Eleven: Planning Our Shoot

Today we discussed what our schedule will be before half term. Deciding our story and having a first draft of a script is essential to establish other aspects of what is needed to begin shooting. When looking back to the shoot that we did last year for our two-minute opening we were very impulsive with the shots that we chose and the shots that we wanted. We didn’t have a plan about where and when to shoot. Our timing last year was very un organised, this is why we are determined to plan out our shots, location, actors etc. It The list is as follows in no particular order: appoint roles, write a script, develop the script, script breakdown, storyboard/animatic, location hunt, schedule, call sheet, equipment list. We have already appointed roles and given in our first draft of the treatment. We have been given the green light about our idea, now it’s about deciding the official beginning, middle and end. As soon as we have our entire story planned out we can start to focus more on the technical aspects such as certain shots and locations we want for each scene. 

By half term

• First draft of script
• Test shoots
• Script breakdown
• Shot List
• Storyboard/Animatic
• Location Hunting
• Schedule
• Call sheet 
• Equipment list

Eleven: First Production Meeting

Today we had our first production meeting about our short film Eleven. We looked over our treatment that we came up with and the 25 word pitch that we originally had. As you can see from the picture there were a couple of mistakes in the overall plot of the film. Firstly we thought it would be a nice idea to use open framing to show different objects and people in the film. We also were concerned about the way that the child dealt with the situation at hand, as he is eleven years old we thought that the child would have a limited understanding of relationship at this point of his adolescent life, so we have the child see some intimate moments between his mother and his father at the start of the film so that he can later on connect these different moments, and with his paranoia thinks intervene. Another idea that we had was the way that the child begins to intervene, we thought that if the child sees the father give or do something to his mother at the beginning he can replicate this at the end in an attempt to stop this from happening. These were just some of the idea that we discussed during this meeting, our treatment is on the sheet.

7 Things to Know About Short Films

7 Things to Know About Short Films 

Here are seven important things to know about short films, from efficient exposition, to what the best length is when submitting to film festivals! These are useful in order to make a successful short film. 

Treatment for our short film: First draft

Eleven

The plot summary of our short film is the collapse of a marriage through the eyes of a child. Our protagonist Blake comes across a happy eleven year old who has a very close relationship with his family, especially his father. We see Blake bonding with his father throughout the beginning of the film. This shows a steady lifestyle that he has with his family. Everything seems to be in place until a single moment throws his life into a completely different perspective. He sees his father interacting with another woman who hasn’t been seen until this moment in the film. Blake’s character switches and his paranoia begins to take over. He is shocked to see his father talking to any other woman apart from his mother. (Are they flirting? Kissing? Has Blake seen his mum and dad do similar things?) This shows the audience Blake’s secure family life until this one minor incident can change everything. Blake is now convinced that his father is having an affair. This unknown woman is shown continuously with his father which convinces Blake that there is definitely a relationship between them. Each scene that they're together, Blake witnesses more obvious sexual tension, however this is from his point of view. We want to make sure that the film is seen through the eyes of an eleven year old. He is not mature enough to understand what is really happening. The equilibrium is partially re-established by the end of the film because of the relationship with his father overcomes his worries, but for how long? We see the first scene again at the end of the film with a recap of the POV shots from the child, although this time through his fathers eyes, the mother confronts the father and Blake backs up the fathers story (it is unknown if this story is true or not to Blake, but he wants to keep the family together so he just agrees with his father). We want to show Blake’s confusion and responsibility surrounding his views about his fathers potential affair. Blake is in control over the break up of his family. By agreeing with his father, the audience are unaware of what really happened between the father and the woman he has been seeing. 

Our genre research

New Boy 

A young African boy with a haunting back story starts school in Ireland, and finds out quickly exactly what it means to be the new kid. The film shows the view of Joseph experience of joining a new school where the children are hostile and unwelcoming. This film is very similar to our idea, like Joseph the entire film is shown through his point of view. 

Goal: To be as happy like he used to be in Africa.

Obstacle: New school, adapting to a new country. Bullies. 

Urgency/Stakes: Dad dying and moving country. Getting beaten up by bullies.

Character: Joseph- The new boy.

Location: School in Ireland. Mainly set in the class room.

Crossbow

Short film written and directed by David Michôd.

Cast: Cy Standen, Lisa Chappell & Joel Edgerton

A kid. His mum and dad. The sex and drugs. And the boy next door who watched the whole thing unravel.  The film opens to a very average suburban neighborhood before peeking into one house in particular. The loud and exaggerated sounds of rough sex are heard as the camera moves in on the vacuous face of a teenage boy—our main character. An unseen narrator relates the boy’s predicament: he lives in a home of rough folk, his mom and dad thinking nothing of engaging in boisterous sex in his presence, nor for that matter doing drugs and partying with other men. The narrator reveals himself to be the boy’s neighbor, and muses about the mom’s seeming indifference to the boy inbetween observations about how much he’d like to have sex with the older, permanently panty-clad woman. 

The short film thus exists as a meditative elegy, from the neighbor to the boy, and the visuals support the creation of such a mood, using frequent slow-motion to imagine scenes of alienation the boy might have experienced. Yet this empathy is disturbingly buttressed by the sexual fetishization of the mother, as the camera lingers erotically on the body she so frequently flounts in and around the home. Sexual longing on the neighbor’s part is part of his explanation for the boy’s state, yet that means the neighbor must in a way confront his complicity, a feeling if that is expressed in his voice, if not completely registered in his head.

Test shoots

On the weekend we started to test shoot potential shots and locations for our film. During the pre production stage we have used filters to make our lighting stand out. The cinematography is a key element in our film as well as the storyline.

We are determined to make our film look very clear by making every but of colour stand out.

Here are a few shots with filters. When comparing them to photos without filters there is a very obvious difference in the quality.

Planning our film

Here is a list of what we will have to produce before starting filming:

* Decide a theme or subject
* Decide the genre
* Research the genre
* Treatment (Outline of our idea)
* Establish short film conventions

* By half term:
* Write script
* Develop script
* Script breakdown
* Shot List
* Storyboard/Animatic
* Location Hunting
* Schedule
* Call sheet
* Equipment list

We have discussed last years film and what roles we suited best. Here are the list of roles that we are taking on for our short film:

Film Roles:
* Producer: Louis
* Director: Jacob
* 1st AD: Louis
* Sound Track and composer: Jacob
* Editor: Jacob & Louis
* Running: Louis
* Sound Boom: Jacob
* Cameraman: Louis
* Scriptwriter: Louis
* Location Hunter: Louis and Jacob