view on a short film extract based on an American teen thriller and drama show called Pretty Little Liars in the clip of "Aria Smash." This short film extract was taken out from an episode of the TV show as it showcases a 2 minute and 37 second clip of Aria, one of the main characters, a shocking scene where she's in someone's office, trying to find something and when she does- she loses it and starts destroying the whole furniture in the office. There's a wide range of camera angles and techniques used, such as medium shots, close up shots, over shoulder shots, hand held shots, medium tracking shots and shot reverse shots.

The first scene of the short film extract showcases a medium shot of the main character, which was Aria herself dressed casually as she hold two notebooks looking guilty and mysterious by the slight side expression of her face. The mise-en scene from this part indicates she's in a type of modernly office; browsing to paperworks nor notebooks like she's trying to find something from the place. Quite a lot of props were used and presented in this medium shot as its used in order to create an effect that the set it's real- to make it more believable towards the viewers also as known as the 'target audiences', which is more likely to be suitable and appropriate for young teenagers from 13 year olds and above, mostly targeting on girls than boys. This may be because the main characters for this show is originally 4 and they're all female so girls are more likely to watch the show than boys because they can relate to it the most.

The second scene cuts back into a close up shot of one of the notebook that Aria was holding back from the previous medium shot of her holding them. This will indicate to the audiences what the notebook contains as by the looks of it, it seems like its some sort of diary/notes by someone and Aria must've found what she was looking for all along. A brief, straight forward title had caught her attention as the use of extreme close up shot of the notebook she had found that entitled, 'Aria Montgomery' and then it goes on about some information and facts about her. This gives the viewers a sense of mystery because just by reading what the notebook says would freak anyone out as it sounds like someone had been stalking Aria. Also, hence the use of blurriness and out of focus on the background of the screenshot image above as the camera technique had been used to only focus on what the notebook states and not pay attention towards the background as its not necessary.

Furthermore, the scene moves along with another different camera technique as the main focus of this is the change of camera angle. As you can see from the print screen above, the camera angle used appears to be from a low to a high shot as we can see her lower chin as it flows up from the expression of her face. Also, her eyes is looking down as this tells us she's reading what the notebook states from the previous scene that was shown before. From her expression of her face, the viewers would know how intriguing and curious she was as she reads the notebook- by closing her eyebrows in creating a grin-kind-of-face, like she's annoyed of something. In addition, the use of the camera angle is used because as the viewers watch the scene- they will be looking up towards her face in order to see her facial expression as she looks down on 'us'. Bare also in mind that the background was blurred out and not focused in order to create a dramatic effect to only focus on Aria's facial expression and impression about having to read what someone had wrote about her for the first time; it looks like that's what she came to look for to confirm about something that's been bugging her about.

Onto this next scene, another camera angle is used. This time the angle comes from behind the notebook as its blurred out as you can see. However, its still composed in a low to high angle in a close up shot as the facial expression of Aria had now changed. Aria is now tearing up as she continues reading the notebook that someone had written about her. This would give the viewers a pity impression as they would be able to relate and feel the same way if someone had written about you- as you don't know why and what for. It sounds creepy and shady, as well. 

Moving onto a few seconds after, Aria loses her cool and let out her feelings as we can tell by the look of the screenshot image above that she's angry, frustrated, mad and a little bit worried and taken aback.  She starts grabbing multiple books laid out from the table using a medium shot alongside a medium tracking shot of Aria grabbing the books and throwing it effortlessly on the floor with pure anguish. From the viewers point, they might think she's gone mad and overreact because she doesn't realise it's someone's 'office' or 'house' that she's making a mess on. However, from her point of view- she might be doing it on purpose as its an act of revenge towards the person who wrote the creepy notes about Aria. Or Aria must've known whose behind it but needed some sort of evidence. Who knows.

The next scene opens up with a different camera angle used as it appears to be a even lower angle from low to high camera technique composed in a full shot. By this shot, we're able to see the character of Aria in dept and detailed as we can judge her from what she's wearing and by the way she's acting on the scene. Also, this camera shot can define how Aria is presented to be someone who has control over something and someone powerful because as for the viewers, we are watching this scene by moving our heads up in order to level Aria's face to see her facial expression. 

So, for this scene- she grabs onto a brown looking lamp and smashes on the ground to showcase her frustration and anger towards what she had found. This would make us curious because its making us want to watch the full episode to find out why she's behaving like that and the cause of the event. I would also want to point out by the way Aria spreads her feet so wide; as it represents a sense of balance and stable personality as even though she's mad and breaking and throwing objects and papers around, she knows what she's doing as she tries to control her balance by not hurting herself or falling on the ground like a drunk person would.

Multiple camera technique had been used of the short film extract of 'Aria Smash' as the title links back to what happens on the video as it's not misleading at all. The multiple camera techniques used was medium tracking shot, hand held shots, shot reverse shots and close up shots as well. We can see the shot reverse shot when Aria pauses for a while as she saw something that caught her attention; then the camera moved to Aria's back and then back to Aria's original shot. The time frame went by quick as it created a short tension effect as the viewers would want to eagerly  find out what she saw.

The final scene cuts back to Aria's close up camera shot as we are able to see a new sense of her facias expression. But this time, it had a different feel compared to last time as it appears like she seen a ghost. Her facial expression had left her appear blank and in slight shock after having to see a picture of her and a guy, looking sweet and friendly in a picture frame on the bookshelf as she broke in the glass to retrieve the picture frame. It appeared that the two were a couple as the name 'Ezra' as Aria had left her face turn cold and emotionless. This would raise us so many wanted question like who is Ezra and what he had done to Aria for her to lose her mind like this after finding out something she's not supposed to. Or was it planned? 

The lighting used in this short film extract seemed to appear a bit dim and used natural light such as the time of the day outside the house that Aria was in. It appeared like she was in there around early afternoon as we can still clearly see the set and props used for the set location. This would become more believable and reliable when using natural light as it's all about shooting the scene at the right time of the day in order to get the right amount of lighting effect and shade you want to portray towards the scene and the audiences as well.

There was also no dialogue used in this scene, as that's what my group originally planned to do. This way, it's more meaningful and easier for the production and edit crew to represent the scene as only the objects smashing on the ground and some short tracks can be heard a little.

Case Study: Victim Short Film Extract

Case Study: The Victim Short Film Extract Sample

Initial Project - The Breakfast Club (Short Film Practise)

Evaluation: The camera holder struggled with balancing on the tripod on certain camera angles which made the film appear imbalance and unprofessional.Moreover, the focus of the camera was extremely poor as the scenery was dark in which affected the audiences' ability to view the actors. 

Additionally, the camera angles could have been more diverse to make the film appear more appealing to the audience. Some scenes of the film were cut while editing the video so as a result of this the full video was unable to show. 

UPDATE: With the use of DSLR, we have became familiar knowing the basic knowledge around a professional camera to shoot our short film. This short task has helped us improved our directing skills as well as editing and producing skills in the future. Even though we did not use tripod as we mostly use hand held camera, it is from this point where we needed a tripod to keep the frame of the scene stable and balance, avoiding any shakiness of the film.

Also, the quality of the video was poor because we have directly uploaded the video from a USB stick and did not upload it on a video sharing website like YouTube. Initially, we have had struggles trying to focus the camera but since it was in the manual settings, we needed to adjust the lens of the camera in order to focus the camera and the frame image becomes clear in high definition. In our short film, we will make sure to put automatic settings when filming and at times put manual in order for us to take in control of the focus lens to aim a specific scene.

Overall, this Breakfast Club short task was useful because we were able to get used to the whole production mood which made us prepared to start planning based on our initial ideas/treatment for our short film video.

Reflect on the Practise Task (Short Film)

Strengths

One of the strengths that we have faced throughout producing this short practise extract was that as a group of three, we've tried different shots and angles as they were close ups, full-body shots and medium shots used in this short project intended. This will be able to boost up our confidence and skills on handling how to produce a short film in the future reference and it will be easier and quicker to produce it as well.

The second strength was that we are able to organise the scenes well as we had drawn a storyboard so it will be quicker and easier for us to direct it that way. Also, we can direct and produce it smoothly without having to waste time but unfortunately, we were one of the team that were behind since we lost quite a lot of time having to look for people to act on our practise subtask film. 

Weaknesses

One of the weaknesses that we have faced throughout was having difficulties on the lighting scheme as the first time we shot it, it was dark and dull as it was set in the canteen where the lights dim. This affects the image to come out poor quality and it's unclear because the actress/actor of the short film practise task couldn't be seen properly. 

Also, the second weakness was that we need to improve the focus of the camera because some of the close up shots of the lead actress/actors were blurry and unclear as it appears boring and not interesting. In the future, we are able to take this action and try to focus the camera next time making sure that it's focusing onto an object or a thing so the quality will be better and clearer next time in order to attract more audiences.

The third weakness was that we spent too much looking for people around the college campus to act for our practise task so we wasted time. Since we've used other students, sometimes they mess around and not take it seriously so that's why our first try went downhill. However, we were able to quickly shot it in a different location where it's quiet than our previous location and used ourselves to act and one member to act as the camera person. In the future, we will cast reliable actors/actresses to be in our short film extract so it will run smoothly and we are able to shoot more scenes than having less scenes at all. Hopefully our time management will be able to improve in the future reference.

Initial Planning: Ideas based on Short Film Examples

Planning: Initial ideas for my Short Film Extract (Timetoast)

Planning Initial ideas based on Short Film (Brief)

I have research some possible context for my final short film extract and I've come across with a thriller/melodrama american drama called 'Pretty Little Liars.' Its based on 4 different characters that are teenage girls and they keep on getting threatening and confidential messages that are private from an unknown sender, also referred to as 'A'. 

As for our short film extract, I came across with doing a similar plot as we will be using mobile phones to convey and receive text messages from an unknown sender towards a victim, which it will be the main lead character for the short film extract intended. I will be using only one character instead of four, as seen on the teen drama above. I'm not too sure whether the main lead character will either be a male or a female as it's still undecided for now. 

Furthermore, since we, as a team did not want any dialogue on our short film extract - we decided to use various and intense sound effects and tracks either from primary or secondary sources. This is because we do not want to waste any time writing down our ow scripts as we just want to straight away shoot the scenes and over record so we can have extra contingency time to improve our mistakes throughout the filming, editing and directing process system.