Production Diary #21

After creating the "storyboard" I have begun to think about the type of narrative structure that I want my short film to go under:

Chrnological/Linear

The most traditional and most common narrative structure is the linear or chronological one. Such a story is organized around a series of events and key moments that have often been labeled and ordered as follows: the rising action or precipitating incident, the conflict, the obligatory moment, the climax, the resolution, and the falling action. Most children's stories and many of the classics in literature and film move through this predictable, archetypal structure.

The Fractured Narrative

Some writers and storytellers prefer to structure their narratives less linearly, so they are able to jump back and forth in time. If you think about scenes in films where there is a flashback, you'll get a sense for how time can be fractured or bent to alter or intensify a story. William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" is a powerful example of a fractured narrative structure in that the entire book looks at a single brief event through the eyes and voices of a half dozen characters. To pull this off, Faulkner has to move his narrative back through time as each character tells the tale as he experienced or witnessed it.

Framed Narrative

Some stories are actually stories within other stories. In Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," for example, the narrator Marlowe is on a boat out on the Thames with a handful of other seamen when he tells them the story of his trip into the heart of the Congo region. While engrossed in the Congo portion of the story, the reader might even forget that the narrator is actually finished with the Congo journey, retelling it to his fellow sailors on that boat. "The Wizard of Oz" is a similarly framed narrative. The Oz portion of the story is only occurring inside Dorothy's head; it is a dream sequence embedded within Dorothy's "home" life in Kansas. 

The Circular or Epic Narrative 

Some tales end where they begin, with the hero or protagonist returning home after his epic journey. Homer's "Odyssey" is a prime example of this. Odysseus must leave his beloved island Ithaca and his soul mate Penelope to take what amounts to a 30-year odyssey. But ultimately, the journey ends with his return home. Joseph Campbell, one of the foremost authorities on myths and heroes' journeys, found this circular narrative to be a prominent narrative structure across cultures, religions, and time periods.

So far in my opinion I feel that my short film will fall under the Chronological/Linear narrative structure as I'm 100% sure I want the ending of my short to be like a climax. I want the ending to be happy and people finish the film with a smile on their face. Now to think of the conflict/obligatory moment.

Refletion on Shots (Storyboard)

A film storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help film directors, cinematographers and television commercial advertising clients visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur.

For my planning of my short film I simply was unable to do a storyboard shot by shot. I had a clear undestadning of what I was looking for due to previous experiences of the Portuguese culture however when I ventured out and began filming it was more of a 'in the moment' type of filming. As I said due to me visting Portugal and knowning the cultural/my family culture I was able to know parts of what I am going to film, for example family partys where music is a huge influence. This meaning a full storyboard would be impossible with my film style, instead for this storyboard post I will list some of the key types of shots I knew I was going to shoot before going to Portugal. The othere scenes were more with the flow and through my eyes at the time (in the moment), just like a documentary/Digital Storytelling.

REFLECTION ON PLANNED SHOTS

Family Party Scenes/Wedding/

Being from a Portuguese background and having family out there my whole family always come together to celebrate birthdays during our summer vacation, this is mainly beacuse the whole family are together. I know that at my family partys we have strong Portuguese tradition of music, at my  family parties the celebrations are completely different to other people and their cultural background and I knew this would attract other audiences as its something new and different however for me its secound nature as I was brought up with it. My older brother also had a traditional Portuguese wedding which was another major opportunity to film with cultural/tradtional value.
Before my summer vacation I already noted the type of shot oppotunity which I knew was going to come up to I was prepared for these type of shots, however others were 'in the moment'. These party scenes would include music, dance, food, family members, etc.

Still from RAW Footage of brothers wedding.

Swimming Pools/Beach

Sterotypical scenes which give that summer feel, I will also be able to use this to connect to the script.

Thursday Market
As I explained on a previous post there is a famous market which occurs every thursday of the summer which I will go shoot at as this yet again holds cultural and tradtional value which I can link to the script of my short about family.

Travel
Traveling to Portugal was also a completely different to the norm. Instead of getting a simple plane and renting a car, we travel to Portsmouth and catch a 24 hour ferry to Spain, Santander and then do a 10 hour joruney to Portugal. It seems bad and don't get me wrong it is however it does me I can spent time with family before and after our holidays on the 24 hour boat, the journey is just like that famous saying of 'It's the little things in life'. Also just the travels I will be doing in Portugal and the different style of transport (old brick roads) will contrast well to countrys such as England.

SUMMARY

 It was really helpful that I wrote down the shots which I was certain I was going to capture whilst out in Portugal as it gave me a clear understanding of how much more I needed to film, overall I got around 150+ Videos all varying from 10secs. to 5minutes. The scenes which I knew I was going to shoot were already preapred in my script and it will be easy to link them into the narrative of the short in the editing process. That is why I had to create the script after shooting so that the narrative script would link with the footage.

Production Diary #20

Another audio recording!

Filming/Editing Schedule

Stereotypical Filming Schedule

I couldn't really do the stereotypical filming/editing schedule due to the style of my short, however as I said before some shots were able to be planned so I created a schedule for those dates, however saying that I based my scheduled on existing ones but only included a few of the details as they weren't included in my short film e.g. actors, characters, etc. Overall this was very useful as it kept us organised as I could write down important dates and the days these events occurred.

Production Diary #19

I never thought writing a voice over script would be so hard. It wasn't the quantity that was hard to reach - it was the quality. I mean half way through writing my script I realized "This is for my actual Short Film!". From there I had to start fresh and make sure each life fit my idea of having a short film based around family and friends. I used Google as my main helper in the post and searched stuff like "Best family quotes", from there I found the best ones a created a script. Overall I probably went to over five different sites to get enough quotes for my short film as a whole which wasn't too bad. One quote which really grabbed my attention was "Families are like fudge, mostly sweet with a few nuts" - such a powerful quote in such simple terms, amazing.

Voiceover Script

 For my short film I have planned to include none of the actual recordings except from the party scenes, this is purely due to the sound quality not being that great and if I kept using the sound I feel like it could bring thw short down with bad quality. My script will be on a subject which is personal to me and multiple people, family. I want to write a script to get close and personal to each of the viewers. The visuals of the short will include snip its of my own family to represent family's in general. Even though the script will be focusing on my family every viewer will understand and link it to their own family.

I also want to have the voice over in Portuguese, I will be trying to get an actual family relative with a strong Portuguese accent to read the script, then I will use subtitles for translation in English. This will reinforce the cultural value of Portugal and will link with the clips of Portugal. I wrote the script in English first and then converted it into Portuguese, after doing that I printed a copy and gave it to my family members to correct as my grimmer/spelling and translation could be wrong.

Production Diary #18

I never thought I would enjoy audio recordings but I have become to love them! Recording is so simple quick and easy and takes 1-2 minutes to upload. QUICK AND EASY! Each of my sound clouds are all unscripted to give that personal side to them. I mean its my production diary's for my product and blog right?

Information/Photographs on Location - Portugal, Barcelos

Portugal - Barcelos

My main location will be filmed in the city of Barcelos located at the top left of Portugal. Thhe town is a portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Barcelos. It has a population of 5,213 inhabitants and a total area of 1,20km². Barcelos is a small town known for its pottery and the most widely-recognized symbol of Portugal -- the Barcelos Cockerel. Barcelos has big cockerton figures around the whole city and each one has differrent patterns and designs.

A 13th-century legend says a pilgrim on his way to Santiago de Compostela stopped in Barcelos and was wrongly accused of theft and sentenced to death by hanging. He was spared when he stated that to prove his innocence, the roasted rooster that the judge was about to eat would get up and crow. It did, and since then, brightly painted ceramic cockerels are sold throughout Portugal as symbols of good luck. The resturant has both Nando’s has strong African and Portuguese influences.

Thursday Market

Noisy, chaotic and rich with colour and life, the weekly market in Barcelos attracts people from the Minho region to buy and sell all manner of things. You’ll find cheap clothes and shoes, fresh fruit and vegetables, lots of ceramics, lampshades, kitchenware, traditional tools and farming equipment as well as souvenirs and handicrafts. The Barcelos market started life as an annual event in 15th century and remains an important element of the local economy and culture.

 Outdoor cafés

The town centre has plenty of cafés with outdoor seating, perfect for a spot of people watching. Last time I visited Portugal there was atleast one cafe 5 minutes apart.

Architect

If, like me, you’re a fan of old buildings, sculpted stonework, colourful tiles and swirly railings, you’ll have fun wandering around Barcelos. The historic centre is quite small but there’s a wide range of architectural styles and features for the keen-eyed. I particularly liked the four stone figures on the wall of the 18th century Benfeito manor house. Each one represents a different season; it looks as though winter is grim up north! Many of the buildings are in ruins but there are still some very impressive ones, such as the town hall and the baroque monuments of the Walkway of the Benches gardens.

 

 

Summer

As it will be summer when I go back to my parents home town of Barcelos, I know I will be able to get gorgeous shots with the sun and make use of lens flares as I feel they will give a really cinematic look. In summer Barelos also holds multiple events from dance, film and music so I will attend as many as I can and try capture the event. I will also be doing the traditional holiday traditions of going to the beach, swimming pools and visiting family who live in a rural part of Barcelos so these are all oppurtunitys for filming.

Production Diary #17

I am now well underway on my blog and I just really taken into consideration how much stuff/behind the scenes work it is to create a short film. It's not a simple get a camera shoot and done. I have to learn everything from scratch. I mean I have had some experience however when I am on my own and having to do it all by myself I have to know what I am doing. There is no one there to help me. Now time for some information on my exciting film locations which will be one of my films unique aspects.

Visual progression / image systems in my Short Film

Visual progression is an important thought to consider when creating a short film as it helps the video to grow rather than staying static. This ensures that the video is visually interesting and will keep the audience entertained. In my case I will be doing digital storytelling type short film about the importance of family.

In my short film I hope to use my family as the visual progression. For me they are my family however to everyone else they are just a group of Portuguese people/a community. At the beginning of my short I hope to illustrate multiple shots of families and basically introduce them to the audience as strangers through the short more and more family clips will array slowly for example a family party full of dance, music and happiness. Throughout the short the audience begin to understand who these people are and they actually work out that the faces are all reoccurring - its a reoccurring family. Instead of the family being a complete stranger to the audience, by watching the short towards the end they gain a personal feel to the family even if they haven't met them/known them. There will be multiple other little image systems throughout the short film such as musical instruments which will always appear in shots and also the overall party scene in general with a bunch of family and friends. My short film shows visual progression through the use of the setting and editing. As the locations change and progress the audience can feel the emotions changing.

Moodboard for Short Film

Before doing any planning for the short film I felt that both an image and video moodboard would be necessary, these would enable me to think about tasks/things I will need to learn to create my short film (Colour Correcting, DSLR Video Recording, etc). The image mood board in particular focused around my idea of looking very cinema-like and illustrates family and cultural values of Portugal, which is basically the sort of idea outline that I have for my short film at this moment in time.

The video moodboard focused more on videos demonstrating how to create a cinematic short film. I also included three short films which I recently found and inspired me for my short film. I also developed my idea and began looking at poetry/voiceover for short films.

Production Diary #16

Now my previous post felt good! That was one of the main posts I created about the way in which my short film will actually be about. I mean there is such a big lead up with over 10+ posts just solely on researching. I mean I have thought of so many ideas when doing the research posts that it seems good to get it all down. I recently watched a film called "Love Actually" and there was one section which got to me the most - the introduction. I have never been so dragged in to a film so easily and it was all due to topics which everyone relates to - family, friends and love.

 

Inital Planning Ideas

Here is a presentation I created on PowerPoint and then uploaded to slide share. This presentations was just an explanation of my initial planning ideas.

Production Diary #15

Purpose of Short Films

The most common reasons for creating short films are self-promotion and experimentation. They can be seen as a baby step into film production because it's all about finding different ways of expressing themes and communicating a message within different techniques. Whether it's sound, Mise-En-Scene or the cinematography.

They can also be used as a way of understanding New Media technology when it comes to filming with new cameras or editing with new software. It can be used to enhance the knowledge of technology and seen as an experiment with different shots, editing techniques and post-production to find ways of communicating a message. While challenging the normal conventions of filming a short film. Also they're mainly funded by the local film production companies like the UK Film Council or BBC Films.

Research equipment

I researched into the list of what equipment and software I will be using for my entire A2 Media Project, I even included software and external equipment to this detailed list.

Production Diary #14

Previously I completed a post which I really wasn't looking forward too - Audience research. It's not the fact that I have to do a research topic. It's more that I just completed an in-depth research topic last week. Everything seems to be researching and analysis. I just want to finish the Research section and begin planning and actually creating my short film. My next post is now moving away from the research and more onto the equipment I have my hand on and which I will be using to create my A2 Media Studies products.