Evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

About a Girl

About a Girl is a short film directed by Brian Percival. I have chosen this production to compare and contrast with our own through the following screen shots. About a Girl holds a number of similarities to Toast, in that being it focuses on a single central character and their experiences with none other than their present lifestyle.

Screen 1: The first screen shot is the opening title of the film. Visually this title spans out as if it is being written on a phone in text. Mobile phones and text are of common interest amongst teenagers, so when viewing this title it gives that implication successfully about the films themes, in that being young teenagers and such. Furthermore its somewhat conventional for a film title itself to relate to the plot of the film, but the way it is portrayed I think develops typical conventions, its not common for a film title to set a theme through how it is shown.

Screen 2: This screen is fairly ambiguous. Typically opening sequences set some sort of establishment, either being a location or character relationship. This shot however I find to be very artistic and doesn't particularly say anything about the film on surface value. However i chose this shot because it doesn't necessarily develop or challenge conventions because I think its in the nature of short films to explore a variety of shots with different scenery, simply to stand out and attract audience. But taking into account the imagery within this shot and how it somewhat doesn't relate to the rest of the film at first, it does challenge the rest of the films shooting style.

Screen 3: Screen 3 is a shot of some of the girls family. I chose this shot because it establishes that the girl has a family, it somewhat separates herself from them however putting her in the position of an protagonist. This is fundamentally a necessary shot, to further establish the central character. I see it as a conventional shot, in the sense that its just necessary to include within a film and is a good example.

Screen 4: As well as character establishment, although not particularly of as much interest, its also important and of relevance to the plot to show the setting in terms of location. Seeing this backdrop of urban landscape can tell us a variety of things. To me it indicates a working class, poor area in which a number of dysfunctional, anti social occurrences are present. For the girl to be walking along the canal with all this imagery in the background however, seems to tell me that although she is aware of the area she is in, she doesn't let it get to her, as she pursues her career to stardom. It could also represent the girls isolation from her family relationships and her ignorance of how severe her situation is. But at the point of viewing, the audience are unaware of the climax, so the locations representation may seem somewhat of an mysterious portrayal, for the effect it has on the girl doesn't appear to exist for she is optimistic and this moment. I chose this shot because of location primarily, and the implications it can arise. Personally i feel this develops upon conventional settings for its unusual for a setting to have so many representations. 

Screen 5: Screen 5 is perhaps one of the first shots which abruptly and clearly shows the girls isolation. In this shot her Father is in the pub, whilst she waits outside on a bench singing. Although it is apparent now to us that she is isolated, she as a character seems either tolerant of it, or perhaps ignorant of it. By not giving a complete representation of what she feels as a character leaves us an audience still wondering. I chose this shot because it does come off as very lonely due to the length of shot and lack of activity displayed, further portraying the girl with a certain mystery. This seems to be a running theme within the film, shots arise a number of unanswered questions in which the audience are left wondering. Sticking to this theme up until its climax seems pretty conventional for a narrative.

Screen 6: I chose screen 6 because it is a solid representation of the girls loneliness and isolation. The shot is very close in comparison to rest of the films shooting, clearly showing the girls expression to be that of depressed, longing and almost secretive. This shot is conventional in its obvious representations of how the girl is feeling, yet because the shot distinguishes itself from the majority of shots within the film it could be seen as developing upon shooting style within short film. Although I found it interesting as in this point of the film we do not actually know what is distressing the girl, as an audience you get a sense of sadness but still are uphold with questions and mystery, which i feel is the purpose of the shot.

Screen 7: This screen I feel develops upon conventions. Typically throughout a film cinematography sticks to a certain style within its shooting, this shot however varies quite a lot from the entire film. For the majority of the film, shots are hand-held with a shaky realistic effect having medium to close range. This shot however is at a high angle, displaying the canal. For me this shot compliments the climax being different in itself. The high angle for me could represent how big and complex her life is, and how innocent she is within it not knowing of the moral implications of what she may have done and is about to do.

Screen 8: Typically this shot is the climax of the film. It answers unanswered questions that us an audience may have been pondering upon though various elements in the film and wraps up the story. Image wise it is  very disturbing and articulate in that sense, having a very low angled under water shot adding to the variety of shooting within the film. The main impact after some thought comes within the striking brutality of this image and the girl we were just getting to know seconds before, this as an contrast works very successfully in this film, but is nevertheless a conventional theme, in that being a contrast between two elements.

Screen 9: Screen 9 for me works as a type of outro. Although the last sequence was climatic and somewhat conclusive, this shot works as if her story will continue as walks along the path. But for us as an audience as this shot slowly becomes a higher angle and zooms out it works as an ending to the film. The imagery within the shot i find to be fairly metaphorical. Various elements especially the separated lighting within the shot connote for me two separate paths, one of success and the other of the girls life at present. The girl longs to be famous, but her path is blocked. Image wise the canal is separates the girl from the light, the canal somewhat could represent the events of her life, for example the baby was dumped into the canal, so in the sense the canal stops the girl from reaching the light.

Toast

Toast is a somewhat of a subversive representation. Productions which play upon content involving adolescence tend to sensationalise negative aspects of teenage life. Films such as Kidulthood and Adulthood for example, explore British young adult gang culture. Although subjects like this are of apparent interest in society, they still appear somewhat surreal to associate with ones self being the audience and are only really relatable through media contexts. Toast is subversive because it's typically true, rather than a topic typically made into a media product such as over-dramatised teenage life. I have the chosen the following screens to use as examples to explore whether or not elements of Toast use, develop or challenge the conventions of a short film.


Screen 1: Screen 1 is the opening shot. Concerning imagery it is fairly striking. Typically its conventional for a short film the make its audience question why things are happening through visual elements. Looking upon this image of Amelia it arises a number of unanswered questions, primarily to do with the make up streamed down her face and what that has been a result of. However due to the fact it is our opening image, it somewhat breaks the conventions of a short film, for it is typical to have the film title as the first visual. This shot allows our audience to suddenly jump into Amelia's life very quickly, developing on conventions as such. This is because when focusing on a central character within a film, getting to know the protagonist can be a slow process, although questionable, we can get an idea of how Amelia feels very early on.

Screen 2: Screen 2 is the main title. I don't particularly feel this shot breaks conventions, its quite common for titles to be over footage. However i feel the placement of the title is effective, the fact that our title being Toast is actually next to our central image, being toast in itself develops upon conventions. The placement of the title next to the image of toast was an intention, and will help audience relate to the word and image toast. Although the actual reason for the word Toast and recurring images isn't apparent at surface value, and does take some thought process being a metaphorical term, this title is most likely to stick in audiences minds throughout the film, rather than just at the beginning and end, hence developing upon conventions.

Screen 3: This screen is the first establishment of character relations in the film. Amelia's mother is the polar opposite of Amelia, she appears carefree and happy whilst Amelia seems somewhat tired and as if her life is dragging along as such. This shot is a clear example of their character relationship, Amelia's mother comments on how many books she has in her bag as Amelia tries to get out the house in a hurry. For me mise en scene is a main element here, you can clearly see what type of character Amelia is opposed to her mother through her dress code and make up. This establishment is necessary in any short film, so could be seen as conventional.

Screen 4: Screen 4 i feel develops upon conventions as such. Establishing a location usually consists of having a long shot to overview the set at hand, such as a shot of a house or building. This shot however uses a highly recognisable image, which could only really associated with a school, being a school bell. By seeing the school bell you're still aware that the location at present is a school, and is just as easy to understand for the audience. The slow zoom out compliments establishment, in that we are focusing on the image and then at the wider picture, in that being the set location, this helps with the flow of the film.

Screen 5: Screen 5 is a fairly original shot. In that sense it meets the artistic style which short film tries to include within its shooting. The shot implies that Amelia isolates herself by keeping herself in her room and denying all social aspects of life, by walking up stairs and the camera being at a low angle its as if Amelia is leaving the audience behind and shutting us away. Additionally the slow fade out at the end of the shot insinuates that Amelia stays in her room for a long amount of time until the next day.  In this sense, a unique stand out shot connoting aspects about character develops upon conventions as such, but because we use a variety of shots it doesn't particularly break any conventions.

Screen 6: This shot is a good example of getting to know Amelia within Toast. It clearly shows that Amelia is walking a different path to most people, in that being a strictly academic path as opposed to a balance of social and school life.This is shown through Amelia walking the opposite way to her friends who walk up the stairs. The focus of the shot is the effect that Amelia's all work no play lifestyle has on her, the closer Amelia gets to the camera the more distressed you can see she is as she walks past the frame. The close range of the camera displays her emotion solidly. For me this shot fulfills the conventions of a short film, for the type of character Amelia is, is portrayed here.

Screen 7: Similar to the previous shot, after a series of events the shot results in a close up of Amelia as she walks past the frame. This further puts emphasis on Amelia's continuing stress. This shot in particular perhaps contains the most character movement within the entire film, and as a result was shot handheld. The handheld camera compliments the realism and pace of the shot, in that being Amelia being shoved and dropping her bag. Because the majority of the film is shot with the use of a tripod, it somewhat develops upon conventions to add a handheld camera sequence to the shooting. About a Girl has a similar concept, the static shots stand out due to the majority of the film being shot in handheld with a shaky effect in retrospect. So taking this into account this could be just meeting the conventions, but a stand alone handheld shot perhaps is more effective that stand alone shots with use of a tripod or track and dolly such as in About a Girl.

Screen 8: This screen is included within the films final climatic sequence. The shot is extremely close as opposed to the rest of the film, representing a true insight into Amelia and her feelings. The shot itself breaks conventions of typical shooting techniques as well as the conventions of short film as such. The shot is an extreme close up, ECU typically contains no character movement, however in the sense of breaking this assumption this shot has a vast amount of movement to put emphasis on the drama. Being part of the climax, it could be considered conventional for a lot to be happening on screen, but the way we went about it with extreme close ups with the framing being off put intentionally i see to be breaking conventions. As well as the camera being a main element in this scene concerning conventions and representation, the lighting was also of interest. One of the main elements of Toast is the focus of realism, this scene perhaps is the only sequence to stray away from that. The lighting is very exaggerated and creates large shadows, to further distort and dramatize the situation.

Screen 9: The whole point of Toast to emphasize Amelia's repetitive lifestyle, so in this sense the second to last scene of the film where Amelia breaks down is not an original occurrence for her. Hence this screen being the same of the first and further answering why she had the make up streamed down her face in the opening shot. The first and lasts shots being that of the same is quite a unique idea, yet it is somewhat conventional for a short film to bring a original concept as such to the film. So in our position this could be seen as developing upon conventions.

Evaulation; What have you learnt from your audience feedback

Notable points within our feedback video:

Danah Hussain;


- Good Variety of camera shots, angles.
Having the responsibility of directing cinematography it was my sole intention to include a variety of shots within our production. This was purely to compliment shooting style and make it somewhat more interesting for the audience by having a diverse amount of camera shots, its not necessarily fundamental to include completely obscure and original shots to have a interesting shooting style, but by having a range of different shots was successful.

- Sound consistency was good.
Sound was somewhat of a worry and we tended to sound levelling perhaps more than any other element in post production. By having a focus on sound we could reassure that it flow throughout the film, not effecting continuity in anyway. In my opinion however there was a number of things he could of picked up on such as the severity of sound on a door slam and the canteen atmosphere, perhaps the aesthetics of the film whilst viewing makes these things obsolete. We picked up on these things anyhow and corrected them in the final cut.

Camilla Braine

- Casting and script, realistic .
One of our main goals as such in Toast was to put across a realistic product, not be bound by sensationalism and typical productions which involve teenagers. To make Toast as relatable and realistic as possible it was essential for our casting and dialogue to suit our conventions, in that being realistic. Our script was not completely followed, in that we had a vast amount of improvisation to add to realism. We chose a number of drama students to participate in the acting, which i feel was a necessary decision to make. She states that she "could imagine being in that situation " which was exactly the intention we wanted to put across.

- Good costume.
She stated that costume was very informative and notable. The fact we portrayed a 18 year old girl as a late twenties single mother simply though costume and make up design i feel was one of our main standpoints mise en scene wise, and I'm glad that it was noticed.

- Progressive nature of the plot.
She further stated that "it gets worse and worse everyday" in reference to Amelia's lifestyle. This was one of our main focus points story wise, getting to learn Amelia's routine and how it effects her. The fact the audience can relate to her ever building stress makes it more realistic as such.

- Confusion in the canteen scene.
Concerning the sound within the canteen scene caused some confusion, as well as a continuity error. Firstly the sound was very loud, although we wanted an atmosphere of a busy canteen as such, it was too loud. This disrupted dialogue leaving the audience at somewhat of a confusion. Secondly after stating that Amelia does not have enough money to pay for her food, she takes it anyway. These two points are fair to make and are problematic within our film. In the final cut we managed to make the sound levels tolerable in the canteen after some revision of the sound levelling in that scene. The continuity error should of not occurred and we take fault for it. If we was to film this scene again, as a production team we should be organised within gaining availability for locations. The canteen was not available for long and resulted in us rushing takes as such, leading to us missing that error.

- Confusion with two people playing football and previous scene where Amelia looks outside though a window.
This shot was simply for scenery and complimented a voice over which was not present in the rough cut.

- Focus on a single character.
This was also a main focus which we wanted to put across, that the film gives an insight into Amelia's lifestyle, representing teenage stress. A vast amount of characters and casting were not necessary because she is the center of the film. It's somewhat conventional for a short film to explore an individuals lifestyle, whether not that its a realistic representation or a surreal one. In this sense we have filled a primary convention of short film successfully, the fact that the audience have recognised our central focus on Amelia and her experience further compliments the films success in my opinion.

Emma Horton

- Setting in scene 1 was good.
The purpose of scene 1 was to somewhat introduce Amelia's character, not necessarily to establish it. Through elements that she mentioned such as costume (pyjamas) make up (mascara down her face, implying that she had previously been crying) set design (posters on the wall, putting across her age and some of her interests) and props ( a vast amount of books on the floor creating a mess, displaying her over emphasised work ethic). However she did state concerning the costume that pyjamas represent her age. This wasn't completely intentional, and the costume could be misinterpreted to represent Amelia as being young, which she isn't.  Perhaps a different more mature style of costume may have been effective here.

-  Good variety of locations as opposed to a little amount of places.
Our variety of locations are all necessary. Each location either holds an event which effects Amelia, or is particular in her life, such as her school and home.

- Also commented on the canteen scene.

Summary;
It's somewhat interesting that they didn't pick up upon a number of problems within the film. Perhaps from a production standpoint it's easy to see some of the errors within your own film. This version of our film was a rough cut, and the extent of it being a rough was emphasised which they probably took into account. The main point i recived from this feedback as such was the fact that i was aware of the errors that they brought up, which was pretty reassuring considering it being my own production.

Final Cut

Evaluation: How did you use new media technologies in the construction, planning, research and evaluation stages?

Throughout the entire production there was necessary equipment which we as a group used to ourdvantage. Previously i took part in a BTEC course in which i gained a variety of skills which in themselves proved useful in this A2 course. Although familiar with most technologies which we would use in the course, naturally i learnt new additional skills and advancements on my skills already attained previously.

Sony PD150 Camera-

This piece of equipment allowed us to record footage in better quality as opposed to the Sony Handycam which we used in AS. Although unfamiliar with the technology, learning to use this piece of equipment could be considered somewhat essential to give our production a more professional look, in which i personally took part in undergoing the learning curve. Being the cameraman this perhaps was my primary means of equipment in undergoing my asserted job role. Although somewhat common sense, there was a few difficulties in using the camera at first in exploring its complexities, things such as white balance and focus can be acustomed greatly compared to the Sony Handycam. However after a few shots it fairly simple to operate. If this camera was not available to us during the course of the production we would have to compensate by most likely using the Sony Handycam which would have resulted in lower quality.

Sony Handycam -

Although primarily used to record visual footage, i used this piece of equipment to record specific audio for our production. E.g the mobile phone vibrating, the boyfriends voice over, a door slam. This usage was efficient and simple, manually converting the audio into a sound clip to use was straight forward. Without this technology we would probably had to make use of the same microphones that we would use with the PD150, or some sort of recording device.

Flip mino video camera -

A small device, this was used to record footage of our audience giving us feedback after viewing a rough cut of our production. The device has a useful quantities including a USB inside of it, making the process of uploading and editing the audience feedback simple. Using other equipment to log our feedback would have probably taken longer, such as actually writing down the feedback in note form.

Sony Steadyshot DSC-W310 -

I used this camera in capturing an image for the postcard. This 12 mega pixel camera made the process of sizing my postcard alot easier. I also found the quality very beneficial. Without this camera i would most probably have to go to the efforts of borrowing someone else's camera, or even purchasing a new one.

Windshield microphone -

This piece of equipment was used throughout the course of the production to record audio. This would be used in cooperation with the PD150 where it would be plugged into an input, and the sound levels would be monitored from the camera itself to get the desired amount of sound. The PD150 itself has no internal microphone, so without it we would have to use a different camera, or further compensate and use a different microphone.

Sennheiser headphones -

These headphones were used for the majority of the production process, as well as post-production. These would be used when recording sound through the microphone, to get a more reliable source of what the audio would actually sound like. This would further involve testing if the microphone was working efficiently. Concerning post-production the headphones would be used within editing to get clear audio and give us a clearer picture of what we needed to change within sound. These headphone were of high quality, without them we would probably have to use other headphone which probably would of given us the same quality, or manage without which probably would have effected our production greatly.

Mic Boom -

The boom is an extension pole used to let us put the microphone is places where we wouldn't be able to simply stand closer to the product of sound for we would be in the shot. This is most useful for capturing dialogue. Additionally we used a wind muff for external shots, protecting the microphone from unwanted audio in that being the wind. Without the boom our sound would simply be of lower quality, or we would have to risk breaking continuity by trying to get closer to the subject of audio ourselves. The quality of the sound in external shots would have been greatly effected if we didn't have a wind muff.

Pro light -

We used the pro light in every bedroom scene. The pro light is equipped with barn doors to help us produce the desired amount of light. This further allowed us emphasize on themes through lighting effects, we used a variety of gels with the pro light to create the mood and connote different aspects. Without these lights we would have to used natural lighting which may not have determined the right effect for the scene at hand or made use of a different model of light, such as a toaster light or red head.

Computer edit suite -

The computer edit suite was essential, without it we obviously would not be able to carry out post-production. The suit consisted of two monitors, a computer tower, a mouse , keyboard and speakers.

Adobe premiere pro -

This was the program we used in post-production to edit our footage and create our film. This software allowed us to edit our film in a variety of ways, including audio contents. Without this program our film would have gone unedited, lacking essential factors which a production needs, including transitions and audio leveling.

Blogger -

Blogger is a website which has allowed to upload our work in the form of blogs. This has given us the opportunity to edit and update pieces of text if something was to occur concerning specifc documents, rather than redoing them all together as opposed to written work.

Scanner -

The scanner was most useful considering our pre-production documents needs to be displayed on Blogger. Without the use of a scanner, putting work online would be most difficult. We would have to take pictures of the texts and upload them onto here, which would most probably appear unclear and wouldn't exactly be practical to review.

These were are main pieces of equipment which i thought were worth mentioning, for without them we would have difficulty in compensating as explained above. Additionally we used other technologies such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word to carry out several tasks.

What makes a good short film - Research

Short films are of small duration, meaning the film doesn't consist of normal principles that would be included in a feature length film. Because of the length, short films commonly for example do not have the time to introduce characters, they are simply used as tools to put a message across rather than to be the central significance within the film, although one main character may be portrayed. Due to these reasons, short film usually intends to explore a moral dilemma within a certain context, perhaps furthering a campaign within society which is of common interest relating to its audience, this comes off as more impactful which is vital for the films short duration needs to make a impression quickly amongst its target audience.

Common Themes
- Suburban
- Subverese
- Metaphorical
- Campaigns
- Drama
- Social Snapshots

Story wise, it is important for the writers and directors to emphasise the problem at hand, and how the audience can relate to it. Rather than the genre and tone of the film having a primary significance, it is the events which occur within the film which are seemingly important. It is important to ensure that the audience can relate to the characters and whatever is being displayed on screen, the character should drive the drama in the film with a clear narrative; an obligation, a want or goal. But this pursuit must have some kind of difficulty within reaching, to create the problem at hand, further emphasising the dramatical narrative. This problem is the main factor in which the target audience can relate to, the film needs to be set up so the audience can understand why the character needs to fufill their goal with the concept of how high the stakes in the story are, so they can further understand what it would mean to not achieve this goal and its consequences.

Nigel R Smith, a short film producer made his own short film distrubution guide in which he states the main properties of making a short film production.

Length: Optimum length ten minutes. This is enough to tell a good story and hold the audience’s attention. It also fits in neatly with film festival time slots.

Theme: Theme is crucial. Something that you are concerned about. Something that everyone can relate too. If you look at short films that win prizes, themes involving wars and kids are popular. People like films that feature children in peril!

Characters: Very strong central character with a very clear central goal. A clear nemesis. Only use a few characters because there is very little time to get to know them.

Location: As with characters, little time for audience to familiarise themselves with locations so only use a few, unless the character is going on a physical journey e.g. a road trip. Try to use a very specific, unusual location unfamiliar to most audiences. An unusual story world can make something ordinary appear extraordinary.

Setting: Present day. Historical / futuristic settings are expensive and a lot of work to create.

Structure: Standard linear narrative, 3- act structure. Have a strong beginning, get into story and character quickly. Set up active questions so that the audience wants to know what happens in the next scene i.e. dramatically withhold information. Twist in the tale endings are perfect for the short film.

Dialogue: Type of dialogue must be appropriate to the film. Naturalistic (this is a dialogue form, it does not mean talking naturally). Make everything that is said count. Don’t over explain things in the dialogue. The audience likes a bit of room to figure out for themselves what is going on.

Textual analysis of short films

About a Girl

Director Brian Percival

Writer Julie Rutter Ford

About a girl opens to a shot of a small girls silhouette against a skyline of clouds dancing and singing. The following series of sudden cuts are close-ups of the character talking in a strong accent to the camera in a monologue fashion whilst she walks upon the backdrop of an urban industrial landscape. Her topics of interests in which she chooses to tell us about mainly include optimistic statements about how she will reach fame and stardom through singing. She also repeatedly mentions random quotes about her family and descriptions of her life up till now; her relationship with her dad, frustrations with her mum, her career desires as a singer, the group she has formed with her friends. Typically these topics would seem to be common things that any 13 year old might talk about, although her surroundings create an abstract and almost unwelcoming atmosphere. Her monologue is often interrupted with more fundamental shots of the girl specifically with her Father. She can also be seen in the perfume department testing perfumes but not purchasing them, giving a slight implication of poverty, sitting on a bench outside a pub where supposedly her father is, further implying domestic problems perhaps in parenting. Towards the end of the film, the girl who is now walking along side a canal, the girls descriptions are becoming to be that of a dark nature , her outlook seems to become most to obviously metaphorical, as she puts emphasis on her family troubles by talking about things like ice cream and famous idols, putting the audience at its most ignorant and vulnerable the girl climatically states that she has become "good at hiding things" and throws a plastic bag into the canal which after observation reveals that there was a baby inside it.

After watching this film followed with the commentary, many factors amongst this film became apparent which i missed the first time around. Throughout the film there are a series of contrasts in colour and shape, for example in the introduction lacks establishment and the almost perfectly dark silhouette dances amongst the relaxed colourful sky, for me that represents a certain freedom in this shot alone, the urbanized atmosphere and grittiness present in every other shot apart from this one gives it a certain uniqueness, perhaps showing the girls ignorance or even her optimism. It's also noticeable that the colour dulls throughout the film up until its climax where it appears quite colourless. As the girl walks along the canal, which i get the intention is a visual metaphor within itself, it can be seen that the shadowing along the canal is symmetrical as the young girl walks down the dark path whilst the canal is brightened up. The surroundings and grittiness of the film give it a real sense of realism which often audiences can relate to giving it that down to earth style, her innocence amongst the urbanized world which she walks upon creates a contrast with themes of neglect and abuse. The fast pace shots along with the detailed dialogue of the girls life do not make the audience aware of the narrative which appears completely linear, making the climax of the film seemingly to be all that more unorthodox as the pace of the film becomes more downbeat as the shots lenghten and movement ceases unlike the fast sketchy hard cuts which were involved before to make the ending that more shocking and disturbing for the audience.

In 2001 it won the BAFTA award for best short film. It also won an award at the Edinburgh International film festival for Best British Short, the TCM Classic Shorts Award prize at the London film festival, and the Jury Prize at the Raindance film festival.

Cubs


Director Tom Harper

Producer Lisa Williams


Cubs opens to a series of quick paced shots viewing a group of youths playing football in what appears to be an urban environment. After these short sequences of various titles and some long scanning shots of the youths playing football establishing the urban environment. the audience is introduced to two characters who are sitting on a wall observing the other youths playing. They are in discussion about waiting for someones arrival. After a brief wait, a few characters appear who are lead by what seems to be a hierarchy, as he enters the park a sense intimidation occurs as the people in the park scurry away and form line as a daunting slow paced music begins. The hierarchy named Karl inspects the line of people to which they are silent, and takes one of them to which the rest are displeased. One of the two characters who was previously sat on the wall expresses his feelings of his rejection to Karl urging him to take he and his friend with him and Karl allows him to come, although we as an audience are unaware of what place or event Karl is taking them to. The scene cuts to another area later on that day at night, a large group of teenagers is viewed from a high angle long shot, establishing the extremely sub urbanized area to which the group are. Quick close up shots scan the area putting many illegal activities on display such as drugs, drug dealing and drinking are seen. These quick shots also close up on many of the youths present in this area at fast pace, creating a sense of self preparation for all of them as well as us as an audience for something is about to happen. Karl appears with two rabid dogs, approaches the boy and warns him to look out for the police whilst handing him a cricket bat, further putting pressure on the already at nervous boy who has given the impression to the audience that he doesn't really belong in these surroundings. The audience is now put at a certain tension as the anxiety amongst the group arises the atmosphere, the dogs begin to bark and people ready themselves as Karl gives them the signal to move out of the area. After a brief search by the group they come across a fox and begin to chase with violent intent, a fast paced music begins to play as the camera tracks with the group chasing amongst the urban landscape. The fox becomes corned but escapes after the boy fails to attack it to which Karl is displeased. Eventually the two dogs catch up with fox and leave it half dead. Karl gives the boy a gun and states that he should "get initiated", after a brief pause of hesitation from the boy whilst the pace slows right down with a close up of the innocent fox, the boy shoots the fox. After killing the fox the group of people celebrate with the boy praising him. Karl wipes the blood of the fox on his face and states he is one of them now in initiation.

Cubs then, is a urbanized representation of fox hunting, a now illegal sport. The main contrast appears with that theme in itself as fox hunting is considered a Royalist sport of high social class, yet through cubs it is presented as a teenage dark sport manifested with urban themes. The film is presented professionally and polished, yet themes still suggest that gritty style which is represented in that of About a girl. Throughout the film there is a variety of shot being on display, its close up hand held shots add to its realism and the number of long shots capture and establish the landscape well. The themes explored also create a contrast, the central theme is fox hunting but the themes that surround it don't necessarily have anything to do with it, more to suit the establishment in that being an urban environment. Gang violence, peer pressure and seeking solidarity all are present within the film to which a large amount of audience can relate to, but to contrast it with the incongruous idea of urbanized fox hunting is this films central unique factor makes it that more original.

Cubs was a nominee for the BAFTA award for best short film in 2006.

Pre-production Documentation

- The script or screenplay, is a written document which contain the dialogue within the film. It is considered a main component of pre production. The dialogue is broken down into specific scenes were locations, casting and directions are included. The script is the responsibility of the director, its primary use is to direct actors and actress's dialogue wise.

- As camera man the shot list was my responsibility. It includes the shots throughout the film which i have choose. Deciding on these shots came some difficulty, for i wanted to put across a more diverse collection of shots, however noting the shots down is much more simple than performing them. So my thought process had to have some element of realism. The shot list contains the type of shots, location, scene number, shot number and a short description of what is present within the shot. By using the shot list as a guide and not completely literal i was able adapt and interchange shots to my preference.

Costume and set design is carried out by the production designer. The production designer takes all mis en scene aspects into consideration and determines how certain elements such as characters and locations will appear visually.

The Location recce contains general locations in which the production will be held. The recce includes a panoramic visual of the location, in which the whole location is displayed. This further includes the availablilty of the location for preference, power points in the location and various other details such as permission grants.

Technical recce is an overview of the set were filming will commence. For technical reasons it displays the general structure of the room including major objects or obstructions. Primarily it displayed power points in the room, mainly for the use of artificial lighting in the room

 The risk assements lists any risk which has the possibilty of occuring within the production process. This is necessary for health and safety reasons and is carried out by the director of light and sound.

Production report

Camera and additional details

Scene 1 - Interior day Bedroom

Originally this scene consisted of 4 shots. However the 4th shot was removed due to lack of space in the set. To compensate i incorporated the shot, being a over the shoulder shot with Amelia looking in the mirror, within the 3rd shot. The 3rd shot in its entirety was difficult to perform, however i felt it was necessary to compliment the variety of shots within our film. The shot included a CU of Amelia putting her feet on the floor, then tracking and jibbing up as she walked over to the mirror, ending in a over the shoulder fashion of her looking into the mirror. Apart from the 3rd shot within the scene, shots were fairly basic and easy to perform, but i considered them to be essential to introduce our central character, this moreover makes shot 3 stand out, differentiating itself from other shots to emphasize on creativity.





- Lighting. In this scene we aimed to create a morning sun and used a variety of gels. This gave off a bright glow which worked efficiently, although it came off as somewhat too bright in the second shot, being a MLS, it still flowed within the scene.
- Mise en scene. Costume and make-up complimented on the time of day and portrayed the events prior to the scene, in that being Amelia crying. However there was one continuity error within the scene, in which for a brief moment some equipment is seen.

Scene 2 - Interior day kitchen

This scene opened with a zoom out of toast being made, which i originally did not plan to include within this scene. However i felt that the imagery was a good example of denotation, in which it relates to our film title being Toast itself. Overall i felt the positioning stood out within this scene, other than one slight error with framing where an actress performed ahead of her cue. The distance on the shots helped portray how busy Amelia is, particularly when Amelia walks out of the frame in the last short after having a short conversation with her Mother.

- House lighting was used, due to lack of natural light in scene house lighting was necessary complimenting to set of a kitchen, creating a white-ish clean image. - Mise en scene. The costume design complimented the scene greatly, in which one of our peers had to portray a Mother figure, which was well received.

Scene 3 - Interior day School corridor

This scene was fairly short only consisting of two shots. The first shot was a slow zoom out of a school bell to establish the location, which the low angle and and ambiguity reinforce our variety of shots which i wanted to include in our film. The second shot was a long shot, where Amelia would walk toward the camera and then out of frame. This shot also included a slow zoom out as she walked toward the frame and then past it. This shot was static, with people walking in and out of frame not treating it as a camera, i thought this adds to the on going realism throughout our film. Originally i planned to have a jump cut to a closer shot of Amelia going through the crowd, to somewhat add to the stress she is going though, however this shot turned out to be impractical due to the amount of extras we had around equipment etc. Filming this scene had no problems technically and we carried out everything as i had originally planned in the shot list.

- Artificial lighting was deemed to have no real use in this scene. Considering the type of lights we had we decided that the distance that the character was away from the camera to begin with was too far to have any effect, as she got closer to the camera and walked out of frame the effect of the lighting would of changed and we wouldn't of been able to place lighting in any other position for the length of the shot would of revealed the lights. House lights were used in this scene.

- A large amount of extras were used in this scene, in which they performed their roles well with no problems what so ever.

Scene 4 - Interior day School classroom 1

Another short scene. Scene 4 was only two shots. Unfortunately there were a few technical difficulties with this scene. Without a tripod the first shot had to be shot freehand, which resulted in fair amount of shakiness. The shot was a low angle small track toward Amelia busy working, because of the shakiness the frame work wasn't perfect. I would most probably change this shot if i was able to, for the most part shots in our film were mostly static with panning if there was any motion at all, this was to add to the realism of shots in that being to try and have as subtle camera movement as possible to grasp the audience into living and questioning Amelia's day to day lifestyle. Instead i would of most likely changed this to a static shot or perhaps had a small amount of zoom. The second shot was a high angle over the shoulder shot of Amelia working, which although freehand looked to be genuinely static.

- Lighting in this scene was natural. This couldn't be helped for the source of light couldn't be blocked in anyway.

Scene 5 - Exterior day School field.

I consider scene 5 to be scenery shots. Although fairly random in retrospect, I decided on these shots to somewhat amplify the beauty of the world that Amelia misses out on while she lives her straightedge workaholic routine over and over. The first shot includes a high angle pan of a tree with a bright sun behind. Unintentionally the sun bounces off the camera whilst the pan is in motion which i see to be a great shot visually. The second shot is a static long shot of two boys playing football with a hint of orange in the sky. This shot has a horizon feel to it, i feel it connotes how vast the world can be, this being in contrast to Amelia lacking liberal sensibilities in her life. These shots had a fair amount of improvisation, i was planning to adapt the shots depending on factors such as the weather and the amount of extras we were able to obtain. This mainly concerned the second shot, where i imagined to have several people playing football and have a slow pan across, however i feel the horizon shot works more efficiently and connotes more toward the film.

Scene 6 - Interior day School classroom 2

Scene 6 was used to compliment scene 5. This scene was only one shot and contained a shot of Amelia working. As she pauses for a brief moment from working on her computer, she looks up out the window and into the sky as it slowly jibs up with her. This was for the same reason as scene 5 in a scene, but the actual image of Amelia looking outside gave the intention she was trapped further putting an extend on how her lack of branching out takes a toll on her life.
This scene was easily shot containing only a small jib.

- House lights were used to add the realism of the scene. Additional lighting by the crew would effect continuity due to the reflection being shown in the window, and would of further ruined the scenery which Amelia gazes upon.

Scene 7 - Exterior day School gates

This scene contained two shots both of similar contents. Both shots are long shots of Amelia walking out of school alone, perhaps suggesting that she has stayed at school after hours, and panning across as she does so. These were filmed particularly quickly and had no technical problems.

Scene 8 - Interior night staircase

Scene 8 was only 1 shot. Although only a single shot and perhaps of basic quality, i feel this shot compliments our creativity and variety of shots in the production. The shot begins as an ECU of Amelia starting to walk up a set of stairs up to her bedroom. The shot tilts up until the door fits the frame and then becomes static as Amelia shuts the door eventually creating a MLS of a flight of stairs. The tilt creates a low angle shot, the whole purpose of the shot was the distance created, it connotes a segregated area were Amelia shuts herself away from the outside world. Although simple visually, practically it was fairly difficult to set up. The tripod was actually placed on the set of stairs rather than the end of the stairs, so the back leg of the tripod was extended for balance and the front two to steady. This was successful and did not effect the framework what so ever.

Scene 9 - Exterior house

This scene was only one shot also and was intentionally shot freehand. This was mainly due to the lack of space in which i needed to pan across with the character as she walked out of her house. The shot started with zoom out of the front door being shut, then simultaneously tracking backwards as she got closer to frame then panning across as she walked away. The shot only took two takes surprisingly and complimented our shooting style.

Scene 10 - Exterior day Bus stop

Scene 11 - Interior day Outside common room/canteen

Scene 11 was a single static shot of Amelia having a conversation with two other pupils. Visually the whole purpose of this shot was where the shot ends, this includes Amelia walking past the camera out of frame with a slightly distressed look, whilst her friends walked in the opposite direction up the stairs. Perhaps connoting that Amelia has taken a different path to them in how she goes around her life. However prior the characters walking out the scene is what concerned me most. The positioning of the characters in the corridor and the distance away they are from the camera effected the balance of imagery in the shot, this concerns what is known as the rule of thirds. However post conversation the images balance themselves in which the characters move, so perhaps it worked out as a progressive shot. Overall it was successful.

- Concerning sound, a boom mic was used successfully to record the characters dialogue.
- Mise en scene . There was a slight problem in which at the end of the small corridor where the scene was taking place, there was a glass cabinet capable of reflection. But this is barely noticeable.

Scene 12 - Interior day Library

Scene 12 included 4 shots. The first shot was a long shot of Amelia working on a table by herself. This shot was to establish the location of the library. The second was an over the shoulder shot of Amelia working, then picking up an article. The shot then jump cuts to CU of the article, it then cuts away to MCU of Amelia turning the article over and putting it down. The fifth shot however is slightly more creative than the previous ones, which involved a near 180 degree motion into a CU of the article which Amelia had put on the table. This shot avoided crossing the line for Amelia wasn't in the shot to begin with and had no relations with any other character in the scene. This probably could of been improved, in which i would of lessened the motion and focused more on the purpose of the shot, in that being to display the articles contents.

- One of the main problems in this scene was the lighting. We couldn't get permission to switch off the house lighting and use additional lights which we had previously planned to do. Evidently the light in the scene does appear fairly bright.
- There was a continuity error where some of the extras had moved positions in between shots.

Scene 13 - Interior Kitchen day

Scene 13 is one of our shortest scenes. The scene only consists of one shot, which includes a slow pan across the entire kitchen. The pan includes Amelia's mother making toast, then towards the end of the pan Amelia walks toward the camera and walks out of frame. There were no problems shooting this scene.

Scene 14 - Interior day common room

This scene was a single shot. Although fairly long in duration due to the dialogue, it was a simple shot. It begins as a static medium range shot, as Amelia gets up to leave there is a small jib up then a pan across to watch her leave, the shot then pans back to the other characters on the tables reaction. Originally the shot was a lot closer, but this lead to difficulty in jibbing upwards as Amelia stood, so i created more distance between the actors and camera to ease on the camera's motion.

Scene 15 -

Scene 16 - Interior night Bedroom

Scene 16 was one shot. The shot was quite long, it included a relatively high angled view with a slow pan whilst Amelia spoke on the phone. Practically this was quite difficult to perform, in that i had to time the pan to match the duration of the dialogue. Other than that it was straightforward and there were no problems technically.

- A light blue gel was used to emphasize that the scene was late at night, it gave off a somewhat dark feel which i thought was successful. In addition, the light made Amelia look pale, complimenting mise en scene.

Scene 17 - Interior day kitchen

Another single shot scene. Scene 17 contains a medium of shot of Amelia's mother sitting at the kitchen table eating toast. The shot then jibs up at an angle slightly as Amelia walks into the room, the shot then stays static as she walks out of the frame. This scene had no problems technically or difficulties practically.

Scene 18 - Interior day school canteen

Shooting this scene had some difficulty. Originally this scene had 4 shots. A MLS of Amelia approaching the till to purchase some food, an MCU of Amelia counting change, a reaction shot of the dinner lady waiting, and a cut back to the MCU of Amelia who apologises for not having enough money and leaves. However due to accessibility of the set we were short on filming time which further lead to the lack of time we had with the extra, that being the dinner lady. This lead to limited takes and the rushing of shots. For the most part everything went well technically and practically, the shots were simplistic and easy to carry out. The changes were not of our choice. However there were several continuity errors and shots with no use. Most disappointing was the dismissal of the reaction shot which i wanted to include.

- The main continuity error was that the dinner lady would look at the camera, breaking realism
- Sound was quite a problem, the canteen atmosphere was necessary but too much audio was recorded
- Another continuity error included Amelia walking out with the food she hadn't bought
- A dinner lady who was not being used in the production asked if we would leave whilst we were filming

Scene 19 - Interior school corridor

The scene was in the same location of scene 3. It was a one shot scene, Amelia walks down the corridor and gets barged by someone walking past. I filmed in freehand to make the impact of the person walking into Amelia and making her drop her bag more sudden and to add emphasis on realism. The freehand shooting included tracking backward as Amelia walked toward the camera down the corridor, and the a jib down to the dropped bag and back up to a static shot of Amelia walking away. I felt this captured the raw feeling of embarrassment and almost anger that Amelia has, the end of the shot is static and captures Amelia's distressed face she walks out of frame. There were no technical problems during this scene, practically it was quite difficult because of the amount of movements but still turned out to be successful.

Scene 20 - Interior night bedroom

This scene had the most amount of shots in the film, however i felt it was necessary to bring up the pace of the film for its climax. The scene begins with a slow panning medium shot of Amelia entering her room, she puts down her things then walks over to her desk. The next few shots are a series of close ups, including Amelia using a knife to cut at her work and her aggravation whilst her phone continues to ring. These shots all compliment the final two shots in which i see to be the climax. I began to shoot free hand once again to capture the emotion being portrayed. Amelia stands up and throws her phone across the room, this shot included me starting at quite a close range and tracking backwards into a medium shot with a quick pan across when Amelia throws her phone. The next shot is a cutaway to Amelia falling on the floor and curling up, this involved a slight tilt as well as a pan. Unfortunately some equipment was seen in this last shot very briefly during the pan. This scene went very smoothly and i wouldn't try to improve it in anyway. I particularly like the mix of freehand whilst serious matters are at hand, and then steady aided shots when Amelia is living out her routine. This happens during the entire film let alone this scene.

- Continuity error when equipment is seen.
- It is apparent that there is a brief moment when a crew members is seen


Scene 21 Interior day bedroom (repeat of scene 1 shot 1)

Post production report

Post production consists of editing our production and producing a final cut. Throughout the post production stage there is a number of necessities which we have to carry out as part of the process. This include typical editing elements such as;

- Capturing consists of selecting footage we wanted in our production which we would put to use. This required us going through all our footage, and selecting takes of a particular shot and capturing it. Once we decided whether or not the shot would be included, we recorded it down in a log.
- Syncing sound to match continuity and make the audio flow, putting an emphasis on realism. Hard cuts and jumps in sound would most probably result in distorting the audience. This involves overlapping sound clips and syncing sound levels in a decrescendo crescendo fashion in between sound clips, resulting in more flowing audio.
- Sound levels had to be accustomed to fit our preference. Also if audio was seemingly too loud, quiet or even broke the sound level, this would have to be changed by raising or lowering custom points on the sound clip.

- Titles in the film are essential for crediting cast and crew. They appear in the opening sequence of the film as well as the end of it.

They were a few specific decisions which involved the entire production groups view, and furthermore situations which were dealt with some difficulty.

Scene 1 Shot 2

- Scene 1 shot 2 was an overly lit shot. The amount of light within shot had a negative effect visually. For the first scene we wanted to create a morning sun, in which we used red and blue gels to create warm feel. For shot 1 this was successful, however shot 2 had a lot more distance for light to enter the shot. As a result the shot appeared artificial and grainy, effecting our continuity prior to the first shot of the scene. To atone, we lowered the light manually in the post production stages. This included lowering the opacity and brightness of the shot through the effect controls. This allowed us to improve this shot somewhat, to fit the lighting theme of the scene.

Scene 2

Scene 2 had a lot going on audio wise. This resulted in us having to edit the sound.

- Amelia's mother was involved in a lot of activity, including washing up, making toast, putting toast on the table and dialogue. The flowing of the water when washing up stopped abruptly in a cut, this effected continuity in which it had to be edited. To avoid this jump in sound, i made the sound of washing up repeat subtly by copying the sound clips and putting them together. This made it sound as if the tap kept on running. Moreover sounds such as the impact of Amelia's mother putting down the plate of toast, Amelia's mother bracelets hitting the table and Amelia further putting down the plate, all resulted in high unwanted levels of sound. These all had to be lowered.

Scene 7

- Scene 7 consisted of one shot. The emphasis editing wise was the sound that the door made whilst being closed. The closing of the door resulted in a very loud sound, putting the audio levels to its limit. For the most part, it didn't even sound like a door being shut anymore. After trying to lower and toy with the sound levels we realised that the sound was unavoidable. This lead to us recording a completely original sound of a door being shut, muting out the other sound and playing it over the scene to match the sync of the door being shut.

Scene 2 Main title

- The position of the main title was somewhat subject for debate. Originally the title appeared the last shot of the scene, this was because the last shot includes Amelia leaving her house and we somewhat begin to join her on her journey. So it was fairly appropriate, however we decided that professionally it would be more effective if we put the directors title in this position instead. For the main title, we finally decided that we would reinforce our play on words by accompanying the title with our central image, in that being toast itself. Additionally this title was the first to include the font which we later included in every title, this title almost looked like the type font used in the Marmite logo, and somewhat represented that. The position of the title was central left, with the plate of toast next to it.

Scene 20

- Throughout scene 20 there is a exaggerated sound of a phone vibrating. As the audio levels of the phone we actually used wasn't loud enough, we decided to record a phone vibrating on a surface were it would produce a louder sound. Although intentional, this sound was very loud and had to be somewhat lowered overall. The audio had to be altered so it would appear to be progressive, getting gradually louder as Amelia became more agitated. This included us having to edit the sound clips to fit the convention. However because we were only using one sound clip which had to be duplicated and continuely repeated to match the duration of the visuals, this proved to be difficult, for if we didn't do this suffiecently it would effect continuity. Evidently this proved successful.