Songs for my short film

In my short film, I have decided that I will need to include two songs. It has been a long process trying to find good sources to get copyright free music from, but I have finally found a good website.

On the London Grid for Learning website, there is a link to a site called Audio Network which hosts a large number of copyright free music. 

I visited the site and selected Genres and the site offers a range of different styles of music from Electro, to R&B to Period Music. I chose Romantic as a main theme in my film is love. This in turn led me to select Pop and here is where I found my first song 'I love you' by Barrie Gledden, Kes Loy and Richard Kimmings. 

'I love you'

I have decided to use this song at the start and and the end of my film as a way of signalling 

more explicitly the circular structure of the narrative. The words of the song were also good as it links perfectly to the start of the film where there are an array of couples laughing, kissing and holding hands. Although at the end of the film Tina has not found love, the song is used as an irony to highlight the disappointing nature of love; yet it also suggests that this is what Tina wants for herself. There is a bitter sweet aspect to the song which I feel is very powerful.

Here is the link to the song.

'I love you'

http://soundcloud.com/larabusinaro/iloveyou

'Bluebird'
This song will feature in the middle of my film whilst Tina is getting dressed, preparing for her date. It has no words and consists solely of an acoustic guitar. I feel this song creates the bridge which connects the first half of the film to the second- the Tina before who is longing for love to the empowered Tina who realises that finding love isn't the most important thing in the world.The tone of the film is very striking to me, as in many ways it is upbeat and positive mirroring Tina's feeling towards this date; but then on the other hand, there's a underlying tone of disappointment and sadness which foreshadows the end of the film. In my view, this is the perfect song for this point in my film.

Here is the link to the song.

'Bluebird'

http://soundcloud.com/larabusinaro/bluebird

Shots from filming

During the filming process, I took some shots of my film so I could use them for my review page.
I chose the shots I felt summed up the film in images.

This is Tina getting ready for her date during the middle of the film. This scene is the turning point in the film as it bridges the gap between the old Tina, and the new one. The viewers are revved up only to be bitterly dissapointed.



Tina and Alan walking off into the distance. Alan puts his arm around her and holds the unbrella like a genuine gentleman but things don't end as well as they started...



This is another key shot. This is Alan, Tina's good date whom she finally meets at the end of the film. But things don't go to plan...



This is the shot of Tina at the end of the film. She sits on a park bench alone thinking about the dissapointing nature of love.

Film Magazine Deconstruction 

I looked at a range of film magazines to help me in my construction of my film review page. I realise that my main aim is to balance authenticity with production values. 






EMPIRE


Industry info: Commercial magazine; for the general public. Mainstream publisher.
Audience: General public; 18-24 is the demographic audience. Mainly men.
Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: Kiss Ass and Clash of the Titans- lead reviews. Wide variety of films are reviewed ranging from a two page review, to half an A4 review. 





SIGHT AND SOUND

Industry info: BFI- subsidised 

Audience: General public: Mainly for media literate people interested in film. Not commercial- small scale art house.

Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: Lead review- In a Foreign Land; not a well known film, reflects the type of magazine. Again, a wide variety of reviews- ranging from long to very short. Almost like a film bible- all films will at some point be reviewed in this magazine.

LITTLE WHITE LIES

Industry info: The Church of London- design and publishing company

Audience: Has been considered a 'highbrow consumerism'- more upmarket and less commercial.

Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: No lead review. Pretty equal amount on each film. Films are split into categories in the Contents page to make it easier to find the review you want.

SHORT LIST

Industry info: Free- funded by publishing

Audience: Casual magazine- commercial. Aimed specifically at men; 18-30

Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: The Social Network- lead review, also on the front cover of the magazine. That was the only film review- magazine also features fashion, cars, sports etc.

TIME OUT 

Industry info: Commercial; general interests listings magazine

Audience: General public; causal. Adults more than children.

Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: Another Year- lead review; acclaimed director, Mike Leigh- type of film mirrors the magazine.

TOTAL FILM

Industry info: Commercial, mainstream publishers.

Audience: Casual- general public- not specialised. 

Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: Due Date- lead review- took up most space. A range of films- all different genres. 

SIXTH SENSE

Industry info: Camden School for Girls 

Audience: Students, teachers and parents.

Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: Three films reviewed. Most striking- Shutter Island. Other two- Precious and Funny People.

Film Review page deconstruction: EMPIRE

First page of review

Second page of review

The main review in Empire magazine is Scorses's 'Shutter Island'.

Although the layout of the review isn't full of manipulated photos which use a variety of impressive effects, all in all it is successfully made and shows digital excellence.

The entry point is the large photo of DiCaprio and Ruffalo from the film, and this takes up the majority of the space- perhaps even three quaters of the spread. This is something that I will consider when making my film review- I like the idea of having one large photo which can sum up the film. The title of the film, written on the top left hand corner of the review, is written in turquoise, it is bold and capitalised yet does not take up a large amount of space on the page. The slug written beneath the title is done in what looks like Times New Roman (black italics) and is significantly smaller than the title. The use of different fonts and font sizes here differentiates the title and the tag line and encourages us to focus on the title of the film first.

What makes the layout more interesting are the little effects it includes, such as the pull quotes from the main article; this is written in white capitals and is framed in a box the same colour as the title of the film. Similarly there is a bleed on the right hand side of the spread where a text box covers a picture; it says 'Look Closer'; we are told that the two actors in the film worked with eachother previously. I think this small bit of information is a great idea as it takes us away from the film for an instant and informs us about the actors. I think it would be a good idea for me to include a bleed on my review page perhaps giving the readers some facts and figures about match.com- I feel this would interest the people reading the review.

VIDEO DIARY
How shooting my film really went...


DAY 1: 26th October 2010

DAY 2: 6th November 2010

DAY 3: 14th November 2010

Audience Feedback- First draft of film

I showed my class teacher the first draft of my short film and generally her comments were very positive.


She praised me for having a range of shots, with interesting types of lighting, and for making the film in such a way that she was interested in the character and wanted to know more about her.


The bits of the film she said I could improve on was the transition from the first shot to the second as I was filming the same footpath but the camera moved slightly so the positioning of the shots weren't perfect.


In the section of the film where Tina is sitting on the sofa, my teacher commented on the order of the shots. My shots were quite mis matched- I had a long shot then a close up then a mid shot. Instead, she told me to get gradually closer to the character so I changed the order of the shots from long shot to extreme close up- this looks slicker and the film now flows more fluently.


The title sequence at the start of the film is in the style of a typewriter so each individual word appears one after the other. I was told to either find a classic typewriting font or, for coherency issues, to keep the same font I used on my poster.  

Location Shots

Location Shots

View more presentations from larabusinaro.

Storyboard

Here is my storyboard.
There have been a few shot changes during filming as I decided that I could improve in some ways. However, this is almost exactly how the film will look.

Storyboard

View more documents from larabusinaro.

Shooting Schedule

HALF TERM: Shoot all the PARK scenes on one day: 26/10/2010 at 1-3pm
CAST NEEDED: Olivia Camillo: 1pm

Lara Businaro and Alan Aberdeen: 1.30pm

Italia Camillo and Enzo Darra: 2pm
Sat 6th/ Sun 7th November: Shoot HOUSE scenes during DAY, EVENING and NIGHT. 

Shoot CAR PARK scene during NIGHT

CAST NEEDED: Tina Yeomans: 1pm- 4pm (Saturday)

7.30pm and 10pm (Saturday)

11-12pm- Re-do any unfinished scenes (Sunday)

Cristian, Chiara and Marco Yeomans: 7.30pm (Saturday)

Neil Yeomans: 5pm (Saturday)

                 

Tina Yeomans and Maurizio Businaro: 11pm (Saturday)

                           

 Sat 13^th November: PARK scene at end of film: 1-2pm

Tina Yeomans: 1-2pm
Guido Pietrobon: 1-2pm

Sun 14th November: Shoot unfinished HOUSE scenes during DAY, EVENING and NIGHT

Characters

·              Tina Yeomans 

·                     Cristian, Chiara and Marco Yeomans- Tina's three children

·                     Voice of Olivia Camillo- Tina's sister 

·                     Lara Businaro and Alan Aberdeen, Italia Camillo and Enzo Darra 

·                     Guido Pietrobon - Plays ALAN (the seemingly good date)

·                     Maurizio Businaro- Plays TIM (the bad date)

·                     Neil Yeomans-  Peter

·                     Neil Aberdeen- Jonathan

Health and Safety

My three cousins are under 16 so I have received permission from my Aunt Tina to film them.

I am carrying my camera and my tripod in waterproof bags and if it rains I will be sure to put it away. I will carry both pieces of equipment around me at all times to limit the threat of theft while I am filming in public places.

I have already asked Waterlow park café for permission to film in the park and for a later scene in the café, and they have agreed to allow me as long as no children under 18 are in shot. If anyone does not wish to be filmed I have to make sure to appeal to their wishes and not film in their direction.

I also must be sure that none of my filming equipment is in the way of the public paths as this could lead to someone being tripped up.

Props and Costumes

• Book- 'Wuthering Heights' for lonely woman in the park
• Umbrella for the end of the film when Tina and Alan walk off together
• Perfume Tina sprays as she gets dressed
• Black dress and coloured dress for Tina to choose from
• Black boots and black jacket
• Black bag

Equipment

·         Canon EOS 7D camera

·         Tripod

·         Mac Book Pro

·         Lamps and torches for mood lighting

U

PRODUCTION NAME

The inspiration for my production name 'Sick Rose Production' came from William Blake's poem The Sick Rose.



William Blake

"O Rose, thou art sick!

The invisible worm,



That flies in the night,

In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy;

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy"

The reason I chose this name is because the juxtaposition of the words 'sick' and 'rose' highlights the bitter sweet nature of love and the fact that it has the power to disappoint. 

The word 'rose' also has strong connotations with love and my film is essentially,  a subverted love story.

The production name does not explicitly include the word 'love' which was also deliberate as in case I wanted to make another short film in the future which was of an entirely different genre, there wouldn't be any reference to 'love' in the production company.

Short Film SCRIPT


Here is a link to my final script of my short film. 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/40239891

ENJOY!

Final Poster

I had to change my poster slightly to make it look more realistic. I added a strip at the bottom of the poster to indicate where and when the film will be released. By adding this strip as another layer on my poster, it would potentially make it much easier for me to change the release date, or where the film was being shown without having to alter the poster itself everytime. I also made the billing information much smaller as Michael Leedham said that 'it will take up more room than you think'. I also moved the 'All rights reserved' sentence to the side of the poster so it was barely visible. Finally I added a box around the film certificate to make it look more authentic.

Here is the final poster. Enjoy!

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 6


I began constructing this poster using two images. One of Tina which I took, and another of a selection of computer keys which I took off a computer, lined up and took a photo of. This was the basis of my poster.

I then made a heart shape on Photoshop and put it on top of Tina’s face in the photo. I used the Single Row Marquee tool to make a crack in the heart and thus I was able to have a broken heart and inside, a broken Tina. Clearly this links to her being broken hearted and underlines the fact that the film is based around the search to find love.

After, I added a shadow around the heart and the computer keys to make it look more three dimensional. I then wrote the letters of the film on each separate computer key, making it possible for me to choose what size and font I wanted as well as the colour.

I was then able to include the tag line, ‘not guaranteed to make love happen’- this I chose to have in pink to link to the colour of the word ‘(mis)’ which connotes disappointment. I then added in the production name, ‘SICK ROSE PRODUCTIONS’ and the critics review to add realism to the poster.

The final step was to include the billing information where I wrote the names of characters and the director, and the copyright issues. I also included the website of the film.

Most of the information on this poster is exactly the same as on the previous possible poster- for example, the billing information, the production company name and the critics reviews. Now I must decide on the tag line, the photo and the title layout.

Again, I chose to set my poster out in landscape format; although this is perhaps not totally conventional of film posters, I felt I was able to get the composition of the poster to look more professional and fluent.

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 5

First I started with two images. On the left hand side is a half image of Tina which is a very poignant image as it suggests to us that she is incomplete- something which we find to be very true in the film. The other image is the ESC key which is very significant. One, it connects with computers and so viewers would automatically link the film with the use of one, and two, it ties in with the storyline as the main character wants to ESCAPE from being lonely.

I used a simple white background so as not to draw any attention away from the images.

My next step was including the title of the film. I used the font Batik Regular for the title as opposed to using Arial which I have used throughout the poster. I did this to differentiate between the title of the film and the rest of the writing and to make the title stand out more. The font I used also resembles typewriting font which links to my computer theme. 

I used pink and black. The pink is a very feminine colour and also stands out from the black and grey scale colours used in the poster. It also highlights the word ‘mis’ which highlights the fact that the film will centre on the idea of love being disappointing. The use of pink when writing 'virtual love' was a important choice as both words sum up the film- It is about love and is centred around computer dating websites.

The tag line 'Press to escape' is very different from my other one, ' not guaranteed to make love happen'; it is more serious and links directly with the image of the ESC key on the poster. It also connotes a number of things; does she want to escape from men? from herself? From a series of bad dates? Or does she want to escape from her loneliness?

The production name ‘Sick Rose’ comes from one of William Shakespeare’s poems. The use of conjoining contradictory term to form an oxymoron is significant as it underlines the bitter disappointments love brings.

The billing information at the bottom of the poster adds realism to the whole page and also explains who stars in the film and who it is directed by. I made this writing light grey so it was visible, but so it didn’t overpower the power and draw attention away from the more important factors of the poster.

The website at the bottom creates synergy around the film and makes the film more popular. It is also typical of film posters.

My final steps were to include a critics review. I chose the Guardian as they are a well known and popular paper- it is also highly regarded by many people.
I wanted the review to sum up what the film is like. I felt the words 'clever' and 'poignant' did this perfectly.
The 12A sign at the bottom right of the poster again adds realism and indicates to viewers who can and cannot watch the film. YET I now understand that this certificate is for DVD use only- I will have to create a new certification which is specifically for posters.

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 4


Here is another one of my poster ideas. I wanted to keep my poster very simple but I also wanted to make sure people would understand what the film was about. 
I started by taking the computer keys off a keyboard and taking a picture of them. I them added my own letters onto the keys on Photoshop; this allowed me to choose what size and font I wanted as well as the colour. The use of the computer keys also indicates to the viewers that this film is centred around internet dating websites. 
The broken heart with Tina's head in it is very poignant and almost sums up the whole film. The black and white image shows the character drained of colour and connotes sadness and loneliness.
The tag line again is a link to match.com.
The production information and the website adds to the realism of the poster.


AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
When I showed this to my friends and family I had mixed responses. Many of them liked the idea of using the computer keys to spell out the title of the film as it links to it being based on internet dating. However other complained that the letters were too small and that it was barely visible.
Many people liked the heart with Tina's face in too- they said it summed up what the film was about.
However although people liked the separate parts of the poster, many people commented that as a whole it looked almost babyish and simple. They said the composition of the poster wasn't well thought out and it looked more like a magazine front cover as opposed to a film poster.
And so, I decided to make another poster taking all these comments into consideration.