Huge Transformation

Today, 3 days after semi-finals judging, I made drastic changes to the film. If you look at it, I doubt you'll actually recognize it anymore, because I've tweaked the storyline totally such that there is only 1 main character now, and purely shows how his misdeeds have landed him in such a sorry plight.

Also, with reference to my previous post, I mentioned that I didn't like the boring chronological flow of the storyline previously that could not fit any type of mood or music at all, so I've also changed this aspect and inserted two main pieces of music that is played throughout the film. It works wonders.

If you wanna check it out, just nudge me and I'll send you a link once I upload or something.

After semis review - weng shern reflections

Semi Finals was just over, and our rough cut was shown during the presentation for judging. Although we received really good reviews and comments from the judges, I was watching the film during the screening and realised that our film has yet again repeated its mistakes from last year.

As always, we think that a complex storyline is a good storyline, but that's for plays, not short films. And now what we have, is a complex storyline with too many events happening throughout the film. It may be funny with many cuts and hilarious transitions, but the mood for the story, in my opinion, has sort of gone down the drain. Moreover, with that many cuts and scenes, it is really hard to use one piece of music to convey the mood for the film (scroll down to the bottom of this article if you are skeptical). What we can only do now, is use many different pieces of music, string it together and input music to the film. But that's just amateurish..

But it's already too late to make huge changes to the film, so I'll leave it for this project. But I guarantee, for future short films, this will not be repeated. There won't be any more need for film projects, but I'll continue to do some in my leisure time.

Anyway, what I really want to share with you guys in this reflections is a really good short film which I saw online. Entitled Love Language, it has a simple theme, a simple storyline, as well as a successful mood conveyor. Check it out.




In the short film above, there is only one piece of music used that is really touching, and the appropriate use of it is evident when there is a sudden transition of scenes, so the music stops and the mood changes from touching to the feeling of awesomeness.

And another thing is that there actually is a target audience for this: The association of deaf people. Watch and you'll see.

Reflection

The filming process has certainly taught me MANY things in the area of film making. This year, we've explored many new aspects of filming and we could all see that the group was trying its best to improve and change many old flaws and habits of previous films. I personally felt that the planning process was much better and much more structured compared to last year and the scenes and various cuts were all planned out and carried out with more ease. Furthermore, we did much more travelling and filmed in various external public locations, enabling us to utilise and discover many more angles and filming techniques we could use. Filming in public locations was definitely not a piece of cake with all the awkward stares and interruptions by various people...but in any case it was really a great experience for me and for the team as well.

Reflections

Throughout the process of making this film, I have benefited a lot out of it as creativity was needed in most areas of filming, in terms of storyline and camera angles to make the film an interesting one. The making of this film made me learn more about the different filming techniques and try out new techniques which are inspired by other film makers. We had to constantly check if our film is able to appeal to the audience and capture their attention, which improves our film making skills on a whole.

Reflections

I felt that this has been an enriching experience to me. I learnt so much about how to express my thoughts and convey my beliefs in other means other than words. So much so that this project has also touched my inner self, allowing me to be more sensitive and infer deeper into an artists' or filmmaker's thoughts and messages.

Meeting 1.

We held our first meeting in the span of two consecutive days - 24 and 25 June to discuss the progress of our project, as well as to finalize the story and sequence of the film.

As such, on the first day, we gathered together to recap on the entire story first as some of us might have forgotten some parts, as well as clear any doubts or logical fallacies the film might have, which we eventually discovered it did have, so I'll explain more in a bit. Then, after finalizing the storyline, we went on to discuss the format of the film again - which will be a largely silent film, with minimal dialogue except for short dialogue phrases by the 2 main characters that may prove necessary to increase interest during the film. Lastly, we ended off the first day with looking up some of the photos of old school bags, torn and tattered ones, as well as the look of other props that we might be using on the actual day of filming, or in the film, and so we wanted to check out whether the prop was suited to be in the film.

On the second day, we met up again to discuss more on the creative/technical aspects of the film which are the camera angles, shots, duration of each shot, etc. The film is basically split into 3 main components - The "Intro", the "Build-up", and lastly the "Fight". So in the intro, we will introduce the characters - the bags and the people, and this will take no longer than a minute. Then, in the Build up of tension, we will show how the characters abuse/take good care of the bags they own, which we will try to show in 2 minutes, and lastly the fight in which the bags will finally get back their revenge/ or gratefulness towards their owners when both characters are given the same scenario, but with different outcomes.

Here is our planning.

2 Bags – different types of bags.
Origins of poor boy bag
Bags do not have to be the same
Pick up from dustbin outside rich guy house

Origins of rich boy bag:
Random shop which not so pro

Scene 1: ( Morning of the day, at a bungalow)
Rich boy fall down and his bag got minor tear. He throws away the bag outside his house’s dustbin as he is not satisfied with it after examining it

1. clear blue sky
2. bushes/plants
3. boy running [road]
4. close up(s)
5. zoom in when boy trips [ankle]
6. torso shot [collapsing]
7. on the floor with bag
8. zoom on bag - scratches
9. front shot - boy stand brush dirt off himself
10. picks up bag, shakes head and light natural sigh
11. continues his journey home (back view)
12. long shot of him walking to his bungalow (entering)
13. zoom in on him near the dustbin, shakes his head once more and throws the bag beside the dustbin
14. focus back on the blue sky

Scene 2: ( Afternoon, at a bungalow)
Depicting the poor boy’s outer appearance (Shoes, clothes)
Poor boy passes by the rich boy’s house and found the thrown away bag beside the dustbin. He decides to pick it up and bring it home

1. transition of the previous blue sky into a red sky (show that it is evening) jkjk
2. boy is standing still at one place (maybe bus stop). close up of the poor boy’s various outer appearance (especially his torn and tattered shoes), broken BAG, etc (if you can think of anything else)
3. enters the bus, fade out scene, then show him walking past the rich guys house (like on his way home)
4. close up of him, noticing the cool bag by the dustbin
5. poor boy looks at his own torn and tattered bag and says “time for a change”. he picks up the bag by the dustbin and throws away his piece of shit
6. continues his way back home and show him go to the 1 room HDB block.

Scene 3: ( just a random mall)
The rich boy go to buy the bag. Film him going into a big shopping mall then into some random bag shop to purchase a newer bag.

1. Out with friends iin mall
2. walks into bag store
3. first person view of shopping for bag scene
4. 3rd person view of him giving two thumbs up
5. Him and friends walking out of the mall

Scene 4 : ( Afternoon, park connector)
Rich guy passes through a park. He felt tired and he saw a dirty seat full of birdshit cuz parks have birds everywhere. He sits on the bag which will is still in the new wrapping.

1. walking in the park on his way home farshot-closeshot
2. phone rings
3. looks around for awhile for a bench
4. walks towards the bench
5. camera on bench-bag throw-boy’s butt

Scene 5 (Night Time, Bungalow):
Rich boy unwraps the bag and glances at the bag, then throws it on the floor.

1.rich guy opening door
2. vigorously cuts out the barcodes, the funny paper stuff attached to the bag,
3. attempts to dump the bag onto a rack, but misses and lands on the floor
4. show rich boy not giving a damn, walking away to do something else
5. night scene of rich guy setting alarm on a digital clock and going to bed

Scene 6 (Morning Time, Poor guy home):
Alarm clock rings poor guy wakes up carefully putting his schoolbooks into his bag.

1. same angle as no.5 of scene 5, poor boy wakes up to the alarm of analogue clock
2. hand snoozes alarm (same angle)
3. dresses up (NOT IN SCHOOL UNIFORM) and puts the books in the bag carefully
4. goes to the fridge and gets a glass of orange juice

Scene 7: ( any time, poor guy home)
Poor guy drink orange juice. He spills some on the bag, got worried and he washes the bag.

1. guy rummaging through bag for books
2. close up on glass of drink
2. hand reaches for glass, with the bag in the background
3. diagonal side angle drink to lip (dun wan close up)
4. tentative perspective from bag
5. drink spills
6. zoom in on bag dirtied with juice
7. show boys alarmed face
8. immediately runs to wash bag

Scene 8: ( Soccer field, afternoon/morning)
Soccer scene - Rich boy throws the bag at a corner of the field and goes to play to soccer with his friends

1. leaves the bag by the goal post
2. random guy kicks ball and hits the bag
3. bag topples over into some puddles of hard mud (not very noticeable)
4. game ends and rich boy retrieves his bag, not noticing the mud whatsoever

Final scene: ( early in the morning, on the road)
Both of the boys are sort of late for school.
Poor boy runs to school, trips but bag doesn’t give way.
Rich boy runs to school but his bag gave way and tore, books drop all over the floor
Rich boy starts to cry (or something sad, or comically sad)

1. A few weeks later....
2. Split screen, both of them, wakes up realizing they have overslept and are almost late for school
3. Split screen, rich one stuffing books into bag, poor one books already in bag, thus he only puts 1 or 2 more in
4. Poor guy first, running out of HDB block in school uniform, trips and falls, but bag doesnt break despite it’s oldness, and he continues his way onward
5. Now switch to rich guy, running, looking at his Rolex watch worrying (front view). He stops for a while to take a breather.
6. Suddenly, *MUSIC*, the bag gives way and tears, books drop all over the floor. guy falls onto the ground and starts crying.

Credits.

Now, back a bit onto the fallacies that we've discovered during the initial recap of the story, or brainstorming we shall say. At first there was this part where the rich boy was supposed to put his bag onto a birdshit-filled bench in a park, for a rest after a long walk, but we found that a bit ridiculous, so we replaced that short story into one of when his phone suddenly rings, so he has no choice, but to take a seat, and put down his heavy stuff.

Another fallacy we found was that we wanted to rich guy to drop his bag into a puddle of mud, to play soccer. But again, it was a bit ridiculous because we felt that the rich guy would rather throw away his bag straight away, instead of keeping it. So we made the scene less exaggerated

Reflections on Prelim Judging - Weng Shern

We did what we aimed to do - Explain our motives, describe our rough story, show them the brief storyboard and blog link - with a lot of research done. It wasn't a bad job seriously. Initially, after we saw a group present on "Life of 2 waterbottles", we were epicly stunned (You should have seen the look on our faces). How the fk did they have such a similar project to us? Was Kai Siang a mole? - joke. Anyway, we eventually found out that their theme is more on environmental conservation with mixed mediums such as film and animation.. which to me, is totally retarded and ugly when combined together.

So, we waited all the way till all the groups presented, and finally it was us to give a good end to the show. We went up to the stage, and started presenting. Although there were minor stutters in presentation, I'm pretty sure the judges and audience understood what was going on, and gave quite constructive questions cum comments.

The storyboard probably saved us since it was the only visual we had to show to the judges other than random pictures on the powerpoint, and that again I think will give us the upper edge in passing the Prelims.

Now, what do we plan to do next?
With most of the background research done, I'll start researching more on the object - schoolbag and the various things that revolve around it. When I mean things, I really do not know another appropriate word to substitute it. Anyways, after that, we'll start finalizing the storyboard with the mentor and stuff.

After finalization, we'll start contacting various vendors for permission to shoot as well as decide on the actors and props and costumes (clothing to suit the scene). Our budget will roughly by $50 at most, contribution of $15 from each member. No choice.

By end of June, shooting should be completed and editing to have partially started and we'll show the film to our friend for him to compose the song. Alternatives to friends composing are Royalty free music, but we'll try to get really free-rights music.

Human Nature - The Storyline Brief

Our film will revolve around the lives of 2 school bags (which are branded). There will be 2 main characters - a poor guy who acts as the protagonist as well as a rich kid who acts as the antagonist. Although these 2 characters are introduced, they play a role not as significant as the objects themselves. The objects HAVE FEELINGS.

So the rich kid buys this branded bag from an expensive shop, while the poor kid purchases/picks up the bag at a relatively cheaper price from a nearby garage sale (moving house). The bag looks a bit weared out, but it is still in good condition. Both kids go to the same school everyday, and their friends are constantly mocking both of them for having the same bags. The rich kid receives much praise while the poor one, well... gets accused for being poor.

So, the story goes on with the rich kid endlessly treating his bag with least respect, throwing it around when he's frustrated or once he reaches home, while the poor kid values the bag as much as his only prized treasure. For example during a soccer game, the rich and poor kid plays together but the rich kid dumps it in the mud excited to play, while the poor kid takes good care of it.

Finally, one day, the rich kid's bag is so worn out that the base just gives away and the books fly down like a rapid waterfall. The poor kid's bag on the other hand is still in pretty much the same condition as before. The rich guy gets humiliated and throws away his bag, and his bag gets run over by a car or something. But the rich bag also feels totally sad and envious of the poor bag, who even though was once worse than him, is much better than him now because of a good owner it has.

The moral of the story can be based on 2 different perspectives.

The first moral: Treat your subordinates well, and they will respect you and give you their best.

Method:

We will try to use as minimal dialogue as possible, while at the same time, conveying the feelings of the bags through the actions of the characters as well as the angles/lighting/contrast settings, and the music.
We will not use too many details as they will confuse the audience. We will keep it as simple as possible.
We will forever stay committed to this project and give our best till the very last.

Analysis of films

Example of a lousier film




What is bad and can be prevented:

- Shaky: 0.36-0.40, 2.04-2.07
- Unclear/Awkward Transition: 1.08-1.10
- Could have captured a larger percent of the actor’s body (Rule of thirds) : 1.50
- Bad focusing of actor: 2.52


Compared to a better film




What is good and can be learned

- Background music is relaxing, which suits the scenery and fishing theme of the film
- Short and concise, yet is able to convey the message across to the readers
- Uses many camera angles such as 0.44
- Transition of the film is smooth and perfect
- Effective use of black and white film to showcase the stark contrast, enhancing the subject matter. It also suites the theme of friendship between 2 old men.

These Four Walls [Camera Angles & Lighting

Film: These Four Walls

http://www.youtube.com/user/WongFuProductions#p/u/5/F7Vc4WeZQ38

0:30 – Close up camera shot, background blurred with main object focused; emphasis on the intended object, signifies importance and gives audience a general sense on the area of focus

0:40 – Blurred fade in transitions between scenes, slow paced; shows the effect of gradual progression of the object

0:57 – Windmill sitting by the edge of steps. Windmill follows the one-third rule in camera photography; sits at the right-third of the film at this point with the stair case on the left-third

0:59 – Windmill is hidden behind part of furniture of some sort. The scene is nicely framed using two pieces of furniture on each edge, natural feeling

1:07 – One-third rule put in place again, background blurred with focus on windmill spinning in the wind

*A series of windmill shots being shown [Each of them following the one-third rule]

*Windmill in a noticeably brighter environment in the outdoors. In contrast to the scenes at the start – Shows general change of mood

1:45 – Broader shot with bright lightings reflecting off the yellow leave on the tree; gives a feeling of serenity

2:06 – Windmill is filmed looking over the whole huge city; emphasis on the miniature size of the windmill and exaggerates the size of the city; leaving a colossal impression, also with the use of a high-angle shot

*Next few scenes shows the windmill being filmed spinning with plenty of shots showing the sun shining on it [Use of natural lighting; showing calmness]

2:44 – Scene framed using two sides of buildings with a river in the centre. Building’s reflection can be seen clearly in the water, giving a nice reflection effect

*Next few scenes, night falls in the city. Windmill is shown still spinning in various different scenes with lesser lightings and the change of background to a more urban theme. Suggests change of mood

*Plenty of fade-in-out shots used

*Bright Lights to emphasize happiness and peacefulness, maybe joy

*Many faded background scenes to emphasize focus on the windmill

*Film ends with the same scene it begins with

short film- happy meal music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3_KtEC1rkk&playnext=1&list=PL633B7AF66A9427CD

start of vid: eerie and scary music. to depict a scary scene as the office worker looked scared and out of sorts. he suspiciously put a gun in his briefcase and left the office in a hurry.

1 min 10: eerie music continues as the man is stalked by a scary looking monster and he seemed very afraid and was escaping all the way. in total contrast to film title 'happy meal'

1 min 20: deafening slience fills the air as a scary looking 'ronald macdonald' creeps up to the man behind him. the music describes the anticipation of the horror that follows.

1 min 26: screeching high-pitched music fills the air as the man finds out about the beast stalking him.The high pitched music brings out the fear running through every cell of the man at the moment.

1 min 42: high pitched music breaks out as the beast. although shot multiple times by the man, gives a loud roar and continues to chase after him. The fast paced music brings out the fear of the man as he tries to escape.

2 min: the man is pinned down and his blood brutally sucked out. Slow, sad and low pitch music breaks out as a symbol of his tragic and bloody death.

post on short film on the video offside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIxBRA5qjA&feature=relmfu

start of film: commentary from a radio to 2 soldiers on a soccer match. This compliments the title of the film 'Offside'. But the quality is rather low.

1 min 30: 2 italian soldiers with guns appear opposite the brazilians. commentary continues but the 2 sets of men although facing off, are not willing to open fire on each other. they listen intently to the commentary as the match gets intensified.

2 min 46: both sets of men are sweating and they are so nervous about the match they could'nt hold their guns well. Commentary continues.

2 min 52: commentary suddenly stops. radio loses signal. silence takes over. the whole standoff escalates into unbearable tension

3 min 25: just when they were about to open fire, the commentary resumes. tensions immediately stop and both sides breathe a sigh of relief.

4 min: after news broke out that brazil scored, the brazillian soldier accidentally opens fire and hits an italian soldier. a deafening silence consumes the entire film to describe the 'uh-oh' feeling felt by all the men there.

4 min 15: As the radio continued the cheers for brazil's goal, both sets of men broke out into an epic gunfire and all die. When they die, news broke out that the goal was offside. Very funny end to the video.

Music of short film- strangers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpjHSiQLPmA

start of film: no music, background sound to emphasise the location the 2 men were in (in the train)

2 min 13: Drum thumping sounds: to describe the air of nervousness and uncertainty as well as some tension when one man sprayed black man on one of the main character's newspaper on purpose.

4 min 23: Handphone ringing although on the surface seems to ease abit of the tension between the few men who were by now staring daggers at each other, however it only escalted the tension between the two parties

4 min 43: All hell broke loose and some fast paced action music was played as the two strangers attempted to run from the group of gangster-like men.

5 min 53: The fast paced music suddenly stops and silence consumes the film. the two men have escaped and smiled at each other at the 2 sides of the platform. Calm is restored to the film and they go their seperate ways.