Audience feedback.

I showed my first anamatic to my A2 Media class and asked for feedback from them. I think the most important point that came up was that there wasn't enough of a narrative twist, or that the narrative wasn't interesting enough. We then thought about what twists could be involved, looking into a homosexual coupling between the two female characters, and the possible death of one of the characters.

The main points that came up from this exercise were..

1) The anamatic was clear and told the narrative concisely.

2) The narrative was believable and something that could actually happen in day-to-day life.

3) They said that the idea of having the two characters being good friends in private but not in school was good and reflective of the social tensions in schools.

4) The narrative needed a more memorable twist.

Having taken these ideas on board, I found it difficult to manipulate the storyline enough to have a more interesting twist without detracting from the positive atmosphere of the film. I therefore decided to put my second idea forward to the class. I didn't have an anamatic available to present, but the overall reaction was much more positive than for my first idea.

The main points that came up for this idea were..
1) The twist of cannibalism would be hard to put across but interesting
2) Filming in the dark would require extra lighting that could cause problems
3) Rather than having a confident boy who actively tries to win her affection, a shy, retiring boy that is approached by her would provide more uncertainty and would add to the confusion of the film
4) One of the masked people could be related to the boy to add an extra twist.

After presenting the two ideas to the class I have decided to develop the cannibal idea as it seemed more popular and would allow me to develop a more sinister film.

Proposal 1 - Anamatic

This is the anamatic that I produces to illustrate my first idea.

Short Film Proposal 2

My second idea was influenced by some of the short films that I have seen. I think that it's more realistic to achieve than the first idea.

A boy of about 17/18 years old sits in school. There is a mysterious, gothic girl sitting across the room from him. He has previously made several attempts to win her affections but she doesn't appear interested. This day, he tries to win her over again, and she thinks it over. She asks him why he wants to be with her. When he's unable to give a coherent answer, she asks him if he would give his life for her. He says he would. She then tells him to meet her on the suspension bridge near the woods later that day, and leaves without getting a response.

That evening, the boy goes to meet the girl at the bridge, as she'd said. He's clearly nervous, unsure as to what to say or do. She's not there at first, and he starts to think that she isn't going to turn up. He turns to leave when he hears his name. He turns around to see the girl standing there, wearing all black. She says she's taking him to a party and turns to walk away. The boy follows her. They walk some way into the woods, and he hears music from the party. He walks through the trees to see a gathering of about 10 people, around his age, all dressed in black. There is a fire and a couple of them are cooking some meat on it. The boy doesn't recognize the smell and ask what they're cooking. All the figures around the fire look up and he discovers that they're all wearing masks. He turns to the girl and she glances to a leg, half obscured by the tree. He realizes what's going on a starts to run. The masked characters chase after him and it ends with him tripping and the others closing in on him.

I think that this idea is far more interesting the previous one and would provide a much more interesting narrative. This is probably the idea that I will develop.

Short Film Proposal

This is the initial idea that I came up with to make into a short film. It's a very rough idea and may need alterations. It was based on the music video "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift, but there is a change at the end.

A girl and a boy live opposite each other on the same street. The film opens with them walking down the road on either side. The boy walks up to his front door and walks inside. The girl does the same, pausing only to look at the boy (who she has been in love with for several months previously). That evening the boy is on the phone to his girlfriend, pacing back and forth in front of his bedroom window. The girlfriend hangs up the phone and the boy slumps down, head in his hands. The girl across the street looks up and notices him through the window. She writes a note asking if he's OK and holds it up for him to read. He smiles at her and replies (also by note) saying that he's tired of all the arguments. She smiles sympathetically and writes that she's sorry. She starts to write that she loves him, as he shuts the curtain. She hasn't noticed him doing this and she completes the message. When she looks up to show him she notices that he has gone and sighs.

The next day the girl sits down on a park bench and begins to read. The boy comes along and sits beside her. They talk for a while in a friendly way (to highlight how easy they feel in each others company.) The girlfriend of the boy turns up and the girl is upset that the boy will now have to leave. The girlfriend notices this and kisses the boy passionately in order to make the girl more jealous. The couple then go away, girlfriend leading and leave the girl on her own.

Later that day, the boy is playing in as part of the school football team. He is a very important member of the team, as is shown by the number of people cheering him on. During the course of the game he scores a goal and the crowd cheers loudly. The boy's girlfriend doesn't look very interested but instead is watching one of the other players intently. The girl, however, is overjoyed that he is doing well. After the game the girlfriend tells the boy that she is breaking up with him in order to go out with the other player. The boy is left to be rejected but is surrounded by people celebrating the success of the game.

AT THIS POINT THE FILM WOULD SPLIT SCREEN, SHOWING TWO SEPERATE NARRATIVES AT THE SAME TIME.

right hand narrative

That evening the boy writes a note to the girl asking if she is going to the post-game party. When she says that she's not (as she's not been invited) he says that he wishes she were. He leaves to go to the party and she realizes what he's said. She makes up her mind to go to the party.

At the party, the boy is standing on his own in the corner. People keep congratulating him but he's not in the mood for celebration. The girl walks through the door, completely transformed. She's wearing a beautiful dress, her hair is styled elaborately and she looks angelic. The boy is blown away and walks straight over to her. She smiles and holds up her earlier note that says "I love you" on it. He smiles in return and holds up his own note along a similar sentiment. They embrace and kiss.

left hand narrative

The girl sees that the boy is in emotional turmoil and goes over to comfort him, despite it being a bit controversial due to their difference in social group. She makes him smile but then confesses how she feels about him. His friends start laughing at her and after a brief moment of confusion the boy looks up and says that he doesn't want anything to do with her. His friends encourage this and the girl is left alone, rejected.

Later on that evening the girl sits on her bed. She has the "I love you" note on her lap. She reads it and then picks it up and rips it into two pieces. She looks up and notices the boy trying to get her attention from his window. He holds up a note simply reading "I'm Sorry." He looks thoroughly miserable. The girl shakes her head and closes the curtain.

I like this idea, although it is quite closely linked with the aforementioned Taylor Swift video, and so I am unsure as to whether I should develop it or not.

A2 Media 2009-10 Outline | My choice of project.

The A2 coursework unit is worth 50% of the overall mark and there are two options available

1. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:
- a website home page for the film;
- a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
- a poster for the film


2. A short film in it's entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:
- a poster for the film;
- a radio trailer for the film;
- a film magazine review page featuring the film


From the options presented to us, I have decided to do option 2 because I feel that a short film would be more interesting to create than a trailer as I would be able to explore the narrative further.
As well as the film, promotional poster and magazine article, I will also produce a DVD cover and I will expand my poster to include several different designs and teaser posters. This is because I feel that having a full promotional package would allow me to have a better idea of how the film would be marketed, and offers more opportunity for learning new techniques and skills.