Equipment list

Above you can find a slide on the equipment that I will be needing. I have covered everything I believe I need for the filming and editing process, but if I do have to add anything the slide will be automatically updated.

Reflective Comment:
Knowing what equipment I am going to need for the filming process is obviously crucial to sort out before I begin filming. This is just one of the tasks on my to do list that I have now completed.

Task list for filming

I'm planning to hopefully film all of my short film over one weekend, the 25th and the 26th of November. I have a list of things that I need to accomplish before the filming, so I have decided to create a to do list to keep on top of anything.

So in no particular order, here are my tasks that relate to filming.

• Finalise my actors
• Test footage at the locations, looking for sounds that will needed to be edited out.
• Order the costumes
• Gather an equipment list
• Assemble a small crew

Reflective Comment:

Making sure that I can keep on top of everything is crucial to making sure that filming goes smoothly. My time management so far has been quite good so I'm hoping that this short task list will help continue with keeping up. 

Assessment Criteria

Level 4 16–20 marks

• Planning and research evidence will be complete and detailed;
• There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience;
• There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props;
• There is excellent work on shot-lists, layouts, drafting, scripting or story-boarding;
• There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning;
• Time management is excellent.

To achieve a level 4 in my short film which is what I aiming for, I will need to meet all of these targets. So far I believe that I am on track.

Poster planning

While the short film is the most important part of the coursework, the two ancillary tasks are also important. For the poster, I know what I want. You can find where I explain this in this post. I am planning to take the photo for the poster when I film the scene that the poster is replicating.

I'm hoping to take several shots of the same scene from different distances and different angles so that I can decide later which one to use. I'm wanting to use a very simple and bold text, something like Impact. Below I have attached some indie movie posters that I can draw inspiration from.



Reflective Comment:
The main reason for this blog post was to make sure that I know what I am doing for this ancillary task. I have to make sure that I don't get so caught up in making the short film that I actually forget to complete the ancillary tasks. 

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.