2. Location recce. For my short film I am going to use two locations to help represent the narrative of the story and they are going to contrast each other to help make the film effective and to help the audience relate. One of the locations is going to be a plain white room which is going to resemble an asylum with bare minimal furniture and one window to watch the world go by; this is where the main character is going to be located. Hopefully if successful this location along with the character will portray the theme of time as for them it stands still. The other location is going to be the city where life is very much seen carrying on through the use of shots I use and this will also help to portray the theme of time as I am going to use the time of day as an effective way of showing time passing by, so filming in both morning, afternoon and evening. 1st location of plain white room. 2nd location of the city ( London).
4. Costume and prop list. The mise en scene of this film is really important as it is a silent film. So with no dialogue or narrations to explain the narrative to the audience the costumes, props, locations etc... Have to represent the film effectively and appropriately. The costumes: the costume of the main character is going to be a plain white gown to enhance the representation of the asylum. The costumes of the people in the city will differ as I capture a variety of people from different social classes and backgrounds. By doing this it will help the audience to relate better. The props: the use of props in the plain white room is again to reinforce the basic life, minimal life of someone in an asylum who suffers from mental heath issues, so for instance a single shabby bed with a chair and a set of drawers is all the audience will see in the white room but in the city they will see everything that is seen in everyday life so I am not purposely setting up props in the shots of the city because they will already have them e.g. A briefcase represent a higher class and everyday life.
6. Choosing the actor. Because the character has no dialogue we are not looking specifically for a drama student we are looking for someone that has the confidence to be on camera and move around a bit. The way in which we are going to decipher our actor is through the use of auditions to see who best fits the role of our main character. Because there is no need for any characters in the city we only need one character and the gender of the character is not a major factor therefore making it easy to find the role for the character.
7. Characterization. We want the main character to be represented as a dark, troubled, stand offish and awkward character. As there is no dialogue the actions of the character will have to be exaggerated through the use of diagetic sound along with music to represent the mood and feelings of the character.
8. Shot list. Extreme close ups: I will use these in the film to focus on the facial expressions of the character so the audience can get a better understanding of the affects the situation the character is , is having on them. Medium shots: these will be used to mainly shows the outfit of the main character in detail to reinforce that they are in an asylum. Also these shots will be used in the city to show comparison of someone on the outside world to someone that is locked away. Long shots: these will be used to show both the body language of the character and bits of the location that the main character is in. In the city location these will be used to show a sense of freedom and independency. Establishing shots: these will be used at the begging of the film to show the audience the location and the extremity of one place to another.
9. Sound research . Suited to the feelings and emotions of the character. Change in pace and rhythm to cause an atmosphere Most sound for docu dramas are non worded and have a fast paced rhythm to cause intensity. Music ideas. Could use a song with words to help represent the narrative. Choose a known song so the audience recognise it and can relate. Could use a song with no words to add to the simplicity of the film and the fact it has no dialogue.
14. Shooting & acting schedule. The first scene we are going to shoot is the one of the main character in a environment which represents an asylum to shows themes of mental health. The first shot will be a long shot which is tilted down to show the character curled up sitting in the middle of a white room, this shot will not only show signs of the first location but also helps to represent the character as powerless and vulnerable from the way the shot will be towering over them. The second shot will pan around the room showing the bare minimum that the main character has to give the audience an insight. The next few shots will show the character up close to show the sad and lonely facial expressions to make the character relatable to the audience. First scene, the white room.
15. Drafting for ancillary task. Film Poster design: For my poster I want the theme of my short film to be portrayed to the audience. Whilst doing my poster reviews I noticed the majority of them have big bold and simple titles to make it stand out and noticeable, so using this idea at the bottom of the poster the title of my short film will be displayed in big bold font. The main image i am going to use will take up the majority of the poster and by this i hope that the audience will gain an insight into the film just from looking at the poster i created. The image i plan to use is a tilted down shot of a big crowd which is clearly located in the city and with the use of adobe Photoshop I will edit an image i took of the main character in white with a sad and depressive facial expressions and place them central to the shot to reinforce that loneliness and invisible feeling that will be represented in the film. I hope that by using white costumes for the main character against the general dull colours of city clothes the contrast will help make the main character stand out.
