Monday 2 April 2012

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in progression from it to the full product?

 Our task was to film a very short piece which showed someone entering a room and having any form of conversation with someone already in the room. Ours was intended to be comedic, in the light that it would show an intense situation which seemed very serious, to then make the audience realise that in actual fact, it was merely about a Cindy doll who had been beheaded.
From this I have learnt different camera shots (the variation of shots from tracking Lizzie as she crosses the room and over-shoulder shots) I also learnt about representation of characters, such as their clothing (black coat, used for dramatic effect.) and how they should be laid out in the frame, which was used as Sophia walks towards the frame.

However, I have since learnt how to edit far more effectively and smoothly (audio transitions) and how exactly to represent Sophia. I have learnt how to use music, and how to edit audio over a silent film.

What have you learnt about new technologies from the process of constructing this product?


I learnt about lots of new technologies such as..
-Picnik.com, edit my ident photo.
-  Photoshop, which I used to make the mist on my production logo
- After Effects, which I made the rest of my production logo with
- Adobe Premier Pro, which I edited my film on
- Youtube, which I found my royalty free piano music on
- Facebook, which I used to contact my actress and others
- Google, for my royalty free photographs (Sun, cloud and star photographs were Barrie Sherrington’s who is a relative of mine who took them whilst doing his astronomy)
- Blogger, to upload and update my work in progress
- iTunes, to download music for my film

How did you attract/address your target audience?

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

Sunday 1 April 2012

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

How does your media represent particular social groups?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Title of film: One Red Balloon. The title first appears in the frame with a feather. This is because a feather is often a sign of beauty and elegance, in particular because the feather is white it may also represent hope. But also how it could blow away very easily. And that is what my piece is about, losing someone. Similarly the actual title, about letting go of a balloon.


Setting/location. I used a very domestic environment to emphasise the genre of Domestic Tragedy. By depicting everyday life (making of tea) in rooms such as the kitchen, living room or just walking down a street, which I felt would make the audience feel more involved... and understand that terrible things happen to the most ordinary of people.



Costumes and Props. I asked the actress to wear subtle, dark colours throughout to illustrate mourning and unhappiness. But they are not particularly unusual clothes, which again emphasises Domestic Tragedy. 
The use of a balloon shows the letting go of someone or something, and the red shows up against the dark colours and sky, the same reason I used a red mug for the tea.



Font and Style of titling.

I used a simplistic font, partially because it is easier to read but also because it does not need to be fancy, otherwise it would not be in keeping with my genre and setting.



The Story The opening would ideally be in the middle of the film or the beginning, and we slowly find out what it is she has lost. The sense of lost is seen in the poem which By Ted Hughes about the loss of his wife.



How the characters are introduced. My story only has one character who is seen in the beginning. She is introduced as a fairly middle-class teenage girl, who is suffering from a great loss. She does not smile throughout the entire piece, which is fairly shocking.

Sunday 18 March 2012

Feedback....Not Neccisarily All Glory

My General mark was a level 3,which I personally, was very happy with. Though I will not pretend it was all perfect. So I am going to write up ALL of my negative comments, and work on them (if I can)...Firstly, a few people said that it does not look like the girl is reading in one shot, though this cannot be worked on I am afraid, as it is obviously far too late! But with the audio of the poem over the top, I can now hope that it will appear more realistic.
The same shot was also said to have been too long, though the audio may help this, I think I will shorten this and add in some other shots to jazz it up a little!!

Secondly, some people said that the pictures perhaps moved too fast? So I may slow down a few shots, which may also solve the problem that some people believed it was too short.

Thirdly, though a few people enjoyed the black screen for the titles, some said it was a little dull, and that the titling could be more exciting. Though because of the theme of subtlety for my piece, I personally like the font. But I will look through some others and see if there are any improvements. I also will perhaps put some of the titling over my shots, like the One Red Balloon title.

And last... though certainly not least, rather embarrassing but I spelt Photography wrong!! Please, I have fixed it since.. it is no longer an issue.

But the rest of the comments were very positive, everyone seemed to like Horizon Industries as a production company. And they enjoyed the varied shots. All that is left is to work on the negatives, be happy about the positives and keep, keep working at it. Aim for level 4? I shall try.

The ROUGH Cut


I uploaded this to Youtube, sadly no comments yet but have had plenty of class feedback, so it's fine.
I have also re-recorded and edited the audio (FINALLY!) but this is NOT on this copy, though it will be coming soon to the blog, hope you enjoy this.

Thursday 15 March 2012

'Discuss The Representation Of Gender...'

In the clip from The Wire In The Blood...


Females...
The first image we see is that of the woman walking infront of the man, which instantly shows that she is the more dominant character of the two, and the first thing she says is 'You don't terminate my interviews' which to me, sounded a little like she were talking to a child. The fact that she says 'you' rather than his name makes him seem below her.

The camera shots also, always have the woman in front when she is in shot, similarly showing her authority.

Though the fact that she calls him and says 'please' shows that she perhaps needs him underneath it all.

Her son is perhaps scared of her 'she's always angry, and she's always tired.' The fact that she comes down the stairs and he is sitting at the bottom of them shows that she is above him, aswell as being above Tony.
She doesn't spend much time with her son, which is shown by the fact they used to have a nanny, and more so because she left after a row when the little boy called her 'Mummy' which shows her underlying jealousy.

The clip also shows a different side, in which the woman goes out to work while the man, stays home and looks after the child. which is almost breaking tradition.

Males...

There is a strong contrast of different types of men. For example there is the kind, caring Tony, who stays at Alex's to look after her child. Tony is also ver reccessive to Alex and follows her authority, to a certain extent. And he is more inconvenienced by being 'stuck' with her child.

 Whereas there is the far more violent man in a black coat, who is evicting some (perhaps drug addicts) from squatting in a building.


Hustle Clip...

Females...

The first shot we see is of two people, a man and a woman, it then focuses in on a glamorous looking woman with blond hair. Afterwards we see a smaller woman, who looks shockingly 'out of place' in the shop and asks for how much it is, she looks very stunned by it's price and is looked down upon by the shop assistant, who is a man far taller than herself.

Then the blond woman asks for a designer and tries on a dress, then casually buys it at £3,000 which is a strong contrast to the woman who could not afford a £700 dress.

The suave, relaxed mood is suddenly broken by her lost ring, which she then becomes hysterical about. She claims her husband will 'Kill me' showing that she is not as doiminant as she felt at the beggining. She then wrecks the shop, showing she feels she is still above it.

In the end we see the same woman, who the man brings the money to, showing she is perhaps not the woman we first thought she was.

Males...

The male shop assistant looks down on the woman at the beggining who cannot afford the dress. Which is very patronising.

But he then changes completely when he notices the pretty blonde woman, when he becomes far more reccessive, even more so when she claims to have lost her ring.

He then is brought down by another man, he becomes far less dominant and is brought down to begging.


Sunday 4 March 2012

Music...


I decided I'd add some music to my final piece,  I chose this as it is copyright free. I personally found it was a beautiful piece of music, and it reminded me of Ludovico Einaudi.
After listening to a few this was the decision I came to.

Thursday 23 February 2012

Oscar Nominations

The BBC website has a really interesting analysis of the different genres of films that have won Oscars since the 1930s. The diagram below shows what this chart looks like.

1930  1940   1950   1960   1970   1980   1990    2000    2010
     

                Friday 10 February 2012

                Shocking Stats...

                Here are some amazing statistics I have found for my case study... courtesy of Wikipedia...

                Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End:

                Budget: $300 million
                Box Office: $963,420,425

                Stars: Orlando Bloom
                           Johnny Depp


                Another Year
                Budget: $8 million

                Box Office: $18,124,262

                Stars: Lesley Manville
                Jim Broadbent
                Ruth Sheen
                 
                This is shocking because Pirates of The Caribbean: At World's End was the highest budget film made last year.
                It has been able to promote a large budget due to the last two films both being very successful, and audiences will (in general) prefer the security of going to see a sequel of the first one or two films as they know what they are expecting. It is also because of it is made by Disney, which in itself is a HUGE company. I chose Another Year because of it's far lower budget... and sadly far lower box office.


                 

                Monday 6 February 2012

                Rough Cut Thoughts:

                I decided to make a few changes to my rough cut...The script will become more friendly and light-hearted, this will allow us to explore deeper into her character, for example using a softer tone when reading the script out. Though the words will be open for audience interpretation.

                I will also need to re-record the voice-over as my actress laughed a lot! Which was inevitably VERY difficult and proved almost impossible to edit out.

                I think I am thankful to say that my footage is all fine and running well.. now all is left is to polish and perfect!

                Sunday 5 February 2012

                The End of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

                I went to see this film on Saturday night. I didn't have a great deal in common with my film, being a different genre, and having a bigger budget than mine!

                But one similarity was the way that it opened, it has a narrator and is told in flashbacks.
                It is narrated by Dr Watson as it begins with a big explosion, and Dr Watson starts to tell his story to the audience.


                This technique of telling the story is largely forgotten in the film itself, until the end, when he is seen sitting down writing this story down on paper with his wife looking over him. He finishes his tale by saying what a close friend Holmes was to him, and how he misses him, and ends with "The End". Of course this is not in fact The End, as Holmes appears in an amazing disguise in his room.

                A clever ending, and should my film ever be made i might use this technique of The End just before The End.


                Here is a review of the film by JeremyJahns, I found on youtube, you will either love this presenter or hate him!



                Wednesday 1 February 2012

                Editing Day One:

                I decided to use continuity editing to ensure the story gets told. I will then edit the audio over all of the film, making a continuous narrative throughout.
                I am to create this using Premiere Pro for this. I find this very useful for editing as I can add in all of the effects I need and cut the audio and video accordingly.
                I will also use some cross editing and montage editing in my piece. To emphasise her sense of loss.

                In this day I hope to achieve the first minute of editing.

                Problems: I have had many, many problems with the computer, due to problems with the colouring... this means it is VERY hard to edit the video, so whilst I wait for the technician, I can edit the audio accordingly and then edit the video to fit in when the colours have been finished.

                The audio I have been editing has a fair amount of extra noise which is unwanted and I cannot edit out... some re-recording may be on the horizon.

                Monday 30 January 2012

                Ted Hughes

                I chose to use a poem by Ted Hughes from his book 'Birthday Letters' which was written for his wife Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide in front of their two children.
                I chose the poem 'The Badlands' stanza 6 which says;

                'The silence, At least, 
                like a cooling incinerator
                Was an afterlife. As it cooled
                Every clinker inched its shadow wider
                and darker
                Like a little door. There we camped,
                The most inimical place I was ever in.
                Too late to go on. I remember.'

                I used this because of it's strong sense of loss and the love he had for his wife.

                Ted James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet and children's writer. He is often seen as one of the greatest British poets by many critics. 
                He was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.
                This is a video of Richard Armitage read Ted Hughes' letter to his wife's parents after her death.
                His marriage with Sylvia Plath was difficult and his part in the relationship has become controversial to some feminists and in particular, American admirers of Plath. His last poetic work, Birthday Letters (1998), explored their complex relationship, it was very deep and moving which is why I chose it.
                 The poems in this book make reference to Sylvia Plath's suicide, but none of them directly address the reason or way of her death.

                Beginners: 'This is what the sun looks like...'Some of the Aspects I used.

                I used the idea of saying 'This is what the sun looks like' this is shown right near the beginning of the film after he has brought the dog home with him.
                I liked this as it has not been used in any of the films I have seen and I found it very unusual, and interesting, as I enjoy photography.

                I also used narration, like in this. In Beginners the narration is very monotone which allows the audience to interpret the information in their own way, which I could use in my piece. Although, there is a slight undertone of unhappiness in this which is perfect for my film.

                I also used a similar theme to this in mine. Which is the theme of loss of someone you love. Though who Sophia Green has lost is not directly shown, it is apparent as she lets go of a red balloon. Whereas in this film, it is his father who has died.

                Pictures For My Film

                I Needed Good Pictures

                Th script of my film requires some pictures of stars, clouds and the sun.
                These are difficult to take.
                Fortunately my Grandpa is a keen astronomer, so he gave me these pictures.

                Now which to choose???










                Audience Research

                Researching the Audience

                For any film researching the audience is important. In Hollywood they research not only the idea of the film, but also the ending of a film once it has been made!

                The target audience is really teenagers, not just those who have experienced grief, but those who are not just interested in aliens from out of space, or car chases or rom coms.

                So i asked three of my friends about the film, we did this as a group discussion.
                They were all positive, but perhaps would have found it difficult to be critical. One of them did suggest the poems of Ted Hughes, which was a great help. And really through talking to them this helped develop the ideas, the red mug, the number of people on the planet , the number of cups of tea drunk during the day, so the group discussion really helped to formulate my ideas as much as test the idea.

                Researching the Genre


                Mike Mills Picture
                Mike Mills: The Writer and Director

                Since i really liked Beginners and this influenced my thinking on my film, i have done some research on the writer and director Mike Mills.
                Thumbsucker PosterMike Mills was born in 1966, Berkeley, California. He works as a filmmaker, graphic designer and artist. I think that is all reflected in Beginners, as the main character in the film plays an artist. As a filmmaker, he has completed a number of music videos, commercials, short films, documentaries, and the feature film Thumbsucker in 2005. I have not seen this film, but i wonder whether anyone reading this has?
                He has made Architecture of Reassurance in 2000, which sounds like it is about someone wandering around their neighbourhood looking at other people's lives, Paperboys  in 2001, documents the daily life of six boys in rural Minnesota, a tour documentary of the French band Air and their audiences, and a short film documenting a famous jazz composer.

                So all in all a wide range of different ventures - I wonder what his next one will be about.

                Here is a quote from him: "That drifting thing is my life view. I do it a lot. I am intrigued by inanimate objects. They're a piece of history, someone's statement and ideas of life. If this was your room, the stuff on your table would be telling me as much about you as you. As someone who grew up in a house where there wasn't a lot of talking, I'm used to just looking at the world. And in general I often feel like I just don't understand what's happening. That everybody else does, but I don't quite get it. That camera technique I often call 'the alien that landed - and doesn't know what's important'.
                Actors are pretending for you, but they're not lying. They are not putting on a guise instead of themselves. They are finding things inside that they have experienced."

                Here is another quote from him, "Making a movie is so hard, you'd better make movies about something you really know about".    I agree with that!

                And again: "And even more, it's really good to make movies about things you need to figure out for yourself, so you're driven the whole way through. It's going to make things more crucial for you".

                I got these quotes from: http://www.imdb.com/

                Wednesday 18 January 2012

                First Day Of Filming....

                The Problems of Film Making!

                The day did not go specifically to plan due to rain. The early shots were to be taken outdoors, but the heavy rain prevented this, as i had borrowed the camera for the day, we could not delay the shoot.

                I decided to shoot the indoor scenes first.
                The indoor scenes proved a little difficult with the light. We had to make sure there was enough light on the tea making and to emphasis the red mug. So we needed to change the camera shot a little to get enough light.

                The reading of the Ted Hughes poem took sometime. I realised it is difficult to read the poem out loud and get the right emotion from it. Maybe you really do need to have experienced a loss to be able to fully understand the poem.

                The rain stopped so we went outside to film. By this time of day we had we had little time until it was dark. Though the darkness and dreariness of the day added to the dramatic impact of the cloudly gloomy atmosphere i was trying to create. It certainly all added to the mise-en-scene.
                The problem was the balloon, Sephie was meant to look sad and let go of the balloon, and then i would take a shot of the balloon floating up into the sky - The balloon would not float up!!!

                We tried it a few times, but this proved very difficult. (I even tried the next day, but the balloon would only run along the ground - until at last it rose into the air - but i missed most of it trying to film it!!!




                Then came the walk down Elm Hill - I wanted a deserted road, but by this time 3.00 in the afternoon on a Saturday - this proved difficult. We almost achieved, but then a large person suddenly appeared and followed Sephie - Take 6!!!
                Eventually we managed it.

                Have to see what the day looks like on film now.

                Monday 16 January 2012

                My Main Character

                What make a good character?

                The main factors for me in what makes a real character are if they are 'three dimensional' and the audience feels as if they can connect with them. If they have flaws in their character or background then so if they bring this 'baggage' with them to the film.

                For example...
                Ewan McGregor's character - Oliver Fields, who has to deal with the death of his mother and his father, who after many years of marriage, has come out to be gay. He also has to 'deal' with the complicated relationship with his girlfriend. As he struggles with all his emotions. Though on the outside he comes across as neutral.

                He could draw, and did this for a living in the film. This was the only way in which he expressed his thoughts and emotions. For instance at one point in the film he attempts to create a lyric booklet for a band about the Evolution Of Sadness. He thinks its great, the band do not like it - too much emotion!

                In the opening two minutes you can sense his unhappiness though he does not show much emotion.
                The film starts with some shot still shots of a flower in a vase on a window, a shot of an empty room and then it moves to Oliver who is packing boxes of old clothes, and throwing things out - this is obviously painful for him. Clearly someone has died, but as yet we do not know who.

                 I will use a similar metaphor with a red balloon in my film as it symbolises letting someone go. The girl in my film will let go of the red balloon in my opening sequence. I hope to create the same effect.


                In contrast, George Valentin in The Artist, I film I saw last week and enjoyed greatly, is a less rounded character. Though his character is less realistic, his characteristics come across very strongly. He is shown admiring himself on film in the opening of The Artist illustrating that he's very proud. He is shown watching himself on screen and smiling at everyone synthetically which is really covering up or not revealing his true emotions.

                As the film progresses we learn more about him, and his pride in particular and that in the end, his pride is his downfall.


                Another example of a strong character is Maddy Ross in the Coen Brother's True Grit.
                The film opens with her trying to find a gunman to kill the man who murdered her father. The residents of the town try to dissuade and ridicule her though she is determined to get revenge and get what she wants. The audience is intrigued as to why she is so determined, what has happened to her for her to be in the situation?

                As well as will she be able to get her own way? She finds herself in a man's world, and because of this she needs to show 'masculine' characteristics to gain respect in this situation, throughout the film she holds everyone together and keeps everyone going, ultimately earning their respect and showing true grit.
                 Though she is grieving but sees her life as just a journey to kill this man.





                My main character will be more like Oliver in Beginners.

                The Script

                THE SCRIPT


                Scene 1.  

                Opens with Sophia Green letting go of a red balloon. Sophia Green looks sad. (This scene will be in slow motion) 
                Voice over of girl speaking:
                Earth to earth, Ashes to ashes
                Dust to dust;
                In sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life.

                Scene 2: Sophia Green is walking down a quiet street on her down, she looks thoughtful. She is on her own. (This scene will be in slow motion) 

                Voice over of Sophia Green speaking: 

                My name is Sophia Green,
                I am seventeen years old,
                I live here.
                This is the sun,
                The clouds,
                The moon,
                And the stars.

                There are estimated 7 billion people on the earth,
                I am the 5,676,854,910th person
                My average life expectancy is 81.7 years.

                Scene 3:
                Sophia Green is making a cup of tea. She concentrates on the tea, as though her thoughts are elsewhere:
                  
                Voice over of Sophie Green speaking: The average person drinks 74802 cups of tea a lifetime.
                According to legend, tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor and inventor in 2737 BC
                    

                Sophia Green is drinking her tea, again she is reflective, again looking distracted by something on her mind  
                Voice over of Sophia Green speaking:  
                The silence, at least,  
                Like a cooling incinerator was an afterlife.  
                As it cooled every clinker inched it's shadow wider and darker  
                like a little door.  
                There we camped.
                The most inimical place I ever was in.  
                Too late to go on. I remember – Ted Hughes  


                Scene 4:  
                Sophia Green stares out of the window 

                Voice over of Sophia Green speaking   
                earth to earth,  
                ashes to ashes,  
                dust to dust;  
                in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life.
                THE END

                Sunday 15 January 2012

                Props List

                My film is quite simple in terms of props, atmosphere is very important and i want to create this through the types of shoot used, voice over and editing.

                But the props that are needed are:

                Red balloon ( more than one in case of problems)
                Dark dress for the girl
                Teapot
                Red mug
                hot water.

                Plus to make the film
                vise camera
                Camera
                Stand
                Script for me and Sephie
                Storyboard for me


                That's it, so that should be easy to remember!

                Saturday 14 January 2012

                My Chosen Genre Is...

                The Genre I Have Chosen

                Domestic Tragedy

                The conventions of this genre are..

                1. - this genre illustrates a Western 'everyday life' culture
                2. - It is where people come to difficult life dilemmas and situations.
                3. - Because it is tragedy we know that it is destined for a dark ending.
                4. - There can also some comedy within this so it will reflect real-life.

                Another Year Poster

                An example of this genre is Mike Leigh's "Another Year" which reflects the life of a middle-aged couple (Tom and Gerry) and some of their friends. Life has turned out well for Tom and Gerry, but their friend's lives aren't as positive, as Jerry states at one point in the film 'life isn't always kind to people'

                The scenes in the film are of everyday life hence "Another Year" and the main characters in the film face daily dilemmas. One character played by Lesley Manville's for example had many problems with her life; she struggles to find love, and her car keeps breaking down, and she gets lost, she's disorganised and constantly late.She is shown to be continuously dealing with these problems, and at times not coping at all well.

                Still of Lesley Manville and Peter Wight in Another YearStill of Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen in Another YearStill of Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen in Another YearStill of Lesley Manville in Another YearStill of Jim Broadbent in Another Year
                As this film concentrates on people's flaws which are often hidden in the more 'Hollywood' films like Superhero films and the such like, we suspect that the ending is not going to be a happy one for all of the characters. But as all of the characters' problems mount up, they are seen as to have cheerful and funny moments, sometimes dark comedy, which makes all of the characters very three dimensional.

                Watch a trailer for this film below:
                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilv0aVRJPps

                This will be the genre for my film.

                Thursday 12 January 2012

                First Day Of Filming Plan:

                Preparing for the Big Day

                I shall begin filming at around 11:30 on the 14th January 2012

                Cast:
                My chosen actress is my friend Sephie Rogers:
                She is studying Drama A-level and has taken many LAMDA exams.
                She is the right age for the character, an older teenager, so she seemed perfect.

                Costume
                Sephie will be wearing a long black coat to represent her grieving. I have checked with her to ensure that she has one!

                Props:
                Th main prop is the balloon, so i have purchased a few of these.
                Also i have made sure that Sephie has some tea making equipment in her house, as she has to make and drink the tea in the final scene.

                Camera:
                I have arranged to use the school camera, so have it booked!

                Lighting:
                Outdoors shooting will not be a problem.
                Indoors i have checked Sepie's kitchen, it is light, but we can also use th spot lights in her kitchen.
                Location:
                We will film the kitchen scene in her house and capture the other scenes on Elm Hill and in Elm Hill Gardens in Norwich.
                The scene of her releasing the balloon will take place in the gardens near to Elm Hill. In needs to be outside, yet quite a claustrophobic area to represent the tension of the emotional moment.

                Elm Hill be be used, when the girl is walking towards the camera. This will start as a long shot, and the girl will walk down hill towards us. This will give her time to state some things about herself (in voice over).
                Elm Hill will be good, as it is narrow and traditional. I will get her walk up the edge of the street, rather than the middle to illustrate her need to be close to something. Here is shot of Elm Hill.

                The final location will be inside Sephie's house. Her kitchen is small but light, so it should add atmosphere to the film as she makes her tea.



                Narrative
                The story of the whole film will be told in flashback, after the opening scene. In a sense the film starts with the ending, then the whole film will show the lead up to the emotional moment of letting go at the start of the film. This will follow the example of Beginners and the similar to Bird Song, recently shown on television.

                Narration/Voice over
                I shall record Sephie's voice reading the script first. And when I edit this will be the only sound heard.
                So there will be no direct dialogue in the film. This is to highlight her letting go, and hence she is not speaking to anyone, but the audience hear her inner most thoughts.
                This technique is used in a lot of films, Beginners, The Shawshank Redemption (one of my favourite films) and Ratatouille.

                Editing
                This will be crucial to gain the effect i wish to make. The genre of the film is domestic tragedy, and so there will need to be some continuity editing to ensure the story gets told, but very importantly here, some cross editing and montage will be important. This is because with these effects engage the audience. I will use cross editing to show pictures of what the girl is actually talking ( and to help illustrate hoe she is feeling - her emotions) about in the voice over, cross editing with her live action in the film. Hence the contrast of her thoughts and her actions will be made.
                Montage will be used to show pictures of representations of death (pictures of dead leaves, a dead bird, old rusting metal etc.) to create pictures in the audience's mind.

                My Mood Board

                Every film long or short should have a mood board.

                Here are some images that have helped me with my thoughts.

                I always liked people reading to me, and i listen to alot of audio books. I have not read a lot of poetry, but my mum suggests some to me, and the ones i have read really create a feeling within me. I want to try to re-create this feeling within the audience.

                This poster by Banksy got me thinking about the significance of a red balloon, but also the use of colour, where the balloon stands out from the other grey images, it is the focus of attention.

                The picture of sadness of a girl with her balloons, there is a sense of something is over here, something has happened.

                Cemeteries are sad places, so i have chosen a couple of pictures from cemeteries to represent sadness and loss.
                This is central to my film, i need to get this across as much as i can.
                 Finally a picture of Elm Hill deserted, a street with no-one in it a lonely place. The girl will walk down a lonely street like this.


                Tuesday 10 January 2012

                Here is my storyboard for my film.

                This is my film storyboard.
                Scene 1
                Frame1:
                Low angle shot shows girl letting go of the balloon. This is symbolic of her loss and letting go of her grief and despair.
                Slow motion used to represent the impact of losing someone or something and the long time everything seems to take when she is in this mood.

                Voice over this frame and frame 2 is the "earth to earth " etc. This emphasises her loss but also some form of ending.

                Frame 2: Balloon floating off into the sky.
                Low angle shot to represent the distance from the girl.
                Slow motion again to represent her feelings and time going slowly during her loss. Motionless camera to hold the effect of this loss.

                Frame3: Girl walking into camera, down a street -
                Motionless camera shot to enhance the impact of the on-coming girl and the future that is in store for her.
                Shot starts as wide angle, then through to mid-shot, then close up.
                She will slowly walk towards the camera with a voice over of the girl introducing herself to us and the camera.

                Frame 4: Still picture of the earth, to show she is an ordinary person like the rest of us watching her. She exists as we do on this planet.
                Voice over of "I live here" to emphasise this fact.

                Frame 5: Still picture of the sun, since she is talking about and painting a picture of the world around her to show how tragic events can happen to ordinary people living an ordinary life.
                Voice over "this is the sun" to again illustrate her engagement with us as members of this planet.

                Frame 6: Still picture of clouds. To show that sometimes the brightness of the sun can be covered by clouds, representing her dark mood and gloomy story she has to tell.
                Voice over "the clouds.."

                Frame 7: Still picture of the moon to illustrate that even in darkness there is some light.
                Voice over - this is the moon..

                Frame 8. Still picture of stars to illustrate the far off distance of brightness as she sees it at the moment and distance she has to travel to reach this point.
                Voice over  and the stars...

                 Frame 9: Shot of girl making tea in a red mug.
                High angle stationary shot to illustarte her dependence on the everyday taks she performs.
                Using a red mug to match the balloon. She is only making one to show she is lonely - the work top is completely clear to illustrate her current state of mind.

                This shot is in slow motion to show how slowly time is passing when you are alone. She is drinking tea because it is comfort drink, to warm her insides where she feels cold.

                Voice over " average person drinks ...cups of tea in a lifetime" to show how long people should live if nothing unforeseen happens to them in their early years.

                Frame 10: Girl siting in armchair reading a Ted Hughes book "Birthday letters". This poem is about losing someone, a modern poem to show she is a young person, but a knowledgeable one. The book itself is red with poppies on the front. Poppies are symbolic of the loss of life generally and the red has a resonance to her in particular.
                Voice over is of the girl reading the poem, a dark one to reflect her mood, but an intellectual one to show she has some optimism about the future,her past studying will help her deal with this loss.

                Frame 11: Title Frame at the end after impact of the sadness portrayed in the opening.