Shooting

Shooting my short film on Monday 18th October 2010 wasn't too bad at all. I made sure I had the battery charging for a long time to make sure the camera wouldn't run out of battery when i was taking pictures. I picked out the actors cloths and dressed the bear and out I went to start taking pictures. 

The first location was the furthest away; it was the bowling alley in Purley Way as my narrative had changed a little as I was unable to get permission for build a bear. It was when I started to taking pictures i actually realized how long it was actually going to take me to do this short film as after every little movement i had to take a picture. It was quite tricky doing this when the bowing ball was moving so fast however i did it the best i could. There was quite a lot of people around so it was hard when i had to take pictures as i had to make sure the people didn't get in any as then when i put all the pictures together it would mess up the continuity. That was a bit annoying however i dealt with it by asking if we were able to switch alleys to one near the end where there was less people and they were very cooperative as they let us switch bowling alleys with no problem. I was taking pictures at the bowling alley for about two hours before i moved on to the Arcade games. 

When i moved to another part of the Arcade the lighting had changed so much as it was very dark, which was a bit of a problem as the flash on the camera was a little temperamental although this jus meant i took more pictures then i needed to as i had to make sure the colour was okay and matched properly. 

I took the tri-pod along with me to use when i took pictures however i found it was a lot better with out and i really didn't need it. 

I spent a total of three hours at the Arcade with the actors and i got all the pictures i needed but i went home and checked them all out just to make sure i didn't miss any out. When looking over the photographs it was obvious that i need to Photoshop some to make them look better.

'Chuckles and Me' Power Point

 

 

 

Sounds

After watching quite a few stop frame animations, i have reaised that the reason they work so well is because of the sounds used on them i.e voice overs. I have got a person to do the voice over for my short film however i also think i am going to add some sound effects in soem parts for example whenthe boy and bear wake up i was going to maybe have the sound of an alarm clock or even a cockral. I want it to be quite a light hearted short fima dn want to set the right atmospher and by using quite 'happy' music beds i think this would work however if it doesn't i can always remove it in the edit. There is an example above of the type of music i want for my short film.

PLAN B

I went to bear factory today to get permission before i go there to shoot next week and i was told i would need to ring the hear office and wait to a letter back from bear factory before i could start taking pictures. This was totaly new information for me because i didn't see a problem with me shooting there as i was ony takeing pictures and not usieng a camera and tripod. I have rung and asked for permission and sent off the form however i don't think i am going to geth the letter in time to start shooting so my Plan B is to instead of go shopping with the bear and boy i have decided that they are going to go to the Arcade in Purley Way and do Bowling instead and i have checked this all out before and have booked out an alley so there will be know probems and we won't have to waist time waiting fro one which is good.

Changing the story a little isn't a major problem as really all i have to do i tweak the monologue so it fits and it should be fine and i think also the location will work alot better as there won't be as many people and becasue the stop frame animation it wont messup teh continuity.

The Lost Teddy Bear

This is a Video I found on YouTube, so i just thought i'd upload it to my blog as this is quite similar as to how i would like my final short film to look as i like the was the bear really comes alive, and it is a stop frame and i can really tell just how much work has been put in to this and this is something i am prepared to do with my short film to make it the best i can possiby make it. There are quite a few good teddy bear stop frame animations on Youtube follow the link and see more- Teddy bear Animations

Production Plan- Shooting days

I have 2 weeks in which to shoot my short film, however as it is a stop frame animation i doubt i will need the complete two weeks so I have panned to use the first four days in half term (18th October-Thursday 21st October). That should then be enough dasy to take the pictures i need as even though it is quite a time consuming thing to do thats should be plenty of time as then should i need to re-take any photographs i have enough time to do so after i have looked over all the ones i have already taken. My short films has quite a ot going in with movement so i already know i am going to take aot of pictures to show this properly-which is why it may tak quite long at each location.

I am going to start taking pictures in the furthest location and work backwards so i am going to take pictures on the bus journey just to connect the short film togetehr form when the boy and bear leave home then start taking pictures in Croydon Bear Factory then Mc Donalds and then  from there i will take pictures of them leaving jus to connect it together then i will take pictures of them in the Park together. The last few Pictures i will take will be in a house - Bedroom, Bath room and Dining room. In my short film these shots are at the begining and end of the film however i will shoot them last as it is easiest to shoot it that way.

Story Board

This is my Story board for my Short film. It is quite straight forward as to what is going on. It is a journey of the day in the life of Tim and Chuckles the bear, doing things that beast friends do for example go shopping and playing football in the park. It has a circular narrative as it starts and ends in the same location.

Locations

Here a a few pictures of the locations I have chosen to use for my short film.
The Bed Room
The Bathroom
The Dinning Room (for the breakfast)
Mc Donald's Restaraunt

The Park

The Bear Factory Store

Various Images for shots of the surrounding locations

The Monologue

This is the script I have written for The main Character 'Tim' to say - It will be a voice over.

"Hi I'm Tim, I'm 14 years old and i got to St Johns hight school I like it there even though I don't have many friends , in fact my only real friend is my childhood bear and he's called Chuckles. We've been bessie mates for ages . He really understands me. We do everything together. Some people think I'm weird but thats okay because Chuckles doesn't. I hate being apart from him. I'm so excited because today is saturday  and we're spending the whole day together, yeah thats right the whole day! We're doing Chuckle's favourite thing, We're doing shopping. Recently he has shown an interest in the latest fashion trends , i mean i can't blame him with a best friend like me you'd have to be quite fashionable. I love going shopping with Chuckles it's a great bonding experience we have our little talks where I can tell him all my worries and he's a fantastic listener. Chuckles does these certain facial expressions that let me know exactly what he's thinking our connection is great. But i wish one day Chuckles would talk to me properly , it would be so cool. Ahh i don't know what i'd do without Chuck oh yeah thats what I call him sometimes, only me though I'm the one allowed to call him Chuck is anyone else dare try to call him that well let's just say you won't like to see Chuckles when he's angry. So anyways we've been shopping and now grabbing a bit to eat Chuckles is going to pay he's generous like that. He always makes me laugh hen he drinks his favourite drink Banana Milkshake . Chuckles gets it all round his mouth and it looks really funny. I love chuckles he always cheers me up when I'm down. As the weather is really nice we decided to go for a kick about in the park , Chuckles and me always have a bit of banter because he loves Arsenal and I'm more of a Tottenham fan myself but it's all friendly i could never properly argue with Chuckles he's too much of a good friend to me, He's been there when no one else was , and not talking to him just wouldn't be right, just unimaginable ti wold be . i don't know what i'd do without Chuckles , i love him, my only wish is for him to one day talk to me properly like have a proper conversation -oh well i guess maybe one day that day will come soon  good night Chuckles."

Characters

I looked at a small collection of bears to pick the perfect bear to play the part of Chuckles in my short film. It is important the bear looks right as when i am taking pictures of the bear i want it to really come to life and for the audience to really relate to  the bear and the boy. Here are a few pictures of the selection of bears I chose from. 

Thierry The Bear

Camron The Bear

Jessica The Bear

"Chuckles and Me" -Synopsis

"Chuckles and me" is a short film about a day in the life of a 14 year old boy called TIm. Tim isn't like the average 14 year old boy. Instead of being cheeky, 'forgetting to do homework' or thinking about girls he spends his days talking to his once and only special friend. At times tim gets a little lonely and feels really down but as long as he has his life long childhood friend, Chuckles the bear beside him his days are bright. As a day in Tim and Chuckles life unfolds and their loving relationship is portrayed, it is obvious Tim longs for Chuckles to maybe one day actually talk back to him, this day may come sooner then Tim thinks...

Sukhumvit road-Stop Frame Animation

 

This is Sukhumvit Road a short film made by a BDC student. I really like this film as the whole thing is a stop frame animation, which was done entire by taking pictures on an SLR Camera. The was this is done is exactly how I was our short film to look, I think the stop frame is very effective and would fit in well with the quirky-ness of our film and as we will need to 'move' the bear around this technique will make it look more real and really bring the bear to life. 

Outline Of My Initial Final Short Film Idea

Our short film idea is going to be quite a quirky film about a day in the life of a lonely boy, whose only real friend is his bear. He is a 14 year old boy who still takes his childhood bear everywhere he goes with him for example the boys brushes the bears teeth in the morning, takes him shopping, takes him to the park, plays football with him, takes him to Mc Donald's, has pictures with the bear and talks to the bear 24/7 it is his beast friend.The whole story is told through stop frame animation which will have a voice over. This film will be quite a silly film and isn't to be taken too seriously as Michel Gondry says 'Every great idea is on the verge of being stupid.'

Ideas

In Lesson we were given time to write down independently a few of our ideas that we had for our short films. So i decided to do a mind map of the ideas that i had, on there i had about three ideas that were all quite achievable although one stuck in my mind from the previous lesson from the post secrets idea generation we did. It was the idea of having a day in the life of a lonely boy who still talks to his childhood bear. This was most definitely my favourite ideas as i think it was the most simple but effective and was nothing to complicated. 

This is the small mind map i did in lesson for the ideas i had...

After some thought I decided that with some more development work on my bear idea it would work really well as my  final idea for my short film, so that is the idea i have chosen to do.  

Post Secrets - Ideas Generation

Today in lesson to help us with ideas we we told about the book 'Post secrets' which is a book of postcards where pole have written their secrets. We were all given a few postcards each and with that we were told to think of a short film idea just by reading in to this secret on the post card. 

This is my first postcard it read 'I still believe my childhood bear is real. I'm in college, i still talk to her when no one is in the room.' 

I decided to make this in to quite a quirky short film rather then making it in to a quite sad and morbid one as it could well be. My idea was to have a boy that is quite weird- a total social out cast and his only friend is his bear, he has dinner with his bear, goes to the cinema with the bear and even has photographs in his wall with his bear. however although this boy seems to be quite happy with having just his bear but deep down inside he feel a little lonely and the films end with the boy telling his bear how lonely he feels as usual he expects no reply but as quite a funny ending the boy will get a shock as the bear actually replies to him and talks. 

For a short film i quite like this idea as it can be expanded in to something better but is is actually a starting point, it is also something different which is what i like. 

This is my second postcard it read 'I haven't spoken to my dad in 10 years...and it kills me everyday'. 

I decided again not to have anything too sad so my idea was to have a girl that lives with her mum and only her my as her dad as the audience will know left home at a young age. The girl has a good relationship with her mum and really despises her dad and despite him calling her everyday saying 'Hi, its your dad...' she never gives him a chance to say more although through a twist in the end of the short film he secret it found out that the mum actually lies about the girl's father and the man ringing the girl everyday was her REAL father not the man she remembers walking out on her 10 years ago but when this is realized it is too late. 

I like this idea as i think it is vert strong although i think it would be hard to make in to a short film as there is quite a lot of stuff going on and to get the point across in 3 minutes could be tricky.

I found this task very useful as it really helped my think of some ideas, and forces my to be a bit different and more creative and without doing this task i would have been quite stuck for ideas i think i am going to go online and check out the post secrets website as just by reading this postcards i get some many new ideas. 

Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival started as an annual event in 1946, it is one of the worlds oldest and most well known film festivals. Cannes Film festival is a private film festival which is usually held in may, There has been 63 to date, it is at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes-south of France. 

The festival is organizes in to various sections which are as follows:

• The Official selection- The main event of the festival 
• Parallel section- These are non-competitive programmes dedicated to discovering other aspects of cinema.
• Other Sections-Produced by outside organizations during the Cannes Festival
• Events 

Every year in the run up to the event, the festivals board of directors select the juries who have sole responsibility for picking which films should collect a Cannes award.Jurors are chosen from a wide range of international artists, based on their body of work and respect from their peers. The most prostigeous award that is rewarded at the Cannes Film festival is the Palme d'Or which mean 'Golden Palm' for the best film.

Cannes Film festival has become an Important Showcase for Europian Films. Additionally,it is given a massive media exposure, the non-public festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for film producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe.

Logo for Cannes Film Festival

Future Shorts- Short Film Festival

Future shorts is not only a leading short film label it also has its own film festivals dedicated to short films. Film makers have the chance to have their work viewed by audiences all over the world from just one submission. Films that are lucky enough to be selected every month are currently being shown as 15 UK venues.

The international network currently consists of more than 90 cities and 19 countries worldwide which has regular Future Shorts screenings. Future Shorts Exhibition aims to provide an alternative cinematic experience, where screenings are often partnered with other multimedia elements including live music and rescores, performers and installations.

The Future Shorts Film Festival Logo

Film Festivals

A film festivals is an organized event where films are shown in big movie theaters or screening venues. The films that are shown at a film festivals are films that have not yet been realesed and is being shown to find a company that could distribute it.Some film festivals focus on a specific film-maker or genre  or subject matter for example gay and lesbian film festivals. There are many film festivals that are for only short films each with a defined length. Film festivals usually happen every year.

Most film festivals require filmmakers to pay an entry fee to have their works considered for screening. This is especially commonplace among larger film festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and even smaller festivals known as  "boutique"  festival such as the Miami International Film Festival and the British Urban Film Festival in London. Although, not all film festivals require an entry fee. Rotterdam Film Festival, for example, does not charge an entry fee to submit work. 

Well known films festivals are often the ones that everyone knows about and go to religiously every year without fail. The three most prestigious film festivals are commonly regarded to be that of Berlin, Cannes and Venice,these festivals are sometimes called the "Big Three."

Short Films And The Internet

Future Films-Short Film Production Company

Future films is a short film production company, It was formed in the year 2000. It is unlike short films to come from established production companies as short films aren't seen as 'profit makers' although some are. Future films worked very closely to the films makers and provide a full range of services from production to distributing and sales, Future Films is currently one of the few companies that actually specialise in organising the provision of a combination of film finance and other related services to independent film producers.Furture films often join with other companies to do specific things for example they are joined to '2B Pictures' to help with production and they join with a company called 'Pepper' to make the service of both companies more efficient.  Future films have financed over 120 films of with future films co-produced over 30 of them and they have also produced a few well known UK Television series such as 'Spooks' and 'Law and Order UK'.

These are some of the
companies Future Films Team up with 

Some of the short films Future films have worked on are listed below: 

Cracks 

Planet 51 

Malice in Wonderland 

Veronika Decides to Die

Fifty Dead Men Walking 

Gospel Hill

Transsiberian

Flawless 

El Camino de los Ingleses  

Goodbye Bafana  

Heart of the Earth  

Manolete  

Max & Co – Animation

The Abandoned  

Comme t'y es belle!  

Kovak Box 

Salvador

Click this link and visit Future Films website.