After looking at the feedback I had received I decided to make some changes, people had commented on the lack of dialogue and how that made it hard to understand the narrative. Looking back I agreed that the film should have more dialogue, however I didn't want to add a narrative that was easy to understand so instead added more dialogue which explained the scene further.
The main change I had made was the soundtrack, I changed it for many different factors such as copyright laws, pace and fluidity. I found that original soundtrack was very upbeat and too mainstream for our film, with this in mind I wanted to create a piece which would be distorted but also flow more within our film. I wanted the sound track to create more of an atmosphere and suspense to the audience, I did this by clashing high and low pitched stringed instruments.
After reviewing our film Yasmin and I realised that the parts of the soundtrack she had created wasn't copyright free, so I decided to make a new soundtrack. I began by looking at our film and decided how the tone and pitch of the track should look. I decided that I wanted to make the soundtrack very different to the previous one. I decided that I would use a mix of harsh low tones and eery high notes to make the track sound distorted.
Using my Ipad I opened garage band where I was able to choose which instrument I wanted to use, once I had chosen my instrument I was able to use the touch screen to create a sound.
Once I had chosen my instrument I was able to change the type of instrument for example when using the piano I could chose between a grand piano, synths, SFX board etc...
After I had created a part on an instrument I was able to add more in with differenet notes and tones to make it more like a song.
I was also able to change the pitch and effects after I had recorded the sound.
Once I had my main track I decided to add more dialogue, so I had more control over the placement of the voice I decided to do the vocals as a different track. I used the same principles as before creating the sound then editing it. Once I had done this I had my final track which I was then able to put onto my film.
Film festivals are a great way for an unknown surreal film to get recognised. I Started to look at which festivals are available and which would be more likely to show our film.
The Sundance Film Festival hold a competition for london based film makers which is for the best short film. If won the film is shown to the audience as part of the Short Film Programme, this would again create a much broader audience for our film.
Youtube also has a competition for short films where, if won, your film will be shown at the Venice Film Festival
Our film could also be shown at local film festivals which specialise in more experimental films.
My poster will be put into specialised magazines such as Sight and Sound, it will also be put onto websites such as Vimeo, Youtube and BBC website. I would not put our poster nor film through a national campaign such as billboards, bus stops, trailers on TV etc.. as our film will only be released on Vimeo, Youtube, BBC and other film sites.
Living
her whole life through abuse and physcological torture “girl”
tries to cope the best she can with daily life. She knows that the
only serenity she can have is if she imagines a different world where
she is in control.
But the question is, is this a world in her mind or has she made it a
reality?
Here is the film review that I created using open office.org.
I decided to follow the conventions that Sight and sound follow as it would be
In their magazine. I decided that since our film is surreal and wouldn't be
released into cinemas that our review should be out towards the back where they review
more unique films. I decided to use a different picture from the one used on the poster
as all film reviews in this particular magazine showed still action shots rather the
poster image. I also felt that this picture also shows the starring actor as well as a key moment.
When it came to designing the poster Yasmin decided that she would be in charge of this as she has the most experience with Photoshop whereas I have more experience with writing. Before Yasmin went and designed the poster we both went through a few rough ideas to make sure we were both happy with the product she would be producing. When deciding on the poster design we both wanted the poster to be just as surreal as the film this, we decided to make a whole new image instead of just using one already being used in the film. Yasmin and I created a mind map of what we wanted on the poster which she then took away and created, Yasmin created several different poster ideas so we had more for the audience to give us feedback with.
After Yasmin had created the poster we both looked at what she had created and decided which our favourite one so far was. We then asked a set of different people which poster they liked the best and what they felt was lacking from our posters so far. From the feedback we received we saw that the majority liked poster 3 however after a look back at this poster we decided that there were some changes that we wanted to make. Many people said that we needed to mention the actor in the film and have the main character in the film on the poster. Yasmin and I both wanted to change the layout as we felt the title and credits weren't right. Below is the final poster that Yasmin created.
When creating our soundtrack for the film I decided to start experimenting with Garage Band.
Below I have attached the sound I created.
When creating the sound in GarageBand I first looked at which samples I could use, since I don't play an instrument, from there I was able to pick which instrument I wanted to use.
Once picking the Instrument I was then able to pick which sample I wanted to use.
After choosing all my samples I was then able to duplicate certain bits as well as crop them.
After completing the soundtrack I imported onto Itunes which meant I could then import it onto Premiere Pro CS4.
We decided not to use this soundtrack as Yasmin had also created a soundtrack which fitted in with the piece better. I used different guitar riffs, horns and synth samples to create this sound.
I have also created audio which went with the soundtrack to create a more clear story to the audience. After Yasmin had created the audio we thought that there was something lacking in the story, so we decided to experiment and add different bits of dialogues in different tones, pitches and lengths. Below are the dialogues samples and the audio.
When it came to recording the vocals I was able to do a live recording, this meant it would be my voice speaking which would make the dialogue more authentic. I was able to choose which effects my voice would have for each part. I used no effect, deeper vocals and helium breath. After recording each part I was then able to edit it further by changing the amount of bass etc.. Once completed I imported to Itunes again then imported it to Premiere Pro CS4.
Here is a poster for the surrealist film Rubber which is about a tyre which has the ability to murder people through telepathy. With this poster they have made it look like it has been painted/comic book style which looks like Salvador Dali's famous painting Melting Clocks.
The colours used are very exaggerated which again make the shot look surreal. In regards to our film poster I would want to use the same kind of techniques such as exaggerating colours, not taking a still from the actual film and the main layout of the poster.
When creating a film looking at existing media is key in creating something successful and more importantly accurate.
I started by analysing different films within the surrealist genre, I focussed on cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. From this I was able to see what conforms most surrealist films follow. It also allowed me to see what our finished product should look like, what elements I should include and what actually makes the film be classed as surreal. This enabled me to start planning my synopsis, characters and poster. When it came to research I decided to look at a range of different media technologies to best get the idea of how to create a film with normal conforms of the surrealist genre. Once I came up with the synopsis I started to research into different artists which I could pull inspiration from, as we changed our idea a couple of times we reasearched into many different artists the most in depth research I did was into Hans Bellmer. I was really inspired with his work and decided to take that inspiration and make my own works of rt with the same focus on mutilation.
Here is a picture of both mine and Hans Bellmer's work. Hans Bellmer's work, pictured above, focusses on the mutilation of dolls which is something visually disturbing which would fit in with the surrealist genre. Below is my work which I created by cutting of the dolls hair, attaching an arm where the leg should be, tying the arms together and adding bruising by using different shade of pen then smudging them together. I think my work shows a progression from Hans Bellmer's work which makes it more aggressive and fitting within my story.
In the evaluation stages of my media product using different media technologies as a comparison enabled me to see what my final product had turned out as and how well it fitted in with the genre. I was able to look back at the original work I had analysed such as Alice's Nightmare and The Killing Joke to see what conventions I had successfully used. I was able to see that my film did fit in with the surrealist genre and followed the normal conforms of this genre.
When it came to the construction I used a variety of different technologies such as garageband, premiere pro, Itunes etc. I primarily used Premiere pro as this is the programme I edited the film on.
Here I was able to bring in other media technologies I had used, import them, and put onto my showreel. I was then able to cut and edit these different technologies together which made my final film.
Below are screen shots with annotations of how I used each technology during construction.
Yasmin created this title by using photoshop, I was then
able to import this onto my showreel where I chose how long the title would
appear for.
To create fluidity I used Premiere Pro to edit together all the images. Once I had put all the images onto the show reel I used a tool which enabled me to choose how long the image lasted. To make it fluid I quickened the images.
To make it look as if the bear's head was moving from the floor to my hand by itself I took pictures of me throwing the bear's head. Once I had done this and uploaded onto my computer I edited onto the showreel and sped it up to make it look as if the pictures were moving I then flipped the sequence so it looked as if it were moving by itself.
I wanted the film to have distortion so wanted different pictures to flicker inbetween certain parts. To do this I added in the image where I wanted and made it last longer, I then added a cross dissolve so it appear more seamlessly, almost like a subliminal message.
I wanted this particular part to be point of view shots of one of the dolls being experimented on. To so this I cropped the pictures so it looked make it look more hand held and disjointed as the disjointedness of the scene makes it look as if the doll is panicking.
Without audience feedback Yasmin and I wouldn't have been able to create a piece of cinematic surrealism which others understood and found challenged normal cinema genres. The audience allowed us to learn which idea was better and what we should change this was key in making a successful film as you are usually blinded by your own ideas to know whether it actually will be popular or whether you just like it because you created it. Yasmin and I used audience feedback on a number of things from the title of our film to the actual synopsis of our film, this gave us the encouragement to challenge ourselves to create something more surreal. For every idea we had I created a questionnaire and handed it out so I could see who our key demographic would be and how we could improve our film. Below is a screen shot of the final questionnaire I handed out and the results I received.
Yasmin shared on Facebook our rough footage and tagged me in it so both our friends could comment on the film. Below are the comments
After this I asked the people, who had commented, how we could improve most said they found it hard to understand the narrative. I decided that we should add small bits of dialogue, which I created in Garage Band and then added onto the original soundtrack. Without the audience feedback we wouldn't have known that the story wasn't resonating with the public as it was hard to understand why she was doing certain things. Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are so good for feedback as it's instant and millions of people can see it not just our friends which meant we also got more honest opinions. It also meant that people who wouldn't have necessarily watched the film did, which meant we got a more varied opinion which is necessary for a successful film. Although the audience feedback is important it was crucial for me to get my vision across which did mean that I didn't follow all the audience feedback, the most important thing I learnt from the audience feedback was what advice to take and which not, from this I could see who my target audience were.
Once Yasmin and I had our final draft for our film I showed it to people within sixth form here were some of the comments.
" I really like how you have added in some dialogue, I think you have added the right amount of dialogue without it losing its surrealism. I think that this is the best draft you have shown me, I think that the directing and editing are very good."- Amy Durigan
" I can't believe that you made these out of still photographs! I think the whole concept is really great." - Nicola Tee
" I really like the lighting that you have used, used with the edited images makes the film look really surreal. I like the fact that you have done something experimental and challenging rather than something safe but boring" - Luke Brown
From the above comments I could see that the changes that we made from the previous feedback had worked. It also showed Yasmin and I that without feedback we wouldn't have been able to create a piece of cinema that more people will like and enjoy. Although we listened to and appreciated audience feedback it was important that we didn't change everything just suit the audience as it's normal for some people not to like a particular film. I also didn't want our film to change to much as it was my vision and what I wanted to portray to audience even if some audience members didn't enjoy it.
When it came to creating our ancillary texts Yasmin and I both wanted to stick very closely to the genre we had chosen, we chose Yasmin to create the poster and me to create the film review. Although we were working separately on our ancillary texts we both consulted each other to make sure all our media products tied in-together and were relatable to one-another. I decided to make my film review look as close to an review printed in Sight and Sound as possible, this made my media look more professional as it looked as if my film had been reviewed in Sight and Sound magazine. In regards to the poster Yasmin and I both wanted the poster to tell the audience what genre of film it was, grab their attention and most of all intrigue them so they would watch the film.
Both the film and poster tie in very well together, this teamed with the review makes the film look professional and surreal.
We decided that we should use dominant, striking pictures for both the ancillary texts.
Looking at Sight and Sound review pages I was able to see what type of pictures they use on the review, I found that all pictures contained the main character because of this I used one of the strongest pictures of me as the character from the film. However we also found that most surrealist posters wouldn't necessarily contain just a picture of the main character because of this we decided that Yasmin should create a new picture using different pictures from the film rather than just using one image from the film. We decided that if our pictures weren't going to be the same that we should follow the same themes so it still looks like a franchise. All our products come together in the way that we have used all surreal images for both the film review and poster. We have also stuck with the same colour red and white, we chose red and white as they are the colours we used for the film title in the short film, this made our ancillary texts instantly recognisable.
Looking at our film and poster I would say that our product doesn't challenge the normal conforms of surrealism but instead follows it. I looked at Alice's Nightmare which really gave me the inspiration for the tea party scene, however I feel I progressed this concept by making the other guests dolls which had been experimented on by the girl. I was also very inspired by The Killing Joke by Sebastian Lopez I liked the way only a soundtrack was used and some key dialogue such as the Jack in the Box laughing, 02:00, I feel that we used this directly in conjunction with our film which uses more dialogue but only sentences instead of actual conversations. I also liked the quality of the picture, I decided to further this when it came to my media product as I wanted to create a more surreal effect as opposed to vintage, I did this by manipulating each image separately because of this I found that the quality changed on each one as it was impossible to edit over one thousand pictures the exact same way. I feel this furthered the surrealism edge of our film in comparison to The Killing Joke.
Below is my final film with annotations
Because we decided to mostly conform to the surrealist genre I was able to look at my work and how that compared to other surrealist texts, posters and films.
Alice In Wonderland
I began looking at Alice in Wonderland as I liked the surrealism used. I particularly liked the Mad Hatters Tea Party as it was something quite normal and classed as "boring" turned into something interesting and surreal. I knew I wanted to in-cooperate the surrealism of something quite mundane into my film. I began writing a piece which involved a "tea party" scene, I wanted it to resemble the Mad Hatters Tea Party as I wanted my character to relate to the film and want her own tea party. I feel that this really worked as Alice in Wonderland is something most children grow up with enabling my character to revert back to her childhood. I also liked the way Alice in Wonderland is a film for young children but is still disturbing and very surreal.
Sight and sound
When it came to the review I wanted it to look as authentic as possible for this I tried to copy the template as much as possible. I knew that my short film is very surreal compared to the films Sight and Sound review in the front of the magazine so decided to model my review on the ones listed towards the back of the magazine. With the review I felt it had to follow the normal conforms as it is something that will be published in a well established magazine.
Posters
After looking at some surreal posters I knew that as it was surreal no surreal poster was the same, because of this Yasmin was free to do what she felt was surreal. Although she did what she wanted for the poster Yasmin still showed she had some inspiration from the research I had done. Pictured above is a poster both an established surreal film and our film. As you can see Yasmin was inspired by the disfiguration of human limbs onto toys/objects which also references to Hans Bellmars work.
The Killing Joke
After looking at the Killing Joke I realised that I wanted to use the same type of make up as clowns are once again, like Alice in Wonderland, linked to child-hood. I decided that rather than having full clown make-up to make my make up colourful and playful. My make-up I feel reverts the character to a child again as it's something most young girls do, play with their mothers make up. The killing joke also inspired me to have more suspense in my film. In terms of cinematography I was once again inspired by the Killing Joke and other surrealist films, I wanted to use jolted movements, high angle and low angle shots to make the film seem more menacing.
Yasmin and I decided to look at what we were best at before starting the poster or review, after looking at our individual strengths we decided that Yasmin would create the poster while I wrote and created the review. I started to look at which magazine's review more independent surreal films and which magazine would be best for our film. I decided that my review wouldn't be published in any gossip,fashion, editorial magazines like Heat, Vogue, Elle or More. I started to look at magazines such as Sight and Sound and Indie Media Mag.
Sight and Sound Sight and Sound review range of different films from big blockbusters such as Hunger Games to small independent films such as Ano Una. Sight and Sound magazine is soley for films which makes it a great platform for our film, by looking at the front cover it is obvious that it is a film magazine which promotes all genres of films. Below is a picture of a front cover of one of their issues.
I have also scanned in some articles from the December 08 issue.
I decided on Sight and Sound as a magazine as it reviews all types of films from mainstream to surreal. Sight and Sound is clearly a magazine for film enthusiasts as the films reviewed are from all over the world. I think it is the best magazine for my film as it advertises towards people who have more interest in world films rather than those who are only interested in mainstream films.
When looking for inspiration for our film I looked at Alice in Wonderland, Alice in Wonderland, both the original and modern adaptation is one of the most popular avant-garde film. I liked the mad hatters tea party and decided that I would want to include something of the same nature as that. I also loved the amount of unusual props and characters used.
I liked the way that they changed something quite ordinary as having a tea party and changed the objects only slightly so that it stood out and became avante-gard. Above is a picture of one of the mad hatters pouring tea out of a tea pot, however this teapot has three spouts which makes the image look very surreal. I want to use the same basis on my film so that changing small things will make the film look surreal but not as if we hadn't thought about it.
I also like the way that Alice in Wonderland played on sizes of things. Above is a picture of Alice after she has drank a potion which makes her small, Alice changes from big to small to normal throughout the film, many objects are also scaled down or made bigger in the film. I wanted to use this same technique in our film, I started to look at props and found big colourful dice that i wanted to include, i also found diffrerent sizes of bears and dolls which we could use to show the difference in size.
Above is the title of our film that Yasmin created, we both decided that she should create the look of our title and credits as she is more experienced in using photoshop than I am. Yasmin began by importing a font style into photoshop, she then decided on the background colour making sure that the text she had chosen would stand out on this background. After looking at different colour backgrounds and the text she had imported she decided that black would be the best colour for the font to stand out. After this she decided to add in a "blood" effect to do this she imported a set of blood brushes which she then used on top of the image she had already created she was then able to change the colour and arrangement of the effect she had created. I think that the title really links into our genre and the effect that we wanted to create. Yasmin has managed to make the title show the audience our film name and what it represents but not give to much of our film away I also think it looks surreal as the blood almost looks pretty as if it could be something else.
Yasmin decided to make the music for the film as I have edited the film, Yasmin used different music and edited together on premiere to create two different soundtracks that we would use. After I had edited in all the music and film together I decided to add in some dialogue to make the transitions into the different soundtracks. Below are some pictures of me editing in the music/ Dialogue and making it.
I made the dialogue in garageband as it was the easiest way of getting a recording onto premiere. I did it by adding on a new vocal and creating an effect such as deep vocals then recording myself saying short sentences. After I had done this I imported into Itunes where I was then able to import it onto premiere. I have also made a soundtrack on garage band which I liked but decided not to use. Below is a sample of it:
Avant -Garde is a term used for a piece of work which is considered surreal or experimental. The term is used on all aspects of work but is mainly used and present in the art and fashion industry. When work pushes the boundaries of what is normally excepted as the norm in society.
Avant-Garde work is becoming less popular in Britain as the more mainstream films/plays are becoming more popular and commercial to families. Vannessa Thorpe wrote a piece in the Observer on the 26/02/2012 asking Is there British avante-garde cultural movement out there? And, if it does exist, would it ever be visible to the mainstream entertainment industry or to the orthodox media? In the article she includes an interesting quote by Alistair Spalding, who recently put on a show where nude girls with blonde wigs danced around the auditorium. "You cannot call a performance or a work of art avant-garde unless it gives the audience that uncomfortable, perhaps even painful feeling." I feel that this quote is very true to avant-garde and my film as I feel it does make the audience feel uncomfortable to watch. The article expresses how businesses are more concerned about making a profit rather than provoking a thought from the audience. It also shows defining moments from avant-garde through the years:
1913 Igor Stravinsky's ballet, The Rite of Spring, with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky, produced by Sergal Diaghllev, was premiered by his ballets Russes company in Paris. Stories that the music's dissonance and rhythms outraged the audience are thought to have been cooked up by the composer. It was the choreography that shocked most.
1917 Marcel Dunchamp's famous urinal, one of his objects trouves, was submitted to an art show advertising that all works would be accepted, but fountain was not actually displayed. The original no longer exists.
1952 American composer John Cage's notorious three-movement composition, 4'33", can be played by any instrument or instruments and consists of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than pure silence.
1994 Extreme American artist Ron Athey caused controversy when he made cuts in co-performer Divinity Fudge's back during a performance in Minneapolis. He then put strips of absorbent paper towel on the cuts and hoisted the bloodstained cloths in the air.
1994 Burn a Million Quid involved the duo K Foundation (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty) burning a million pounds on the Scottish island Jura. The sum represented most of the K Foundation's funds, earned by the KLF, Drummond and Cauty's successful pop band in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
I decided that my film would be distributed by much smaller companies, with regards to distributing, as Youtube, Vimeo and BBC Films. I have decided to use these distributors rather than larger ones such as Momentum pictures, Universal and Warner Bros as I feel our short film is much more specialised compared to mainstream films.
Yasmin and I's film is much too specialised and surreal for it to be a cinema release, but rather shown on free video sharing websites. Our film being put on these website gives us a big advantage as anyone in the world can see our film now instead of people who are where it has been released. From getting it distributed on BBC Film Network we would be able to be seen in the BBC Film Festival which has great creditability amongst film enthusiasts and professionals.
I have researched into different bands of certificates and what content suits each one. Below is a table of the certificates and who is suitable to see these films.
Upon looking at these tables I have decided that my film should be rated a 12 as I feel our film does lie within the restrictions of the certificate.
Rated 12 Under the guidelines set out by the BFFC (British Board of Film Classification) a film rated 12 are as follows.
Discrimination Discriminatory language or behaviour must not be edorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly condemned.
Drugs Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or give instructional detail.
Horror Moderate physical and psycological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or substained.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied, or appear pain or harm free. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
Moderate language is allowed. The use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’) must be infrequent.
Nudity
Nudity is allowed, but in a sexual context must be brief and discreet.
Sex
Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sex references should not go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers. Frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme
Mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.
Violence
Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated, and must have a strong contextual justification.
I feel that my film does comply with the restrictions the BBFC set out as my film doesn't have any crude language, violence is moderate and only on dolls. The film has no use of drugs, nudity, sex or discrimination. Although I do class my film as horror it doesn't involve any physical threat onto a human and the psychological behaviour used is in the little girls head and is not used as a threat to human beings only dolls. The imitable behaviour I have used is hanging which is used with a doll and is not shown how to do so could not be copied.
.PNG)
.PNG)
.PNG)
.PNG)
.PNG)
