Chorus

The main reason for Katie and I deciding to include a chorus in our work was the seen fairly abstract, a typical conventions of a stinger. With the chorus symbolising the relationship between the two main characters, it allows us to be experimental and make it as abstract as we wish. A chorus normally consists of many people often wearing masks, hiding thier faces, they show no emotion and are all in one colour.
Although we have taken the idea of the chorus we have decided to use one character and allow the character to be their emotions expressing when they are happy and sad rather than revealing no emotions.

Prop ideas

Concept development

With the concept being based around the deterioration of a girl's life we have chosen to relate the reason to her meeting a boy who ends up breaking her heart. We have came up with a few different reasons as to why the relationship takes a turn for the worst but we will choose the one the audience prefer once recieving feedback.

Another thing we are planning to include is a chorus, these are mostly seen in the typical Greek tragedy however we have decided to use a more modernised type which we will keep cutting back to throughout; this will show the audience what is going on throughout the film as the character that is the chorus is a symbol of Zoe's emotions. We are going to give the character in the chorus a prop which will be key to reflecting Zoe's feelings.

CHANGE..
Due to discussing our Chosen concept with other our fellow peers and receiving
feedback, we have decided that we are going to persue a different idea. This choice was made as the narrative was challenging for our viewers to understand and too complex to present as a stinger.


NEW IDEA..
We have came up with the idea of a silent black and white short film. The idea is to show the deteriation of a typical 'love at first sight' relationship unfolding to a girl left heart broken. Although the narrative is seen to be very basic the film includes no dialogue making it challenging to express the emotions between the couple. Due to this we will be looking into props and exaggerated expressions within our acting to produce a challenging but exciting short film. 

 

Six Week Plan

Week	Plan	What we will do
1	Post Production	Storyboarding, Narrative, location shots
2	Post Production	Shot to shot analysis, Characters &props organised
3	Filming	Shooting the scenes where she is normal, stereotypical locations- school, house, etc.
4	Filming	Continue shooting Normal scenes with some shots that shows stress, anxiety and confusion which she bottles up until uncontrollable
5	Filming	Start seeing strange ‘people’ she doesn’t recognise in stereotypical locations- shopping centre etc.
6	Filming	House Party scene

I have chosen to analyse the short film 'Last Day Dream' which was written and directed by Chris Milk. The film is really short lasting less than a minute however I think this will be effective as my other film analysis 'Wasp' has a much longer duration.

I feel the most important Cinematic techniques used within this film are Sound and Edits, this is often unusual within films and the main focus is usually always Mise-en-scene. As the film is looking back over time the Mise-en-scene chronologically shows the girl growing up over time from when she was first born to having her children then the death of her. When the girl is shown to be happy and her experiences are positive the shots are bright and colourful, in contrast to this the negative and brutal experiences we see clips of are very dull and dark showing the emotions she has felt during her life. The locations are very basic everyday places suggesting she lived quite a normal life, however, the shots of a man watching over her through a window and her hand covered in blood implies she experienced some negative situations throughout her life. 

Immediately the film starts with a point of view shot allowing the audience to be in the 'Last Day Dream' as well. Although we see a variety of shots with the girl in the image it always cuts back to the girls point of viewing putting you back in the position she is in. The use of close up, medium shots and long shots are selected well in the film to make it most effective. The long shot of the girl with than man looking over her shows she is alone and there is just him there giving a sense of isolation. The use of the handheld camera gives a sense of realism within the stinger, it really allows the audience to interact with the woman's situation and feel similar emotions to how she would at that time. 

The repetition of the noise throughout builds a sense of tension and builds up suspense allowing the audience to wonder what will happen. There is limited use of diegetic sound in the film and the story is explained more by image than sound. The only diegetic sound used is to reveal emotions, either a sense of fear or being happy and enjoying herself. The non-diegetic sound becomes more dramatic towards the end of the film creating a build up to the 'last day dream' the last day. 

The editing used to cut from shot to shot is really forceful. Chris milk has used the cuts and made it look like a repetitive blink between each shot cutting to a black screen. The use of the blink shows her going back on each experience meaningful or having a great impact on her life. This is productive as it again makes the audience feel in the situation she is living and feel a sense of realism and sympathy for her.

ANALYSIS OF SHORT FILM 2

Wasp, the short film by Andrea Arnold lasts around 5 minutes long. I have chosen to analyse this film to give me an understanding of the conventions taking place within the film and the typical features the appear in representation to mise-en-scene, cinematography, edit and sound. 
From the first few seconds of the film the shot shows a set of dirty stairs with children and a woman walking down in their bare-feet. The woman is still in her nightdress and doesn't seem to care much for the children's orb her own appearance. Carrying the baby carelessly with only a vest on and the three children wearing dirty and washed out old clothes suggests they are from a lower class background and are poor. At the beginning of the film the mother starts a fight with another woman, this would suggest she doesn't really care and isn't exactly a great role model allowing her children to watch in the street. in comparison to other children, the main characters daughters are definetly represented as worse off. 
Throughout the film we don't ever see the children's father and the main character never hears from him, it is clearly the single mam is struggling with the upbringing of her children and cannot afford to pay for the basic essentials. When the children complain to be hungry the mother substitutes a meal for a bag of sugar, this reveals a greater understanding of the mothers financial struggles showing she cannot even afford a basic meal for her family. In the house all the benches are covered in empty bottles or wrappers which haven't been put in the bin, this again shows the mother in a negative view being too lazy to tidy up her own house and instead living in a mess. 
As the mother couldn't get a babysitter she chose to take her children to the pub with her, this isn't exactly an ideal place for a baby. The mother abandons her children outside the pub to go meet a boy. This suggests she isn't actually fit to be a mother and doesn't  have her priorities right. When going to the pub she is dressed in an extremely short skirt and a red top, the clothing she has chosen is quite revealing and her top has connotations of love due to it being red. 
The short film uses a handheld camera all of the time. Firstly, it is used when they are coming down the stairs almost as if that is how they're moving. The shot starts with a close up on her thighs which lets the audience see she is dressed in her nightwear and  the clothes the children appear to be wearing, this shows they have no shoes on and are walking on a really dirty floor without a care showing its a common experience. Starting at the feet it allows the audience to see the dirty floor and shows the type of place these children are being brought up. The use of the handheld camera shows a sense of realism and could have been used to show the carelessness in the way these people live. The shots when in the house generally seem dull compared to being out in the day light, this could have been used to represent their lifestyle, emotions and feelings of the characters. 
In the short film Wasp there is a lot of colloquial language used, this reflects the type of people she wants the audience to see them as. They are presented as very common and rough. The mother has a very strong accent and swears throughout the whole of the film. We also see the children repeating the foul language again representing the mother as a bad role model. The language used give a good representative of the bad upbringing the children have experienced. 
Due to the film having a very realistic situation as its focus the edits are kept very simple with just using basic cuts. The subject matter is very serious and therefore keeping the edits simple reflects the everyday life the children are growing up in, however the difficult life the children are experiencing contrasts with the very simple but effective editing of the film.