Ancillary Tasks

I can now focus on the ancillary tasks as we have some footage to work with, a tone and a theme to coincide with.

I am completing this brief:

3. A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:
o a poster for the film
o a radio trailer for the film
o a film magazine review page featuring the film.

I think it would be easiest and most efficient for me, if I completed these two ancillary tasks:

o a poster for the film
o a film magazine review page featuring the film


Therefore, I can start planning the tasks and gather some research for them.

Re-Shooting?

I have looked over the footage and decided we may have to re-shoot some frames. This shouldn't be a problem because I have emailed our teacher to explain this and have also informed Sam and Curtis.

Props

There have been many props used in the production of our film, and they all have meaning. We chose these specific props for a reason;

The 'Southpark' Stan character - This shows Alfie watches TV programmes that are too old for him, showing his lack of guidance from his parents and the fact they are hardly around.

The 'Harry Potter' film - This shows how Alfie gets scared at the child's film, but can watch TV programmes such as 'Southpark'. This is very contradictory and speaks more to the older audience of the film about the parenting used.

The red snakes in IKEA - This snake is clearly a child's soft toy, and for Alfie to be scared of it in the dream sequence ties in with the above idea with the lack of parenting.

The rugby kit - This is from Alfie's school, the uniform for rugby. This shows he is a stereotypical boy, but with slight childish tendencies, again contradictory linking with the above idea.

The LACK of parents (props) - This is the basis for the plot applying to the older audience. It explains why Alfie is how he is, without being too obvious to the younger audience.

Last Day of Filming

Today was hopefully the last lot of filming we need to do, unless we need to re-shoot. We filmed the loose ends, such as running up the stairs, getting changed, and waking up/falling asleep. Alfie has been very patient and a great sport, even when I was stressing and panicking about time. It has been stressful, but it is more to do with the time of year and the unfortunate schedules we all have, more than filming itself. Now to enjoy Christmas!

Christmas Visits

Everybody took more hours on at work over Christmas, and everybody has had plans and family to visit. We knew this would be the case, and although we are slightly behind schedule, things will be fine and it will be finished on time!

Filming With Alfie

Tonight, Me and Alfie were dropped to the location of filming and we filmed part of the dream sequence. We filmed the stop-motion snake with Alfie on the bed and Alfie on the sofa watching 'Phineas and Ferb'. This was extremely time consuming and stressful because it took so long, and was quite boring, yet Alfie had to stay stock still to ensure the film looked smooth.

Filming

Today, I went to the filming location and filmed some more stop-motion. I was on my own, because I had a free in college, and was visiting my friend anyway, so to pass the time, we filmed some stop-motion. This sequence can hopefully be used in the dream sequence, as the snake was climbing the stairs.

Preparation

There has been a lot of preparation for our film, that has made everything time-consuming and over complicated. However, this is to ensure the location and setting looks good in our film. For example, We have had to purchase toy snakes from IKEA and cut all the labels off. We have had to do a massive clean out of the bedroom being used, and fill it with child-like toys. We have had to make sure the living area is clean and tidy before and after filming, to make it look good for our film, and out of respect for the residents.

Deadline

Our teacher has set a filming deadline to make sure we are all on track and keeping to this projects tight schedule. Ideally, he would like all the filming finished for January, so we have the Christmas holidays to film. This ensures we have enough time to edit and enough time POST-production.

Camera's

We have borrowed a camera from college, but I also have a DV Tape cam-corder at home, and so we can set these up to make sure there is a complete match on action and continuity. We can also experiment with camera angles and compositions, especially in the dream sequence.

Filming Complications

We were planning to film on Sunday, but Curtis and Sam have work. I will be filming the scene on my own, which is fine, it needs to get done! It will be tricky, but there will be help at hand, and we need to get all the outside shots done today.

Filming With Alfie

Tonight, we got some shots of Alfie. We started filming the dream sequence indoors, so the lighting matched up. It was dark outside, so we couldn't film the establishing shot. We got a shot of Alfie reading a book, with all these snakes appearing around him, combining stop-motion, with real-life film. This was very time-consuming and needed two people. Our friend also helped slightly with filming, pressing record and little things to make sure things looked right. We are slowly but surely getting the filming done, it is tricky because we have to do the filming at a weekend when Alfie doesn't have school.

Filming

We filmed another lot of stop-motion with the snake today, as we have a break in college, but Sam had her lesson. Filming, ideally, shouldn't interrupt with other college work, and so far, we can manage with two, however filming will become trickier and we will need three people.

Filming

Today Curtis and I managed to get to the location for filming, and we started on the stop-motion snake in the dream sequence. This was very time-consuming and needed two people, to make sure the footage ran smoothly. However, we realised it wouldn't be a disaster if the footage didn't run too smoothly, as the dream sequence is preferably meant to be abstract.

Coursework Planning

We have now got everything set up for filming, but are trying to negotiate a time for us all to be available to film. We have different college timetables, and different work hours, so have to find a time we can all get together and start filming. We also have to negotiate a time we can use the location, as the house being used is a friends.

Location

We have established a set location for our filming; at a friend's house. This is because the house format is easiest for what we had in mind, and also midway between our homes. The location is perfect, as the bedroom is a boys one, tying in perfectly with our film.

Equilibrium Change

This is how we will use Equilibruim throughout the short film:

1. Equilibrium - Alfie gets home
2. Disequilibrium - Parents aren't there
3. Makes himself at home - turns on telly - 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' is playing, Alfie has underlying fear of snakes
4. Sleeps and dreams a scary dream of imaginary snake chasing him
5. At the end of the dream, Alfie befriends the snake
6. He wakes up and no longer has a fear of snakes