Due to my main character being unavailable when this was originally planned, I rescheduled the filming at my own house to today.
There were a lot of shots and scenes I needed to film here with my protagonist therefore this really allowed me to stick to my schedule.
This is the setup I used with the tripod when filming the first scene as I felt that seeing her in bed waking up showed her in her comfort zone before reaching school and being bullied...
Please find a compilation of unedited clips from today's filming below...
As you can see, I got a lot filmed today which is imperative to my plotline. For example, I now have the shots needed to edit my first scene together.
I will need to edit the scenes filmed in my bedroom; the low light in this environment resulted in grainy footage. Therefore, I will research how to improve this on Premiere Pro or After Effects and rectify this.
Some of my favourite shots include:
where my main character is sat in front of the Christmas tree receiving a gift from behind the camera. This puts the audience in the position of somebody close the protagonist, creating more sympathy for her.
the chiaroscuro used against the light from the front door as this creates a silhouette effect on my main character. This suits the theme of my short film that anybody can be bullied as she appears non-descript before the audience get to know and relate to her.
where my main character is writing her suicide note. I may super-impose this over a shot of my main character having already committed suicide to represent how it happened. This is also more stylised, increasing the drama and pathos.
Next time, I will be editing my first scene together to see how the shots flow.
I will be filming the scenes at my house soon. Some of these involve the protagonist's bedroom, which will be mine.
However, in many student-made films, it is obvious that the room does not belong to the character. Consequently, I decided to add things to make this look more realistic.
I decided to add photos of the protagonist in the room to imply this. Therefore, I got her permission to use some of her photographs. I chose one of my actor smiling at prom, to show that she was once happy, and one of her with an older lady. I chose this one to imply that this was her grandmother and that she was very family-oriented, making her suicide more sad. I also made this the lock screen seen on her phone to emphasise that she was close to her grandma and perhaps did not have close relationships with people her own age. I did not choose any with friends; the decoder could then infer that perhaps she didn't have many friends, and was isolated, causing her depression and suicide.
I then got these photographs printed at Boots. I cut them down to size and put them into frames to place in the bedroom.
I feel that this helped to suggest that the bedroom did belong to the main character and consequently did not distract the audience from believing the story.
I decided that I would pan across the images used before the suicide is revealed as this would make her more relatable and show her family relationships right before the climax, creating more pathos.
I also saved these numbers on my phone, the first in case of an emergency (as well as being able to call 999) and the second in case I had any queries.
One of the potential audiences of my film is schools because it can be shown to educate the target audience about bullying and the consequences of ignoring it.
To find out more about how institutions educate their students about bullying, I contacted local schools and enquired about their safeguarding ambassador.
I then spoke to these teachers and asked a few research questions via email...
These are some of the responses I received...
First:
1)Yes, I think
they are through form tutor discussions, assemblies and drop-down days etc.
2)Students have
a confide button on each PC in school and can also speak to student managers,
form tutors etc. We always promote an ‘it’s good to talk to adults’ climate and
often if the child themselves doesn’t shout up, then their friend will on their
behalf.
3) -Assemblies
-Sorted booklets
-Information on website for parents
4)Yes, anti-bullying is a regular agenda on the assembly rota, both face to face and on
line and e-safety type.
Second:
1)Yes. Very much so. We have themed assemblies about bullying
for a fortnight during anti-bullying week, the first week looking at
bullying on a global or national scale, followed by a week specifically looking
at bullying in school.
2) During the second of the two assemblies the theme is always
about what to do if you are being bullied, or witness bullying – who to go to,
what to tell them etc.
3) -Form tutor time
-Assemblies
4) Always. We use bullying case studies or thought
provoking videos to make students see the dangers. One teacher also leads on
e-safety which is a separate week where we look at keeping safe online.
Third:
1)Definitely, we do anti-bullying assemblies throughout the
school terms in which we reiterate to students the forms of bullying, support
we have in place, how bullying is dealt with and update the students and staff
regularly. We have a student led award winning anti-bullying team which
consists of 12 students ranging from Year 7 to Year 11 and they not only promote
anti-bullying in our school but also within our local primary schools. All of
the team members are mentors to our younger students and this is one of our
biggest successes. Every student knows who the Freebrough Against Bullying team
is and feel comfortable approaching them for support. We have a page on our
school website that not only educates students but keeps our parents updated
and in the loop with what the team do and the support that we offer.
2) As mentioned in the previous question we have a Freebrough
against Bullying Team who are student led and who work with students within our
school and also within our local primary schools. We have won the Diana Award 3
times in which students travelled to London to collect the award and we are
known as a Bullying Intervention Group. We work alongside the Anti-Social
Behaviour team and log any incidents that are dealt with and involve parents.
The team meet weekly to discuss interventions that can be put in place for the
students and lead assemblies once every term so that every student knows who we
are. FAB get involved during our Year 6 transition so that they are also aware
of who the students are.
3) -Assemblies
-Tutor
activities
-Cake sale –
fundraising
-Visit our local primary schools
-Sell wrist
bands – anti-bullying awareness
4)Every term the FAB team lead assemblies.The team were nominated last year as a showcase school in
which the Diana Award from London filmed the team completing an anti-bullying
video which can be found on YouTube and demonstrates what we do as a school to
prevent bullying.
I then watched this school's YouTube clip outlining their excellent anti-bullying schemes. Please find this below...
This is the kind of school which my video would be perfect for and marketed to.
Diana Award
This school gained the Diana Award 3 times, which is awarded to celebrate the work done by young people for society. Again, this shows the importance of bullying within the community and how prominent the fight against it is.
I found this research helpful; it proves that films like I am making are important to schools and these are potentially part of my wide audience.
Also, it showed that bullying is a huge topic which is extremely prominent universally, demonstrating that the message in my product would also attract larger audiences.
Included:
Questionnaire for anti-bullying ambassadors
Networking to plan where my film could go afterwards
I have been thinking about the title of my short film...
Originally I was set on this being "Hanging On" as the present tense reflects that this still goes on and emphasises the struggle.
However, I am now also considering "Hang On" because the imperative command adds more severity to the topic. Furthermore, this is shorter and consequently may look more appealing on my poster.
Therefore, both of these are possibilities which I will be considering.
I am continuing to plan for my post-production stage, starting with organising my footage.
Short films like mine are often played in schools due to being educational and relevant. Therefore, I researched the classification system of films.
I decided that my film would be a 12A because of the distressing themes involving suicide and bullying. Furthermore, there is no sexual activity or drug use. The only taboo language used is merely mouthed due the film being silent.
During this I found out that students can submit their films to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) for this.
I used the fee calculator on their website, and to do this would cost approximately £150. This is useful information for the future as I may do this to receive a black card.
I decided to make a mock black card that would be shown for at least 5 seconds before my film is displayed in cinemas.
Obviously this will not be used, but this is the general idea of what this would look like professionally.
Before a trailer, the age rating is shown therefore I will follow this convention with my own. I will also include this on my short film poster and double page spread.
'A Girl Like Her' is a long film with similar themes to mine but is more distressing in terms of language etc. This is rated at PG-13 as it is American, therefore I think that my prediction is accurate.
This is the typical display at the beginning of a trailer...
And this is the mock version which I created...
This gave me an idea of the industry in reality and informed me about age ratings and how I could go about getting mine classified.
I was FINALLY able to film in Saltburn today because we had good, safe weather. This means that I can start editing my montage together properly as these shots were the glue which held this section together.
Please find my video diary below...
And here are some clips from today's filming...
I love the lighting of these shots! Light is one of the themes in my short film and, particularly here at this tense moment, I think that it represents both hope and my protagonist's escape from a cruel world.
My favourite shot from these is the extreme close up of my main character's eyes. It is said that these are the window to the soul, therefore it is arguable that the audience sympathises more with her having seen her this close. This ensures that my product is emotional.
Unfortunately, I have suffered a terrible migraine and have not been well enough to be in college for over a week. This has set me back with my deadlines and shooting schedule as I have not been able to use the computer or film anything.
However, I am starting to get back on track and will be filming in Saltburn tomorrow, which is an important section.
This is the setup I used with the tripod when filming the first scene as I felt that seeing her in bed waking up showed her in her comfort zone before reaching school and being bullied...
