MEST4 Linked production: Research and planning

1) Confirm your production brief. You write this yourself but it's absolutely crucial this is clear, appropriate and achievable. You should have done this already - the original blogpost was here - but it may have changed as a result of your preliminary exercise.

- My production brief is a short film opening that will showcase female archetype. similar to the way that is seen in The Hunger Games. This will last between 3-5 minutes and will reach an audience of people from the ages of 12. This is appropriate because I will only need a minimum of two main characters to achieve this.

This is a dystopian future where they population is divided into two scavenger and the city. Scavengers are poor and live in the streets, they can be violent or simply helpless. Whilst people who live in the city and better off compared to scavengers and have a stable living.

My story line will include a girl that is classed as a scavenger who lives in the woods and is eventually found by another girl, who is classed as a citizen of the city, who helps her and goes back to her workplace to see if she can get the scavenger a job. She ends up having her request accepted and then then the next scene is sometime in the future that shows the scavenger being a citizen of the city. This will showcase the strength of females and that they only need each others support in order to get through difficult times. This will hopefully highlight that they don't need a man to help them get out of a difficult situation.

2) Research: detailed notes on at least THREE texts similar to what you are creating. What are the key conventions? What can you learn/borrow from the examples you have looked at?

Hunger games

- The main example of female archetype is when Katniss first meets Rue. This is key because it is one of the first times in the film series that we see this being portrayed. The fact that despite their differences in skill they can come together to help each other survive. They do not need the support of anyone else and this in turn highlights the fact that they are strong female characters that can draw strength from each other support.

The scene that I liked the most and will most likely recreate is the scene I did for the recreation task where Rue is dying. I will incorporate the close ups that was used on Rue's face in order to catch any emotion that my character will be displaying. Since I plan to film in areas where there are forests and trees. I will hopefully be able to replicate scenes that show pans of the trees and maybe even something similar to the reverse shot of what Rue is seeing in that particular scene.

I also like how in the first scenes of the film the look and feel of the setting has a gloomy and grey look. This emphasises the fact that it is a dystopian setting. I think it would be useful if I recreate a similar gloomy look to portray the feel of my opening scene of a film.

Frozen

- I chose frozen which is not similar to my linked production in terms of style but it does have a strong portrayal of female archetype. I think this is interesting as whilst there are male characters they aren't the main focus of the film and are more secondary characters that support the narrative. Elsa is a character that has a lot of power and she learns to control them through the love of her sister and this avoids the typical conventions of a Disney princess movie that has the characters depend on the male and is saved by the prince. This film is a good example of the idea that sisterhood is powerful and is the base of the narrative that pulls the story forward.

Divergent

- This film is similar to The Hunger Games. This is because of the fact that it has a female lead character and is set in a dystopian future. In this film Tris becomes friends with Christina who helps her settle in her new faction and helps her relax and supports here amongst other things. They become very close and are open with each other. 

She also encourages Tris, urging her to fight harder and not give up.  The character of Christina shows that we are nothing without our friends.  While people may believe that going at it alone is the best options, our friends are crucial to our success with our personal, as well as professional/emotional/physical/etch goals.  Christin is a strong female because she is unafraid to be who she is and encourages the same in her friends.  

 

I also like how this scene looks, in the sense that the setting is very clear and I would like to somehow replicate this and find a way to have settings similar to this if it fits with my storyline.

3) Project schedule: when will you shoot and edit this production? Make this a week-by-week schedule leading up to Easter. Key dates: we break up for Easter on Friday 31 March and the final deadline is Wednesday 18 April.

4) Script - see the BBC Writers' Room for advice/script formatting. If you're making a music video, you'll want to write a treatment instead. This is an example treatment that I provide for GCSE Media students studying this topic. For print productions, this means writing all the text for the cover, contents and feature articles. Write this in Microsoft Word so you can proofread and spellcheck the work before moving it into Photoshop.

5) Sketching and drafting - for video-based productions this means a storyboard - sheets available in DF07 or you can print out your own AQA storyboard sheet. For print productions, this means detailed sketches of all your pages.

6) Shot list - use Microsoft Word or a template like this to help you. Remember, you need a shot list whether you are filming or carrying out a print photoshoot - professional quality original images are essential if you want to reach the top level.

7) Mise-en-scene: casting/model details, costume and make-up, props, lighting, location scouting for video productions etc. Use photographs to document and plan your mise-en-scene - using your phone is acceptable for this.

Casting/model details

Female 1 – A

Name: ANNIE - Gifty

Female 2 – B

Name: BELLE - Kendra

Female 3 - AS

- Ornela

All female cast between the ages of 15-20  

Costume

The will be wearing casual clothing that is also warm since it is the winter it is expected to be wearing things like jackets maybe even a scarf or hats.

 The colours worn by the girl who is found will be of dark colours and this will suggest that she is in a time of darkness and puts emphasis on that feeling that I want to portray.

I am aiming for a brighter look for the second girl that finds the girl A. This may be a more colourful style that suggest that she is bringing hope for girl A and this will suggest that she is the support that girl A needs to find the inner strength within her.

Make up

Natural make up. Nothing that looks drastic.

Props

• Phone
• Jacket
• pen, paper
• Computer?

Lighting 

For the majority of the film there will be a using natural lighting that makes it clear for the audience to see the characters and the features of their facial expressions. There will be a use of highkey lighting when in an artificial setting to mimic the natural lighting.

I don’t plan on using any lowkey lighting in my production but I may have to keep it in mind just in case I have to add anything last minute. However to make things easier I will stick to highkey lighting throughout and as much as I can.

In the forest scene i will be looking to create a gloomy feel with the lighting if possible. Similar to the beginning of the hunger games and also with some scenes in the forest. The scenes with the BELLE only in it, will hopefully look more brighter to emphasise that image of a brighter future, more stable life. The scenes with only ANNIE

Location 

Park with forest

Side of motorway with cars/ Bridge view -

 Building -


City -