Donna Massam

During the production of our movie we had a few changes to our original script. Firstly we decided to take Hayley's character out of the movie because a) With Hayley's character included the movie would be too long as the time i had predicted the dialogue to take wasn't long enough and b) It was really hard for Cliff (bless him) to remember all of the dialogue (theres a few slight differences in the final dialogue used). Also i don't think that the lighting worked as well as we had hoped whereas mine and Tom's characters are concerned, because although we are lit up, it would only light up the person stood next to Cliff, so we had to change it and have it so that im on screen first then when my dialogue finishes, i walk backwards and Tom walks on screen. The are the only major differences to the script.

Below are images of our set for our One shot movie, we needed to film inside a studio as the look and mood of our movie would be created using lighting. We had the curtain pulled over behind Cliff so that you couldn't see it, this was then used for me and tom to disappear behind so we could then walk round to the front of the camera without being seen. The paper was taped to the floor for us to identify the places of where each of us had to stand. As you can see Cliff is using the gloves for the lights to avoid getting burned because they became very hot from being on so long.

I chose to evaluate this ornament which i found at my boyfriends house, the reason i have chosen this is because i think that it a very pleasant object too look at.
The object is a simple ornament of a woman bent on one knee and the other leg bent up towards the back of the woman, meeting her arms at the back. The stance that the woman is holding sort of gives me the idea that she is dancing, That this would be a move included in a dance routine.

The object is grey stone marble, with a rough texture to it.

What i like most about this object and what i think makes it more pleasing to the eye is the shape of it, how the arms being not two arms but one as they are joined together, with the leg meeting them and also joining together with the arms. This gives the object quite a curvilinear look as it hold a lot of curves.

• The arms are curved round almost into a circle.
  
• The ladies head is lent backwards.
• The womans stomach is rounded as the back is arched forwards.
  
• The leg is curved round towards the arms (giving the whole object a very interesting shape).
• The womans curved back leads down towards her rounded bum, connecting to the leg that leads to the legs and arms.

Roles:
Donna: Scripting and character profiles
Hayley: Storyboarding and Lighting assistance
Cliff: Lighting
Tom: Booking equipment and studio and Camera duty
(We all have roles in the movie)
We all have each others phone numbers in order for us to communicate with one another.
Our workload is pretty much the same as the roles written above, I have produced all of the information below whilst the others are doing what it says beside their names.

Character Profiles:

Character One - Played by Cliff Cook
Name: John Thompson
Age: 21
John is the main character in the movie who has been betrayed by all of his three closest friends.

Character Two - Played by Donna Massam
Name: Jeniffer Saunders
Age:21
Connection to main character: Ex-girlfriend
His ex girlfriend Jeniffer gets drunk one night with John and Daniel one night, John passes out because he's too drunk, one thing leads to another and she sleeps with Daniel - Afterwards she realises that it wasn't a mistake and that she has feelings for Daniel and wants to be with him (Daniels feelings are mutual). She admits everything to John and leaves him

Character Three - Played by Hayley Jennings
Name: Jade Cunningham
Age: 20
Connection to main character: Friend
Jade was friends with both Jeniffer, Daniel and John. When she finds out what has happened between Daniel and Jeniffer and as her and Jeniffer are best friends she stands by her and Daniel, despite John never failing to be there for her.

Character Four - Played by Tom Pearson
Name: Daniel Jackson
Age: 20
Connection to main character: Best Friend
Daniel gets drunk one night with John and Jeniffer one night, John passes out because he's too drunk, one thing leads to another and he sleeps with Jeniffer - Afterwards he realises that it wasn't a mistake and that he has feelings for Jeniffer and wants to be with her (Jeniffer's feelings are mutual). Jeniffer leaves John to be with him.

Name of movie: Betrayal

Story Synopsis:
John Thompson (Cliff Cook) has been taken for granted, used and betrayed by the three people he most cared about, Jeniffer (Donna Massam), Jade (Hayley Jennings) and Daniel (Tom Pearson). In this short movie he tells the story of what they have done to him , but the story then tells of a dramatic twist of fate and how these three selfish people held johns fate in their hands.

Story - What will happen:
The setting starts off black, lighting then turns on, focusing on the main character (Cliff) The lighting will also reflect onto the three 'ex' friends in the background, making them less visible than the main character. After 5 seconds have passed Cliff will begin the dialogue about the first character (myself) who has betrayed him (this lasts for 15 seconds). He then goes silent. this character then walks backwards slightly, gradually leaving the light completely. (This silence then lasts for 2 seconds). Cliff then begins the dialogue about the second friend - Hayley, explaining what she has done to betray him. (This also lasts for 15 seconds). After this everything falls silent, Hayley then like myself walks back gradually removing herself from the light. (2 second silence). (now only cliff and tom are in the frame). Cliff then begin the dialogue about about the third friend (Tom Pearson), explaining what he has do to betray him. After he has finished, Tom steps back, removing himself from the light. All falls silent for 5 seconds. John (Cliff) portrays a sad expression on his face throughout the whole time, he then finishes with an end dialogue, a simple and short description, explaining to the audience about the incident that sealed his fate, (5 seconds).

Without no added effects or titles so far the movie will last for a total of 64 seconds.

Spoken Dialogue:

On Jeniffer (Donna Massam) (15 seconds)
"I was in love once....
She broke my heart....
Then she betrayed me....With my closest friend....
The she left....
She chose him...."

On Jade (Hayley Jennings) (15 seconds)
"I was always there for her....
But she let me down....
When i needed her most....
I gave her a shoulder....
She closed the door in my face....
She chose them...."

On Daniel (Tom Pearson) (15 seconds)
"We grew up together....
We were best mates....
Through thick and thin we stuck together....
But not through this....
He took everything from me....
He chose her...."

End Dialogue:
"I seen him down the pub
he was mocking me
I left
He followed
I saw a glimmer
a blade"

"Now i have no body,
And no body has me"

Everything then goes black (Sound of a blade falling, and a body falling on the floor to follow).

The atmosphere and the look of the set will hold a dark, hidden and mysterious feel, this will be to express the characteristics and feelings of the movie, portraying the feeling of betrayed and hidden selves as well as the feeling of being alone. We will create this mood by having the set completely dark with the lights on the characters being the only light source on the set. Also we will be wearing dark clothing as to not distract your attention at all within the movie.

The main character will be the main focus of the movie so we need him to be placed will in the frame to keep it balanced, also so that the three characters stood behind him don't take any emphasis off his role in the movie, i was thinking if we have cliff closer to the camera so that we have a shoulder view of him, also leaving room between the top of his head and the edge of the frame so that he doesn't look squashed onto the screen, with us other three characters stood just behind him so that we catch the light but don't distract the audience's attention away from what the main character is saying.

From Hayley Jennings Blog

It will start with John (Cliff) stood in the middle with the spotlight focused on him. However, the light will also show the features of three people stood around him. A person each side, and one person almost hiding behind him.

He will talk about person 1, Jeniffer (Donna). Once he is finished talking about her, she will step away from him and out of the shot.

He will talk about person 2, Jade (Me). Once he is finished talking about her, she backs off out of the shot too.
Finally, he talks about person 3, Daniel (Tom), who steps from behind him to once side of him so he's more visible. Once he's finished talking about him, he backs off.
He will say a small piece of dialogue afterwards all alone, then the light will cut.
Lights go out.
The sound of a body hitting the floor is heard, then silence until the final line "Now I have no one...and no one has me." I'm hoping this will be hard hitting, as it's will make people realise that he's dead. I also like how poetic is sounds, as it turns the sentence around part way through.

The reason why I chose Tom to be stood almost hiding behind Cliff is because I thought it would work better for people wondering why he is obscured, and also shows how he hid himself from Cliff by staying behind him.

Three point lighting is used in a number of media productions such as film, tv, photography, video and also in CGI. It simply forms the basis of light.

The technique uses three different lighting setups, these different setups are called, The key light, the fill light and the backlight.


The Key light:
The key light is the main light to the setup, usually being the most strongest. It has the highest influence on the footage being filmed, photographed etc..
It is placed to one side of the subject in question as to have on side fully lit up causing shadows on the other side of the subject which is not yet lit, this is then where the fill light comes in.

The Fill Light:
This light sits on the opposite side to the key light, filling in all of the shadows created by the key light. This light is usually not as powerful as the key light as it is a secondary light, used to contribute to the effect that the key light is forming.

These two lights used together form a seamlessly lit mood to the subject in question if used effectively, with added effects such as black, white, blue and orange colored sheets of fireproof sheets, you can create different mood settings so that you could be filming in a brightly lit film, yet the subject being filmed could be quite dark and moody, creating different moods for different subjects.

Backlight:
This light is set behind the subject, lighting it up from the back, (As Deborah explained to us it is sometimes referred to as the ready breck effect, as it was once used in an old ready breck tv advert, giving a light glow around the main character involved in the advert). This light provides more definition to the subject being filmed as well as providing subtle highlights to the subject, this helps to pull the subject out from the background, separating them and giving a 3D look.

Image Source: http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/images/diy_studio_lighting.jpg

Last week in our seminar Deborah explained to us the health and safety issues that we have to take into consideration before setting up the lighting, whilst setting up the lighting and also afterwards. These are to both ensure the safety of the person setting up the lighting and the people around the area.

This is what i learned from the seminar:

Firstly before plugging the lights in you have to check that the lights are safe to use. These steps will ensure that the lights are safe:

checking the cables for any kind of split or cuts and that there are no revealing wires, if there are none then the to check the plug and that it is connected properly and again that there are no wires revealed. (This is obviously to avoid being electrocuted)

Check that the light have been correctly connected to the stand (This is to avoid the light falling off the stand which could injure people around the area, it is extremely dangerous also as the light become very hot and could burn somebody.)

Make sure that the light have been placed in a suitable place, avoid putting them near any kind of exit as it is clearly in everybody path. (For example if somebody isn't looking where they are going then the could bump into the light, causing a lot of hazards for both that person and people around that area, somebody could get burned because if some thing falls a persons initial reaction is to reach for it to stop it, if this happens they could burn their hands. If the light falls to the floor it could cause somebody to fall over the light.)

Use the safety glass or scrim (which should be with the lighting kit) to avoid the light becoming so hot and smashing. (This could be dangerous as it could hit somebody and cut them or go into their eyes)

Once the lights have been plugged in make sure the wires fall down horizontally down the side of the light, goes straight along the floor and then that all loose wire is positioned near the wall it is plugged into, then place a floor mat over the wire laid across the floor.(This is to avoid anybody tripping over the wire. (if the wire just hangs above the floor then this obviously could case someone to trip over it.)

As the lights are so bright it is a good idea to warn others around you that you are going to turn the lights on, as to not suddenly surprise them with the intense lighting in their face. (This could cause problems for example if there is anyone in the room with certain health conditions.)

Always wear safety gloves when handling the lights as they become very hot because they are so powerful.(This could result in someone seriously burning themselves on the lights.)

When you have finished using the lights, it is best to warn others around you that the light is still hot and is cooling down by turning the light to face the wall and lowering the head of the light towards the floor. (If it is not set out light this, somebody could just go for the light not knowing that it is still hot and again seriously burn themselves.)

• Busy


• Person standing out from the crowd


• Natural Light

Indoors -

• Claustrophobic


• Camera - Close up - Dark Lighting

The Park -

• Quiet


• Empty


• Lonliness

After discussing these we all decided that it would be more interesting to use a dark, indoor location as we could experiment in an effective way with the camera angles and the placeing of the area.

Style:

• Dark - Lonely atmosphere


• Indoor - Studio?

Ideas:

• Talking? mumbled or clear voices?


• No Talking? Cue Cards? (could be shown by the character in the movie to express their words)

Dialogue Ideas:

Relationship Break-up: An obvious relatioship break-up, Maybe the character could be holding a photograph of their ex-partner, cries etc. (Although this was my idea i think that it could be too cliche and used quite a lot, also i dont think that it could really lead to an interesting ending, i think that this would make the movie not very entertaining to watch).

Friends Gathering: One person will be the main character in the movie, with a range of people stood behind the character (these will be the friends). The lighting will be focused on the main character as he is the main focal point of the movie. Gradually the friends dissapear into the darkness once the friend has finished talking about the particular friend and describing why this person has deserted him . (We all agreed that this would be the most strongest idea for our movie).

As we had agreed that the second idea was the most strongest, we decided to meet up on Thursday at 12.30 after all coming up with our own dialogue ideas, then we will put the best ideas together to form the movies final dialogue.

My Ideas:

I have mainly been thinking about the lighting within the movie, i think that a main spotlight should be directed onto the main character, with dimmed lights on the friends, once the main character stops talking about one friend, this friend walks into the darkness and the dimmed light turns off once the friend has dissapeard. I think that this would add an intence feel to the movie making it more watchable for viewers.

Whilst in tutorial on Tusday afternoon, one of the students Jay, did an interesting book synopsis on media production, and as the book was passed round the room, i noticed that it had a section on framing and the positioning of characters in a frame. I thought that this would help as we need to consider the framing and the composition as to not leave any negative space around the area.