The work done so far will aid us into starting the storyboarding process. It will also help us structure our work to give us time to create an effective film. It will also guide us into more research such as:
I feel that it is important that I research into past and present film directors to get a feel of what film production will be like.
The first film director I am going to look at is Sir Alfred Hitchcock.
Sir Alfred Hitchcock – Born 13th August 1899 and died 29th April 1980
He was an English director and producer and he pioneered many techniques in the thriller genre. He directed more than 50 feature films in an astonishing career spanning six decades. He also pioneered the use of a camera made to mimic a person’s gaze and his shots maximized anxiety and drama which was highly effective in film. His films also embodied psychoanalysis and strong sexual undertones. Through cameo appearances in his own films and through interviews and his own programme ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’, he became a cultural icon.
Noel Clarke – Born 6th December 1975
He is an English actor, director and screenwriter from London. He is well known for starring in ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ and ‘Doctor Who’. He studied media at the University of North London. He most notably appeared in and wrote the screenplay for ‘Kidulthood’ and wrote, directed and starred in the sequel ‘Adulthood’, which grossed £1,209,319 on the opening weekend of its release. Clarke has worked with the BBC Blast project for young teenagers and it aims to inspire young people to be creative. He began writing in 2005 .and is still writing today.
His other writing credits include ‘West 10 LDN’ a pilot for BBC Three that is about kids on a rough housing estate. This is significant as our product ‘Pariah’ is also intended to be a pilot for channel 4.
[Below is a clip from 'West 10 LDN']
We tested out the idea of writing in a journal and we decided that it would look better if we did it on a mobile phone. We also decided that we would change the theme to bullying instead of self harming as it could be very effective without looking amateurish. We also changed the idea of the thoughts coming to life as we didn't think it was within our ability to do this.
Brief synopsis of the film
Debbie is having trouble fitting in at school and is later on bullied which makes her a social outcast. She later cracks and commits suicide.
However, in our short film she will have to take on the persona of a young girl battling with school work and problems at home and with her peers and give an effective portrayal of an emotional teen. We decided to choose her as we felt that the image of a young black girl going through hard times could be something that people may be able to relate to in the diverse culture we live in.
We could also compare Debbie to ‘Emily James’ in Waterloo Road as she had trouble at home and was struggling with family life and school life. She can also be compared to ‘Alicia’ in Kidulthood.
Location Shots
To incorporate a sense of verisimilitude we decided to film in and around school. This could be effective as it could show the character’s surroundings and it could also be quite easy for our actress to adapt to her surroundings. It is also a good location because school is like a second home for teenagers, and is a place where they learn values and learn what is right and wrong in society and they have the freedom to explore and challenge these ideas away from their parents.
To the left are some location shots.
Whilst creating the audience profile, I realised that I had my niche market and that the previous planning I had done would tie in with the demographic that I wanted to reach.
Callous - A Short Neo-Noir Film
The name of the name of a film, it should be something memorable and effective at conveying what your film
may be about.
When discussing this idea, I and my partner researched into film name
s. We saw that a lot of film names had just one or two words. We believed that this was interesting
as it creates an enigma and entices the audience’s inquisitive mind and makes
them want to go and watch it.
As we decided on the drama genre for our film, we decided to look into film titles of that genre.
- The Notebook
- Shutter Island
cise and they didn’t give too much away.
- Outcast
- Exile
- Pariah
And these were the results:
