Thursday 20 November 2014

Development Of My Short Film

Title: Remember

Character development:
  • The teenage girl- her name is Katie and she is 16 years old. She is very fashionable and enjoys listening to upbeat/pop music. 
  • The teenage boy- his name is Connor, he is 17 years old and he is the boyfriend of Katie. Connor has a very caring personality and enjoys keeping fit and healthy. 
  • The mother- her name is Jackie and she is middle-aged. We do not get to see much of her in the short film but from her reaction to Connor's death, the audience should be able to tell that she cared a lot about him. 
Due to there being very limited dialogue within my short film, the audience will not hear the characters addressing one another using their names however their names will be shown in the end credits. This also means a script will not be needed because there is only one very short line at the end of the film. 

Setting: The film will mainly be set outside during the daytime. My key places of shooting will be the bench, the park and the graveyard. There is one scene which is shot inside the house (when Katie finds out Connor has passed away) and the lighting will be slightly darker to represent that something bad has happened. 

Outline: Before the film begins, the screen is black and the title of the film (remember) is written in a white font and "a short film by Jess Wood" is written below the title. This is to inform the audience on what the film is called and who made it. The music that the girl is listening to in the next shot will be heard in this opening sequence.

The first shot will be an establishing shot of Katie walking along the pavement and the camera will pan along with her as she walks. This shot is used to inform the audience on the environment that Katie is in. As she is walking, she is listening to pop music through her headphones which the audience will be able to hear. I am using music instead of dialogue because it effectively creates the desired mood and also the audience are put in the shoes of the character. The next shot is an over the shoulder shot of Katie who is still walking along the pavement. This shot is used to create a realistic effect meaning the audience can feel more involved with what is happening as they can see the surroundings from Katie's point of view.

There is then a long shot of Katie walking down the pathway to Connors house. This shot is used to introduce the audience to the new location and what her destination is. Within this shot, Katie gets out her keys to his house and removes her headphones and at this point, the music stops playing. Next is a close up of Katie unlocking the door in order to give a detailed account of what she is doing. Due to the pop music no longer playing, suspense is created. There is then an over the shoulder shot of Katie walking through the house and into the living room to find Connors mother crying. This shot is used so the audience can see the unexpected situation through Katie's eyes. There is no music at this point and the only sound the audience should be focusing on is the sound of Jackie crying.

Next is a mid shot of Jackie crying whilst holding a small framed image of Connor. This shot is used in order to show her emotions as well as the photograph so the audience begin to understand what has happened. Sad music then begins to play which is quiet at first and gradually gets louder. A close up is then used of the framed image to inform the audience on who has passed away and Jackie's hand is shaking, showing that she is very upset. There is then an extreme close up of Katie to show that she is shocked and devastated because she has realised what has happened. The camera will then pan backwards so the audience can see Katie running out of the room. This is followed by a long shot of the door to show Katie exiting the house and slamming the door behind her.

Next is a wide shot of Katie running towards a bench and sitting down on it; this is to inform the audience of the new environment. Then there is an over the shoulder shot of Katie sat on the bench, the camera will pan up towards the sky and when it pans back down, both Katie and Connor will be sitting on the bench followed by them walking off the bench holding hands. This is when the flashbacks will begin and reflective music fades in. A low angle shot followed by a high angle shot will be used to show Katie and Connor spinning around and looking into each others eyes. The low shot represents how Katie looked up to Connor and the high angle shot represents how Connor truly cared for Katie. We then get a wide shot of the couple on the swings followed by a mid shot of them walking across the field with their arms wrapped around each other. At one point, Connor will let go of Katie and walk off into the distance alone which represents how he has now disappeared from her life.

A wide shot is used to show Katie sitting on the bench alone- the flashbacks have ended. The reflective music then fades out and the original sad music fades back in as an over the shoulder shot shows Katie walking into a graveyard to visit Connors grave; "one year later" is written at the bottom of the screen to show that this is in the future. A mid shot then shows Katie placing flowers next to his grave, this shot is used so the audience can see her completing this action at the same time as seeing her emotions. The final shot is a close up of Katie to show a tear running down her face as she says: "I miss you" followed by the camera panning out to show more of the graveyard. The end credits will then fade in with the sad music still playing.

Running time: I believe I can make this short film under 5 minutes long because I will not show each individual shot for too long as I have used many different shot sizes and types so some may be a few seconds and some may last slightly longer. 

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