The document outlines initial plans for a short film project involving action and special effects. The author enjoyed making short films previously and was skilled at adding special effects and editing. They are considering including a poster for the short film if time allows, as they have strong Photoshop and graphic design skills. Several mind maps and mood boards are included to help plan camera shots, lighting, colors and techniques for the film. Shots involving tension, mystery and character reactions are of interest to set the right mood.

1. Initial Plans
Andreas Mina

2. Initial Reaction
From seeing the brief I have decided to make a video. I want to make a short film, potentially involving
action and special effect. from my video rotation, i managed to get a distinction from my short film I
made. In this, I used a lot of special effects and some camera technics. I was good at adding and editing
the effects into the short film, by keying it and tracking it. In my opinion, I enjoyed the short film the
most, out of all of the rotations, as I was most creative with it. I was also good at using premier pro to
edit and cut unwanted footage. I may even include a poster for the short film if I ever get time, but this
is an un official idea. The reason I am considering a poster, is because of the Photoshop skills that I was
good at. I managed to get a distinction in the print project too. I was good at layout of the magazine, but
I was also good at creating the minimalist posters too. This is a skill I would potentially like to add into
my FMP.

3. Mind Map 1

4. Mind map 2

5. Mind Map Main one

6. Mood Board: Poster style/interesting
Comedy/serious
Inception: the shot shows the shillouette of
the character at the lower centre third whilst
there is a dark scenery as the background
framing him to draw attention and mystery
of who he is. The poster shows a flood of
water with the character standing in it. I like
this poster because they are presenting
imagery from two scenes in one. This draws
attention to the audience to go watch the
film, as they want to understand why this is
happening, and how it leads up to this
situation. Also, floods and cities linked
together usually lead to disaster, so the
audience will want to know how the
character copes in this potential disaster.
What I want to take from this poster is the
mystery created in the scene. I would create
my poster with a certain situation implied, so
that the audience can wonder what is
happening, and how it leads up to this.
Star Wars: this poster is showing all of the main
characters in the centre focus. It shows a big Darth
Vader at the back. This is presenting him to be a grand
and powerful being, seeing as he is above everyone,
looking down on them. The main characters are at the
front all aiming guns, to show that they are going to
fight against someone. Around the characters, there are
iconic objects from the film, for example x wing jets and
the death star to show the sub plot. This is presenting all
of the main action that is to come into a film. By fitting it
all into one poster, it is giving context to new and
existing audiences. The poster draws the audience in to
watch the film, as its showing an idea of what's going to
happen in the film, from the villain being Vader at the
top, to the hero's at the bottom willing to fight. For my
film poster, I'm hoping to include important images to
the plot to intrigue the audience.
Home alone: The poster for home Alone shows Kevin
at the front with the wet bandits behind him. Kevin
has a scared shocked face, whilst the wet bandit have
a evil looking grin on their faces. They look very
menacing, as they are peeking through a window,
suggesting that they want something. The scared look
on Kevin's face and the fact that he's on the other side
of the suggests that he is scared about the situation
and that they are strangers to him, which may be a
possible threat, as the title of the film id called home
alone. The poster makes you want to know how Kevin
is going to deal with the situation, seen as he is only a
kid and has nobody else to help him. The majority of
the poster mainly contains Kevin, showing to the
audience that the main character in the film is a kid.
From seeing this poster, I will want to potentially
show who the main characters gesture looks like by
placing them at the front.

7. Mood board: Poster colours
For the colour scheme, the poster tends to
go for dark and bland colour scheme as its
mainly black with a hint of dark blue. The
dark colours keep it mysterious, as it
shadows on the posters scenery, which
makes the audience wonder what the
scenery is representing and where it occurs
in the film.
For the star wars colour scheme, the poster
has a black backdrop, and a colourful centre
image. The background is black is to
represent the fact that the film is set in
space, and the colourful centre is to
represent the action involved in the film, as
the colour mainly comes from the weapons.
The white I to represent the good guys in
the film, and the black also co represents
evil, seen as darth vader is blended with the
background. The audience will have a clear
understandment of who represents which
side, as the bad guys lack colour, and the
good guys vary in colour.
For Home alone, they tend to go for the
bright blue colours. This tends to make the
film poster look cold and simplistic. The
simplistic look represents the lack of tone,
which represents the character being home
alone. The burglars are wearing black, which
is to represent negativity. The robbers
negativity comes from the villainous minds
they have to steal from the house. The
audience will look at the black, knowing
that something is negative in the film. They
will want to know where it is linked in the
film.

8. Mood Board Camera shots
long shots
Extreme long shotsI want the background of the long shots to be clear,
to show where the scene is taking place, like in
these two images
Insert shot
Dolly zoom
Medium shots
These two medium shots are showing the
characters top to waist. This is the kind of
medium shot I'm looking for, where it doesn't’t
show too much detail, but adds it to the
character. It will make the scenes more tense
and nerve racking, as you get a closer look at the
expression that the character is making
I don’t want the extra long shot to
look as grand as the first image, but I
do want it to show where the location
is, an make it clear of where the film
is set.
This dolly zoom is from jaws. I
want to show one on my
characters face. In this, it zooms
in on the characters face, when
he's realized that there is a
shark in the water. It is a cool
effect, which makes you add
your attention to the character,
as there body is stood still
through the shot.
The intention is to show a close up of the bat being
picked up, to make it look more suspense, as the
audience are clear on the dangerous weapon
you’ve picked up

9. Mood Board colours
The colours that I've picked are bland and plain on these two images. The other image shows
bright colours.
This is the potential colour scheme that I
want for the tense scene. There cant be
much colour in this scene, as it wont give
an effective tense mood, as toned down
colour will add an eerie feel, as nothing
looks familiar or positive to calm the mood
down. I want the audience to feel tense
when watching the film, so removing
colour will add onto it, as there is no bright
colour to make the mood happy.
The colorful pallet will be used in the party
scene. Luckily, the colour can come back easily
in the picture, as the previous scene before it
is a black out. The colours represent the
colours of a birthday party, but it also switches
the mood of the film too, as the colours are
bright, adding positivity to the film. If I left the
colours bland, the film wont give a comedic or
positive feel, as it will look like a terrible
tragedy. The colours will make the scene seem
more light hearted, and it will make the
audience feel comfortable to laugh at.

10. Mood board shot techniques
I want the camera to show the character stood on the
side of the door, with his bat in his house this medium
shot makes the focus on the character, making it tense,
as all we see is him next to the entrance to his house,
making you wonder where does it go from here. The
angle will be diagonal, to be able to have a clear view of
the characters position, and to show the door at the
same time. The audience will be on edge in this scene,
as the footage is showing that the action is now taking
place.
This is a Point of view shot. in my film, I would
potentially like to include this in my film. The POV,
shows what the characters looking at. in my film, he
will be looking around when he is running, to show
how nervous and paranoid he is. The POV will show
how the character is nervous, making it more tense for
the audience, as they are seeing what the character is
seeing.
I would like to take the camera off the tri pod and let
it follow the character walking forward. Without a tri
pod, it will add a shaky effect when moving. The
shaky effect will make the scene more nerve racking,
as you will feel on edge that the camera is randomly
moving in this isolated area. It will make the
audience feel nervous for what will happen to the
character, as the shaky effect relates to the
characters feeling, as shaking represents being
scared.
I would also like to include an insert shot in my film.
The insert shot will be of me picking up a baseball
bat. The insert shot will indicate to the audience that
the item will be used as a weapon. The shot will start
to hint and scare the audience that this person is
getting this weapon. It Makes it more clearer that
the character is picking up the bat, and exadurates
the situation. The insert shot will shock the audience,
as this violent weapon comes into shot out of no
where, making them on edge wondering what the
character will do with the bat.
The dolly zoom. I want to add one to my
film. The effect will make the scene look
more dramatic, as it will go towards the
characters face, making it look like they
aren't moving as much as the
background. The effect adds more focus
on the character, as you see the reaction
they have, whilst the back is changing. It
will be a face on dolly zoom, with no
movement from the character. This is so
that the dolly zoom is more noticeable
and has more chance of working. It will
worry the audience, as it will change the
mood of the film. The effect will show
how everything is going behind the
character, making it look like he is only
focusing on this current issue.

11. Mood Board props and costume
There isn't a particular dress code for the
film, as it doesn’t really matter for the films
situation. But I want to keep trendy, by
wearing a shirt and jeans, to look like I've
come back from somewhere outside.
I want to have a birthday surprise inside the
house. For this, I don’t want to over do it, as
its not a real party, and just a set, so I will get
the most recognisable items that you would
potentially see at birthday parties and add
them to the film. The bright colours will make
the audience feel a bit relived that the
situation isn't as bad as it was, and t will
excuse them for laughing at the scene.
This is the weapon that will hit the
character in the blackout room. I
choose a bat, as it’s a more realistic
weapon someone would have rather
than a gun. It will give a shock effect
to the audience when viewed, as it
will direct that it will be used as a
weapon.

12. Mood Board location
PARTY AREA
(These images aren't from the actual location)
OUTSIDE
GARAGE
The area I want the assault/party to be in,
is an open area, for the character to walk
into. A living room is the best room for
someone to easily walk into. The empty
space will be good to have a party in, as it
will fit a lot of people. The colour and the
room in the scene will calm the audience
down, as its like they are in safety now as
they are inside with bright lights.
The garage will be a quick inside
scene of the character getting the
bat. The character will pick up the bat
on the side and walk to the door. A
garage is a place where you keep your
storage, and a bat would bean object
you would keep there.
This is an image of a housing street and
a house. This is to show the style of
location that will take place in the
outside scenes of the short film. It’s a
simple residential street, and a house.
The house makes the assumption that
someone's broken in the house. The
street gives a normality effect and a
more tense environment as the
behaviour that occurs in the film
shouldn’t be happening in a standard
street.

13. Mood Board story
Outside shot of the
house
The character leaves
his house to go
somewhere
It will time-lapse
or fade out to a
later time
The character starts
to walk back down to
his house in his street
He sees something or
someone through his
window of his house
There will be a dolly shot to
the characters face in shock.
He then starts running to his
garage
He goes inside of his garage, and starts to walk quietly.
He picks up his bat, and walks to get his bat.The shot will
show the bat being picked up. The character then walks
to his home entrance
He enters the house
to it being pitch black,
he starts to walk
around his furniture
The character swings his bat, and you
hear a thud, or a whack onto someone
The lights turn on, to a
bunch of people yelling
surprise
The character is stood there
gobsmacked, with an unconscious
person on the floor

14. Mood Board Analysis
The camera technique images have a repetition in mood. They all seem to either use bland colours or dark lighting, as the
image tone has been darkened. They seem to lack the colour red in the images, as the have yellowish green and dark
colours. The long shot images, all seem to show someone outside, with a sky background. For the location, the images
for the outside shows a happy environment, seen as its daytime in all of the images. The inside of both the garage and
party area, are spacious, but bright, as light colours are mainly used for them. For the props, the birthday gear are very
colourful images, as they all show multi coloured party gear. The bat images give a dark mood, seeming as they either
lack positive colours, or they show dark colours. The clothing all have shirts in the images, which have dark colours like
blue and red. With the mood board story, most of the images show a positive mood, as they have many colours in
them. The intense scenes have dark images(the bat image and the window), as they lack colours in them. The story
board does show images of someone doing the given action, for example hitting someone, or walking to the door.
From looking at my mood board, I would like to research on the dolly zoom jaws scene, so that I can see how they use
it in their film, and I will also research into different films similar to my story, to see how they direct the situation
through colour and camera shots. I will want to experiment on the dolly zoom and on the POV. This is because they are
irregular shots that I need more practice on to get the hang of filming them. I will also like to do the shaky shot too. I
want to see if the way I do it works to give the nerve racking effect or if it doesn’t work.
The way that the mood boards will help me with my final product, is that it will give me an idea of the things that I'm going
to need for making my film. The props slide shows me what I want the party gear and what my clothing style will look
like. The location helps me with setting up the set and where I want it in my house. The camera techniques shows me
examples of how others have done my intentions, so I can get inspiration of those images. The story board shows how I
want to structure my short film. From seeing the mood board, there are some techniques that I would like to test out. I
would like to try doing the dolly zoom again, but with the slider, so that I get a more smoother result. I would also like
to try out he walkthrough to make sure that I’m not too shaky.