Context- Ideologies of the Elderly

In our film we also want to challenge the dominant ideologies around the elderly generations. Nowadays the stereotypical elderly woman is seen as 'a cute little old lady.' Obviously, with most stereotypes this isn't the case and we are going to put this across in our film from going from one extreme to another- from 'little old ladies' to 'gangsta grannies.'

We are hoping that the extreme, comedic way that we are portraying them will give a light hearted, funny feel to another ideology that we are challenging. All of the characters in our film are extremely based on stereotypical ideologies of what the person should be like. This will allow the audience to immediately recognise who they are and to make assumptions about them. This will then shock them after the big reveal at the end.

Stereotypical Characters:

• Grannies- old ladies, perms, floral dresses, tea and cake etc
• Young Adults- hoodies, rioting and looting, dangerous
• Newsreader- well learned, speaks in received pronunciation, suit and tie

I have been researching some examples of other media products that have used the idea of turning the ideologies to the other extreme when involving the elderly generation.

The Mighty Boosh- 'Nanageddon'

Black Adder- 'Hell's Grannies'

The films that I've found that use the concept of 'evil elderly' are both comedy sketch shows. They use the comedy to give the subject matter a light hearted, funny feel to it without seeming offensive and discriminatory.

By Colette

Risk Assessment

 Today the visited the locations we are going to film at and filled in Risk Assessment forms for them. The forms are scanned in below:

Filming in the Living Room will be relatively low risk, we will just need to be careful of furniture and wires around the room. There are facilities for cast and crew and catering facilities.

The Kitchen is a higher risk than the first location- their are lots of dangerous utensils in it and also we need to be careful around the gas hob on the cooker. Again, there are facilities for cast and crew.

Filming in the alleyway will depend on the weather- we will not be able to take the equipment outside in the rain! There is no electricity available. There are no facilities for cast and crew at the location, but there are catering, dressing and waiting facilities next door inside the house. We will have to look out for horses as they are kept at the bottom of the alleyway and also the uneven ground.

Weekend Shoot

As we have booked out equipment for friday-tuesday, we need to plan what we are going to shoot & when. We have previously done the spreadsheet below:

Detailed shoot plan:

Sunday AM

• Scene 3
• Scene 5
• Scene 7

These are all cross cutting scenes and don't need actors. They will probably take an hour in total to complete. We will also be using a voice recorder to experiment with possible foley effects for our film. 

• Scene 1 
• Scene 9 

These are establishing shots which focus on props rather than actors. They will be reasonably quick to do, however we may take quite a few shots of the same shot so we have a lot of footage to choose from. 

Sunday PM

• Scene 6 middle/end

1. Looters doing graffiti on a wall 
2. Fire shots with yobs
3. CCTV shots 

Monday PM

• Scene 2 
• Scene 4 beginning 
• Scene 8 beginning 

These scenes involve the news room so we will have to set this up  and then set up the lighting etc. This will be one of the most complex scenes to film.

Blog Twitter

We have a twitter page set up where we post regular updates on what we're doing on here and whilst filming etc. Please feel free to go on it and follow us!

http://twitter.com/csshortfilm :-)

Character Development

In our film, the majority of the information that the audience finds out about the characters is created from their own opinions. We formulate these opions by designing the characters to be a certain way, look a certain way and sound a certain way.

The news reporter:

The news reporter will be based on how news reporters used to be represented - that they think they are better than everyone else, and look down on the younger generation. He would speak with an opininative tone like you might read in the Daily Mail newspaper. His appearance will also reflect this, as you can see from the costume, hair and makeup designs. When speaking about the news - predominantly the "youth" riots, he will talk with a slight sneer at the younger generation.

A BBC news reporter from 2002


The roaming news reporter:

The roaming news reporter will be your average roaming news reporter -someone who will take any story they can find to work their way up to ladder to the news room. This will be percieved by how the story is delivered - very keen and excitable. He will be dressed roughly and look scruffy - as if he is right in the moment (the riots).

Scruffy news reporter at the riots for Sky News

Looters

The looters/general rioters will represent the general imrpession of young people that is generally delivered in the news - particularly in newspapers such as the Daily Mail. They will be dressed and talk stereotypically - just as the audience would expect them to.

Looters in the London riots

Grannies

The grannies in the film will be very stereotypical. They will look and sound the way that everyone has an impression grannies should be like - but aren't really. E.g, grey curly hair, pink makeup, posh accent, saying things like "Darling that dress looks wonderful" etc. The words they say and their names will also reflect this stereotypical view on grannies - e.g. the name "Mildred". Of course, this will initially be disguised - by the clothing the looters wear - but this will be revealed at the end.

 

A stereotypical granny

 

By Shannen

Context- Ideologies of Young Adults

Here are some interesting links about the context of our film. I feel that, although the riots were extremely wrong, the media played a huge part in creating a new ideology concerning young adults. They spread the attitude that all teenagers are yobs; stealing, fighting and gang wars. This is the main ideology that we want to challenge as it's something we feel very strongly about! Nowadays, most elderly people won't even look at you for fear of being attacked.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/parenting/3754104/How-DO-you-stop-children-brgoing-off-the-rails.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2011/sep/16/uk-social-media-chiefs-questioned-video

The link above is very interesting- social media chiefs were being questioned over the misuse of media during the riots. Social Media has been described as 'a way around complying with the law.) Rioters used their mobile phones to inform their friends and to get them to join the riots.

Shooting Schedule

Now we have finished all our pre production planning we can start filming our short film. As we are using a variety of different shots and actors we will need to plan when we are filming and who with. To help us to stay organised and on top of what we need to do we have created an Excel Document with the information of the scene, props needed and actors needed.

Filming

We have just booked out the following equipment for friday the 30th november - tuesday the 4th of december. We will be doing some filming on the sunday and monday between these dates.
The equipment we have booked out is the following:

• 1 x HD camera 
• 2 x standing LED lights
• 1 x dolly
• 1 x tripod 
• 1 x voice recorder

Shot List

1. Long shot of old fashioned living room with TV, Low key lighting, Slowly track into tv
2. Medium shot of tv showing interference
3. ECU of TV as the interference begins to stop and news report trailer starts 
4. Full screen opening credits of the news report 
5. Medium shot of the news reporter in the studio whilst interference is still there and the news credits are just finishing
6. Medium shot of news reporter reporting the news
7. MS of the hob
8. ECU of the hob
9. ECU of matches being struck
10. ECU of hob being lit with the match
11. ECU of pot being slammed onto lit hob 
12. CU of news reporter in news room
13. MS of roaming reporter 
14. LS of looters 
15. LS of looters (different location)
16. ECU of a looters' eye & fire
17. LS of youth pulling offensive gesture (shot from CCTV)
18. CCTV close up of offensive gesture & youth
19. Stock footage from the riots
20. ECU of looters' legs 
21. ECU of chopping board being slammed down on a counter
22. ECU of knife being thrown into chopping board so it stays upright
23. ECU of knife chopping & blood dripping 
24. ECU of blood dripping off chopping board 
25. MS of roaming reporter
26. LS of a store 
27. Handheld footage of looters around a corner (MS)
28. CU of looters' hand and items being stolen 
29. Handheld footage of looting (LS)
30. ECU of walking stick being banged on the floor 
31. CU of feet
32. ECU of feet and walking stick
33. ECU of walking stick banging on the floor and feet walking away
34. Birds eye view of walking stick on the floor 
35. CU of end of news credits with interference becoming strong again
36. CU of TV & interference 
37. MS of TV & interference
38. Track out of TV & interference 
39. LS of TV & den 
40. CU of 3 looters' feet walking, pan up
41. CU of looters' upper bodies (still panning up until CU of backs of heads)
42. CU of looter 1's back holding an obscured object
43. CU of cake they are holding
44. CU of looter 2's back holding an obscured object
45. CU of looter 2's object 
46. CU of looter 3's back holding an obscured object
47. CU of looter 3's object
48. LS of den with looters beginning to walk through the door & into the room
49. LS of looters walking into room (from different place in room)
50. MS of looters sat on sofa from behind
51. MS of looters sat on sofa (front view), faces obscured
52. CU of looters revealing identities, pan right 
53. MS of looters' true identities
54. LS of den 

By Shannen

Equipment

Now we have all of our ideas we need to decide on the equipment we want to use to create the best possible film.

HD Camera: Using this instead of a standard film camera will enable us to create a film of the highest possible quality. We used this last year and really liked the sharp, clear effect it gives.

Sound Recorder: To create folie effects. We have used this already to record one of our discussions HERE.

Dolly: To create moving shots and allow us to be more creative with the camera. Good for fast moving shots.

Tripod: To stop the camera shaking and to enable perfect framing. Also, for use with the dolly

Lights: To create low key lighting in the grannies' den and for high key lighting in the news studio. We will not be using artificial lighting outside as we want the scene to look as real as possible

Mobile Phone: We will be using handheld footage for the shop raid scene. Depending on the quality of the film we may film this scene on an iPhone to give a believable feel that someone is recording the action. We will also film this scene on the HD camera as we will need backup footage for if the iPhone footage doesn't work out thev way we want.

By Colette

Hair and Makeup

To plan the characters accurately, I have designed the hair and makeup of the character types. These are below:

Looters/gangsters:

Grannies:

News Reporters:

By Shannen

Props

Props will play a huge part in creating the correct mise en scene for our film. Below are the props that we will need.



Grannies' Lair:

• Old fashioned sofa and chairs
• Coffee table
• Tea Cups
• Old TV
• Cake
• Walking Stick
• Matches
• Knife
• Chopping Board
• Cherries

News Room:

• Large 'news' table
• Papers (for desk)
• Coffee Cup
• Laptop
• Chair
• Screen
• Fake cameras/lights

News Report (outside)

• Fake cameras
• Boom
• Microphone

By Colette

Health & Safety Considerations

As our film features some violence - due to the riot theme - and also some props which can be dangerous, we need to consider all the health and safety aspects whilst filming.

Locations

The Den 

The Den will actually be quite safe as it is set in Colette's living room. However, whilst setting up the scene, we need to be aware of the weights of furniture we are moving, and be careful around any objects which may be hidden. 

Heavy furniture like the sofa can be hazardous

The Newsroom

The newsroom will be quite safe also. The only time we will have to be particularly careful is when we are setting up the props and room. 

An example of a newsroom (BBC)

Roaming Locations

Roaming locations are when we are outside filming the faux riot scenes. For example, in one of these locations, we will be making a fire. For this we will have to be very careful for. We will need supervision for this and will have to have a fire extinguisher on standby. Also, we will need to make sure the fire is very small. Also in these roaming locations we need to be aware of any traffic on the roads, and any pedestrians or animals. 

Fire extinguisher

Props

Some of the props we need to use will be hazardous and we will need to take extra care with. These are below:

A very sharp knife

In one of our cross cutting scenes, we will be using a very sharp knife. For this we must take extra care, as otherwise it could cut someone or seriously injure someone. We will also be using a chopping board to ensure the location we use will not get damaged. 

The knife 

Matches 

When we use the matches (for a scene which involves lighting a hob), we will have to be extremely cautious. Matches could cause a fire to break out, as well as injury to the people around them. To be safe, we will only strike them when absolutely needed, and will make sure that the person who uses them knows exactly what they are doing with them. Also, there will be a fire extinguisher near by just in case a fire breaks out. We will also use extra long matches to make them safer. 

Matches

Hob 

The hob will be hazardous as if left on gas will leak out, which is very dangerous. Also, when it is lit, we will need to be cautious of the fire. To improve safety around this, we will make sure the work surfaces surrounding it are clear and nothing that could catch fire would be near it. Also, we will make sure that it is not left on or turned on without absolute need. 

Lit hob 

Lights 

The lights we will be using to film some scenes in our film will be very hot and therefore could cause burns to someone. Therefore, we will make sure the lights are not on unless needed so they do not overheat; no one will touch them without the gloves on; they will be no where near anything flammable; and they will be used with extreme care. 

Lighting 

By Shannen

Sound Design

Now we have a clear idea of the shots that we are going to be using and the scenes in our short film we can start deciding on sound which we want to use. We will be adding non diegetic sound over the top of the exsisting diegetic sound to reinforce and strengthen the sound. These are a few ideas which we could use.

Soundtrack- We are not going to be using much music in our film until near the end. We want the opening credits and scenes to have an eerie feel to them, and in doing this we will keep the opening credits silent except for the sound of fires. Soundtrack we will use is:

• Newsreport opening and closing jingle
• Lighthearted, pleasant music at the very end of scene 10 and into the credits after the 'reveal'

Foley- Folie effects will allow us to manipulate the sound better and experiment with our own recordings instead of using sound effects already on the computers. We will mainly use folie for the fast cuts in the cross cutting sequence in the grannies' home:

• Match being struck
• Pan being put on stove
• Cane falling on floor
• Knife on chopping board

All of these sounds are particular to our film so they would be hard to find on the stock sfx on the Macs. Also, folie effects allow us to add on extra sound, as the diegetic sound in the film may not be loud enough for the effect we are trying to create.


SFX- We will use the pre uploaded sounds on the Macs when we need simple, ambient sounds or sounds to add over the similar exsiting ones. These will include:

• Men shouting during riot scene
• Screaming during riot scene
• Fire during riot scenes and opening credits
• News report opening and closing jingle (we may make this ourselves)

Likely issues-

• The sound effects that we need are not available in the stock sounds on the Macs and we have to create our own folie sounds for them
• Health and Safety- we have to be careful with the sound recorders when recording folie for the match being struck

By Colette

Audience

Expected Audience

Our expected audience's gender is actually both male and female. This is because the genre of comedy generally can be enjoyed by both sexes. Also, the riots element would attract more males, as it has an action element. 

Our expected audience's age is from 15-24. This is because the riots were based around youth and teenagers. However, elder people might enjoy our film too, as the ending is quite light hearted and funny regarding the older generation. 

Finally, our expected audience's social class would be working class. This is because this is primarily who was in the riots. Also, the grannies at the end are working class too, so the audience can really relate to all of the characters. 

Expected Viewing Platforms

Ideally, our film would be screened online through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and on Youtube. This is because our expected audience is the younger generation, and the best way to contact them is through social media. 

This is just like the initial release of Paranormal Activity.

 

  Paranormal Activity trailer 

By Shannen

Animatic

Below is our animatic. We drew each shot by hand on sticky notes. Then Colette filmed them whilst talking through them.. The animatic was then edited by Shannen.

Media Language

Recap: "Media Language refers to the tools used by any text to communicate meaning. Each media text is a collection of Signs, Codes and Conventions that communicate meaning and generate responses for the consumer."

Some of the techniques we are going to use for our film are:

Cross Cutting: This is a technique that we used in our Foundation Portfolio film last year. We are using it this year to speed up the action and create enigma. It will also make the audience question what they are seeing and wonder what is happening next.

Cross cutting can be seen in the 'Gumtree' advert at 0:04

CCTV Style Footage: This will be a challenge for us as it's a technique neither of us have tried before however it will work very well if we get it right. We want to create the feeling that the rioters are under surveillance by the CCTV cameras.

There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube to help to create CCTV style footage

Handheld/Mobile Phone Shots: For the shop looting scene we will use handheld, shaky camerawork. This fits the connotations of a social realism film- in the riots people filmed what was going on on their phones. We will try to use an iPhone for this but if the quality is bad we will resort to using a handheld film camera.

TV Interference: We want to use this on the TV during the Establishing shot. It will create a slightly creepy feeling to the film. We liked this idea after we saw it on the opening credits for Paranormal Activity.

The credits (at 1:30) show the 'interference' technique we wish to try

Action and Enigma Codes: We will be using  various action and enigma codes, as seen in Roland Barthes' theory of Narrative Codes. These can be seen HERE in our Narrative post.


By Colette

Narrative

Recap: Narrative is the order of events e.g. different scenes. Story line, directing the audience, how the stories told, structure. Can be used to push things to the audience.

Throughout our film we are going to use restricted narration. We are going to hide the identity of the rioters from the audience until the very end. This will keep the audience hooked and wanting  more and will also create a comedy effect when the characters are revealed at the end of the film.

At first we decided on a chronological, linear structure to our film, however we used this narrative style for our Foundation Portfolio last year and we wanted to experiment with something more complex. After much deliberation we decided on a circular narrative. This will allow us to show the end of the story at the beginning of the plot and in doing so, we hope this will create an enigmatic feel. The credits will show the destruction to the streets after the riots, although in the story this happens at the end.

Examples of Circular Narrative in popular films:

• Pulp Fiction
• The Orphanage
• District 9

As the narrative is non linear, we will be using cross cutting from the riots and from the old ladies' house. Although these events are not happening at the same time in the story, they will work well together in the plot to create a fast paced, disorientated feel.

David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson- The Difference Between Plot and Story
Their theories say that the plot works around the story. The plot involves various plot points throughout the film but can miss out information from the story to create different effects on the audience. for example, films of the Thriller genre often miss out parts of the story (restricted narration), to create enigma and suspense.

Our film will support this theory- certain events are hidden from the audience to hook them and leave them wanting more.

Roland Barthes- Action and Enigma Codes
Roland Barthes theory states that film makers use 5 Narrative Codes. Two of the most useful were 'Action Codes' and 'Enigma Codes.' These are used mostly in restricted narration. Action Codes are codes used to tell the audience that action is about to take place. They enable us to "engage actively by predicting the plot." Enigma Codes are a mystery in the text,"a question raised by the text that the spectator is motivated to answer by close and active engagement with the narrative."

We are using a lot of enigma codes in our short film. They will mostly take place in the cross cutting scenes where we see extreme close ups of objects inside the old ladies' house (knife, walking stick, match.) As we are unable to see what they are (extreme close ups) they look threatening and cause enigma. 

The plot of our story is set up to create enigma and suspense through a non linear narrative. This will build the audience up to expect a terrifying end to the story which will contrast with the shock comedy ending. 

Brief Overview of the Plot:

Scene 1:Inside of grannies' living room. 
Scene 2 :News Report
Scene 3:Close ups in grannies' house (hob, match,pan.)
Scene 4:News Correspondent and Riot Footage (and stock footage)
Scene 5:Close ups of Knife etc
Scene 6:News Correspondent and shop looting
Scene 7:Close ups (walking stick, shoes)
Scene 8:Wrap up of news report
Scene 9:Track out of TV and into grannies' house
Scene 10:Revealing the grannies!


By Colette

Animatic filming

We are currently filming our animatic! Yay!

Title sequence/credits planning

Today we had a brainstorming session on the Smart board regarding our title sequence/end credits. We used this platform so we could be more creative and experimental with our ideas. Below are some pictures of us in action:

Permission for Locations

We have compiled a permission form to ensure we have written permission from the owners of the locations we wish use. This way they are aware of what we are using the premises for and we are not using privately used properties without permission.

A copy of the permission form from Rebecca Newey, owner of the house we wish to use is below.

Animatic

Date: Thursday 22nd of November 2012

Today we are starting to develop our animatic. We are going to try and make it detailed and specific to each shot we want to create.

Acting role ideas

Now that we have our main idea planned out we need to think about the actors that we want to cast in our film. There are eight main characters in the film which we will need to find actors for. These are some possible ideas for the roles. We will try and get written permission from the people to add to the blog if they agree to take part in our short film.

News Reporter: Mark Newey (my dad!) I think that he would be a good person for this role as he needs to be able to act seriously. We needed an older person for this (40+) so he will be a good choice

News Correspondent: Will Taljaard. He looks like the sort of roaming news reporter we imagined in our heads, and he suits the costume/hair & makeup designs we have made. He is 17 yet looks slightly older, so this will work in our favour.

Hoodies: Colette's brother Charles, sister Jessica and friends. They look old for their age and will be quite convincing once we have had our way with hair/makeup & costumes.

Granny 1: Shannen's Nan. She lives locally which is convienient for us.

Granny 2:
                 Hopefully we should be able to use some of Shannen's
                  Nan's friends to act as the other OAPs.
Granny 3: