Risk assessment

Since we're getting very close to filming we have to make sure that every based is covered. One of the crucial things that we must cover is health and safety. Since I'm filming outside for the majority of my film, there are a few risks. I have created a risk assessment table which can be found below.

Reflective Comment:
Getting closer to filming it's good to have another task checked off. I don't really think there will be any accidents on set as it's quite a small crew and a short film, however it is best to safe rather than sorry.

Script Changes

I have completed the fourth draft of the script now, which I think will end up being the final version. The biggest and most notable changed I made was with the locations. A large part of my short film consists of the two characters walking and talking. Originally, this was to be set on ordinary streets.

I had chosen this so that the two characters stood out greatly. However I have made the decision to change this location for practicality. Filming on streets will mean I'll have to edit out all sound from cars passing by and wait for the streets to be empty from pedestrians. I can see this taking way too long to deal with, causing problems with production.

I have instead change it so in this scene the characters are walking through a forest. While it is not what I wanted for the short film, I understand that due to a set deadline I may struggle to finish on time if I don't make this change. I realised I'd have to make this change after watching another short film, which you can find on this post.

Reflective Comment:
Making this change will make production a whole lot easier. While it is not a change I would like to make, I understand that it is necessary.  

Other related products

Over the half term I have been able to find some products that relate to me in some form. However none of them really follow the same direction I do, and instead have very different messages. Below I have embedded these examples and written a small paragraph about it and what inspiration I can draw from it.

 

I really did enjoy this short film. While the Grim Reaper and dying character do not interact, it still is quite similar to my short film. What I really liked about this short film however was the music. I've been struggling with what music I should use for the first half of my film, and I feel the curious music used here would fit fantastically.



I loved this short film. The concept is just something that I've always enjoyed, the idea that the Grim Reaper is just an ordinary person. The first minute of the short film however, where Death is walking the streets, is very similar to what I want to do for my short film, and it's quite helpful to see what it would look like. The cinematography also was a highlight of this short film, something I'm hoping I can replicate.


This short film is the closest in similarity to my short film. In fact it's very very similar. However, it's a bit more depressing with a positive ending. Where my short film is a bit more positive, with a quite bitter sweet ending. The biggest difference is that in this film, the dying man gets to live, while in mine he does have to die. But this short film is really interesting and well done, and quite helpful when trying to piece together what my short film will be like.

Reflective Comment:
These three short films are all exceptionally well done and very useful to me when trying to understand what my short film is going to be like. From these examples I have a better idea on the type of music, cinematography and atmosphere that I want for my short film. 

Character Costumes Shopping

I only have two characters in my short film. Nathan, the character who has died, and the Grim Reaper. From the start of the pre-production I've known what costumes I wanted for both characters. For Nathan I've wanted a simple get up, which is a dressing gown. I explain why I chose this costume in better detail in this blog post.
post. http://jackculluma2mediasprowston.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/character-costumes.html

This blog post is about looking at actual costumes. The one problem that I face is that I don't really have all that much money to spare for the film, so finding a high quality costume that I'm happy with will be quite difficult. This is more true for the Grim Reaper.

The Grim Reaper
For the grim reaper I want something that looks quite heavy and covers all of the body. Here are some potential options.

So out of the three I think I most definitely prefer the third option. Unlike option one and two it doesn't look too much like a Halloween costume. It looks heavy and I can see it working. The only problem with option three is that it's measurements are quite specific, and I still do not what actor I'm going with.

Nathan
For Nathan I want something quite simple. Just a dressing gown. It's simpler because I don't have to worry about it looking fake or like a standard Halloween costume, and measurements won't be difficult or awkward. Here are my options.

Honestly, there isn't much of a hard decision with this costume. In my head whenever I picture the film, it's always a grey dressing gown. That's really the only criteria I have for it. Any of these would do, so I'll probably just choose the cheapest option. I may even be able to find one cheaper in stores.

Reflective Comment:
It's getting very close to when I have to start filming. I have to decide on costumes and locations very soon so I'm glad that I'm starting to make progress with the costumes. As soon as I have confirmed the actors, which I am hoping to have done by the 4th of November, I'll order the costumes.

Actors responses part 2

I have been having some back and forth with my four possible actors for the Grim Reaper. I have sent them all the script and so far I have heard back from two of the actors. Ronan is very interested in the project and says that he is up for it, so I do definitely have an actor lined up!

However, sadly Ben decided that he could not act in my short film. Due to the religious elements that are discussed in the short film, Ben had to politely decline. I am still waiting to hear back from the other two actors. This has made me realise that I may be pushing away certain audiences.

I have put another application up for the other role in my short film. I was originally planning on using a student from school, however due to a lack of willing drama students, I believe it may be easier and possibly more beneficial to use StarNow.Com.

Reflective Comment:
I did not even think that due the religious aspects of the film that an actor would decide against the film. It has made me realise that religious viewers may not like my film all that much. However I am going to keep these parts of the story in, as I feel it's important to the story.

Actor responses

So last week I put up an advert for the role of the Grim Reaper in my short film. So far I've had four responses for the role. I'm surprised by the fast response and quite eager to start seeing which one fits best for the role. I'm going to contact the actors over the weekend to see if any of them will be ideal for my role.

I have taken a long look at the four of the applicants so far and all of them would fit the role well. I think I'll struggle to chose one actor. I have messaged each other the actors letting them know that I am interested in working with them and that I'll send a draft of the script shortly.

Reflective Comment:
One of my biggest worries about this years coursework was the actors. However after this I'm feeling a lot more reassured and confident about the process. I would be more than happy with any of these actors in my short film, but I am looking forward to deciding which one to have.

Potential Locations

For my short film I only need four locations. The first location is inside a house, in the kitchen. This location will only be used for about a minute of the film. The second location is just outside the house, and will only be used for around twenty seconds. The third is a moving location, which is just down a full roads, which doesn't have to be anything in particular. The final location has to be somewhere the looks nice, like a park, with a bench.

Okay the first location, I think for the sake of simplicity I will shoot in my house. I know where to position camera, and the kitchen itself has everything I need. It'll just be easier to use it and the location fits well. I will add photos later.

The second location, which is outside the house, again I think will film outside either my house, my dads or a friends. Somewhere that fits what I need. The outside my house is opposite a roundabout so that would be frustrating to film near, and the sound would be almost impossible to deal with. However my Dad's house would be good and my friend Max's would be even better.

The third location is going to be difficult. It needs to be several different roads, which could be difficult to film if there are other people walking around or the traffic is heavy. I think the best way to work around this would be film early in the morning. Location wise I'm thinking of areas such as Wroxham Road,  Hillary Avenue and Britannia Road.

The final location I already know what I want. I want to use the top of St.James hill. It's the perfect location for my final scene, it's peaceful, looks nice and is often quite quiet, and overlooks the city. Filming there wouldn't be too hard in my opinion.

Reflective comment:

Having to finally look at my locations has made me realise I am going to have a problem when it comes to other people and sounds. There are going to be a whole range of sounds while I film, meaning I'll likely have to add a lot of audio later on, in editing. However I am hoping to do some test footage soon, so I'll have to see how it goes. 

Draft feeback

I created my second draft for my script last week, printed it off, and started gaining feedback on it. I asked nine different people to read through my seven page script and to tell me what they thought. The following questions were asked.

• Did you enjoy the script?
• Was there anything you didn't understand?
• If you could improve the script, how would you do so?
• What did you like about the script?
• Would you want to watch this short film?

The feedback that I did receive is what I had expected. Almost everyone enjoyed the script, except from one friend who said that he had found the format hard to follow. Most people understood what was going on, however three readers were confused on why the main character had died. While it was not originally a focal point of the story, as the dying itself was just meant to be a small part of the story itself. However it the next draft I'm going to clear up how he died. Half of the people liked the premise of the script, while the others said they enjoyed the light-heartedness of it all. Finally, everyone did say they would watch my short film.

I must apologise, my phone camera is extremely blurry. 

Reflective Comment:

This has been helpful and reassuring. Knowing that people do like my idea is reassuring and it's also helpful knowing what people think when it comes to improving my idea. I'll make the changes very soon and then see how people feel about that draft.

Character profile

Above is a character profile that can be used to help flesh out characters to make them easier to understand. I'm just going to use this table to help better develop my only two characters that feature in my short film.

James

The Basics
Name: James                             Eye Colour: Blue                    
Role: Protagonist                       Hair: Short                              
Age: 20                                      Build: Average                        
Gender: Male                             Height: Tall
Race: White                               Style of Dress: Sleepwear

Personality
What makes your character unique: He's dead.
Strengths: Intelligent, charismatic.
Weaknesses: Stubborn.
Movement: Slow, tired.
Flaw that influences the story: Will not accept that he had died.

Identification factors            
Internal conflicts: Doesn't feel like he has lived a full life, he could've done more.
External conflicts: Not entirely ready to pass on.
Pivotal scenes: Being told he is dead, and then later on accepting it.

Inner motivations
What does the character really want: To understand why it had to be him, and why now.
What he is most afraid of: Leaving no legacy behind.
Characters' mask: Sarcasm

The Grim Reaper

The Basics
Name: Reaper                           Eye Colour: Grey                      Any striking physical features:
Role: Protagonist                       Hair: Bald                                Ghostly looking.
Age: 1300ish                              Build: Average                    
Gender: Male                             Height: Average
Race: White                               Style of Dress: Black robe

Personality
What makes your character unique: He takes people to the afterlife.
Strengths: Intelligent, knows what to say.
Weaknesses: Doesn't know everything that he's asked.
Movement: Almost glides
Flaw that influences the story: N/A

Identification factors            
Internal conflicts: He doesn't always want to pass people onto the afterlife.
External conflicts: N/A.
Pivotal scenes: Telling James he is dead, and saying goodbye to James.

Inner motivations
What does the character really want: To help James pass on happily.
What he is most afraid of: What happens to him when he dies.
Characters' mask: He doesn't use one.

Reflective Comment
It's been very helpful to finally flesh out my characters. Now that I've done this I can make sure that when it comes to the short film they actually come across and interesting and unique characters. My only worry is not being able to fully showcase both characters in the short five minutes that I have.

Questionaire results

So two weeks ago I completed a survey about my short film. While I would of hoped for more responses I only received 17. However this data has still been very helpful for understanding what my potential audience think of my idea and what the characters will look like.

Here are some screenshots from the data I collected.

Overall this feedback is going to quite helpful for when it comes to creating my depiction of the Grim Reaper. Also it seems that I have got enough of an audience to continue with my idea as it is. 

Reflective Comment:

This questionnaire has been quite helpful however I do feel I missed out a crucial question, which is what can I do to improve my idea. However I feel that I can do this when I show people my script.