Connected - Rough Cut 1

This is my first rough cut for my short film. I still need to add vast amounts of filming but by editing the footage I've got it gives me a good idea of what else I need to do and the general layout of the film. From vast amounts of feedback I have found out many good and bad points of my short film.

Good Points
I had many good comments about my rough cut. The sound was very clear which therefore meant that the audience had a good idea of what was happening in the film. There was also a good amount of continuity throughout this version which meant that the footage that I had already completed could easily be followed and understood. A further good point of the film is the cuts I used. The cut from the kitchen shot of the noodles being cooked to the living room shot of the protagonist on the unhappy day watching television was one of the cuts that was brought to my attention as being very effective. This is because it almost surprises the audience because it speeds up the transition between the two shots unlike other cuts that just cut to the character moving away etc.

Bad Points
My rough cut also had quite a few bad points. At the beginning of the film where both the main characters get out of bed and exit the room is very dark. This means that I may have to re-shoot this part of the film using artificial light in order to bright up the room. But on the other hand these shots are of the morning which means it is meant to be dark but I could use the light as a way to attract the audience and use it to symbolise the start of the day. I could do this by having the characters turn on a light when they wake up or I could have the curtains undraw in order to maximise the amount of light in the room. A further bad point would be that the emotions of the characters are not as clear as they could be throughout. For example the unhapy person could be a lot less happy than he is at the moment by using more negative body language and possibily slowing down a bit more to show that he is not bothered but this may not be very effective if the unhappy side had to line up with the happy side. I also need to improve some of the framing in the film where I have cut off the protagonist head. This is very bad framing which means I need to correct this ensuring that the framing is correct.

Overall I am reasonably pleased with my rough cut. This is because it has many positive points to it and I strongly believe by finishing filming and re-shooting some of the scenes the film will become a success.

Teacher Feedback - Mr Michie - Improvements

-The first few scenes of the film when the two characters get up and go to the bathroom are very dark. This means that I may have to re-shoot this scene including some artificial light.
-I need to add more shots of the characters getting dressed in order to show a clearer contrast of the two characters. Also the film lacks in consistency because he changes in the bathroom without taking any clothes into the bathroom.
-The jogging scenes can also be changed. On the happy day the character needs to be shot completing a long jog using quite a few different shots in order to make the happy side more upbeat. On the unhappy day the character needs to be shot attempting the jog and then walking back to the house. I am going to do this in order to make the contrast between the two even clearer.
-More close ups of the two characters would be very beneficial. This is because it would show the emotion of the two more clearer. This can be done when the characters are coming down the stairs.
-The saucepan shot also needs to be re-shot because the character changes the hand the pan is in.
-The noodles scene is also far too long. This can be cut down by having a more variety of shots.
-Towards the end of the scene the point of view shot of the unhappy character is not very clear. This means that I will have to re-shoot this including some artificial light.
-The shot the shot of the happy character getting the milk out of the fridge can be deleted because I have already used this effect when he takes the tea out of the cupboard.

FIlming I need to complete

Even though I have shot quite a lot of my short film I still need to film more.

I need to film the scene at the beginning of the film where the protagonist comes back from jogging on the unhappy day and has to climb through the window. I also need to shoot both the unhappy day and the sad day where the characters go to work and meet the girl. The evening scene on the happy day needs filming which may take quite a while and may result in being quite a challenge because I need to include dialogue between both the character on the happy day and include the split screen.

I will try and film the rest of the short film over the next few weeks in order to have plenty of time for editing and corrections.

Start of the Movie Review (Without images)

Video used to find out how to create a split screen effect in Adobe Premiere Pro

Learn How to create a split screen effect in Adobe Premiere Pro. For more Premiere How-To Videos & Articles, visit WonderHowTo.

This video was very useful because it enabled me to get a very good idea of how to create a split screen in Premiere Pro. This was achieved by adding videos to both video one and video two and then changing the scale and position in order to make the split screen in the same position in every scene.

Movie Poster Final Draft

Good Points

Bad Points


Another bad point would be that the poster is reasonably similar to the 'Anger Management' movie poster as seen below which I realised after designing and construting the poster. On the other hand I strongly believe that the two posters have more differences than similarities though.



Evaluation

Overall I believe my short film poster was very successful. This is because it looks professional because of the very effective use of colour and the symmetry used throughout. It also appears to be a very serious poster which suits the genre well and therefore helps the audience to gain a good idea of what the film is going to be about. The two emotions, happy and sad, can clearly be seen in the images. The right image is happy because the protagonist is smiling and because the image was taken from the side of his face the smile is very clear. The left image is happy because the characters emotions can be easily seen as very serious and unhappy. Having the happy character on the right side and the unhappy character on the left is also a good feature because in the short film this is where the characters are in the split screen.

The text also contributes to the success of the poster. It is consistent throughout which makes the poster look professional and tidy. Even though the text may look a bit feminine I strongly believe that it suits the genre well. This is because the letters of the text look as if they are connected which relates well to the overall plot of the short film and the name of the film.

One of the only negative points of the film poster is that the unhappy day looks more dominant than the happy day. This may be because more of their face can be seen because in the happy image the person is smiling which means less of his face can be seen. The hair of the unhappy person is also more dominant than the happy persons hair. This is because the characters hair falls to the right which means that because the two images are taken from different sides the hair will be more dominant. This can be seen as a good point though because having more hair on the unhappy person he looks more messy and as if he doesn't care about his appearance which is good because it ensures the emotion of the unhappy person is put across clearer.

Overall I believe that my movie poster meets the genre of my short film well because it looks very serious and dramatic. I also believe that I have followed the conventions of a short film poster because of the use of colour, images, text, consistency and layout.

Movie Poster Second Draft

Corrections Needed

In order to improve my film poster I need to make it more simple because it looks a bit cluttered towards the bottom of the poster. I am going to correct this by ensuring that the certificate (TBC) is in text instead of an image. I am also going to get rid of 'Mystery Productions Presents' at the top of the page and replace it with the tagline, 'How many people are the same?'. I am going to do this in order to keep the poster simple and it ensure there is not too much on the page.

Film & Editing Targets

Possible Filming dates -
Saturday 15th January
Tuesday 18th January

Key dates to complete filming -
Saturday 22nd/Sunday 23rd January
Saturday 29th/Sunday 30th January

Main target to complete all filming and start editing by 1st February

Script

My short film does not require large amounts of talking scenes but some interaction is required between the protagonist and the second character (Rachel Shea) on both the split screens.

First time they meet - Happy
David - Hi there, can I help you?
Rachel - Yeah I was wondering how access the main part of the shop
David - Well you go up the lift to the first floor and the shop should be the first thing you see. Is that ok?
Rachel - Yeah thats really helpful thanks. Have you worked here long?
David - Not long really. I only joined a few months ago and only work part time. I am studying to become a vet at the moment.
Rachel - Really? I am studying to become a vet too.
David - Wow small world. We should meet up and talk more about this.
Rachel - Yeah that would be good.
David - Well I'm not doing anything tonight. How about it?
Rachel - Yeah that would be good.
David - Heres my number. (hand piece of paper with number on)
Rachel - Thanks. I will text you later.
David - My names David by the way.
Rachel - Mines Rachel.
David - Alright. Hope to see you soon.
Rachel - Bye
David - Bye

First time they meet - Unhappy
Rachel - Excuse me how do you access the main part of the shop?
David - Over there (points/not bothered about helping)
Rachel - Thanks (walks off)

Texting whilst having lunch - Happy day
Rachel - Hi. Its Rachel. You still up for tonight?
David - Yeah sure did you want to come over to mine for a meal at like six then we can go to the cinema.
Rachel - Yeah sure that would be good. See you soon.
David - Can't wait.

Rachel comes to the house - Happy day
(Door bell) (Opens door)
Rachel - Hello
David - Hello come in, come in.
Rachel - Thanks how are you?
David - All good thanks. You ok? Can I take your coat?
Rachel - Yeah I'm good. Yeah sure. (Takes off coat and gives it to David)
David - (Puts coat on rail) DO come through. I'm just cooking dinner.
(Both walk through into the dining room.)
(Fade out of the conversation so the sound effects are the same on both split screens)

Magazine Review Planning

Director - Steven Jones
Screenwriters -Steven Jones
Cast - David Green, Rachel Shea
Running time - 6 minutes Approx.

Plot - Set in an average surban area a comparison of two brothers choices is shown. But what choices are the best?

Main Article - When I first came across Steven Jones's short film, "Connected", I did not really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the unique and clever use of split screen throughout the film which is not normally seen in today's media. The use of split screen was very effective and a clever comparison of the two protagonists personalities was show very clearly.

The character development was clearly shown throughout the short. Both the characters possessed very different personalities which both developed throughout the short by the brilliant acting skills of the protagonist clearly showing the different personalities that the two characters possess in the film. The choices that the two protagonists made and the way they interacted with other characters made me almost feel as if I could connect with them because one was happy and one was unhappy and everyone has their own happy and unhappy days.


VERDICT - A down to earth short, focusing on the personality choices we have to make on a daily basis. Generally entertaining and remarkably clever.

Tasks To-do

-Complete final film poster - add certificate/release date and line up the two faces from the top of the page.

-Start more filming and editing (Camera three) - Re-shoot character running out the door because of xmas lights. (Take out camera and laptop)

-Start planning and complete movie poster

New Idea for Short Film Poster

I changed the idea of my movie poster because I though having the two faces in parallel to each other would have a better contrast of emotion. In this poster the faces both look natural unlike my first attempt at constructing my poster where the nose did not line up. The colouring that I used is also very effective because it gives off a mysterious effect to it and the tagline builds on this further.