Storytelling unit - Overall reflection

Overall i feel like the whole unit was very educational and i learnt a lot, watching Soft and other films showed the importance of storytelling, and subtle devices that can be used. The notes i made help me to create my story, i didn't enjoy the editing as much but overall i enjoyed the unit

Storytelling - The film

storytelling unit- Editing

This is Final Cut pro- the software I used to edit my film, i found it quite difficult for first, i could use the basics of it and add all the clips in but when it came to placing them in certain orders and editing with transitions. The sound i found quite hard because i had alot of clips that i needed to sound and talking from but not that actual footage. But after some help i managed to do it.

Storytelling unit - screenshot

This is a screen shot from my final film, its the moment is just about to score a goal, I' m using a low side angle without their faces to build drama. The  light was high key because of the daylight and the sun shining but it created shadows that looked good.

The meeting - final draft

Untitled Screenplay- Second Draft

First draft - The meeting

Untitled Screenplay-1 First Draft

storytelling unit - Trailer

After filming i realised that this was enough to fill up the 2 minutes of trailer, as i was making the trailer i realised i didn't want to show them making up, because it would draw the audience in. So i was just going to leave the trailer ending on them not being friends. I chose the shots that created the narrative quite well, At first i included a 360 shot of Sam which established her as a 'coloured' person, i then used football actions shots and them playing together that represent the friendship developing, it then cut to Sam in the tree and the quite emoitional scene of the bullying. but due to the lack of actors i had i choose not to include the four boys in my script, which also was a device i used not to give too much of the storyline away. I then used a shot of just him by himself kicking the ball, then a created scene of them on the swings but one of the children is in the normal colour and lighting and the other charracter parrell on the screen but in a black and white colouring to make it look like he was not there, creating the illusion of seperation and upset

storytelling unit - filming shots

Again this was a draft, left and forgotten so i posted it in a weird order, also this has been edited to show the change of one of the boy to girl

This is the list of filming shots i used as a check list- 

- 360 Of them together 

- 360 of just the boy and the girl 

- Long shot of the park 

- Shot of Sam trying to score a goal x5 (quite bursts) 

- Sam up a tree trying to get the ball and Johnny walking away feeling bad 

- Them on swings 

- Them just sitting around talking 

- Sam pushing Johnny over in a playful way. 

- Action/tracking shot of football 

- Them being separate and sad, after the fight 

Storytelling unit- the story

So i started writing this post and found it in my drafts, so it will be in a funny order, but I am going to write about how i created my story.

I liked my theme of innocence, and children. I remember reading a book at school called 'How to kill a mocking bird' and the idea sort of come from there of having children in their own worlds not thinking how adults think about skin colour and other issue, also when simon was talking about the story should have a goal, i took that idea quite literally and made it into a football story, the two little boys idea also come from the sweet and inncoent Swash johnsons advert that i posted earlier on my blog, it was quite powerful i thought and that was what i wanted to show in my story.

At first i was going to have the location changing to the boys houses inbetween scenes but that would of been too hard to convey and would make the story complicated. i struggled a bit to write my script the main bit i wanted to include wasnt going to take 10 pages to do, so i needed to fill the pages up with dialogue, i wrote the whole script out from start to finish and it was only 4 pages long, i then included dialogue and setting which would subtly tell my story, and i used hidden backgrounds and agendas to tell my story. The last bit i wrote was when Johnny shouts out to the group of people, that was just a page i needed to include to make it up to 10 pages but also it showed how Johnny was more confident and cocky with an attitude and the contrast to Sam as she was too shy and didn't want to be noticed.

Another interesting bit of my script, is throughout i showed Johnny to be the leader, then person who guides their activites and conversations, he also had traits of being a bit of a liar to impress Sam, he doesn't understand that Sam would of been his friend no matter what, e.g. when Johnny calms he was playing football with professional players, it showed a clear cry for attention, attention he may not of been getting at home. This showed his personality using the context, without actually him saying 'i am a confident person'

Storytelling unit - editing

So the editing was the hardest part for me, as i felt like my clips once on the computer was abit disappointing i didnt feel like i was able to piece together good enough scenes to make my trailer look good enough, at first i tried just testing a few of the clips putting them in the order i think was best, luckily each scene i filmed, i filmed it 2-3 times, i picked the best ones and placed them it, i was still not happy with how my trailer was looking, I asked some people in the class to have a look and give me tips on how to improve, i then was able to create this clip at the end which had both of them on swings but one of them looks cartoony which shows their separation, which made me feel abit more happier with it, i then used a few transitions to change the shots which made it looked more smoother.

After this i then realised it was the sound that was making it miss that finished AMAZEMENT, so i had a few recordings of lines of my script voiced recorded for my actors, i added a slight echo effect to them and added it to my trailer, then i found a basic yet effective song to put in my trailer, timing it just right with the actions on screen. This made me feel alot better, like i was improving at editing.

Even though i felt like my trailer wasn't very good, editing was the worst part of this process and it might just be because it was new and scary but i enjoyed the screenplay writing more and would opt to do that more.

Storytelling unit- script feedback

The feedback from my script was very helpful, it showed me what i needed to improve on and what went well, The most rewarding bit was when Simon told me that my story was very moving and well written, he said he enjoyed reading it and i have a bit of a talent. I felt very happy.

the feedback i received was that my story was very simple and effective, with most of the structure done but i needed to bring the climax of the story forward to the middle (around page 5) then the montage after, which is what i did on the second draft, the script starts of simple and happy while they are friends, then the moment the other boys get involved, then the moment Johnny knows he was wrong and tries to say sorry by giving him the ball, then when Sam scores the goal, creating an emotional grinder, there was a few technical corrections i needed to do like, describe more of the scene, so instead of me just saying park, included the weather, and the setting more which creates the sense of realism in the script. I also needed to put the action bits in capitals like 'SMACKS' it brings my scrip more alive, I had a a few spacing issues but the format came across pretty professional.

Just before when i was meant to film, my little black boy actor has dropped out, forcing me to use my sister, who is still from a mixed background as the role of 'Sam'. Which did result in me having to change my script and changing all the 'he' to 'she's' and Samuel changed to Sam, however in the light of things, re reading my script Changing Samuel to a girl may of added another layer to my story, as the two little boys just wanted to be friends and play football without adult issues getting involved, turning Samuel into a little girl added the issue of the a boy and girl being innocent, without an romantic agenda. The trailer I made shows a slight untouched romance there, that both the little boy and little girl didn't pick up because of their age, adding to whole concept of naivity i tried to create.

What went well? 

On the day of filming, the list of camera shots and scenes i needed to do helped, it pin pointed what shots i need on the day and made everything go smoother. The lighting was good, with strong natural sun lighting without it being too harsh. Also I had my friend Jack Cook help me with the filming, he took me to the set of film and helped me with the angling of shots and organising the actors where to go, which helped me out a lot, i was very grateful, Also i visioned a certain shot of my actors, where they stand still and a do a 360 degree shot of them in the park. it looked very dynamic and was meant to be an establishing shot of my both actors skin colour, showing the contrast of 'coloured' and 'white' 

What didn't go well? 

The actors i used wasn't very willing to act, which made things a bit difficult for me, they was there and did what i asked them to do but the acting and effort was down to a minimum. However they was back up last minute actors and helped me to produce something, another problem i had was when i first got to the park, the same was sitting in the bag for a while and the lens needed a clean, and so because it was a bright sunny say i couldn't see what i was filming and if it was foucsed well, so i had to take the camera somewhere dark and watch back the first clip that i films, and because it was quite smeary on the camera it was unusable, this took up time i needed to film.

Storytelling unit - development of story

After my tutorial with Simon, i was advised to keep my story quite simple and not introduce other locations and characters. which uncomplicates the plot and leaves more to be told through the characters and their stories. I only included a group of small boys, who are mean't to be the problem and creates a climax in my story, their role was to use racism to test the friendship of the two little boys, i left one bit with the mum, showing signs of discrimination but quite contextual which adds her hidden agenda of racism without being to obvious.

I've organised my characters, knowing a little black boy was quite handy to this film, he has asked a little white friend to play Johnny who i believe would be good actors, I've chosen a location, its a park by my house, i know it quite well and i'm hoping that the weather and everything is good on the day of filming. As i have never organised a filming production its quite important that i get it all right and i plan all the details.

I've made a list of shots i need to include and how long roughly i need them to go on for, almost like a storyboard but in a list sort, it will help me as a check list during filming.