Pre-production documentation

As I am in charge of all Mise-en-Scene elements, it is my job to organise not only costume and set, but also props. Here is a list I created for props, displaying which props need to be used and which scenes they appear in. Each colour represents the four different days over which the film is set.

Prop List

Scene - Props
1 - Mirror
2 - Butter, knife, toast, plate, pile of school books/folders, pile of paperwork, bag
3 - Bag
4 - School books, writing pad, pencil case, pen, school diary
5 - Football
6 - School books, folder, pencil case, pen
7 - Bag
8 - Bag
9 - Laptop, several Uni prospectus's, mobile phone
10 - Bag, Toast
11 - Bag, mobile phone, hand mirror, lip gloss, pram
12 - Bag
13 - Newspaper (one article about suicide, the other about exam results/graduation) university prospectus
14 - Toast, butter, Stanley knife, school bag
15 - School bags, school books, mobile phone, laptop, writing pad/folder, pen
16 - Ipod, writing pad/folder, pen, bag
17 - Mobile phone, laptop
18 - Toast, butter, knife, bag
19 - Coins, sandwich, bag
20 - Bag, school books, folder
21 - Bag,

Costumes for female extras.

To make Amelia stand out as contrasting with the other girls around her, particularly her female friends seen briefly in the film. To create an idea of what the extras should wear, I created a mood board of stylish, bright clothes. In one particular shot including two of Amelia's friends, both will too be wearing black coats, which portray how they are all in the same boat at school and education wise. I wanted also to create the idea that the education system sees students as exactly the same, and individuals aren't always noticed.

Contemporary winter clothes taken from current magazines etc, displaying what extras in the film may wear.

The costumes represent femininity, and youth, and the extras should appear stylish - a great contrast to Amelia who wears similar clothes daily, looking boring, dull, and washed out.

Marketing Strategy

Generally, short films are marketed through film festivals and because budgeting is usually an issue, makers of shorts don't tend to have the funds to market their films to a great extent, and especially not to the extent of feature length films. Therefore, the marketing must be able to reach the target audiences successfully and cheaply. And so, the most typical form of marketing for shorts are post-cards. These post-cards are similar to film posters, only on a much smaller scale, and as they can not be advertised on billboards or magazines like mainstream films due to a lack of funding, they are typically handed out at places where there is likely to be the target audience. For example; festivals, night clubs, youth clubs, film stores, etc. Often shorts are aimed at niche audiences, and so the post-cards will be issued at niche places, for example film festivals, film schools.

For our short film Toast, rather than make a film size poster, I am going to make a postcard as this is the most common form of marketing for a short. During the planning process of the postcard, I am going to sketch a few design ideas for it, focusing on what will attract the audience, and intrigue them. Also I will focus on portraying, artistically, the overall tone of the film, symbols, and the main features of it. I don't want to give too much away, and so the images will be minimal, and just enough to cause the audience to want to learn more about the film.
These postcards will be issued at schools, and advertised in media and film classrooms, focusing on film enthusiasts, and people who are generally interested in shorts. The cost of this strategy should not amount to too much, and should only cover the printing and processing of the postcards themselves.

The other ways of marketing short films are submitting them to film festivals, which some cost no money at all, and others cost a small amount. This gives your film the opportunity to be seen by film enthusiasts, directors and producers, and also promotes the director/writer etc. Another strategy is the Internet. There are several sites which air short films such as IFILM.COM, ATOMFILMS.COM, and UNDERGROUNDFILM.COM. These sites, much like film festivals, also give you the chance to promote your film and your work.

If we were to enroll our film to a Film Festival, the most appropriate would be the London Independent Film Festival, as it is the most local festival, and open to independent films.

Post-cards
Having consulted with producers form the short film industry, we have been advised that the conventional film poster is replaced with more direct marketing in the form of a postcard. Miss Becky Knapp has given us examples which we have analysed.
Through research into existing short film post cards, I have found that the majority are typically made up of gritty colours, and the title is normally the main attraction of the poster - standing out and always present on a post card. Most short films don't reveal much about the films content, (ref film poster analysis) and with this information in mind, I have attempted several poster ideas, with the aim of targeting an audience consistant of people within the film industry, in order to showcase my talent. The main issues with producing this postcard is budgeting, however I aim to attract film enthusiasts.
With this idea, I was aiming to portray the idea that Amelia is buried behind her work, and also create a sense of mystery and intrigue, in order to drag the audience in. I chose to use a plain black book to convey the idea that not only is Amelia hiding and buried beneath her education, but that her life has become plain and uninteresting. I placed her elbow above the stack of books to indicate her reliance on her education to keep her going, as in the film, it is her endeavors to become successful that gets her up in the morning to continue her stressful routine.
The information the poster gives, is just that the film has some relation to books - work - school.
At the bottom of the poster, I have included information about the Director, the production team and the cast, and mentioned the fact that it is a short film.

With this idea, I wanted to maintain the idea of schooling, as it is the main theme of the film. I included the toast in this idea as it is a recurring motif of the film, and also obviously has visual relevance to the title. You can see that several of the book spines are University prospectus's, therefore targeting an audience of young adults who are also during the process of applying for university's. Therefore I am attempting to attract not only people within the film industry in order to showcase my talent, but I am also attempting to draw in a specific audience of particuarly young adults within this industry, who can relate to our films messages, and therefore get furthur in touch with 'Toast.' The other books are A-level exam text books, most noticeably, Hamlet, which insinuate themes of academia.
Again, at the bottom I have included the same information about the production team, cast, director, and the fact that it is a short film.
What I like about this shot in particular, is the simplicity of it, as it reveals the basic theme of the film which the story revolves around, but doesn't reveal too much. As the film is naturalistic and realistic, I wanted to the poster to convey this, so by using a simple, realistic image - an image that young adults in education can relate to - I want to capture the attentions of our target audience. The placement of the image of a stack of books in front of a plain white wall, implies the blankness and dullness of Amelia's life, and the contrasting vibrant and colourful books portray the business and importance of her education.
In both ideas, I have used Courier New font, because it gives off the impression of formality and there is nothing about it that particularly stands out, like Amelia, who blends into the background. I experimented with other fonts, for example; Lucinda Handwriting, which is an italic scrawl. I thought this could represent Amelia's femininity, and also relate to handwriting, which in hand refers back to schooling.
Here are a few sketches of my other poster ideas;

These two sketches focus on Amelia's eyes - which open and close the film (the film begins with the image of Amelia opening her eyes after awaking in the morning, face smeared with mascara). The positives of using this image are that the main theme of the film is poignantly portrayed via Amelia's eyes - the portals into her state of mind and her feelings. The fact that she locks in her feelings and emotions, is silent during the majority of the film, and her emotions are portrayed wholly through her eyes. The negatives of using this image are that it may ruin the impact of the opening of the film, and therefore not have as great an impact, as the image is expected. The font in the first image is Lucinda Handwriting - a neat, feminine italic scrawl, which portrays Amelia's femininity and presents the idea of writing and school work.

In this first idea, three main motifs of the film are evident; Amelia's mascara ridden eyes, the stack of books, and the toast. Each of these images are seen on a repetitive basis,

reflecting the routine of her life. The fact that the book Amelia is reading here is large, also emphasises how she is hiding away from her life, her friends, her boyfriend, all in an attempt to do successfully in her education.

In the second idea, we see Amelias feet surrounded by books which have cascaded out of her bag. I used this image because it reflects a low point in the film for Amelia, (when a student barges past her and knocks her bag onto the ground). This shot is just a few scenes before Amelia breaks down. The image of lockers in the background give the audience an idea about where the film is set, and what age the main character is, and therefore at which stage she is in her life.The books would be brightly coloured, and the lockers, carpet, and Amelia's trousers/shoes, would all be dark, grim colours, suggesting the dark time in Amelia's life in which she is burried under her academic efforts, and the books although symbolising too much for her to handle, the bright colours also symbolise the point that her education is her only escape away from the life she is living. The font for both of these images, I decided would again be Lucinda Handwriting, illustrating the idea of school work and handwriting - we see Amelia writing a lot.

The back of the postcard should mirror those of existing short films, here are two examples;

On the top left hand corner, in bold font is the title of the film, and beneath it, in slightly smaller bold font is noted the director and the producer, and next to this in a different colour, the year in which the film was made. Beneath this, in a lighter and smaller yet font, is a breif synopsis of the film. At the bottam left hand corner, is a paragraph in the same font about B3. Down the middle is generaly a line, and in this case a phone number and email address for B3. on the bottam right hand corner, are logos of the films sponsers and funders, for example the national lottery, B3, The Arts Council, and British Council.
Here is the back of my postcard. After completing it and comparing it to existing postcards, I decided that the font was too large, and so I re-sized it, trying to remain within the conventions of existing postcards.

This is my final product.

Analysis of Film Reviews

In order to complete a film review of my own film, I am going to explore and analyse existing film reviews and their codes and conventions in The Guardian, Empire, and later, Sight and Sound. Each of these materials target their reviews to specific audiences, for example The Guardian is aimed at liberal, left-wing, arty professionals, and the way the text is written implies that the reader is already aware of all of the technical terms and director names. Empire, contrary to the former, is written in a less formal style, lacking in the technical terms that are present in The Guardian's reviews, and also there are many more conventions of humour and sarcasm. The Empire review is also a lot less detailed in comparison. Here I have analysed two reviews from The Guardian, and one from Empire.

Review of 'Paper Heart' in The Guardian

The critic begins with introducing the lead and executive producer of the film, giving a brief history of her previous roles. Immediately, the reviewer makes his views on the film evident, calling it "annoying" and "pointless" within the first sentence. Also within the first sentence, the critic identifies and generalises the nature of the film using film jargon and naming it a "docu-rom-com." The critic then goes on to talk briefly about the purpose of the film, and then criticizes the performance of the star.

The critic uses adverbs to better describe his feelings towards the film and the cast, for example "placidly giggling Yi" when talking about the lead. The writer uses a substantial amount of adjectives in his description, painting a clearer picture of Paper Heart and giving us a clear understanding of his own perception of it, for example; "her Zany journey," "burgeoning relationship," "phony and staged." During his criticism, he informs, although insultingly, the reader about the general plot of the film, and generalises it, calling Paper Heart a "vanity project."
Towards the end of the review, the reviewer mentions briefly one of the stars (Michael Cera) popularity, and comments on how he doubts that without his appearance in the film, it would never have been lifted off the ground. This allows the reader to see the films main attribute and selling point. The critic ends the review with their own recommendation of Paper Heart, being a negative one.

Review of 'The Lovely Bones' in The Guardian

The reviewer opens up the review addressing the reader with a rhetorical question, questioning the directors intention; "how does one make a PG-certificate film about the rape and murder of a 14 year-old girl?" Instantly, the contents of the film is revealed, as well as the questionable age certificate. The opening question doesn't reveal anything about the reviewers personal views about the film just yet. There is then an instant mention of the director himself (Peter Jackson.) They are then critical about the directors answer to the question calling it an answer "of sorts." The reviewer uses sarcastic language about the film itself and the directors purpose;"our reward is anyone's guess."

The third paragraph gives the reader an introduction of the films protagonist and her past appearances, and a short and indifferent synopsis of the film, with no criticism evident. The critic then praises the acting and the creation of the film in the next paragraph, and uses film lexis when referring to the atmosphere of The Lovely Bones. The reviewer then references Peter Jackson's previous works, comparing them to this current one.
The reviewer pays attention to detail as he talks about the setting of the film, again using film lexis such as "cartoon archetypes." They open the next paragraph again with another rhetorical question, this time questioning the source of the films fault. The make use of a metaphor when referring to the story; "offsetting the tang of sulphur with the sweet taste of candyfloss." They make comparisons between the original book, and the film itself.

The writer concludes with critical adjectives, calling the films attempts to re-invent the novel "infuriatingly coy" and "desperate." In the final paragraph, the critic uses repetition of the word "gone" suggesting the film is stripped of the key elements of the book. Finally, the writer ends with yet another rhetorical question, questioning this time whether Peter Jackson had the right idea, and the final sentence is a metaphor of how Jackson has ignored the true "grisly tragedy."

Review of Ghosts of Girlfriends past in Empire.

This review, in general, is sarcastic and humorously critical of, in particular, Matthew McConaughey's performance. The very first line of the review praises Michael Douglas, but then swiftly goes on to criticize the films being centralized around McConaughey. After the negative and fairly humorous reference to the lead, the reviewer gives a brief over-view of the plot, and there is a sense of sarcasm in the tone of their writing; "how miserable all that meaningless sex is going to make him." The critic is not completely negative about the film, calling some of it "quite amusing" but then goes on again to criticize the protagonist and the audiences response to him, and then ends the review with a personal attack at McConaughey "who plays the conceited sleaze just a little too well."

From what I've gathered from studying these reviews, each review includes a brief overview of the film itself, and then goes onto criticise, and/or praise the film for particular elements. In each of these reviews, the critic does not focus on specific technical elements, but more so the actors' and actress' performances, and the story lines, however The Guardian's review of The Lovely Bones is about the most in depth in terms of technical aspects. Empire seems more focused on humorously criticising the performance of the star of the film, and so suggesting that this magazine perhaps focuses their reviews based on entertainment value rather than commenting on the technical elements.

Analysis of Film Posters

The Lovely Bones

This poster of the 2010 film directed by Peter Jackson, displays, clearly, the films title, which is the main focus of the poster itself. The most prominent detail of the poster is the tree overlapping the title, and the birds flying together into the distance. The bare tree displays the films season, and provides the poster with a sense of coldness. The fact that the tree stands alone also portrays the idea of isolation and remoteness.

The tiny detail of the silhouette of the girl running gives the observer an idea about the contents of the film. The fact that the girl is running has ambiguous meaning; it could either display fear and horror or freedom. However, the bare tree and the dark and eerie foreground suggests fear and running away. The only colour evident on this poster is the delicate pink of the sky, which connotes the idea of innocence and femininity. The light break in the clouds, and the rays of light which come from it suggest heaven and godliness, therefore suggesting the nature of the film; death.

The text tells the audience immediately what the film is basically about with the line beneath the title; "a story of a life and everything that came after." This tells us straight away what the film consists of, and a brief idea of the films structure; following the characters life over a certain amount of time, and then continuing after it has ended. So the audience now has an idea that the film is about death, and therefore has an idea of the films genre being more poignant rather than upbeat.

The Lethal Innocents

This New Zealand short film poster has a substantial element of bleakness and misery to it. The out of focus background shows a bleak and cloudy looking sky, as well as leafless tree branches, portraying a grim atmosphere and time of year. Immidiatley, an emelent of the overall nature of the film is conveyed, by the use of the young people in the poster, telling the audience who the central characters are, and what the film is based around. The main attraction of the poster is the female, placed directly in the center. The girls face portrays her anger and misery, and the overall colour of the poster also conveys depression and bleakness. The girl in the foreground being the only subject in focus lets the audience know the film is centralised around her. The un-focused girls in the background, if looked at closely, it is clear that they are smiling, which suggests the nature of the film; the girl in the foreground being singled out by those in the background.

The font of the title has a sense of youthfulness, as it looks like it's been doodled, and the juxtaposed title itself gives away much about the film itself. The colour of the font is white, suggesting an ironic innocence.

There isn't much about the relationship between the subjects on the poster revealed, other than the idea that the girl in the foreground is isolated, and perhaps alone, and the two behind her are mocking her. The idea of bullying is portrayed in the poster, however, nothing is specified.

Pre Production Doccumentation

I have been assigned the role of director of Mis-en-Scene, and so I am responsible for costume, make-up and set design/props.
As this is my department, I have to make choices on what the actors wear, their make-up and hair, and how props around them connote specific ideas.

Here are my costume designs for the protagonist, Amelia, and her Mother.

Day one of the film, scenes 2-9, Amelia

• The setting of our film is in winter, and so Amelia, as well as all the extras and other characters, will be wearing winter coats, scarves, and gloves to portray the time of year.
• In these scenes, Amelia will be wearing a black woolly scarf, a large grey cardigan almost engulfing her, making her appear frail. A plain black top to wash out her complexion and contribute to making her look worn and tired, and also to convey her unhappy frame of mind. Plain black trousers to make her look smart, as she is at school, and also to convey that sense of darkness and bleakness again, and a pair of black dolly shoes.
• Her make-up will be minimal, restricted to a pale foundation, enhancing the fact that she's tired and the idea of lifelessness. Mascara, to accentuate the eyes, as Amelia's eyes are the only features that portray her emotions.
• Dark colours convey her character to be in a dark place mentally, and to represent her depression. The lose fit will highlight Amelia's fragility and present the idea of weight loss due to stress and pressure.

Day one of the film, scenes 9-10, Amelia

In this scene, I want Amelia to wear light feminine colours to connote the idea of youth and innocence.

• Here she will be wearing a pink pyjama top with embellishments, pink drawstring pyjama bottoms.
• A comfortable, relaxed and slouchy costume worn at home conveys the idea that she is working the same amount when she's at home (a place which should be for relaxing and chilling out) as she does at school. This displays how she is working non-stop.

Day two, scenes 10 - 17, Amelia

• In these scenes, in EXT shots Amelia will continue to wear her winter outdoors clothing; black woolly scarf, black coat. Wearing the same scarf, coat, shoes connotes the idea of repetition. She will also wear a dark woolly jumper, loosely fitted emphasising her frailty, plain black trousers, and plain black dolly shoes.
• All of Amelia's clothes will be relatively loose fitting, emphasising the concept that she's only young and small, dealing with too much that she can't physically handle. It also represents how she is swamped in her work load.

Day three, scenes 18 - 22, Amelia

• Again, same coat, scarf and shoes, particularly in EXT shots. As it is in these scene in which Amelia breaks down, she will be wearing a red top representing anger, frustration and emotion. Over this she will be wearing a large, long black cardigan, and plain black trousers.
• The dark colours are symbolic of her depression and social invisibility, and the red as well as being symbolic of her anger and frustration, also is used as this is the first time we see a dramatic emotion from her.

Day one of the film, scene 2, Hilary (Amelia's mother)

• In general, from Hilary we want to see a contrast from Amelias dark and dull attire, with stylish jewlry, smart and interesting clothes.

Day three scene 14 Hilary

In this scene we see Hilary in a dressing gown and slippers looking relaxed yet cheerful, thus presenting the idea thatas an adult she is able to have days off, whereas Amelias work is consitstant and she doesn't allow herself time off.

Day four, scene 18, Hilary

• 
  Here are my set designs for the main location of the film, which is Amelia's bedroom, and the kitchen which is seen on a repetitive basis.

• Amelias room will feature a double bed, a desk, a bedside table, television, leptop, shelves, mirror, wardrobe, and rug.
• On the bed will be a white duvet. The white colours surrounding Amelia convey the idea of innocence and a bright and cheerful world surrounding her gloomy existance.
• On her desk will be a pile of school books, portraying her hard work and demanding education.
• The mirror is a motif of her self reflection.
• In the corner of her room will be a pile of university prospectus's, telling the audience which stage she is currently at in her education, and that she is intelligent, ambitious, and this image also acts as her motivation.
• The DVD's represent Amelia as a typical teenager, insinuating her interests, which have been burried beneath her workload. This image reflects her former self.
• In more detail, the wall by her bed which we see often will bear posters of popular teen films, e.g. Twilight, and magazine cutouts/posters of male celebrities e.g. Zach Effron. This tells the audience that Amelia is an average teenager, and these images somewhat reflect her former self, and her former teenage spark.
• Cut-outs of destinations, e.g universities, holiday locations, exotic places will be stuck on this wall, telling the audience that Amelia is ambitious, and is aching to be free of her current life state.
• Cards will be taped onto the wall from previous successes; exams, driving test. This gives the impression that she is a hardworker, intelligent and highly praised.
• I want all images and items in Amelias room to reflect her former self and former spark, other than the images from her current state (e.g. school work).

Hilary and Amelias Kitchen, seen repetativley

Job Roles Within Film

The main job roles within the film industry when making a film are;
Director
Lighting and Sound
Camera
Mise-en-Scene

The Director is responsible for the style and creativity of the film, and there are many Director roles which assist that of the main Film Director, for example script supervisor. Directors are responsible for the images and sound on screen. They are also in charge of casting, script editing, shot composition, shot editing and selection.
Directors must have creative and artistic vision, be strong, confident and decisive team leaders, and must have excellent communication skills and unwavering commitment and passion for film.

The team of Lighting and Sound are responsible for setting up a wide variety of necessary lighting equipment in the aim of achieving a selection of moods, atmospheres and effects, and also to make the lighting compliment the roles of the actors. They interpret ideas from the designer, director and other teams such as make-up and costume. The skills required for this role include the ability to work comfortably with heights, good communication skills, IT skills, knowledge of different types of lighting, equipment and effects.

The Camera department work with extremely expensive and delicate equipment, and are responsible for the creation of the images on screen, shot composition, and camera movement. The camera crew work closely with the lighting department, to work together to create the required images on screen, achieving the right effect and style.

Mise-en-Scene is the department in charge of costume, make-up, set design and props. The department is responsible for choosing the costumes which portray elements about the character, class, and the time period. They are in charge of placement of props, and making sure the make-up and clothes the actors wear compliment the character. The skills required for working in this department include excellent organisational skills, attention to detail, the ability to solve problems quickly, good communication skills, foundation skills in clothes care like ironing, steaming, dyeing, sewing etc. They are also responsible for continuity of make-up, hair and costume.