Our Progress

We have just started the process of editing our film (23/02/10)

Problems while filming

We did face some problems during filming, mainly during shooting the green screen. These included not being able to fit everything in the screen that we needed. So we did have some shots that weren't completely covered by the blue screen, but we should be able to fix this during editing. Another problem we had is that we didn't have as much space as we required. This resulted in possible problems of the film not being realistic because the character couldn't move about as much as the film required. Another problem that we had was because of the limited amount of space, the movement that was in the green screen might not match what we need it to in the background. This is because there was a lot more space in the background than in the green screen so for example, when the character walks into the shot, she may seem to appear out of nowhere. However this problem should also be solved during editing.

Blue and green Screen Issues

We were originally planning on using the college green screen building, however due to unsafe difficulties we were unable to do so. We were left with a sheet of green fabric, which wasn't large enough for the activities we wanted to film, so we had to come up with another alternative, for this we used the colleges blue screen, which is much like the green one, because it is least like a skin tone colour.
The blue screen turned out to be an appropriate size and it worked well with the tasks we needed to do. We attached the screen to the wall, and secured the camera in a stable position, ready for the protagonist to film.

Props & Costume

As our film will be showing the protagonist getting smaller, we will be using various props that she will encounter when small. Our original idea was to make large props, for example, a large coin, or sweet wrapper; everyday objects in which you could possibliy come across down the side of the sofa.

However, as we are know longer using the idea of the sofa, but using other parts of the house instead to film, we will not need to make large props. Whilst filming today, we used various probs, inwhich the protagonist will come across whilst small. We filmed, Christmas decoration houses, and we will use the green screen, to merge the images creating the effect of the character being inside.

We also shot different angles of cabinets and floors, so we can show the character just walking along these while small.

We used Christmas decorations, such as beads, an advent calander, crackers, a snowman ornament and party poppers, to set the time of year.
Instead of pulling the cracker alone to turn her small, we used a party popper instead. This worked well because the inside of the party popper burst towards the camera, creating the illusion of a bang, causing the character to change height.

Costume
* Our character wore simple clothing, a jumper and leggings
* She wore a Christmas hat

Storyboard idea

I drew up a story board to create a rough story for our short film, I listed a range of camera angles and created a rough story which we could possibly use in our film. I thought as an idea, that we could use the time of year 'Christmas', as this would portray the characters lonliness, another way to show this would be by using other props, for example a phone and the protagonists having no messages. To set the scene of Christmas, we will use decorations to create the time of year.

In this story board, i created an opening and a dilema that the protagonist would face. We could open the scene showing the character being by themselves, using non diegetic sounds to show the audience what time of year it is, using an extreme close up shot would work well as when zooming out, it will show the characters sense of lonliness and set the scene and loacation.

In this particular idea, the character just suddenly got smaller, which was the dilema in the scene. This story would show the protagonist getting smaller and sinking into the sofa, finding another land and finding everyday objects being much larger than herself. To portray the 'land' in the sofa, we would darken the lighting, and use soft objects, such as pillows and duvets to create the effect of being inside or down the side of the sofa.

I thought that using a sweet wrapper for the character to get stuck in would create a sense of tension during the middle of the film, and would also be interesting for the audience to watch.

This was just an idea for our film, we may take ideas from this to use in our final 4 minute film.

Doodlebug

We watched the short film Doodlebug (Christopher Nolan) and found that this influenced what film idea we had. This is a film that gave us our idea for having somebody shrink from lifesize form. We combined this idea with other fantasy films such as Alice and Wonderland (as shown previously in the blog) to give it more of a Fantasy genre.

Fantasy influence

I thought Charlie and the chocolate factory was a great Fantasy film to look into. I thought this particular scene was very helpful for ideas for props. They give the "larger than life" feel, and even though the characters are normal human size, it gives the feeling to the audience that the things that surround them are so much bigger and more powerful then the characters.

Also i noticed that the camera used a lot of panning and

tracking, which I thought was very

effective to give the audience a real feel for where the film is. I think that if I used a small amount

of panning and tracking it might help the audience

understand the film more.

Location

An idea for our film that we had was to have the character (after having shrunk) swim in this fish tank. This could be difficult for it to look realistic, but we thought we would try it anyway, and we can just not use it if it doesn't really work with the film.

Location

This is where we are going to have the character sitting and eating christmas food etc alone. This will set up the story and give the audience the chance to understand the characters story and understand the film.

Location

We had an idea to use the green screen to get our character into the tv. This will fit in with our "fantasy" genre and we feel it will be very effective if its shot correctly

Location

For our location we decided to shoot it at my house. This is the chair we are thinking of using when our character shrinks. We will have to take into account that the lighting isnt very good and we will have to use props to make it appropriate for the time of year it is set in (christmas)

Props etc

For our film we are needing a lot of props and preparations. As it is set during the christmas season, we are going to use christmas decorations and decorate my house with them to get the full effect. We are thinking of making some giant props to get the full effect of the protagonist being shrunk.

We are also going to use professional photography lighting for the filming in my house and the green screen filming. This is because its very important to get the right amount of lighting for the quality of the film to turn out well.

We felt that it was important we got somebody to act as the character who is familiar with doing things like that because we wanted it to be as believable as we could as a short film and for the audience to be able to understand what the character is feeling throughout the film.

Using green screen with the camera

The most important thing about using green screen with me being the cinematographer is that I have to keep the camera still. This is because the image that I will be using on the background will not look right or like it belongs there if the background is moving. I have to be very careful with this because if this was to go wrong, it would ruin the whole effect of our film.

Cinematography influences

As the genre of our film is Fantasy I have researched into many different films with this same Genre to see what kind of camera angles etc they use. One particular film that I thought of was Mary Poppins. The particular scene i decided to look at was when they characters go into the picture. I chose this because it fits in with our idea of our character going into another world and this could give me idea's on how to use the camera successfully.

With this particular part in the scene (00:37-00:40) the

camera angle seems to be quite simple, just straight on

at about eye level, but far away from the picture.

I think this is used so the audience

can see the full effect of what happens.

It wouldnt work if the camera was placed too close or at a

particular angle.

The definition of our Genre (fantasy)

Fantasy films usually involve lots of weird things such as magic, make believe creates, and they usually have supernatural events occur in them. They are often set in exotic or fantasy worlds created by the persons imagination. The genre can be linked to being much like a science fiction film, or a horror or a thiller, but loads of different genres can be linked to the fantasy genre itself.
"Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes."

Target Audience

For both "Honey I shrunk the kids" and "Alice in wonderland" they were both made so successful because they both were aimed at a wide target audience, both films appealed to adults as well as children, and they could be enjoyed by all the family. For our film we want it to appeal to adults aswell as children much like the two films mentioned, which I think is very possible as its not really scary and can be seen as quite funny and interesting.

Films that inspired our fantasy film

Our genre is a fantasy, there are many fantasy films available to watch such as Harry Potter and Twilight. There are two main films that have really inspired our four minute film. The first one is Alice in Wonderland written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. There have been many different versions made of this the first one being in 1903, over 100 years ago. This was a silent film. And the most recent being 2010, directed by Tim Burton, who has also created many other fantasy films such as "A series of unfortunate events," "Edward Scissor hands," and " A series of unfortunate events" as well as many other famous films.
Alice in Wonderland is the Story of a little girl who falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a fantasy land filled with strange animals and people. Before Alice can enter the fantasy land she has to shrink. Much like our film, when the character shrinks and falls down the sofa into an almost "surreal world." Alice shrinks by drinking a magical potion, where as our character shrinks by pulling a Christmas cracker by herself, but its still the same concept. Alice in wonderland is a very popular film and appreciated by adults as well as children.




Another film that has inspired us is "Honey I shrunk the Kids" directed by Joe Johnston in 1989.
This film is a fantasy/comedy and is all about a professor who's experiment goes horribly wrong, he manages to shrink the kids to 1/4 of an inch hes does this by using his electromagnetic shrink ray. When you see the children at that tiny size it is made very believable as they are so tiny everything else is massive, for example they get lost in the grass and the set is very well done because there are lots of bits and bobs found in the grass, such as monster insects, and old coins. In our film we want to create a similar effect.

Green Screen (Chroma Key)

Green screen is when you mix two frames or images together where the background from one of the images is completely removed or made transparent, revealing the other image that is behind it. Green screens are commonly used in weather reports, and films with special effects.
In the weather reports the reporter will stand in front of a green screen, and then that will get edited out and the weather maps are placed in behind him or her. An example for one of the many films that used green screen is star wars.Green and blue screens can both be used, because they are both considered least like our skin tone.


Below is an example of a green screen, using puppets, as you can see the people holding the puppet are completely green, this is so they can edit them out so only the puppet is on show.

How to make use of a green screen in final cut

-Start with the footage of the original shots of the person with the green screen background.
-Go to effects --> video filters on the final cut menu.
-Click the option Key (blue/green screen)
-Drag to the chosen clip.
-Change the key mode to green.
-Play around with the balance,colour levels, edge feather and so on, till you get a suitable background.
-Optional to change the film to black and white (generally easier to work with when using green screen)
-Move and shrink or increase the size of the character/object.
-Use the motion key frame to animate it.

My Job (Director)

For our short film I will be the director. This will include planning out the different angles of shots, and how I want each scene set. I will also have some involvement with how the actors should perform. I will have to choose what the scene includes, with the different props and layout of the set. I will also get to decide what exactly the characters will have to say and the basic story line. As well as the way they behave and dress.

The Plot

Our idea for the plot of the film is based around the loneliness of Christmas time that some people face each and every year. A young lady is burdened with spending Christmas alone due to the fact of having no family or friends. A sudden Christmas mishap of pulling a cracker by herself leads to an unfortunate chain of events.With lots adventures to be had, this girl has to find away to solve the problem she has been laid down with.

Different Jobs

DIRECTOR
Blocking the scene, who does what/when/where.
Directing the actors and performances
Story and narrative.

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Story Board
Camera Techniques
Camera Operator
Camera Style

EDITOR
Continuity
180 Rule
Match on action
Editing film and sound
Narrative and story

SOUND DESIGN
Soundscape- diegetic and non diegetic
Dialogue- Recording and re recording dialogue
Music- Be care because some music may be needed.