Post 5; Reseaching short film content C

In order to get the best grade I can I did some additional research into films that have the same themes as the one we are making. This would help influence our own script.

The first film I looked at was Trust.

 

Annie Cameron is 14 and lives in suburban Chicago, she has a good relationship with her family. On her birthday, her parents give her a laptop and when she meets Charlie in an online chat room, she establishes an instant connection with him. At first, Charlie tells her that he is sixteen years old. Over time, as the two bond by sending phone text messages and through instant messaging, he tells her his age is really 20, then 25. Annie dismisses these concerns as she believes they love each other. After three months of communicating electronically, Charlie invites Annie to meet him at the mall.

When Charlie appears, she discovers he is significantly older than he presented himself to be, appearing to be in his late thirties or early forties. Annie is upset about him having lied about his age, but still spends time with him after he compliments and sweet-talks her and convinces her to ignore their age difference. He then persuades her to go to a motel with him where he gets her to model lingerie and proceeds to have sex with her. All this is being secretly filmed by him.

After not hearing from him for a few days, Annie’s behavior starts to change towards those closest to her. Her best friend, who had seen her at the mall with an older man, is concerned and goes to tell the school counselor. The police arrive and take Annie away to talk to her about what happened. The FBI starts an investigation with the help of an unwilling Annie, who still believes Charlie loves her but because of the investigation has been scared off. The FBI gets Annie to contact Charlie so they can identify him but he figures out what they are doing and disconnects.

A few more days pass, and although Charlie has not been identified, DNA evidence proves he has done the same thing with other young girls who reported it to the police. This causes Annie to be devastated because she thought she was special, but after seeing pictures of the other girls, she feels betrayed, and she finally admits to herself, and to her hospital counselor, that she was raped.

After seeing a website where people where belittling the fact that she was raped Annie tries to commit suicide but is saved by her father. The family then slowly tries to rebuild their lives. As the end credits begin a home video is shown to reveal that Charlie is a high school professor who is married with a young son.

Trust shows the steps of grooming as well as what happens after it has been discovered. We are focusing on the steps of grooming and seeing them laid out as they were in Trust has given me ideas on how our group could incorporate them into our film.

These are two trailers for the film both focus on different aspects of the film; the first on the supposed security associated with the family and home and the second of the dangers of the internet.

 

The second film I looked at was The Lovely Bones.

14 year old Susie is viciously murdered by her neighbour in an underground den. She finds herself stuck between heaven and hell watching her family as they try and work out what happened to her whilst falling apart themselves.

This film, although isn’t about sexual grooming has aspects of it, when the neighbour (George Harvey) brings Susie down to his underground den he tries to seduce her, which the audience find out isn’t the first time he has done this. This twist shocks the audience and is what we hope to do with our own film.

This is the trailer for The Lovely Bones, it shows the effect sexual abuse and murder have on people, especially the family.

 

Post 4: Researching short film content B

As a group we decided that to gain a better understanding of how sexual groomers are portrayed we should look at other films and books that focused on the topic of sexual grooming. One book, turned film ,that we looked at was Lolita.

Lolita was originally a book by Vladimir Nabokov and was made into a film in 1962. It follows the life of a middle aged professor named Humbert Humbert who falls in love with his landlady’s flirtatious 14 year old daughter who he affectionately calls Lolita. When Lolita is sent to an all-girls summer camp Humbert returns to find a note from his land lady, Charlotte, stating that she has fallen in love with him and he must either leave or marry her which he does in order to stay close to Lolita.




After their honeymoon Charlotte finds Humbert’s diary in which he has written about his feelings towards Lolita, distraught, Charlotte runs out of the house and gets hit by a car and dies. Humbert goes and collects Lolita from camp and they begin traveling before settling into a new life. However they are met with questions about their relationship and Humberts ‘over protected daughter’. It ends with Lolita running away from Humbert. After several years she contacts him asking for money and he demands to know what happened to her and she tells him about Clare Quilty, who the audience see at the beginning of the film when Humbert goes to kill him.

Looking at this book and film has been extremely helpful to us as the story line is similar to what we what to achieve in our own film. Lolita is written from the point of the groomer, Humbert, and after doing lots of research, we have found is the only story written like this. As a group we had already come to the decision that as a twist we would write the script from the point of view of the groomer. The research into Lolita has also given us ideas about how to show the different stages of grooming. It also makes the audience wonder if what is happening on screen is actually happening due to the unreliable narrative.
 

 

From reading reviews I found that nearly everyone who had read the book had found themselves feeling sorry for or understanding the point of view of Humbert which is what we want to achieve.

 

Post 3; Researching short film content A

To insure our film plot was as accurate as possible we first did a lot of research into the subject of sexual grooming. Sexual grooming is a very serious subject and we wanted to portray it as accurately but at the same time as sensitively as we could.

To do this we interviewed our School Child Protection Officer to get a better idea of what actually goes on and who it affects. Not only did this interview open our eyes to how horrible grooming is but also to how it can be hidden so easily from people leaving the child helpless. We will use this information and the secondary research we got online to help us write a script that is as close to the truth as possible.

 

 

 

Here is a link to the interview with the School Child Protection Officer: Sound Cloud Sexual Grooming Interview 

 

In the interview the Child Protection Officer talked about what grooming is and how a groomer doesn’t just groom a child but their family and friends. They often portray themselves to be trustworthy and caring which makes their presence around the family and even more so the child unquestionable and normal.

He also mentions how very often the child in question doesn’t realise they are being groomed but believes that their family friend, uncle or someone else is just being caring and that the relationship is normal, because of this they don’t speak out about what is happening.

Our group learnt so much from this interview with the School Child Protection Officer which will help greatly when it comes to writing our script and making it as realistic as possible.

Post 2; How to write a good short film script

In our group we decided that we were going to continue with our idea for our opening sequence in AS. The plot is about a girl who is groomed by her best friend’s father, but unlike other films or accounts it would be told from the point of view of the groomer. It would show the different stages of grooming from gaining the victims trust to sexualising the relationship whilst appearing as if nothing is going on to the outside world.
 

Below are links to articles about making short films and summaries of what I have learnt from them.

http://www.slideshare.net/petefraser/short-film-making-tips

 

o   It’s all about the story line (utilize the genre’s conventions to maximise the films effect on the audience).

o   Plan out what you are going to film, story board, shot list.

o   Research the themes of your film and the kind of characters you will need.

o   Look into different locations; pick the one that is not only easiest to get to but most practical (sockets, light).

o   Know what props you need.

o   Make sure you know how to use the equipment (practice)

o   When you're editing do a rough cut first so you know where things are going.

o   Re-film/ record parts that aren’t right don’t leave bits that aren’t right.

o   Make sure there is no unnecessary footage (it’s a short film).

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/introduction/what-makes-a-good-short

There are no specific rules to making a good short film.

o   Have an exciting and original ideas (avoid clichéd ideas and look at subjects from a different angle).

o   Have a strong script, develop and rewrite and get feedback from different people.

o   Get the best actors for the roles, don’t just pick friends.

o   Make sure everything is done to a high production value.

o   Keep it short

o   Make sure it has a strong beginning to get the audience’s attention.

o   Don’t repeat scenes.

o   Experiment with new techniques/ angles.

After reading these articles I now know what we need to focus on when it comes to making our film. I know that the script is a very important part of pre-production and that we need to make sure that it’s as good as it can be before we start to film. We also need to make sure we know what props we need and when we need them. Also the locations should be as realistic or as close to the real thing as we can get. I found out we should also make sure our idea is unique or at least looked at from another angle (such as the groomer point of view).  

Post 1; Research existing short films

In this post I am going to analyse an existing short film that we have watched so I can achieve a better understanding of the media language elements such as camera, editing, sound, costume and mise-en-scene. Analysing this short film (That Old One) will enable me to understand what conventions are used in short films and what kind of story lines they follow, this will help when it comes to making our own short film.

Here is a link to a website which shows a short clip from the film That Old One: http://www.jameshenry.org.uk/oldone.html

The plot of That Old One is about a man who wakes up in bed with a woman but because he was drinking the night before doesn’t remember what happened. As he walks home he has flashbacks of the events of the night before and imagines scenarios of what could happen when he arrives home to his wife.

There are a variety of shots and angles used to enforce the positions of the characters; a high angled shot is used to make the leading man ‘Tom’ appear strong and aggressive at different points in the film whereas in others low angled shots are used to make him or the wife character to show their vulnerability and weakness. There is also a great use of close up and extreme close up shots. Through these shots the audience can see the characters facial expressions, reactions and thoughts. An example of how this is effective is when Tom is in the club and an extreme close up shot of his face shows the audience that he is drunk and doesn’t know what he is doing, this is also inforced with the special effect used to make the edge of the screen blurry when the camera shows things from his point of view.

The editing used throughout the film is non-linear, meaning that the story is not in order of events but goes back and forth between what is happening at that point in time and what has previously happened as well as the different scenarios that may occur when he gets home. Using this kind of editing creates a sense of confusion for the audience as to what is real and what is made up therefore creating a sympathetic link between the audience and the character. As well as this there have been a lot of hard cuts used which keeps the pace of the scene and film quite fast, a technique that seems to be used in the majority of short films we have watched.

Throughout the film a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used to create effect and change the way the audience views the characters. One obvious use of diegetic sound is the dialogue of the characters as well as any other sounds such as Tom screaming that are made by the characters themselves. The non-diegetic sound is used help portray the emotions of the characters or the situations that they are in for example when Tom is walking home there is calm music being played over the top of the atmosphere track (a layer of extra backing track to lay over the original and allows you to alter the background noise levels) of the diegetic sounds. Another example of the use of non-diegetic sound used is when Tom goes back to the row of houses trying to figure out which one he came out of there is a jungle beat being played giving the scene an element of tenseness and meaning. The non- diegetic sounds that are used are sounds that as an audience we cannot see the source of, unlike with the diegetic sounds, but help create atmosphere and mood throughout the film.

The lighting used in That Old One is different to lighting used in any of the other films we watched. As well as the natural light there are un-natural lighting colours created using coloured gels. This lighting is used in correspondence with Tom’s feelings and situations, for example dark colours and warm lighting is used when he is trying to remember the night before but is confused. When he is thinking of things to tell his wife and how they would play out a green light is used to show the audience that it isn’t real, while the green light is being used a Foley popping sound is used to make it clearer to the audience.

The mise-en-scene is important in any film and in That Old One it is no different. The costumes are very important to the story line as even if they are part of Tom’s imagination, they are an extension of the character at that point in time.  Tom’s costume doesn’t change throughout the film, he is wearing the same suit that he was wearing the night before showing the audience that he hasn’t been home. The cup of coffee he is carrying at the beginning enforces the story of him having drunk too much and isn’t able to remember what happened. When Tom is making up situations about how his wife will respond to his return home her costume changes depending on what he believes she did the night before and how she will react.

There is little use of props other than to decorate rooms apart from Tom’s wedding ring. On his way home he realises his wedding ring is no longer on his finger, this is where the story starts and for the first two thirds of it the main plot line revolves around it. He soon finds his ring attached to his keys, another prop, that’s only used for about 30seconds. Other props that are used are an unopened box of condoms which leads him in to another scenario in his head and the cup of coffee at the beginning which he spills down himself prompting him to look at his ring finger.

There are very few locations in the film; Tom’s walk home, the woman’s house, his house and outside the row of houses. Each location is used several times and in varying shots.