More Feedback {[Hollie]}

Cap'n Gareth Allen: i think your film is very good especially the narration throughout
a good variety of shots, with very good match on action
i didn't understand the narrative however?!
but it was good to watch!
xxx

This comment was taken from the social networking site, facebook!
x

The final Poster (We think) [[Charlea]]

:) :) :) :) :)

(We better win Andrew Mann)

Review {[Hollie]}

Here is a draft review that I wrote for our film in the style of Little White Lies magazine. x

Writers Hollie Dunster, Jessica Garman and Charlea Rice certainly know how to give first time director, Hollie Ann Garman something excellent to work with. Sam (Samuel Garman) is a lost young boy. However, the overall storyline is difficult to gauge from the opening sequence which is an eerie and isolating series of shots designed to make the viewer feel just that. Sam is introduced, staring blankly at the open ocean, completely alone, he is a miserable child. After the breakdown of his parents’ marriage and his father abandoning him, he is informed that his mother is to have a child by another man.

Unable to cope, he decides to run away from home. His only solace being a ‘bag of chips’ and the deserted beach. His thoughts flow beautifully from the inner sanctums of his mind and leap out at the viewer in a series of distressed rants. Even the wisdom of his grandfather (Roy Ian Clark), an unexpected protagonist who tries to help the child, does nothing to break the film’s poignant atmosphere.

As with the writer’s other, less well known works, such as, ‘Missing’ Dunster, Garman and Rice have entwined the emotive drama of social realism with important issues in the real world in an impressive and original way. Everything about ‘Chips’ questions the issues of divorce, fundamentally its effect on children and the idea of masculinity.

Sam is an interesting take on masculinity as he spews his emotions to the viewer with what some might say is a rather stereotypically feminine take on emotive language. Yet he is not portrayed as anything less than the young boy from a broken home which he is.

Each new turn of the plot makes the short more reminiscent of Stephen Daldry’s ‘Eight’ than any other short film of its type, with a similar style of monologue enveloping the audience’s conscious and a strikingly similar tale of a young boy who has lost his father, not to divorce but death. However, it manages to stand out in a different and visually stunning way.

This is a thrilling and entertaining deconstruction of the post modernist family. Sam is a young child who cannot understand why his family has broken down around him and his father has left him with no security. We should despise his mother for bearing the child of another man and causing this inevitable family breakdown but we are never put in the position to hate her and instead concentrate on empathising with Sam.

Hollie Ann Garman’s intriguing and entertaining debut manages to question without patronising and a magnificent performance from Samuel Garman manages to personify the anatomy of a family breakdown, swaying seamlessly from sadness to anger.

Anticipation: A relatively unknown team. Potentially another short film flop. 2

Enjoyment: An original, entertaining and poignant depiction of a breakdown. 4

In Retrospect: A guaranteed conversation starter and sure to make the viewer think long after the credits roll. 4

Hollie Dunster

FeedBack {[Hollie]}

Here is some feedback fom another student on our facbook page, however, it does not really give any constructive criticism on the film.

x

Feedback comments from our facebook page [{Jess}]

I

Georgia Hannan I thought it was brilliant guys. I loved all of it, the voice over was so good. I loved all the diagetic beach sounds and thought the editing was just amazing, you can tell how much work you guys have put into it and you should all be super proud of yourselves. If I had to say one bad point, it would only be that befor...e reading the description I wasnt too sure what was going on - as in I didnt understand that he had run away from home. But thats likely to just be me, other than that I thought the film went together perfectly, the scenes seemed to follow each other so well. Sorry I cant give you more media language, but it really was great girls, xxxx

Natalie Goode, Laura Carter and Rashne Everington like this.

Andy Reay

loved it xx

Here is some feedback from our facebook page so far. I have invited lots of friends and family to the group and asked in a private message, on mine and my groups wall if people will watch it and leave comments. So hopefully there will be some more soon.

Little White Lies Review [{Jess}]

Here is a review I have read taken from the 'Little White Lies' Website. It is of a recent social realism film directed by 'Tom Harper'. The use of language is the same style I need to use when writing my review. he Scouting Book For Boys

Released
March 19 2010

Directed By
Tom Harper
Starring Thomas Turgoose, Holly Grainger, Steven Mackintosh

Related reviews and interviews

• Trailer Talk – The Scouting Book For Boys
  We take an early peek at British filmmaker Tom Harper's highly anticipated debut feature.

An Education, Fish Tank, Nowhere Boy, Bright Star. If 2009 proved anything, it’s that British film truly is alive, kicking and breeding diverse projects of consistent brilliance.

Now, separated from last year’s flock but imbued with the same romantic-wet-weekend aura as An Education, and the harsh this-is-how-it-is reality of Fish Tank, comes The Scouting Book For Boys. Yes, really: there’s a film bearing the same title as that invaluable (yet decidedly uncinematic) tome that helps young lads navigate their way through the unruly wilds of nature.

Aha, there’s a penny somewhere, and it’s just dropped. So it’s metaphors we’re talking about here? You got it. Drawing on dismal caravan park culture and budget British holidays in Devon, director Tom Harper is more interested in plotting a course through the cumbersome growing spasms of his young leads than watching them make a tent out of mud, twigs and glow worm spit.

Carefully sidestepping Loach-Leigh realism, Harper expands on his youth-in-revolt Cherries short with the story of 14-year-olds David (This Is England’s Thomas Turgoose) and Emily (Holly Grainger). They describe themselves as “chosen brother and sister”, and are never apart. David is quiet and slightly gormless – “Captain Serious” the flighty, flirty Emily calls him.

At the holiday camp where they live, David’s father is an embarrassing crooner, while Emily’s mother is Amy Winehouse-channelling drunk shopkeeper Susan Lynch. When Emily discovers she’s being sent away to live with her father, she and David hatch a plan for her to run away. But things spiral out of control as the search led by local authorities and local people escalates.

Though many of the characters in Scouting Book fumble in the dark, beset and beleaguered by their own confusion/vices/secrets, Harper has a confident and firm grip on the film’s many disparate parts. Instilling the yarn with oh-so-slightly off-centre, distorted imagery, he gives voice to the quiet changes taking place behind almost-man Turgoose’s unreadable eyes.

The subtle shifts between boyhood, adolescence and beyond simmer in blinding, chlorine-addled sunlight and skulk in the shadows of the brief nighttime hours. Trading off the despondency, Skins writer Jack Thorne ensures the script is packed with laugh-out-loud zingers. “Here’s James Bond, the cunt who shagged me,” spits Lynch’s bitter mother, recipient of all the best lines. “Red rag day, is it?” is another highlight of her booze-bothered vernacular.

In the end, Scouting Book is a surprise delight, flawlessly cast and nimbly weathering its complex themes. Oh, and the original tome? It’s in all of one scene.

Happy Go Lucky posters [{Jess}]

I found a selection of posters for the social realsim Mike Leigh film 'Happy Go Lucky'. I find some of them very similar to our film, and the variation of images portrayed and the representations very interesting. For example one of them is more like a cartoon image. Whereas in another one the 'boyfriend' character is also included. I found this particularly interesting as we were deliberating as a group whether or not to include a second character in our poster.

Little White Lies Analysis {[Hollie]}

some analysis of the Little White Lies magazine reviews!!!!

Audience:

• Specialised film magazine
• For real film buffs!

What inspires the design and editorial content of the issue? Each issue is themed around a particular film which is indicated through the front cover, this inspires the editorial content and design of the issue.

What is the magazine about?
A film magazine that reviews and writes about blockbuster films and smaller independent films. Also it discusses music, art, pop culture and politics and how they affect films.

Who publishes the magazine?
Church of London Publishing

How do we establish who the target audience is for the magazine?
Advertisers: Play station, Fenchurch, O’Neill, Rock star games, Canon, Land Rover, ect. Mainly male audience, specialist magazine for film buffs. 20+ magazine.

Picture in top right, screen shot from film, over 3 or 4 columns, Title 2 colours black on white or reverse, release date and director in boxes in 2 different colours (orange and yellow) Tripartite ranking evaluation system; enjoyment, anticipation and retrospect. At the end of the article. First line is always in bold (bold first), author of the piece in bold, page number and little symbol that links to feature film.

Language: film language and theory, references to film sources and language, evaluative comments, complex language, academic referencing, plot discription

Film Feedback {[Hollie]}

Yesterday I uploaded our image of the poster to our A2 Advanced Portfolio facebook group and messaged the members for feedback.
I have also just uploaded the completed film to the facebook group so that people can watch it and give their feedback. Like on this blog there is a list of things to look out for and comment on! :)
Here is a print screen of the facebook group
Hollie x

Final Film Audience Feedback needed

Tada! Here is our completed 5 minute social realism film. We hope you enjoy watching it, we have worked very hard. We would very much appreciate as much audience feedback as possible. Please look at in particular at the following.

• Mis en scene
• Camerawork
• Editing
• Sound
• Continuity
• How well it fits with the genre of social realism

We also plan to upload this video to our facebook page, so that we can get more feedback to the general public. We are also doing private screenings to some of our peers.

Thank you and enjoy!!
x

Review Idea {[Hollie]}

An idea for a film review for the magazine 'Little White Lies'

Using Photoshop and InDesign {[Hollie]}

As part of our work we had to produce a poster and film review using Adobe photoshop and Indesign. Charlea has already learnt how to use this software as she does photography, however, I had never used it before now and so as practice we each had to copy a film magazine cover. Here are the stages in producing my cover.
Hollie

Review layout design idea [[Charlea]]

My idea for the layout and colours. White box around dark blue text, and a lighter blue background. The reason for this is that the main theme colour for the poster is the same blue on his jumper so i thought it would like both together really nicly. Having the rest of the layout like they are in Little White Lies.

Film review layout draft [{Jess}]

Poster {[Hollie]}

This is my original poster idea. Although we did do individual posters, we have decided to use charlea's as her image was best. She showed he original design to it and then we tweaked it a bit so that we were all happy with it
Hollie

My attempt at a poster [{Jess}]

Poster Mock up's I made [[Charlea]]

This was my first mock up. However i fetl it was too crowded also after speaking to Andy Hamsted I realised some of the information on the poster was wrong so i made another mock up which i feel is a lot better.

Poster ideas [[Charlea]]

I personally believe that both the pictures we have picked would work extreamly well as a poster, however i do favour the one where he is standing upright, therefore i will focus my attention on producing a poster around that image. There were also many other pictures that would have worked well but i do believe the ones chosen are are the best of the bunch.
The picture i have chosen shows a dominate character who follows the film through,also his facial expresion shows thought and seeing as the film is done through his thoughts. The colours arn't too overpowering and the background is siple and not distacting. This is why i feel that this image would work the best.

Editing [[Charlea]]

Editing all done and finnished (yay) we did have a few misshaps and trouble along the way though. Due to location choice we had to think of another storyline, this is when we came up with the idea of a voice over narrated by the main character. Jess's awesome writing skilss ment we could power on. We did have some consernes on when we would see Sam (the boy in the film) agian but luckly it all fell to place. Having the traffic noise was important the whole way through, we found a clip that worked well the the piece, copyed and pasted it to fill out the rest of the film, luckey unless you're either me jess or hollie, you can't notice the difference. When we got given the voice over there were some concerns weather it would be long enough. Using the cut tool we were able to add in gaps between the speech, foucising it mainly on the boy, having more of a restricted narration on the older man. We were still faced with the problem of not having enough speech to fill out our film. This is when we decided to have an ending with some acustic guitar sounds recorded on the didctiphone. The raw sound of the guitar would compliment our social realisim film well. Having it overlay the action of them talking to eachother, created an atmosphere and also maintained the audiences interest.

Soundtrack {[Hollie]}

For the soundtrack to our piece we are hoping to once again use a friend who will let us use a sample of their music. This worked really well in our first year!! :)
This year Jess' friend Carl has agreed to help us out and play an acoustic piece which will fit in really well with the feel of the film and will help the viewer to emphasise with the young boy.
We are hoping to record this piece tomorrow afternoon and apply it on friday morning!
Hollie

Titles and End Credits {[Hollie]}

we have decided to call our film 'Chips' as it is simple and although does not explain the film it is akey part of th boy's monalogue.
we have decided that our main title, the name of the film, will be set within the film as will the names of the two main actors, as this is a social realism film any fancy or seperate titles may take away from the desired effect of the film
These titles will be incorporated into the film and will in a normal, easy to read font so that it is clearly visable on the textured backgrounds.
The end credits will fade to black at the end of the film and scroll upwards. Music will, of course, be played in the background.
Apart from the names of the actors, the rest of the roles have all been shared equally and so all of our names appear on screen. Also as there can only be one director, we have merged all of our names together to make a director name.
This merge is:
HOLLIE ANN GARMAN

Hollie x

Foley {[Hollie]}

Last lesson we have started putting the foley sounds we recorded in our oringinal rushes, for example traffic noise, seagulls and the sea into our film. we were going to use some sounds from the college software 'garage band' although we decided against it as our own foleys were much more realistic and fit better with the social realist aspect of the film. :)

Hollie

Editing {[Hollie]}

We have been editing loads over the past few days and although we have had several hiccups with booking our machine, we all stayed after college to finish our film pretty much!
We have all made decisions together and consulted each ther if we have wanted to change anything. I think we have all worked really well together, unlike last year when my experience with production was not as smooth :)
Here are some pictures I took of us editing :)

Poster Ideas {[Hollie]}

While filming, we took loads of pictures on charlea's camera so that we had both evidence of us working and pictures which we could use as posters.... The 'finalists' for poster ideas where selected by the three of us and uploaded by Jess a few days ago.
We are going to get both students and teachers to vote on the best picture which we will eventually use as our poster.
Here are my favourite two.
I like this picture because the title of the film is 'Chips' and he is sat here eating chips whilst alone on the beach. The fact that the beach is deserted makes him appear very isolated and the viewer can imediatly tell that the boy is on his own. The open space to the right of him would allow adequate room for the title, actor's name, directors's name and the awards and reviews. :)

I also like this one as it reminds me of the 'Fish Tank' poster. I think that it could be cut to get rid of the open space by his head on the right, making for a striking picture. Again the space on the left would provide room for the films details and so this works well and the simple background is effective as you can see the promenade of the beach and so the setting becomes immediatly clear to the viewer. The fact that the boy is looking down once again makes the viewer feel as though he is alone.
P.S. This is Andy Hampson's favourite too ! :)
Hollie

Updated Script [{Jess}]

We used to go to the beach all the time.
Me, mum and dad.
Do they even remember?
We used to spend every Saturday on the beach, eating chips.
And when it was cold I’d complain and want to go home.
Well… I’d never complain now.

If we were all here. Together.
Haven’t seen dad in ages now.
Mum says I’m the ‘man of the house’
That means I’M in charge
So I can do what I want
And if I wanna go to the beach for the rest of my life. I will!

Everyone thinks mums new baby is SO cute
They used to think I was cute.
Not now, the way I see it mum can take care of that little brat herself.
All it ever does is scream eat and shit!

Mum wont tell me why dad left.
She just cries all the time now, its boring.
Better than hearing her and dad screaming at each other like before I suppose.
Dad wont tell me why he left
Just did
Haven’t seen him since
Hope he comes back soon
If not that’s not fair that he gets to leave and I don’t!

Saw Grandad at the beach.
He says its time to step up and take care of mum and sis.
And that dads just gone away for a bit, so not to worry.
And that I can’t live on the beach because I’ll get eaten by “the sea monster!”
- Yeah Grandad, I’m not three anymore!
He says he is very proud of me, and if I ever need anyone to talk to he’s here for me.
Wish I could live with him and Grandma instead.
There’d be an endless supply of biscuits!

So…
Where to now?

Editing {[Hollie]}

So far, we have all been editing the piece together and giving each other plenty of opportunity to work equally. All decisions have been made together and we have mostly agreed on a course of action.
Unfortunately, last week we were supposed to be editing all afternoon. However, due to a visit by greta scacchi we were unable to do so which has caused a major set back in the production of our piece and we are now worried that we will not finish by the dead line. Furthermore, all lessons which we should be editing in have been booked out and we are currently trying to arrange a compromise with them.
Hollie xxx

Poster ideas [{Jess}]

Originally our initial idea for the poster was to have a two shot, medium long shot of the two characters sitting on a bench together, possibly looking at each other, mid conversation or thought. However throughout the day thanks to Charlea's AMAZING camera, we all took lots of stills, so now have plenty to choose from! The plan is to do a vote for the best one. They all have unique qualities. We will vote amoungst ourselves. Also get a more professional vote from our media teachers and the technicians, as well as our peers from media, digital arts and filming subjects.

Filming [{Jess}]

Monday 15 February in the half term. We travelled by train to Brighton at about 10am, and stayed filming till about 5pm. It was a long and pretty cold day but it was quite overcast which was great for the lighting of our film. We were limited on how far we could walk down along the pier in Brighton as we were with Charlea's elderly Grandparents, who were great but didn't want to be too worn out, and wanted to leave as soon as possible because of the cold, understandably!

Here is some evidence of us filming. Luckily Charlea is a photography student and has an amazing camera so we were able to take lots of photos, although not all of them can be uploaded as there are about 400!! Here are a few. Some of them also show the conventions of social realism that we used. For example, extreme close ups (as displayed below).
P.s. Sorry for the AWFUL layout of the pictures! I'm trying to fix it but it wont seem to let me!

Voiceover [{Jess}]

After looking at our rushes we discovered we had a problem with the sound in terms of dialogue. We knew that there would be background noise of the cars, however planned for this to add to the authenticity of our piece. We hardly hear what they are saying at all.

To overcome this we are taking inspiration from the short film 'Eight' Directed by 'Stephen Daldry'. Where they use a voice-over of the main character, who, similarly to ours is a young boy, his thoughts from his point of view. We plan to record the voice of my brother (Sam Garman), who also starred in our film.

The following is what I have written so far, and still needs to be continued, however I am struggling to finish it before more editing has been done, so that I can get it to flow better with the narrative. Also I am struggling to display the conversation between the boy and the Grandad, as it will be the boys interpretation of it, not necessarily what happened word for word. I am also worried that what I have written is a bit rubbish and cheesy, but it can always be changed later!

'We used to go to the beach all the time.
Me, mum, dad.
Do they even remember?
We used to spend every Saturday on the beach, eating chips.
And when it was cold I'd complain and wanna go home.
Well.... I'd never complain now.
If we were all here. Together.

Haven't seen dad in ages now.
Mum says I'm the 'man of the house.'
That means I'M in charge
So I can do what I want.
And if I wanna go to the beach for the rest of my life. I will!

Mum can take care of that little brat herself.
All it ever does is scream, eat and shit!
Not my REAL sister anyway. '

More Poster Ideas {[Jess]}

Here are some posters that are by British film-makers in the social realism genre. They are more relevant to our film as it is a similar target audience, although our film is a lower budget. Posters will be our main form of advertising, so the right message about our film is vital. For example in these posters the following conventions are put across.

• A variety of colours (for example 'This is England' using red white and blue for titling, British flag).
• A use of stereotype characters displayed through costume, facial expression etc.
  
• Awards and nominations
• Reviews, quotes
• Recognisable locations, eg. urban settings (relating to social realism genre)
• A single promotional image
• Dominant large and bold texts with a use of bold colour.
  
• Reference to director and actors
• Credits
• Festivals
  
• Personnel
  
• Production
• Distribution
• Certificate

The distributors of a film are responsible for the films promotion, that aims to launch and sustain films in the market place. It is product driven and main focus is on being very specific on the target audience. It evaluates a films marketability and a films playability. To research this in greater depth I have been on http://www.launchingfilms.tv/