Location & Shot Recce

HH & TB

Production, Distribution & Exhibition

Pico Pictures is a London-based production company who have made 13 award-winning short films since 2008. They produced a short film called School Portrait in 2011, produced for £200 and released instantly online. The film was picked as a Vimeo Staff Pick and was featured in news articles in Huffington Post, Gizmodo, The Metro, The Evening Standard plus 100s of other blogs. The short film had a million views in ten days.

Now the films has been shortlisted for a 2012 Webby (an internet awards scheme) in the viral category. Vimeo have also now selected the film for their screening as SXSW.

The company would be perfect to produce our short film as they produce both low and high budget short and feature films. They are a small-time production company and are London-based.

Brass Moustache is another independent  UK production company. They write and produce in house and accept thematic commissions. It is made up of professional producers, editors, directors and writers working at a high level in the UK. They collaborate to write and produce factual and fictitious short films, many of the short films they have produced have been featured on the "Editor's Pick" homepage of the Independent newspaper.

Artificial Eye is a UK distribution company that has been distribution European and World cinema since 1976. They release mainly theatrical films (around 20 a year) as well as DVD and Blu-ray titles (around 30 a year). This is on top of purely digital releases via Curzon Home Cinema, Sky Box Office and Sky Player, iTunes, Virgin Filmflex, Lovefilm and other platforms. Its library includes more than 300 titles overall.

Artificial Eye has released more winners of the Cannes Palme d'Or than any other UK distributor, including films such as We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011), Winter's Bone (2010) and more recently The Great Beauty (2013).

Our short film, if exhibited at cinemas, would be most likely to be seen in a Curzon or Picturehouse cinema before a showing of a feature film. These two cinema chains are both more likely to be showing indie films and are known to often show short films before feature films.

It is more likely that to start our short film would have its debut showing at a short film festival, where it would then be picked up by a cinema chain who wanted to exhibit it. Small-time short film festivals in London include the Soho Short Film Festival, and the London Short film festival. This is as well as showing in the shorts sections of the London Sundance Film Festival and the BFI Film Festival. Short films can be entered into the festival and then are picked by a board as part of the selection to be shown. This is from where short films collect awards and people choose to exhibit them in their cinemas.

TB

Audience Certification BBFC

Our short film will be a PG.

We had originally thought that the film would be more of a 12 certification, however having carried out more research we don't think that this will actually be necessary. Though the film is about an autistic child with a single mother the film won't be too upsetting or depressing. The film could be difficult for young children to understand which is why it is not rated U. The BBFC says that PG films can explore difficult issues however it must be clear that no child should copy any poor behaviour, in other words it is clear that the poor behaviour is in fact not a good thing.

Overall our film is about a mildly hard-hitting subject but will be shown in such a way that it can easily pass as a PG film.

TB

5 | So Far

I'm currently writing and editing the shot list whilst Theo draws the storyboard, her artisic skills can show my babbled ideas far better than I can. I'm close to finishing the shot list and will be uploading it in the next few days. I'm visiting Rachael & Amelie on saturday night also so will be interviewing them both and doing actor biogrphies, then confirming dates on which we can film.

HH

Lens Flare

As mentioned in a previous post on visual aesthetics I explained how Rust & Bone had used lens flare to emphasize the main character's leaving of the house. To test if it would be possible to do in our film and to work out how I did a short recce.

 

This video is using normal exposure simply seeing the effect on the lens that having the sun centered in the frame had. As shown the sun created only a few lines across the lens and caused part of the frame to be blindingly bright where the sun is.

 

These videos show how movement of the camera and zooming in affects the sun's effect on the lens. As shown there was little to no change in effect and when zoomed close in on the sun the shot was ruined by the entire frame being overly filled with light

 

This video was to see how the sun shining through a tree would change the effect. As shown the tree was very thin and therefore the sun was never fully obscured by the tree, this meant that once again there was little change in effect on the lens.

 

In this video I tried using a larger exposure (+2) to see how that changed the effect. I found that because the larger exposure let more light through, too much light was actually captured and the screen was far too full of light allowing for very little definition of anything else. However I also tried in this video the how the sun changed when filmed through a thicker tree. I found the effect of this to be that the sun flashed in and out of view giving some variation between a frame filled with light, and one without where it was easier to distinguish other objects in the frame. The flashing also meant that there were far more streams/lines of sunlight crossing the lens.

Finally this video shows lens flare when using the manual focus on the camera to shoot slightly out of focus.

To conclude, this recce has shown me that if we are able to use lens flare in our film it is important that there is camera movement to get the effect of the sun flashing in and out of view. And it is also important to leave the exposure on 0 (providing the sun isn't behind the clouds) so that the frame is not overfilled with light.

TB

Symbolism

In Act 2 of our film we want to show that the mother feels trapped and enclosed by the responsibility of having to look after her autistic daughter, this could be shown not just through the acting but through the use of camerawork and framing. For example in using the corridor connecting the hallway and kitchen. This corridor has high ceilings that loom over the character, it quite dark and therefore has a sort of 'light at the end of the tunnel' effect. This could be used towards the end of the film when the mother has changed and is going to leave out the front door. She leaves the house to escape from her responsibilities, without the audience knowing if she is leaving temporarily or for good, the 'light at the end of the tunnel' symbolism works well in this situation as that is exactly what she is thinking, and this can be emphasized through the camerawork.

We could also have a shot in the film right after she has managed to calm her daughter down and she is on her way to change, where she pauses in this corridor and leans against the wall as she sighs. She could also then glance over at the door before she goes upstairs. to change.

Whilst we will use the cereal boxes to show that the daughter also feels imprisoned due to her condition which holds her back, we can also show this in other ways too. For example a moment when Amelie stops on the stairs and looks out through the bars of the banister. This is done in the film Casablanca when the wicker shades over the market are used to look like prison bars over Bogart and Bergmann.

The exterior location out the front of the house, where the film ends with Emma standing outside having a cigarette with the photo from when she was younger, can also be used to symbolize how Emma feels trapped.

Filmed at a low angle and using the front gate to fill the edges of the frame the composition of the shot is very symmetrical and well-considered. The lines of the pathway that lead up to the door create a heavy sense of perspective and help to stretch the depth of field. If Emma was to come outside, close the door behind her and lean with her back against the door I feel this would create a very nice long shot that could be used for a reasonably lengthy time as it show the whole of what Emma is doing. Her leaning with her back against the door would also symbolize her turning her back on her responsibilities. This next shot shows how it would also even be possible to film through the plants to create the 'imprisoned' look with lines cutting across in front of the character.

tb

Characters Audience Feedback

We spoke to the same Male & Female pair that we had for narrative feedback so that they understood the development of the film, we asked them this time about our choice of actors and tips they had.
They thought that;

"the choice of mother and daughter is apt, it should work well I guess, using an actual family"

"I think having a young child will be hard but if you spend some time working on their relationship and explaining what the child has to do, should be good"

"The best thing to do is rehearse as much as possible, it's the only way you'll get the effect you want, it's great but using kids is hard"

"I can't wait to see it! Both the actors are so pretty, hope it goes well"

From their feedback it's clear that we need to rehearse 'as much as possible' and focus everything on the child, something we definitely plan to do! 

Actor's Relationships

By using a mother and daughter to play the leads in our short film we hope to capture that relationship with greater ease. Rachael & Amelie hopefully will be able to create the tense relationship that we need on screen, by having Amelie's mother there, there will be a responsible parent to discipline her if needed and help explain to her what we need her to do.

We feel they are an appropriate pair because they are both blonde and attractive, we want the audience to see beauty within the situation as well as upset and sympathy, Amelie isn't a bad child just a sad result of her disability. You can see a clear resemblance between them and because of their relationship there are many photos of them documenting times when both were younger so in the photos around the house and on the windowsill we can see the progression of time and a far younger Emma.

Deciding Actors

We've chosen to switch the script to a combination of Amelie & Rachael. The pair are already mother/daughter so they know each other well and we don't have to try and establish that relationship on screen, it's simply there. It also means they will be more comfortable working with each other. Unfortunately although Adam looked the part he was too tall to play a young child and also had never met Rachael so we would have had to spend time working on their relationship during the filming period.

The choice to change characters from boy to girl makes little difference to the story or how we film, the activities we've chosen and way we're filming should be very androgynous and therefore this change in character hopefully won't complicate things too much. 

We are both happy with our choices of actors and look forward to filming in the next weeks. 

HH

4 | So Far

So far, we've decided to change the character of the young boy to a young girl. Rachael, the actress playing our mother has a daughter age 5 who would play the part perfectly and who I know well so would be able to work with easily. Also their mother-daughter relationship is there so it wouldn't take a lot of work at all to get them to the relationship we want to see on camera. It also gives Theo & I the freedom of good actors, we don't need to worry about covering up bad acting with clever camera-work we can simply film very good acting.
HH

Script : First Draft

Here we've consolidated our Short Film narrative into a finalised script that details everything happening in our short film. We have separated the sections into dialogue and acting direction. Whilst also trying to provide an idea of what's happening around them. It should read as much as a story as it does a piece of direction. 

Script 1 (stageplay) from Harry Hancock
HH

Actress: Rachael Watkins: Emma

Rachael Watkins

37yrs

5"6

Large, Blue Eyes 

Tanned,  White Skin

Looks Younger Than She Is

Medium Length, Blonde Hair

Rachael is a working mother of one 5 year old. She's worked as an actress for a large part of her life, working in plays mainly but has taken lead parts in plays such as 'The Deep Blue Sea' by Terence Rattigan.

She has experience with children and has worked for a children's music company that puts on classes for children under 5 around local schools. She has lots of smart work outfits, as well as casual clothes so can will have suitable costume for the film.

 

HH

Actress: Amelie Stanijic: Girl

Amelie Stanijic

5yrs

3"8

Large, Brown Eyes

Long, Blonde Hair

Fair Skin

Amelie is a young girl, in yr1 at school. Her mother is Rachael Watkins, the actress playing Emma. She enjoys dressing up, playing with Lego & Toy Story and watching Shrek. She is very bright and can clearly take instruction.

I have no doubt she'll be able to act well for the film, especially as the mother and daughter relationship on screen is real. She has lots of clothes, girly and not-girly. She also has dressing up outfits that would give us the option of having her dressed in some more exciting clothes that an autistic/OCD child might like to wear.  

HH

Actor: Adam Finn: Jack

Adam Finn

14yrs

5"4

Slim Build 

Large, Brown Eyes

Dark Brown, Long Hair

Pale White Skin

Young Looking Features 

Well Defined Facial Structure & Cheekbones

Adam looks slightly younger than he is and so would be a good playing age for someone age 12. He has experience with autistic children from volunteering with the group Fun Fizzical, a thursday evening playgroup for young disabled children.

Hopefully this experience will aid him in being able to play the role of Jack although we do actually plan to leave almost all of the acting down to camerawork.

He has very clear eyes which as a character makes him more innocent and believable. His messy hair also works for the OCD nature of the child, he hasn't allowed his mother to cut his hair in a long time.

3| So Far

So far, we've collated ideas and now come up with a clear storyline and ideas of how we want the film to look. We've done summaries of both characters and described their backgrounds in detail so we can brief the actors and give a clear idea of what we're trying to create and where our characters have come from. We've explored mood & tone and are thinking carefully

This week we are finishing our location ideas, filming a recce, finding our actors and screen-testing them then at the end of the week, deciding our actors. At the end of the week we will start the shot list and have several meetings about how we both see the film shot by shot.

Character Backgrounds

Emma's background is slightly troubled, she grew up on a nice council estate in Kent, however it wasn't a privileged upbringing, certainly nothing compared to her wealth now. She worked hard and relentlessly through her late teens and twenties, now age 36 she holds a top position in a central London   management company. She's head of international communications and speaks several languages, this is how she initially got the job.

Aged 24 she became pregnant with a boy, Jack who is now 12. The pregnancy was an accident but as the baby grew she became very attached and couldn't abort or give up the baby, so decided to keep it with a lot of help from her parents. The father was an old work colleague who she didn't want the boy to see, he was to immature for the child's own good. 

Somehow Emma managed to continue working and evolving, thanks to the help of her parents with childcare. Aged 5, Jack was diagnosed with mild-high autism, a form that means he is highly intellectual in some areas but in others has a mind of someone several years younger than him.

Now they live together in a substantial suburban house in Greater London, the house is a large, typically middle class house. The house is modern, newly designed and a statement of Emma's wealth and success.


Jack attends a local school, getting Jack settled here was one of the hardest things Emma's had to do, she had to stay with him in the classroom well into the first few lessons, every morning for nearly 6 months.

Now Jack is relatively settled but cannot really be left alone, Emma often has to deal with fits or outbursts that he has. She struggles greatly trying to balance him and work now that he is older, her parents are frailer and less able to help with looking after him. She employs a nanny but Jack doesn't like her very much. There's little connection between them and she has a lot to learn about Jack's habits, likes and dislikes.

Outbursts and situations like the one we experience in our Short Film occur weekly and are testing Emma to her limit.

HH