Unit G324 - Short Film - Initial Planning

We began the project with an introductory power point presentation detailing which topics we would be interested in working on. We narrowed down the choices to a short film, poster and film review or a teaser trailer, magazine cover and a poster or a music promotion video, magazine advert and a cover for it's release. We finally chose the short film as we both have previous filming experience from both GCSE and BTEC media, consequently we have editing experience. We've also analysed film posters which will help us to produce an effective film poster and an interest in writing will bring enthusiasm to both the film review and in writing the script, of which i have a keen interest in. We preferred the short film brief as it was quite open and so we could come up with plenty of ideas and choose a genre which is best suited to us, this will therefore help us to keep focused and on task.

We created a spider diagram and came up with numerous ideas for the short film, we then narrowed down our ideas to two options which we then expanded on by adding more story detail, to do list and a contingency plan.
The first idea we expanded on was a mockumentary style film, we chose to focus on a battle of the bands competition and interview each of the bands, through this we will end up with comical, smug, catty musicians in competition with each other. We would also include clips of live performances although we would only use short clips as we want the main focus to be on the interviews and observation of the band, dialogue is the main focus of this film.

The second idea we came up with was a horror parody/comedy yet we felt that this idea wasn't as original as the mockumentary and we couldn't do as much with it. It would have also been difficult to film as we wanted to film outside at night which is just not possible with the equipment we have available to us. interviews filmed there is a need for extras in the background and for musicians on stage.

In our contingency plan we raised issues such as access to location, we have to make sure we can secure a pub or club early on and figure out when exactly we can film in there etc. If we lose the pub or club setting we could make the film look more studio based yet i feel this would impact on the quality and feel of the film. Also access to musical equipment needs to be secured, i personally have some musical equipment but when the bands turn up to be filmed i need to make sure that it's clear that they are providing their own instruments. Also we need to make sure everyone can be present on the days we are filming, taking note of prior engagements such as jobs and so on. Continuity may also be an issue as the film takes place over one day however the filming will most likely take longer so we will need to make sure that everyone keeps continuity in mind and wears the same clothes, doesn't do anything radical with their hair etc. We'll also have to keep in mind that it will be a busy set and keeping everybody in line and making sure everything is going to plan could be hard work.

In our to do list we identified that we would need to research mockumentaries including programmes like The Office and films like Drop Dead Gorgeous. We would also need to secure a performance area such as a pub or a club and we would need to secure musical equipment. We would also need to research real music/band interviews to make sure the terminology and feel of the interviews are correct. The main thing that we need to make sure happens is that all the actors and musicians turn up as there will probably be a large number of people to be filmed, although there won't be many interviews filmed there is a need for extras in the background and for musicians on stage.


Contingency Plan