The information detailed from dates 27th of February until the 3rd of April are all in relation to my abandoned FMP.
Part One – The big idea – Deadline 9th March
Production Journal
For my production journal I will be continuously write notes in a notebooks and scan the pages on my blog as well as gathering these notes together to create neat and clear journal entries on my blog.
As a quick note, my production started a little later than intended as a had to catch up with prior units.
________________________________________________________________
Wednesday the 27th of February – Starting this project is incredibly intimidating. Having the freedom to create whatever we wish leaves me stuck with a herd of jumbled ideas, some promising and some abysmal. When brainstorming all these different ideas I felt as if my brain was gradually degrading to mush which is not a promising sign when this is only the first step.
In the end I wrote down the basic concept for 4 ideas that I deemed the best and most realistic to create.
Idea 1 – Music Video – ‘Bros’ by Wolf Alice
This is a song I’m very fond of and my basis for this video stemmed mostly from me listening to it. The writer Ellie Roswell described this song in an interview with NME.com as “An ode to a childhood imagination and friendship and all the charm that comes with that” (see post here). I really wanted to utilize the theme of childhood friends and how their relationship would change as they grew older. My plan was to have one friend (A) being in a stable, pleasant living condition who is honor student and the other being (B) having trouble at home, being rather aggressive in nature and rather problematic. In B’s desperate times she’s seeks comfort in her friend and contains romantic feelings for her. However A seeks to progress far in her life and as a result pushes B away in pursuit of her dreams. When problems begin to strike in A’s life, B is is hesitant to run to her side as A never did much to help her but she refuses to stand in the sidelines. With B’s help, A begins to piece her situation back together, as well as her relationship with her best friend, but now it becomes something more.
The song already has an official video, as this was part of the influence. However the video only portrays the friends as children on an adventure, I wanted to create a much more dramatic narrative.
Idea 2 – Music Video – ‘Neon Rust’ by Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes
Like the previous idea, this is a song I love and my idea for the video developed in my mind as I listened to it. I haven’t found a message directly from the writer but fans speculate that the song is about the writer’s daughter and his growing anxiety of what her future will be and how she will live it. My composition for the music video would be a clash of performance and experimental imagery. I would have simple shot of the singer in a black room under a spotlight singer the lyric as if it’s the last song he’ll ever sing. The only meaningful detail in the sections would be that I’d never let the singer look in the camera as this is his own struggle that he is fight alone. For another portion of the video I would have a girl, representing the daughter, performing a contemporary dance routine in a seemingly empty room, under a spotlight and with a small value of water at her feet. Her movements would be swift and large, reflecting the impact and pressure that growing up can cause however these motions would be gentle and in slow motion to represent the innocence and femininity, the image her father has her. She would also wear a big bright yellow dress – the primary colour representing childishness and innocence as well as reference to the lyric in the song regarding her as a “sweet golden rose”. The flowing of the large skirt of the dress is also intended to imitate the image of a flower.
Finally, for the experimental aspect of the video, I envision a scene of the daughter lying on an operating table with her chest split open, as the song progresses an abundance of flowers begins to grow from the open wound and eventually cover her entire body. The operating table is to represent the drastic change we take in both our appearance and personality throughout puberty, I thought through a child’s eyes this body alteration could seem like a surgery. The flower, again, represent her innocence but also change. Growing up is not a choice and like these wild flowers they will grow whether you like it or not. Puberty is very sudden and can be very stressful, to the point where it’s suffocating and that’s the image I’m attempting to replicate in this scene. The flowers also come from the frequent mention of them throughout the song like ‘sweet golden rose’ and ‘And all the soil is sour, And the trees are brittle, And so are the flowers’.
There is currently no official music for the song.
Idea 3 – Short film “Continue? End?” (the name is a work in progress)
My basis for this short follows a college student going about their daily life. As they leave the house to head to college they suddenly collapse, when they wake up they return to the start of the day. However when they wake up they are in a game simulation. They’re day goes as they’d expect but now they have to be mindful of their choices and dialogue Their objective is to get through the week by passing the odd events to progress in the coming week. The screen will appear as though it’s in a video game, this involves a collection of lives presented in pixel portraits of the main character as well as a health stamina bars. They have to keep wary of their status as it could be potentially game ending.
While the dialogue and tone of the film will be humorous I want to incorporate some darker undertones to help describe why our character is in the kind of situation. I will establish early on that our protagonist is a huge fan of entertainment mediums like games, film and literature. Due to their difficult life and introverted nature they used these mediums as a coping mechanism – seeking escapism.
Throughout each ‘cutscene’ their will be a number of dialogue options that the main character could say, as their will be frequent scenes being revisited these option could be explored. The ‘game’ is being played by the main character themselves. Throughout the film they will pause the game and give their opinion on the current situation. These moment could easily break the immersion and this is my intention. As this simulation is a reproduction of the main characters imagination. By experiencing the day as if they were in a video game it helps them cope with their daily life.
Idea 4 – Short film “5 Stages”
This short film is intended to explore the theme of ‘Grief’ and it’s theorized 5 stages; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I intended to present these themes through symbolism reflecting through the cinematography, props, setting and the main character’s actions and dialogue. I’d structured a simple narrative that follows a widow who’s recently been told her husband has been murdered. After this event she has to cope with living life be herself. It’s hinted and later revealed in the story that their marriage wasn’t exactly a happy one. While we experience to emotions of our main character we also watch the case unfold as it’s being discovered. We eventually learn that our main character was in fact the perpetrator and killed her husband to end his poor treatment of her.Through she suffered abuse from her husband, our tragic protagonist still deeply loved him and depended on him. Her struggle isn’t solely based on her bereavement but her inner conflict over whether what she did was the right thing.
My intention for the ending was for her phase of ‘acceptance’ was for her to visit his grave moments before being arrested for her crimes and her confession. I have also designed scenes when she is experiencing the other stages. An example would be for her stage of ‘denial’ she would often do simple things such as making enough dinner for two, setting two plates on the table, she would act as if nothing had happened before reminding herself. This denial is not only her dealing with her late husband but also ignoring the crime she had committed.
As for the symbolism, I want to include religious imagery, such as crosses and a scene in the church, as it’s a common coping mechanism for people to turn to, as well as dealings with life and death, and heaven and hell. Other small details I’ve envisioned are – a bouquet of flowers that would sit in the windowsill, half of them dead the other alive and bountiful, this portrays her loneliness without her husband contrasting with the freedom she feel. Another example is in the very beginning of the film whens she’s being informed of her husband’s death. The camera would be positioned behind a candle which is recently been blow out but is burning slightly and producing smoke. The candle being blow out is a metaphor for her sudden loss (fire is also often a symbol for life) yet she still has hope as the fire is still persisting. Though the continued burning could also be interpreted as her history of abuse forever haunting her.
_________________________________________________________________
Between the dates Thursday 28th February and Sunday 4th of March we experience some harsh weather, admittedly this has not been a productive time period and the only progress I’d made is adding some extra details to my notes.
_________________________________________________________________
Monday 5th March – Today is the day I decide on what idea I wish to choose. This is a very challenging decision as whatever I pick now is my new project for the next 11 weeks. In the end I decided to go for Idea 3.
I decided not to do Idea 4 because while I had some ideas for certain shots and cinematography, I wasn’t confident in my narrative and felt as though I would be able to create a full 10 minute film that is good quality consistently. I wasn’t confident enough in the idea to pursue it. I initially planned to do this idea as it seemed fairly simple to create however due to my lack of confidence I abided against it.
When looking debating between ideas 1 and 2 I was hesitant to make a music video as my previous Unit 6 work was abysmal. I was also worried as the songs I’d chosen where tracks I’m very fond of so I fear that working on them would eventually make me sick of the songs. Idea 1 would require me finding child actors to use in my piece and finding a variety of different locations. It’ll probably be problematic trying to find actors that look similar in different age ranges. Idea 2 is my favorite of the bunch however it is also the most technically challenging. I wouldn’t be able to create this project as I lack the skill and funding. Obtaining actor with dance ability and willing to be seen near naked on screen. Also creating the flowers and sets seems incredibly challenging.
In the end, I decided on idea 3. Many of the scenes would be filmed in my home or in the college area so I won’t have to be running around gaining permission to film in certain places. I’m aware that creating all the sprites/details to make the game interface will be challenging but I think it’s something I could create. My biggest challenge would probably be writing the script as during ‘cutscene’ moments there will be multiple dialogue options that will each be explored and will each have their own reactions and consequences. I’m very excited to start production on this piece. It’ll be a lot of work but also a lot of fun.
_________________________________________________________________
Tuesday 6th March – Today consisted of creating notes and jottings as I was in poor health
_________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 7th of March – A large portion of today has been updating my blog work and beginning to create my production schedule. I’m also starting my examples of key practitioners.
Directors of Life is Strange – Raoul Barbet, Michel Koch
Life is Strange is a game that primarily focuses on its narrative and choices as opposed to gameplay. Throughout cutscenes they would incorporate delicately crafted cinematography which foreshadowed and symbolised the events to come.
Director of Scott Pilgrim – Edgar Wright
Scott Pilgrim is a film adaptation of the popular comic Scott Pilgrim vs the World, written and illustrated by Brian Lee O’Malley.
_________________________________________________________________
Thursday 8th March – Today I presented my idea to my group and marker. I received feedback saying I need to expand my bibliography and perhaps looks into game theory. I was recommended to check books and websites on the subject.
I was also advised to be careful with jokes while scripting as I want to avoid making fun of the mental illness the main character is suffering with as my intention is the main character using comedy as a coping mechanism to get through the day.
_________________________________________________________________
Monday 12th of March + Tuesday the 13th of March – Today I need to start my research, part 2 of the project. I’ve also made a general outline for the narrative which can be seen here. (I will be writing this in greater detail later in the project.
Research my practitioners – For this portion of the research I intend to record my playing a 10 minute segment of Life is Strange and describing the ways in which it influences me and how I want to differentiate my piece from it. I am also considering writing a short review or analyzing a scene from Scott Pilgrim vs the World. I’m also going to look at a film called Hardcore Henry which is supposed to replicate a first person shooter.
Research the competition – I am very unsure of how to research this topic. I haven’t really given thought to how my project will end up clashing with others. My main objective has been making a piece that I could be proud of – I haven’t considered my FMP as an entry in a competition. I’m going to give this portion of my research a bit more thought and leave it until later in my research.
Research the target audience – As my piece follows the life of a college student In wanted to make that my intended audience. I’m trying to appeal to young adults and the gaming community. A lot of my dialogue will reference games, films and literature throughout and a majority of characters will be members of these communities.
Research the legal and ethical issues related to your idea – In legal terms my main conflict would be with Copyright laws. I’ll have to be very careful with the music I use as I want to avoid copyright claims. I am going to contact my friend, who is a musician and composer, and ask for his assistance is creating music for my video.
Regarding ethic issues, I will be dealing with mental illness. My main character suffers from depression, their mother left when she was very young and they’ve only spent time with their father. The main character would frequently make jokes about their mental condition in order to help them cope. I need to be very careful when constructing this dialogue as I don’t want to make it seems as if I’m mocking people with mental illness.
Research concepts, ideas and topics related to your idea – A very big aspect of my idea is video games. I’m going to be looking through books all about game theory and the creation and design process of games.
I’m also going to be implanting jokes with in the dialogue so I’m also going to be studying theories regarding comedy and joke telling.
Research the technical requirements of the project – To record the film I’ll be borrowing an AV kit from the LRC, this will include a camera to film the footage and a variety of microphones to record the audio. The pack includes a zoom mic, which I’ll use to record the dialogue that works as the main characters inner thoughts.
I’ll also need editing software, I’m going to be using adobe’s premiere pro to edit my film as well as adobe’s photoshop to create the pixel sprites seen throughout the piece.
Research costs/budgets/production issues – Cost shouldn’t be a huge issue, unless I was to accidentally hand back a piece of equipment overdue. Luckily the college offers photoshop for free use so I wouldn’t need to worry about paying for that, however I will have to pay for the editing service myself. I may also be paying costumes are not extravagant, actors will just be required to wear whatever they’d wear on a casual day. Most of the props necessary I already own or are not overly pricey or difficult to obtain.
_________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 14th of March – This is the beginning of my in depth research. I will be starting to find information about my practitioner Edgar Wright. Today I am focusing on his past life and filmography. I find it really interesting to find out about one of my favorite comedy director’s road to success.
_________________________________________________________________
Thursday 15th of March – Today I hope to finish my practitioner research by analyzing a scene from his work ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World’. This work was one of my inspirations for the project. I will also create a survey monkey to help add to my target audience research.
_________________________________________________________________
Monday 19th of March – After receiving my results for my survey I can now use these statistics to aid me in detailing my target audience. I’m also looking at the website YouGov which provides detailed statistics on a mediums fan-base. I will look into fans of video games and fans of Scott Pilgrim.
_________________________________________________________________
Tuesday 20th of March – Today is all about researching my competition, I’m examining the work of my friend and classmate Jamie Courtier, who’s themes are similar to my own. I also want to begin looking into age ratings which relates to my research of Legal and Ethical issues.
_________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 21st of March – Today is a busy one. I’m completing my research on legal and ethical issues, finishing my research on budgets as well as technical requirements. As I won’t be able to create the tests shots at this time I’m fleshing out what they’ll look like.
_________________________________________________________________
Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd of March – In these two days I’ve research 3 different topics that were related to my idea and wrapped up my research with my evaluation. It’s been fairly stressful given I’d only finished just before the deadline but I feel like I’ve given a good amount of detail to my research.
_________________________________________________________________
Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th of March – Over the past two days I’ve planned out the my pitch that I will present to my classmates and lecturer. I also began prepping the power point I will use to assist me while I present.
_________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 28th of March – I have completed my power point and pitch ready to present tomorrow. While mapping out my project I’ve been losing confidence in my idea and have become worried over whether I can create what I want to.
_________________________________________________________________
Thursday 29th of March – After pitching my idea to a group of others and actually hearing myself describe to an audience I understand the weight of my decision. I fear it is far to ambitious and that after production it will be a project to receive little praise. I am considering trying something new as I can’t leave this any longer.
_________________________________________________________________
From beyond this point I began creating an entirely new project.
3/04/2018 – After a lot of deliberation I have decided that I want to do something different for my FMP as I lack confidence in my previously pitched idea and feel as though it’s final product would fail to achieve a remarkable grade. I am taking a big risk as for my new idea I’m required to plan, research and pitch in a significantly limited time period but I believe if I put in strenuous amounts of effort I could create a piece I would be much prouder of.
My new idea – A music Video to XXXTENTACION’s song ‘SAD!’
This music video is intended to have very simple but impactful shots and cinematography which are paired with heavy and fast paced editing to match with the music. The whole video will take place in a dark room solely lite by alternating colored lights which will reflect the emotions of the two present characters – these lights will be a deep, menacing red and a bright white. One character will be in casual clothes and appear like a regular person while the other adorns an all black costume with a black hoodie and wears a creepy white mask. I originally envisioned both character to be the same person however I do not possess sufficient technique to achieve such a feat.
The themes I desire to explore are the dealings with depression and how it can affect the individual. I wanted to present this in both a visual and symbolic way. The visual being the actions between the two present characters and the symbolic is presented through the cinematography, lighting and use of props. The props used are limited, there will be a tarot reading in which the cards will display an unfulfilling future and approaching death. This is to display how mental illness can greatly affect a person’s future as well as display the character’s nihilistic beliefs. Another prop present will be a pair of handcuffs that join the two characters – this indicates how mental illness is constantly chained to you and frequently looms over you. The mask worn by one of the character includes a menacing, almost cartoon-ish, grin which looks like it’s constantly mocking the other person. Often in media when they represent depression or mental illness they refer to is a ‘demon’, the mask is intended to reflect this form of iconography.
I already have a collaboration of shots already planned in my mind, in these shots I intend to make the masked character seem ultimately bigger than the other to make them look inferior. I intend to do this with high angled shots from the masked characters perspective as well as positioning them in ways that the masked character always has the upper hand. This is presenting how mental illness can ultimately diminish the individual and make them feel worthless.
Finally their will be an collection of long shots which distance the audience from the characters – these show the feelings of loneliness and isolation. during these shots the dark surroundings will be filled with malicious insults directed at characters, these are the characters perceptions of themselves.
There is currently no official music for the song.
_________________________________________________________________
04/04/18 – One of my main reasons for restarting my project was because I had a better idea in mind, my 5th idea, a music video for XXXTENTACION’s song ‘SAD!’. I decided to scarp my previous idea because it was far to ambitious, I wouldn’t be able to create the project as I desired to. I also lacked confidence in the idea, the more I worked on it the more I disliked it. This was the same feeling I had when I created my music video for our Unit 6 Visual investigation project and in my opinion, that was a failure. By switching to my new idea I can work much more confidently and feel more secure.
_________________________________________________________________
07/04/18 – My goals for today is to work through my project proposal and to establish my key practitioner.
My main practitioner is Hideaki Anno, director of the infamous animated series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Of all his works the one that inspired me was Evangelion, through out the series Anno deeply explored the inner thought of his characters and portrayed them in ways that were brutal yet beautiful. These scenes were very blunt by presenting the characters emotions and were like a hard pill to swallow for the audience. I am a huge fan of the series and wanted to reflect these similar themes presenting dealings with strife and pain.
_________________________________________________________________
08/04/18 – Plannings for my research – I’m using this structure as an easy guide to make sure my research goes smoothly.
Research for my practitioners – For my practitioners, I am solely focusing on the work of Hideaki Anno and his work on Neon Genesis Evangelion. This is my main source of inspiration so I intend to include massive amounts of detail as well as analyzing scenes and shot from the series.
Research my competition- For this portion of research I’ll be looking at the Los Angeles Music Video Festival as well as comparing my ideas to those of my peers who also seek to create a music video like myself.
Research my target audience – For this I’m going to look into the types of people who are fans of my main influence, Neon Genesis Evangelion, as well as exploring certain viewing guidelines that are necessary to ensure my project is appealed to an appropriate audience eg. age ratings.
Research the legal and ethical issues related to your idea – As my idea deals with mental illness I need to be aware of what I’m putting out to my audience is accurate and avoids offense. If I gave an inaccurate or ridiculing portrayal of mental illness I would be upsetting a large majority of people. I also have to beware of copyright as the song itself isn’t mine.
Research concepts, ideas and topics related to your idea – In this I will be further exploring Evangelion, the production of music videos, symbolism through cinematography and mental illness.
Research the technical requirements of the project – I won’t be able to conduct test shots until I can access college resources so for now I will explain the shots I wish to create.
Research costs/budgets/production issues – I’ll create an appropriate budget and map a out a list of required props and costumes. I will also write a small risk assessment report.
To evaluate my research I will overview all of the work i conducted and explain how it’s assisted me.
_________________________________________________________________
10/04/18 – Today I’ve manage to complete all the necessary research regarding my practitioner, Hideaki Anno as well as analyse some of the scenes in his creation ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ that have greatly inspired me. It’s been extremely interesting to learn so much more about one of my favorite directors of Japanese animation.
Today I also completed my research on my competition. I mentioned the LAMVF and examined the work of my fellow classmate Jamie Starling.
_________________________________________________________________
13/04/18 – Today I managed to power through my research on legal and ethical issue, technical requirements of the project and costs/budgets/production issues. While the research has been fairly tedious, I know it will be very important for my production. Some aspects of the research was similar to the research I did on my abandoned project making it a lot faster to get through.
_________________________________________________________________
14/04/18 – Today I tackled the longest, yet most enjoyable, portion of my research which was all about my related concepts, ideas and topic. I spend a lot of time looking into the history and usage of tarot cards. I’ve always found them extremely interesting and am glad I decided to use them in my project. I also used some of my research from my prior project which related to mental illness which is a big theme in my new idea.
_________________________________________________________________
16/04/18 – Today I spoke to Darren about my decision to completely restart my project, making him question my sanity, which is entirely understandable. He helped guide me through what I need to do in order to keep my work on track and acceptable. He’s talked me though how we will progress with my difficult choice and is willing to look over my first two units tomorrow to see if they are acceptable to sign off. I will also be doing my new pitch tomorrow in the lesson.
Today’s task has been about me polishing my new work to make it the best it can be as well as completing my research on my target audience and evaluating it. It has been a heavy work load but I’ve managed to do all that is necessary.
_________________________________________________________________
17/04/18 – I wasn’t able to get my pitch finished on the Monday so I’ve been given until Today to do my pitch (because our Thursday lesson was cancelled due to a college event). I’m pleased with the extra time as it means I could perfect my pitch and incorporate all the necessary detail I wanted to add. With the extra time I may also be able to get through some of my pre-produciton work to help me catch up.
_________________________________________________________________
18/04/18 – I managed to finish my pitch and am prepared to pitch on the following Monday. I’m feeling much more confident with my new idea than I did the previous idea, before my previous pitch I dreaded presenting it as I felt my first project was insufficient but now I feel much more comfortable.
_________________________________________________________________
19/04/18 – Today I took a bit of a break and helped one of my fellow peers with their test shots, doing this made me feel more prepared for when I need to film my own. I found this quite helpful. I got the opportunity to overlook other fmps in the making and learned tips to help me when it came to my own.
_________________________________________________________________
21/04/18 – Today has mainly been updating my production journal and doing small bits and bobs to improve presentation. I deem small additions like this necessary as it’s important to keep things detailed.
_________________________________________________________________
23/04/18 – I’m happy with my pitch, I had presented my points clearly and had no outstanding details. I spoke to Darren about small details that still need completing in regards to unit 1 + 2, I need to expand my bibliography as well as my research for target audience.
_________________________________________________________________
24/04/18 – I have finished my target audience research and have started my bibliography. It took me a while to get the hang of Harvard referencing but I feel more comfortable the more I do it.
_________________________________________________________________
25/04/18 – During lessons I’m working through my storyboards, I’m hoping to start filming on Monday. In the evening I worked on editing my test shots in preparation for showcasing them tomorrow.
_________________________________________________________________
26/04/18 – After reviewing my test shots, I was rather disappointed with their quality so I’ve decided to re-do them other the weekend and compare them to my first attempt of them. From my first attempt I learned I need to re-evaluate the way I need to light each shot.
_________________________________________________________________
30/04/18 – The weekend has been far from productive, I have been quite ill over the past few days. Today I’ve worked on illustrating my story boards and working on other pre-production.
_________________________________________________________________
1/05/18 – Today I managed to finish my long ignored bibliography and get to work on describing my test shots to later present to Darren. I’ve also been getting my location and props ready.
_________________________________________________________________
2/05/18 – Today I’m finishing the work on my test shots and getting ready to present them to Darren tomorrow. I’m also comprising a prop list to keep things organised and making use of the college facilities by polishing blog work.
_________________________________________________________________
3/05/18 – 23/05/18 – During this time, my periods of work have been very jagged so I decided to document all the progress of production on one journal entry. Through out these 2 weeks I’ve been dedicated to my production, this includes; filming, editing, presenting, etc.
I had a lot of trouble during my filming process – my entire music video was all based in the same location, Exeter College’s CCI lecture theatre. To access the location I needed I needed to book a time slot with the college in order to use it. I booked it for one session so I could conduct test shots, which went fairly smoothly, however the second time I booked it I had actually been double booked. Since the other person who booked the time slot did it prior to myself they got access to it. I finally managed to get a slot on Monday the 14th, which was the best I could get. I was able to record all of the necessary footage in the one session, however doing so was stressful and was a bit to close to the deadline.
I’m not a very experienced editor so the process takes me some extra time. For my portions of text that are sandwiched between shots, I wrote during the editing process. I didn’t want to write them prior to this as I wasn’t entirely when to place them. I put in a lot of effort trying to make the cuts match the beat of the music. I tried experimenting with different effects, which I was quite proud of, especially one glitch effect I tried.
For presenting, I had an issue with my first attempt as my video hadn’t uploaded properly and it couldn’t be played. However the second time it went much better and I received fairly positive responses. In the mean time I’ve been starting my evaluation.
_________________________________________________________________
24/05/18 – My focus is to get my evaluation finished and to tidy up any missing or weak blog work. There were a few pre-production pieces I wanted to clean up and polish, for example re-drawing some storyboards as I’m unsatisfied with some of their presentations.
_________________________________________________________________
25/05/18 – Today is the last day I can work on my FMP. I’m using this last day to desperately tidy any outstanding or poorly executed aspects of my blog, I want to ensure that the work I hand in can be the best to my ability. This little tasks include; uploading my candidate authentication form, updating and finishing the journal and posting my audience responses.
_________________________________________________________________
Alana cottrell 