Final Designs for Tablet Bottles

Here are my final designs for the tablet bottles that I will use as props in my short film.

Ulysses - An inspirational text

I recently discovered a novel titled 'Ulysses' by James Joyce, an Irish writer. Ulysses was first published in 1922 and  it is considered to be one of the most important work of modernist literature.
I was introduced to 'Ulysses' by a former teacher of mine, whilst helping out at a taster course for media for year 11 pupils. I discussed my idea's regarding 'Birthday Party' with my former teacher, addressing the sense of realism I was wanting to portray in my short film. She immediately mentioned this novel that she read during her time at university and raised the similarities between my film and the book's theme. I was truly intrigued by this novel. She told me of how the story depicts 24 hours in a certain character's life in a very real and true way, including everyday activities like using the toilet.
This instantly was relateable to my short film as I had planned to include my character using the toilet aswell.
I decided to research more in the Ulysses and found it is praised for its rich characterisations and broad humour, factors I wish to be existent in my film.

It was particularly inspiring to see how people have achieved similar ambitions to what I am aiming to achieve through their own techniques, even by using literature.

Costume Research

Having developed a character and colour theme,  I needed to design appropriate costume that will represent both my characters personality and also fit in with the colour scheme. When designing my costume I will have to consider several aspects to make for a successful design, this includes:

• What type of clothes (T-shirt/shirt/jeans etc)
• The fitting of clothes
• The colour of clothes
• Any notable design features (T shirt print etc)
• Accesories

To make for an accurate portrayal of my character through costume I decided to conduct my own primary research into people's dress and fashion sense. The main focus of this task was to explore into the fitting of clothes and see to what extent their is correlation between dress sense and personality. I decided an effective way to research this would be to go into the city centre and photograph people's outfits and particularly the way they fit.

Designing a Typeface - Tim's Hand

To design a professional looking poster I had to also design a suitable typeface to use on titles, subtitles and any other written language. I could have used a default text that are pre-set on the software I use (Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator), however I not of them appealed to me.
This is when I took on the task of designing my own font.

I wanted a typeface that was relevant to my character and reflected his personality. This could help my audience build a rapport with my character and it would also expose my character more, perhaps making him more likeable. To achieve this goal, I decided to handwrite the whole typeface in a particular stylistic manner. The typeface was meant to look as if my character, Tim, had written it himself. For this Reason, I named the font 'Tim's hand'.

Poster Design Ideas

I have many idea's for a poster design for my short film. Having researched into film posters I have seen many different designs and concepts that I have since taken inspiration from. Posters created from photographs, screenshots and illustrations have all been appealing to me creatively, however, personally for me, I have found greatest inspiration stylistically in illustrated posters rather than photography or screenshots. For this reason, I will illustrate the imagery on my poster and then digitally edit and manipulate using either Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator to achieve a professional looking final design.


Initial Design idea
One idea I had for a poster design was too have a close up portrait shot of my character. I would create the shot using photography as it creates a stronger sense of realism than an illustration would. In another view, I could also take an illustration approach to the design. By illustrating the image it could reflect my characters creative nature, possibly making the poster more personal and distinctive of my characters personality.

This concept lead me onto my next design idea.

Second Design Idea
I wanted to create an intriguing and powerful image to appeal to my audience and also represent the film successfully. In order to achieve this, I considered a using a screenshot or image from my film for the main image. I decided to use a shot of the medication and tablets that feature in my short film as it was almost contradictory to the title of the film 'Birthday Party'. As you would not associate tablets and medication with a birthday party, the image could intrigue the audience and develop interest in the film. However, rather than using a screenshot or photography I decided to illustrate for the reason listed above; to reflect my characters persona and creative ability.

Film Poster Moodboard

Here is a collage of inspirational film posters used to create a moodboard showcasing poster designs that I like. To create this moodboard I initially collected designs that appealed to me and then used Adobe Photoshop to create a collage of the images.

Film Poster Analysis

Here is my analysis of 3 different film posters. To analyse efficiently I broke it down into different sections; Purpose, Colour Scheme, Denotation and Connotations of imagery. This allowed me to focus on each aspect of the poster, however one disadvantage of this is that technical features have not been identified are analysed, features such as font style and size, layout properties, and the actual lexical and language choices used in each poster. For this reason, I will create a blog post which covers the more technical aspect of film posters and their features.

Here below is my poster analysis for the popular films 'Shawshank redemption' and 'Warrior', and also the underground cult film 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou', which shows my analyse of the following:

• Purpose
• Colour scheme
• Denotation
• Connotations of Imagery

                             

                             Film Poster Analysis from lewwil

My Colour Theme

To achieve the desired mood of my film and personality of my character, I have decided to rely heavily on colour representation. A colour theme will be present throughout the entire length of my short film, to portray continuity and also to perhaps represent the extent of which not only my characters colour pallet is limited, but also his whole life is limited by living in the way that he does. Colour theme are a big focus for my film, and also on director, producer and screen writer, Wes Anderson's films, who is a major inspirational figure for me creatively. His use of colour is always aesthetically and conceptually pleasing, which is the level of effective colour representation I wish to achieve in my short film.

Having researched into colour meaning and representation, I decided to use this knowledge to help me design a colour theme for my short film. I decided to use a main colour pallet of 4 colours which would suit the representation of my character.

The first and for most important hue was the colour orange. Both, the positive and negative connotations stood out for me, as they had words directly linking to the theme of my movie, for example, 'Independence' is a positive connotation of orange, whilst independence is also a theme in my movie, as well as the negative connotations of 'pessimistic' and 'unsociable' being suited to my theme. It seemed highly appropriate to use this hue as a main colour in my short film for the above reasons.

Yellow also seemed appropriate as it could be used to represent the creativity of my character and also the more negative semantic meanings such as 'overly analytical' and once again reinforcing the idea of 'pessimism'. Notably, Yellow is harmonious with Orange as they sit next to each other on the colour wheel.

In opposition to the harmony of the orange and yellow, I will also use a light blue as a complimentary colour to contrast against the other hues. I will use light blue to represent discomfort and foreign feelings, this is as it is opposite to the warmth of the orange and yellow. The colour blue will also represent the reserved, quiet and emotionally unstable manner of my character.

I will also use a less noticeable amount of the colour red, which will to some, appear to harmonise with the warm nature of orange and yellow. However, whilst being in harmony, the red will also represent the possible danger of living life this way. I believe this use of red will be very effective as it is almost ironic to itself, as it represents both harmony and disaster.

I will also be using other colours, however these 4 colours will be the main theme.

Colour Theme from lewwil

Colour Connotations and Representation

All colours have existing connotations that society can perceive meaning and understanding from; both negative and positive. This is why colour is so important in the media industry as it allows you to portray and represent a character or individual in the manner that you wish to do so. Colour representation is used in almost every existing media platform, from blogs, websites, and magazines, to photography, film and TV.
I researched into colour psychology so I could take advantage of colour representation  to help portray my character and mood of my short film, in an effective way.

Here is a analysis of the main colours and the connotations they each behold.

Red
Positive: Warm, powerful, passion, energy
Negative: Revenge, Anger, violent

Orange
Positive: Warmth, happiness, independence, optimistic
Negative: Self-indulgent, pessimistic, unsociable

Yellow
Positive: fun, creativity, analytical
Negative: overly analytical, pessimistic, egotistical

Green
Positive: Balanced, harmony, generous
Negative: Materialistic, selfish, greedy

Blue
Positive: Honesty, loyalty, sincere, reserved
Negative: Emotionally unstable, weak, unforgiving, unfaithfulness

Purple
Positive: Imagination, spirituality, individual, creative
Negative: Immaturity, arrogant, impractical

Pink
Positive: Unconditional love, nurturing, warmth, hope
Negative: Over-emotional, immature, lack of will power

Brown
Positive: Friendly, stable, comforting, protective
Negative: Dull, boring, materialistic

Grey
Positive: Neutral, reliable, mature, intelligent
Negative: Boring, indecisive, depressed, isolated

Black and White
Black is often perceived as a negative colour with connotations of darkness, evil, depression, secretive. Where as, White is perceived as a positive colour with connotations of purity, innocence, honesty and wholeness.

Colour Theory

Colour theory is the understanding of contrast, complimentary, harmony, mood and the context of colours. Colour theory is used and seen in nearly every aspect of our modern life; from the design of popular technological products to even flower arrangement by florists and gardeners. In the media and in particular the film industry, colour can be used to portray characters in a desired manner by using colour theory to manipulate the mood of the costume, set, and overall aesthetics of the movie.

Colour theory is often based around the colour wheel; a display of organised colours used to show the relationship between colours. The first colour wheel was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, however it has been debated, changed, and progressed over the years. Below are the basic colour wheels of the primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

Primary colours

The primary colours traditionally are yellow, blue and red. These 3 hues can not be formed by any combination of colours and all other colours are derived from these primary colours.

Secondary Colours

Secondary colours are produced by blending and mixing primary colours together. For example, mixing red and blue produces purple, or if you mix yellow and blue a green hue is created.

Tertiary Colours

Tertiary colours are formed by a blend of primary colour and secondary colour. For example, if you mix blue and green together a new hue is created, this is the reason that Tertiary colours have a two word name (ie. blue-green).

The colour wheel can now be used to identify colour compliments (colours that are in harmony together). Colour compliments are usually opposite each other on the traditional colour wheel, for example, orange and blue are complimentary colours. Refer to colour wheel to see this.

Another popular technique for colour combination is the analogous colour scheme. Analogous colour scheme are hues that are placed next to each other and harmonise together to create a serene and peaceful mood.

Character Development - Personality Research

To construct my character, I have taken inspiration from an individual who plays a big part in my life, my brother. Aspiring to be an independent individual, my brother spent a lot of time in his room, isolated from his family and friends, as his approach to achieve his goal of independence. However, spending time alone was actually not a enlightening experience for him, and he soon fell into depression. I am hoping for my character to be an extended fictional representation of the way in which my brother lived his life at his point of depression. However, it will be portrayed in an exaggerated and light hearted manner to showcase what people often stereotype an independent life to be. I will also take inspiration from other aspects and personalities from within myself and the people around me.

Personality Research
A trait of personality that reoccurs through nearly all personality theories, is the extravert and introvert ideaology. An extravert is an outgoing, socially interactive individual, where as an introvert is a more resilient and reserved individual, in contrast to an extravert. However, the most relevant personality for my project is introversion.

Introversion
"The state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in ones own mental life". Popular writers and theorists have identified introverted characters as individuals who energy tends to flourish through self reflection and dwindle with interaction. This character trait is very often misunderstood and stereotyped incorrectly by both extraverts and introverts.
Introverts are often stereotyped to be lonely,unfriendly, unsociable, unhappy, shy, negative characters who spend extensive time alone, due to their tendency to find less joy in large groups than extraverts do.

My character will display all of these stereotypical traits as a comedic asset within my short film, to exaggerate the introvert personality. This exaggeration will hopefully help me achieve the aims of my short film.

Here is a clip taken from Ted.com, showing a speech about introverts which is delivered by Susan Cain, titled "The power of introverts"

Reflecting on my Audience Interview Documentary - 'Remembering Film'

Upon reflection, I believe my audience interview documentary was rather successful, as it assisted me in understanding the expectations and likeable factors in movies that appealed to the intended target audience for my short film. This understanding will also prove helpful when making my short film and hopefully help me aim towards a more successful project. The documentary was also an opportunity to both showcase and develop my camera skills and the different techniques I have instilled over the last year. I done this by using a range of shots, such as extreme close ups, medium shots and a range of other shot types. I also attempted a shot I have never attempted before as an experiment; Pedestal down shot. To make the pedestal down shot as professional as possible I built a D.I.Y steadicam made from materials found around the house. Despite the amateur nature of a home built steadicam, I believe it was a rather successful building project and also a great way to develop my ability to improvise whilst on a production set to overcome any problems or challenges. In terms of editing footage, I feel I have progressed into a more capable editor, however I feel as though I was restricted during the editing process of this project by using the 'beginner' editing software that is 'Windows Movie Maker'. I have learnt from this experience and will try out a some other editing programmes until I find a software that is suited to my skill level and a one that will allow me to develop my skills at a comfortable pace.

Overall, I have learnt a lot through the whole process of making my audience interview documentary, including technological and software skills,also practical and technical skills, both in planning the documentary and physically on set. I look forward to further enhancing my media skills and applying them whilst creating my short movie.

'Remembering Film' - Audience Interview Documentary

Here is my final edit for my 'Audience Interview' documentary which I have decided to title 'Remembering Film', this is as the content of the documentary involves talking about experience with film and also memories of film, so the title seemed appropriate.

Building my D.I.Y Steadicam

I decided to build my own steadicam to help achieve a professional smooth pedestal down shot, this was because I did not have access to a steadicam. After researching, how a steadicam works, I had an idea of how I could make my own, with a functional design. I began to collect together materials I could use such as, string, shoe boxes, weights, blue tac, cello tape and even CD cases.

Here are the instructions I created and used for my home built steadicam.

1. Put holes in the side of the shoebox then thread string through either side.
2. Tie string together to create the holding point of the steadicam.
3. Measure distance to the middle and place another piece of string at this point (sitting above and hanging below the box)
4. thread the string that you just placed on the box through a 2.5kg weight and tie.
5. Cellotape the string in place.
6. Use CD cases and bluetac them down to raise the camera above the string on the box, to prevent a slanted angle and also to add extra weight to the steadicam.
7. Place Camera on top of both CD cases.
8. You now have a functional home-built steadicam!

Notes: Use a ruler throughout to measure accurately; this is important to make the steadicam balanced.

                                                           My steadicam progress picture

Measuring with a ruler to ensure effective balance on my steadicam

After building my steadicam, I used a spirit level app on my Iphone that measures the angle at which the iphone is positioned. This would show me how steady my D.I.Y project really was if the degree of angle didn't change drastically as I moved the steadicam up and down (pedestal down shot). I found that my Steadicam only had a degree change of 1°; flicking between 2° and 3°. I was rather suprised at how accurate my home built steadicam actually was, considering it was made out of materials found around the house. It would have been more appropriate to have a professional steadicam, however that was not possible; building one was a suitable alternative which I believe was fairly effective and beneficial. Below is a video, of the spirit level app in use, measuring how steady my steadicam was.

                                         

The finished design, along side the SLR camera I used to film my documentary 'Remembering Film'

Steadicam Research

After several attempts at shooting a pedestal down shot unsuccessfully, I began to research how professionals acquire a motion shot without the shake of an amateur, in the media industry. After searching online and hearing the term through peers, I discovered the steadicam. 

Steadicam Definition:
a stabilization system for motion picture or video cameras that allows a single operator to easily make smooth shots while moving.
(source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Steadicam)

Here is an example of a steadicam in use...

Steadicam shot example

Attempting The Pedestal Down Shot... and Failing

To help achieve a successful pedestal down shot, I realised that by utilising a steadicam I could produce a more professional camera shot. However, I had one problem... I didn't have access to a steadicam. I began to experiment with different techniques to try establish a smooth shot, this took a lot of experimentation with a range of ideas. I used a camera to record each attempt at creating a smooth pedestal down shot.
Here are the results:

                                                                   Handheld Attempt

As seen in the video above, the hand held attempt at the pedestal down shot was very unsuccessful. This was as the camera was extremely shaky and moved out of line due to the hand held nature of the shot. To progress from this failed technique, I then tried to use a wood board to steady the camera, to make a smoother shot.

                                                          Wood Board Support Attempt

After being unsuccessful in my handheld attempt, I then tried another technique to acquire the shot I required. This technique involved positioning a long piece of straight wood, vertical, next to the subject I wanted to capture. I then held the camera against the wood to support it to try to prevent the shaking of the camera. 

This technique was slightly more professional as it reduced the shake in the camera shot, however I was still not satisfied with the shot.

Audience Interview Storyboard/Shot Plan

These are the different kind of camera shot and angles I will use in my 'Audience Interview' documentary. I used a range of shots to showcase my skill and knowledge and also experimented with shots I have never attempted before, for example, shot four - pedestal down shot, which I had to build a D.I.Y steadicam to achieve the intended result. I will make a blog post regarding the reasoning behind the steadicam, steadicam research, building the steadicam and the experimentation and success of my home-built steadicam.

Shot one - Medium shot

Shot two - Extreme Close up 

Shot 3 - Medium shot

                                                               Shot 4 - Pedestal down shot

                                                             Shot 5 - Side view Close up

                                                                  Shot 6 - Medium shot

                                                          Shot 7 - Over the Shoulder shot

                                                                      Shot 8 - close up

                                                           Shot 9 - Side View Close Up

                                                          Shot 10 (final shot) - Close up

Audience Interview Brief

I have decided to document an interview I will conduct with my elder brother, Christopher Wilson who is a post-graduate illustration student with an interest in contemporary media. Christopher is a suitable candidate for my interview as he likes to investigate conceptual meanings  and hopes for a deeper story line in a film. This is suited, as my intention is to create a film with theoretic conceptions that the audience can gain something from and I hope for this to appeal to people with a similar view of film as Christopher. Another factor, that is fitting, is that Christopher is 23 years old,  which is appropriate for my target audience of 16-30 year olds.

I will ask several questions regarding memory, understanding, experience and expectations of film to gain an insight into the subject's mind.
Here are the questions I will ask (in no particular order).

• What's your earliest or most significant memory of film?
• Do you believe films are simply for entertainment or can they challenge political and social issues?
• What do you believe that film contributes to society today?
• What's your favourite film and why?

I hope to gain understanding of my audience by conducting this interview and use the knowledge and experience gathered from this interview to benefit my finished product.

Researching Narrative (Plot)

I decided to research into narrative theory for fictional stories to benefit my knowledge, hoping to help construct my short film more successfully. I found general guidelines regarding the structure and content of fictional stories whilst researching, one of the most popular and accepted guidelines were established by Arthur Quiller-Couch, known as the seven basic plots, however were further developed by Christopher Booker in his book 'The Seven Basic Plots; Why We Tell Stories'.These theorists and authors suggested that nearly all fictional stories can fit in to these seven basic plots:

• Overcoming the Monster
• Rags to Riches
• The Quest
• Voyage and Return
• Comedy
• Tragedy
• Rebirth

For the reason that my short film is a documentation of a character, I decided not to base my storyline on a particular one of the seven basic plots, instead my plot would simply hint at two of the seven, comedy and tragedy. These two basic plots would be suitable for my short film as the meaning and experience I want to convey in my short film would fit in to both comedy and tragedy.

Investigating structure
Gustav Freytag considered that narrative could be divided a story into five part chronological structure. These different segments where the following:

• Exposition
• Rising Action
• Climax
• Falling Action
• Denouement

Having researched,  I decided to deliberately not follow Freytag's suggested narrative plot structure. Instead I would simply display the exposition of my character and some minor rising action. I decided to do this as it would help me achieve the dull and mundane exposure I am trying to display. By not having a climax, it could reflect the lack of ambition and how unexciting this kind of existence is, which is one of my main targets I am hoping to achieve in the end product.

Climax

"The point of climax is the turning point of the story, where the main character makes the single big decision that defines the outcome of the story and who he is as a person. The dramatic phase that Freytag called the "climax" is the third of the five phases and occupies the middle of the story. Thus "the climax" may refer to the point of climax or to the third phase of the drama."

Extract taken from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_(narrative)

The Story Line

My short film is the documentation of a fictional character's birthday, showcasing his lonely life style in a comedic way and the effects of living life this way. Majority of the scenes will be shot in my character's bedroom,  where he spends most of his time alone and doesn't often leave. By shooting most of the scenes in the bedroom it will reflect the character's lifestyle and emphasise the lonely life he chooses. He will also be the only character shown in the short film to add to this effect.

Here is the plot to my short film and what will happen:

The opening scene will show the main character waking up on his birthday. He stands up and takes his vitamins which are placed neatly on a cabinet beside his bed (The use of vitamins and supplements reflects his deteriorating health and growing anxiety issues). For both, comedy value and to insinuate realism the character will then use the toilet as any other human would, once they have woken. Simple quirks like this will portray the characters routine in a dull and unexciting way, however, also humour the audience, which is what I am aiming to do. The character then walks downstairs to check for post and there finds an envelope with his own name on it and then returns upstairs to his room to open the envelope. The envelope contains a birthday card from his mother. The character then proceeds to play his favourite vinyl record and his record player... as he does every day; I have not yet decided what music will be playing, however I know it will be something that could be considered to have negative or emotional connotations to fit with the style of the film and particularly the character. The character then sits on his bed just listening to music. I will have to find a way to portray the passing of time through camera shots, cutting and editing to do this, it will hopefully be achieved after experimentation with different techniques. After a small passing of time, the character then begins to draw/sketch an image of himself. I decided to show him drawing as it is often stereotyped that introverted individuals are often creative minded people. However, to further portray the life of the character, the drawing will be a portrait of himself with exaggerated and unflattering features, to show the anxieties and the little to non self confidence he has. As the character draws, his pencil snaps and he let's out a sigh to show disappointment. he then sharpens the pencil, but once again the pencil breaks and his time the character give out a groan of anger, showing how something so little can effect upon him and his mood heavily due to his overall misery. The camera will then show the man sat on his bed looking agitated.
The camera will then cut to later on in the day, showing the man in low light with only a candle placed upon his birthday cake lighting the room. The character then sings 'Happy Birthday' to himself in celebration of his birthday, This is the climax of the short film where it's truly shown how lonely and depressing the character's life is, as he blows out the candle leaving him in complete darkness.

Identifying Aims and Audiences

I am aiming to create a comedy/drama short film documenting the birthday of a lonely introverted man, named Tim. The inspiration was drawn from witnessing a friend live in an isolated and distant manner, believing this was the way in which an independent individual would live. However, after time, my friend did not find independence but rather loneliness and depression, spending most of his time alone in his room with minimum human contact. Despite my character being inspired by an actual person, the short film will be a sometimes fictional, light hearted take on the life of an introvert, with dry humorous dramatisations.

My target audience will be 16-30 year olds, as this is a common age in which dry humour is popular. Also, the deeper conceptual meaning requires a degree of life experience and knowledge to fully appreciate and understand the concept behind the film. Also the fact my character is going to be in his early 20's he might be more relatable to the target audience of 16-30 year olds, as he is within that age range. By creating a relatable character a good rapport can be developed between the audience and the character, which could lead to a more enjoyable short film and maybe a strengthened, more successful  effect.
Particular Socio economic groups can sometimes be the main target to appeal to for many short films and producers, However I believe Socio economics groups will have minimal relevance to the enjoyment of the short film, however due to the concept of the movie, the film may appeal more to audiences from C1 - A. This is due to the previously mentioned factor of knowledge, that could make the short film more understandable due to the underlying concept and meaning. The lower socio economic groups may not grasp or understand the concept properly or efficiently.

Here is a list of the socio economic groups for reference.

A- Higher managerial, administrative, professional e.g. Chief executive, senior civil servant, surgeon
B - Intermediate managerial, administrative, professional e.g. bank manager, teacher
C1- Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial e.g. shop floor supervisor, bank clerk, sales person
C2 - Skilled manual workers e.g. electrician, carpenter
D- Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers e.g. assembly line worker, refuse collector, messenger
E - Casual labourers, pensioners, unemployed e.g. pensoiners without private pensions and anyone living on basic benefits


A possible secondary target audience could be people who are involved or interested in social/cultural and also psychological aspects of life. My short film may appeal to this audience as it is the documentation of an individuals existence and how they live there life and their also position in society which could be of interest to this audience.

Influential imagery

Below are some images that I believe are both aesthetically pleasing and conceptually intriguing. These images consist of screenshots from movie scene and music video's and photographs taken by street photographers, documenting every day life. Screen shots of Wes Anderson's 'The Royal Tenenbaums', Battles 'ice cream' and Keaton Henson 'Lying to You' music video and photographs by Matt Stuart are seen below.

Inspirations Behind My Short Film

Wes Anderson
One major inspiration to me is the work of Wes Anderson, an American film director, screen writer and producer. Anderson has gathered a cult following among the underground with classics like 'Bottle Rocket', whilst also cracking into the mainstream with his more popular works which includes Roald Dahl's 'Fantastic Mr.Fox'. Creating a unique style, Anderson often only uses still shots when shooting his films, however he also utilises steady cams to pan and zoom in certain scenes, this limited range of camera shots helped establish and distinguish Anderson's style. I would like to experiment with this minimal camera shot technique as it could be used to help present the dull life I'm trying to portray in my short film and will contrast with all the action and unrealistic notion of popular movies, which will also give my short film a sense of social realism. If this technique is successful it will heighten the underlying concept of my short film, making it perhaps stronger and more effective overall.

Another aesthetic style which is noticeable in certain Anderson Films is the potent theme and focus on colour. For example, in 'Moonrise Kingdom', a film directed by Wes Anderson, the colour 'yellow' is seen in almost every shot throughout the film. This style can also be noted in 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' this time with a different colour to suit the mood of the movie. This leads me to believe that Anderson uses a small colour palette for each of his works to help develop both the characters and the setting. I will also create my own minimal colour palette and theme for my short film to enhance the mood of my film.

Here is a scene from Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, in which both the above techniques can be seen:

9 Shots
Another inspiration for me is the work of street photographer '9 shots'. Street photography has always been of interest to me as it shows humans in natural poses and common situations. This reflects the true characteristics and probably mundane scenario which life is, for many people, which is something I want to inherit into my short film... Reality, showing emotion, exhaustion and isolation rather than the false poses and acting seen in both popular photography and films. Another thing I like about 9 shots street photography is that the character in his shots is usually smaller in scale compared to the scale of the setting/scenario. This could make the person less noticeable or less important which signifies the isolation of the character and their lack of effect within society. This is a technique I could deploy in my short film to achieve the desired effect of showing the mundane and lonely life of my character.

Here, below, is an example of 9 shots work, which encaptures the dull reality of every day life.

The Brief

Before I was even told about the briefs, I already had in mind that I wanted to involve video and filming in my coursework, however this was not specific enough to know what I wanted to do. As the different briefs were explained to me, there were several briefs that interested me due to the nature of working with video in these particular briefs. These briefs included:

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• A website homepage for the band;
• a digipak for the album's release;
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak.

2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the film;
• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
• a poster for the film.

10. A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:

• a poster for the film;
• a radio trailer for the film;
• a film magazine review page featuring the film.

I have decided to base my coursework on brief number 10.

This was as previously mentioned due to the nature of the media I could work with. However, this particular brief intrigued me due to the potential I personally believed was there and also as a serious fan of the film industry it seemed appropriate for me to choose. Also, in a short film I could merge more of my personal interests into the project including literature, fine art and music. This factor will keep me motivated and help develop a more effective and successful piece of coursework.

Reflecting on my AS Year

Upon reflection of my first year studying Media Studies, I don't believe my AS coursework was up to the standard my tutors and even I expected. This was due to several personal issues throughout the year which caused inconveniences within my college life. Despite this, I believe I have learnt new skills and abilities in my first year. These skills include developing my photoshop skills, using new online software like 'Prezi' (www.prezi.com) and even learning the basics of blogging. Many of these skills I had never delved into before until I started my AS year and I believe this was clear throughout my coursework, in particular my blog and the amount of content I had uploaded to it was rather poor. However, I think my strong point and probably the most predominate aspect of my coursework was my final designs for my magazine, which showcased my photoshop skills which I had developed further during this year.

With my inconveniences no longer, I feel as though I am able to progress greatly this year and both learn new skills and apply old skills to this project with effect. I am particularly looking forward to working and experimenting with video, as it is a media that has always intrigued me yet I have not explored the potential of this new media in depth.