Our aim for this course was to create anything in the world, as long as it was acceptable and moving image. This was fantastic to work with, because it gave me so much freedom, and allowed me to do anything I wanted to. I enjoyed the opportunity to be original massively and I think this shows in my final piece.
During the term, my production developed quite radically. I had different ideas, so my final piece changed as each idea was rejected due to practicality and/or my faith in it. My first idea was to do the story of a penny in stop-motion. I thought this was a cute, quaint idea that would amuse the audience, and couldn’t really go wrong. However, when I started to come up with a storyline, I got bored quite quickly didn’t think that it was adventurous or exciting enough. Also I thought that using stop-motion would be too much work.
My next idea was drastically different. I decided to switch completely from stop-motion to live action, and instead of using humans I was going to use animals. I thought this would provide more entertainment, as well as originality. The theme was ‘James Bond’, but with dogs. My dogs’ daughter is owned by close friends who have taught her many tricks, and I thought that I could use her. This turned out to be a failure, as I couldn’t take her away, and only had the one dog that could perform (my dog is old and blind…)
I then switched back to stop-motion. I decided to create something abstract and surreal, something that would be dream-like and wonderful. Though I changed ideas again, this theme overrides both. My first was to do a short production where an innocent looking girl goes through her bedroom door and ends up in the garden. A lot of weird things happen to her (such as flying) as she progresses through other doors, ending up in random places in the house. I started filming this, but stopped due to technical difficulties. The day that I was meant to spend filming, it rained really heavily, and then the actress wasn’t available etc… so I had to abandon that idea, and come up with something that was all indoors – though I then used the footage as my preproduction exercise, which was useful as it used many of the features I wanted to include in my main production.
I now have come to my last - and final – Idea. Named ‘Dream A Little Dream’, it follows the dreams of a boy. The audience see him asleep, and then his duvets crumple and they are transported into 3 dreams, that each star different strong emotions – frustration, happiness and fear/sadness. Frustration is based on the boy not being able to eat the delicious food that is in front of him. Happiness is the boy and his friends laughing and enjoying themselves, and fear is the boy having a nightmare where he loses his teeth and then his hands turn green. There is also an aftermath of each dream once it cuts back to the sleeping boy. Apples appear from his head after the food dream, silver shooting stars after the happy sequence and a (painted) tear rolls down his cheek after the third dream clip.
The biggest problem for me was shutter speed timings. I didn’t know how fast I should take the pictures, or how slow my actors had to be. I overcame this problem by practicing on both my pre-production and final piece. I developed a steady rhythm for tapping the ‘shutter’ button, and making the actors’ only move slightly slower then in real life. My other minor problem was objects and people moving in between pictures. I made sure that once the set was fixed, no one went near it, so none of the objects moved. As for the actors’, I just had to keep telling them to keep still, which I think they did quite successfully after a bit of coaching!
I believe that my creative vision was realized. I wanted my film to be slightly comical, but mainly very surreal and abstract, giving it a dreamy effect. I showed my film to some friends and family, and then interviewed them on their thoughts and opinions. They all correctly identified the emotions in each sequence and thought that they were portrayed well. They also said they found sections amusing.
The other section on my film was the sound. I decided that I wanted different soundtracks playing over the different dreams, each relating to the emotions in it. I used an almost comical barn-dance type song for the frustration clip. The audience thought that it was a good use of music and that it made the section more humorous, which was the desired effect. For the happy sequence I used salsa music, which I think highlighted the happy emotions and made the atmosphere more fun. For both the nightmare scene and the short flickers back to the boy sleeping, I made up tracks on ‘GarageBand’. I made the scary music low and rumbling. This was more effective as the rumbling notes created tension and when it reached a crescendo, as the boy’s hands turn green, the audience said that it increased the tension and made his fear appear more urgent.
I also included Foley noises, as the film was shot by taking pictures so it had no normal domestic sounds. This was successful and many people in the audience noted that it was particularly realistic as the timing was spot on.
I think my film was a success as it pleased me, and also pleased the audience I showed it to. My creative vision was realized and it stayed the same as my storyboards. Although the film slightly developed from the original idea, I think this was a good thing as I was learning new aspects of the genre and kept adding different things that I thought would make the film look better and run more smoothly.
During the process of making this film, I learnt that it is always best to prepare and be organised. I learnt that although it is best to stick to one idea from the beginning, it can still be done with hard work and effort. Overall I loved making ‘Dream A Little Dream’, and I had lots of fun with it, especially as it is a very creative course that allowed to be as free as I wanted.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Monday, 9 March 2009
Monday, 23 February 2009
Statement Of Intentions - 'Dream A Little Dream'
Statement Of Intentions.
My production aim is to produce a stop-motion film of about 1 and a half minutes. Titled ‘Dream A Little Dream’, it is about a young boy who falls asleep and experiences three dreams that portray three separate, strong emotions through objects and people. (E.g. frustration uses food – he cannot eat the food he wants to.) He then wakes up at the end of the film feeling confused and intrigued about all his odd dreams.
‘Dream A Little Dream’ is aimed at all audiences, of all ages, because I think that the almost comical portrayal of the emotions will appeal to children, and the formalism will interest adults. Altogether, though, I feel that children ranging from roughly 5 to 17 will enjoy it most.
The main influences for my production are dream-like and surreal films that are unusual but interesting and can have several different meanings to it. Examples are productions such as ‘Alice’ by Jan Svankmajer. My animation also includes a nightmare-ish scene, and I want to take aspects from films by the Quay brothers, because their menacing scenes include techniques I would like to copy, such as losing teeth. I like this idea because it is a common nightmare that every adult/teenager in the world is meant to experience at least once, so when they watch it they will be able to empathize and it will provide a link that will attract them more.
I want my production to have a mix of my influences, but also include my own original ideas, taking aspects – to do with camera work, sound, editing, lighting and general mise-en-scene – from each. Hopefully, by merging these, I will create a film that is conventional, but also different so that it is new and exciting.
My budget is not very high, so ‘Dream A Little Dream’ will not be as lavish as I would have liked (e.g. better locations, props, more advanced sound technology etc…) but what can be improved by money, cant be changed that much and wouldn’t make much of a difference, and I am fairly content with all my locations.
I want to use a diversity of shots, or using interesting shots that aren’t typical and boring. By doing this I hope to make the production more interesting and clear for the audience. This also can create a dramatic effect.
I plan to use stop motion to shoot ‘Dream A Little Dream’. This is a new experience for me, but I will try out techniques and ideas in my preproduction. I want to finish the filming, and then add Foley noises, such as breathing and hands slamming on the table. Finally, I want to add background music, different themes for each dream, and twinkly, slightly eerie noises for the sleeping scenes.
The genre (besides animation) is generally fantasy, but with aspects of comedy and formalism. I wanted to include pieces of genres that the audience would react well to, and make the film more interesting to watch. The comedy genre is due to the over emphasized body language and the comedy portrayal of the emotions (such as the food disappearing in a comical way.)
To show the transition between the ‘fiction world’ (his dreams) and reality, I am going to use a fade transition, and mess up his bedcovers, to show something is about to happen.
To keep on schedule, I am planning to use the application 'Gantt project'. I am using this application because it is easy to use, and very informative. To get my ideas to make sense, I will make a mood board, which will help to develop a final idea. I also want to create storyboards, scripts and a synopsis so I can be completely organized.
When I have finished filming the production, I want to edit using the application 'Final Cut Pro'. I want to because it very easy to use once you work it out, and it has lots of facilities that will aid me to make my production the best it could be.
My production aim is to produce a stop-motion film of about 1 and a half minutes. Titled ‘Dream A Little Dream’, it is about a young boy who falls asleep and experiences three dreams that portray three separate, strong emotions through objects and people. (E.g. frustration uses food – he cannot eat the food he wants to.) He then wakes up at the end of the film feeling confused and intrigued about all his odd dreams.
‘Dream A Little Dream’ is aimed at all audiences, of all ages, because I think that the almost comical portrayal of the emotions will appeal to children, and the formalism will interest adults. Altogether, though, I feel that children ranging from roughly 5 to 17 will enjoy it most.
The main influences for my production are dream-like and surreal films that are unusual but interesting and can have several different meanings to it. Examples are productions such as ‘Alice’ by Jan Svankmajer. My animation also includes a nightmare-ish scene, and I want to take aspects from films by the Quay brothers, because their menacing scenes include techniques I would like to copy, such as losing teeth. I like this idea because it is a common nightmare that every adult/teenager in the world is meant to experience at least once, so when they watch it they will be able to empathize and it will provide a link that will attract them more.
I want my production to have a mix of my influences, but also include my own original ideas, taking aspects – to do with camera work, sound, editing, lighting and general mise-en-scene – from each. Hopefully, by merging these, I will create a film that is conventional, but also different so that it is new and exciting.
My budget is not very high, so ‘Dream A Little Dream’ will not be as lavish as I would have liked (e.g. better locations, props, more advanced sound technology etc…) but what can be improved by money, cant be changed that much and wouldn’t make much of a difference, and I am fairly content with all my locations.
I want to use a diversity of shots, or using interesting shots that aren’t typical and boring. By doing this I hope to make the production more interesting and clear for the audience. This also can create a dramatic effect.
I plan to use stop motion to shoot ‘Dream A Little Dream’. This is a new experience for me, but I will try out techniques and ideas in my preproduction. I want to finish the filming, and then add Foley noises, such as breathing and hands slamming on the table. Finally, I want to add background music, different themes for each dream, and twinkly, slightly eerie noises for the sleeping scenes.
The genre (besides animation) is generally fantasy, but with aspects of comedy and formalism. I wanted to include pieces of genres that the audience would react well to, and make the film more interesting to watch. The comedy genre is due to the over emphasized body language and the comedy portrayal of the emotions (such as the food disappearing in a comical way.)
To show the transition between the ‘fiction world’ (his dreams) and reality, I am going to use a fade transition, and mess up his bedcovers, to show something is about to happen.
To keep on schedule, I am planning to use the application 'Gantt project'. I am using this application because it is easy to use, and very informative. To get my ideas to make sense, I will make a mood board, which will help to develop a final idea. I also want to create storyboards, scripts and a synopsis so I can be completely organized.
When I have finished filming the production, I want to edit using the application 'Final Cut Pro'. I want to because it very easy to use once you work it out, and it has lots of facilities that will aid me to make my production the best it could be.
new idea - 'Dream A Little Dream'
this is the synopsis/shot plan of my newest (and final) idea.
SYNOPSIS
Medium close-up (head and shoulders shot) of Ewan lying in bed. He yawns and then closes his eyes. Everything is still for about a second, and nothing moves, to show that he has fallen asleep. Then suddenly all these different decorations appear from his head, like thoughts. (this will include unrolled ribbons and plastic stars and so on). Then pictures of thunder appear by his head, (one big bit, followed by smaller pictures). As the first strike appears, the camera pans to focus on it more, but doesn’t zoom. It cross-fades to the FIRST DREAM SEQUENCE:
(Each sequence represents an emotion)
FRUSTRATION – Food
He is sitting at a table, with food surrounding him - fruit, ice cream, chocolate etc… and he picks a spoon up and takes a spoonful of ice cream, but on the way to his mouth, it disappears. He frowns and tries again, but instead of it disappearing or him eating it, it turns into cat food. He then reaches for the chocolate fingers, but they run away from him. Every time he moves his hands, they move back further. Close up on his face – shows frustration and anger. Finally he picks up the apple (cut into quarters), but as he brings it up to his mouth, chunks are taken from it – like it is being eaten. This goes on until there is nothing left. Extreme close up of Ewan’s face, pulling a almost comical angry/frustrated face as he it cross-fades back to the SLEEPING SCENE again…
Ewan is still asleep, and the ribbons, stars and lightning are still there. Out of the top of his head, a small love heart appears, followed by a bigger on above that, then an even bigger one, and then an even bigger one above that etc… The camera follows the trail. After about four hearts have appeared, the camera slowly zooms in on the biggest one and it cross-fades into the SECOND DREAM SEQUENCE:
LOVE/HAPPINESS – Friends
Ewan is sitting on the middle of the sofa by himself. He looks relly bored, sighing and looking at his nails. then suddenly his friend pops up to the camera left of him. he smile an high fives him, and they laugh. then his other friend pops up to camera right. He turns to him and high fives him as well. They start pushing each other and lauhing, playing silly games and pulling silly faces. It is a sweet, happy scene. suddenly balloons and fairy lights pop up and surround them all. they burst out laughing. Cross-fade back to the SLEEPING SCENE again:
The scene is the same, keeping all the little signs around his head- including the hearts. A tear (painted) appears on his face, below his left eye, and the camera pans to watch as more tears come down his face, below the original. The camera focuses on all the tears as it cross-fades into the final succession, the THIRD DREAM SEQUENCE:
SADNESS/SCAREDNESS – nightmare.
Ewan is playing on his computer, sitting in his chair. The shot is over the shoulder of the computer, looking down on Ewan, as he types. Ewan starts to feel something in his mouth, and screws up his face and searches his mouth with his tongue. His face changes to an expression of disgust as he holds his hands out to spit out two teeth. He looks horrified and gazes at his hand before reaching into his mouth to remove yet anther tooth. Extreme close up of his palm so the teeth can be seen more clearly. He then forgets his teeth, because his arm begins to itch uncontrollably. He hold his hands out infrnt of him as he itches, and the suddenly his fingertips start turning green. Ewan looks terrfied but the greenness spreads down through his fingers to his palms. Back to the orginal shot from behind the computer and Ewan is examining his teeth ad hands in complete horror. Slow fade back to the SLEEPING SCENE:
He is still sleeping and everything is intact – including the tears. Suddenly an extreme close up of an alarm clock as it beeps its waking up call. Back to the overhead shot of Ewan and everything disappears quickly, retracting back into his head (the tears disappear – starting with the bottom one and working its way up) until he is completely clear and clean. Then his eyes fly open and the alarm stops. He yawns and stretches. Fade to black.
THE ENDDDD.
SYNOPSIS
Medium close-up (head and shoulders shot) of Ewan lying in bed. He yawns and then closes his eyes. Everything is still for about a second, and nothing moves, to show that he has fallen asleep. Then suddenly all these different decorations appear from his head, like thoughts. (this will include unrolled ribbons and plastic stars and so on). Then pictures of thunder appear by his head, (one big bit, followed by smaller pictures). As the first strike appears, the camera pans to focus on it more, but doesn’t zoom. It cross-fades to the FIRST DREAM SEQUENCE:
(Each sequence represents an emotion)
FRUSTRATION – Food
He is sitting at a table, with food surrounding him - fruit, ice cream, chocolate etc… and he picks a spoon up and takes a spoonful of ice cream, but on the way to his mouth, it disappears. He frowns and tries again, but instead of it disappearing or him eating it, it turns into cat food. He then reaches for the chocolate fingers, but they run away from him. Every time he moves his hands, they move back further. Close up on his face – shows frustration and anger. Finally he picks up the apple (cut into quarters), but as he brings it up to his mouth, chunks are taken from it – like it is being eaten. This goes on until there is nothing left. Extreme close up of Ewan’s face, pulling a almost comical angry/frustrated face as he it cross-fades back to the SLEEPING SCENE again…
Ewan is still asleep, and the ribbons, stars and lightning are still there. Out of the top of his head, a small love heart appears, followed by a bigger on above that, then an even bigger one, and then an even bigger one above that etc… The camera follows the trail. After about four hearts have appeared, the camera slowly zooms in on the biggest one and it cross-fades into the SECOND DREAM SEQUENCE:
LOVE/HAPPINESS – Friends
Ewan is sitting on the middle of the sofa by himself. He looks relly bored, sighing and looking at his nails. then suddenly his friend pops up to the camera left of him. he smile an high fives him, and they laugh. then his other friend pops up to camera right. He turns to him and high fives him as well. They start pushing each other and lauhing, playing silly games and pulling silly faces. It is a sweet, happy scene. suddenly balloons and fairy lights pop up and surround them all. they burst out laughing. Cross-fade back to the SLEEPING SCENE again:
The scene is the same, keeping all the little signs around his head- including the hearts. A tear (painted) appears on his face, below his left eye, and the camera pans to watch as more tears come down his face, below the original. The camera focuses on all the tears as it cross-fades into the final succession, the THIRD DREAM SEQUENCE:
SADNESS/SCAREDNESS – nightmare.
Ewan is playing on his computer, sitting in his chair. The shot is over the shoulder of the computer, looking down on Ewan, as he types. Ewan starts to feel something in his mouth, and screws up his face and searches his mouth with his tongue. His face changes to an expression of disgust as he holds his hands out to spit out two teeth. He looks horrified and gazes at his hand before reaching into his mouth to remove yet anther tooth. Extreme close up of his palm so the teeth can be seen more clearly. He then forgets his teeth, because his arm begins to itch uncontrollably. He hold his hands out infrnt of him as he itches, and the suddenly his fingertips start turning green. Ewan looks terrfied but the greenness spreads down through his fingers to his palms. Back to the orginal shot from behind the computer and Ewan is examining his teeth ad hands in complete horror. Slow fade back to the SLEEPING SCENE:
He is still sleeping and everything is intact – including the tears. Suddenly an extreme close up of an alarm clock as it beeps its waking up call. Back to the overhead shot of Ewan and everything disappears quickly, retracting back into his head (the tears disappear – starting with the bottom one and working its way up) until he is completely clear and clean. Then his eyes fly open and the alarm stops. He yawns and stretches. Fade to black.
THE ENDDDD.
Monday, 9 February 2009
The 'dogs-007' preproduction filmey.
Even though i am not doing this idea anymore, i thought i would upload the preproduction filmey i did anyway, because of the blood and sweat and abuse that i went through to do this.
enjoy! (its not that good though...)
amber
xx
LARGE CHANGE OF PLAN.
I have decided that live action is not going to work for me, and also that using dogs would be entirely impossible, as only one of the available two dogs i could use can just about sit, and that is it.
I have decided to switch to stop-motion, which is a good thing, because i have had way more experience in that area (my father has a whole company based on stop-motion) and also, once i have filmed the scenes, there is no editing involved, which is a major plus. Therefore i have a sort of extended deadline, as i can still be filming whilst everyone else is editing. so i aim to finish everything by:
FRIDAY THE 13TH OF MARCH.
That is all. I must go now and redo everything.
Wish me luck :)
amber
xx
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