2000 word review

The Drama... 

The  concept of our work was to take our character, Flynn on a journey of himself and change how he views life going from bad to positive. We had to take him on a journey and decided to take him on more of a self reflective journey. As this was the theme we thought this was the easiest way to get it into 5 minutes. You can see throughout his transition and he becomes more positive. 

 The influences came from films such as 500 days of summer, submarine and Amelie. The intended audience would be 15+, mainly females with the target channel being film 4 as they show more independent films. 

 As an audience watching the piece, I realised that some parts worked better than others. I think that the dialogue was a bit off and you could clearly tell it was dubbed over in parts. Whilst this worked for the narration it didn't have the same feel with the conversing parts. I also feel that the music could have been improved by being used more at key parts. I originally felt negitavely about the music but feel it really adds a nice touch. However, the syncing of the sound and how we'll you can hear the sound is successful and a real pro point. Overall, the edit is smooth and clear and straight away grabs your attention with the first shot. I do think here we could have tightened it up a little more especially in the montage scenes. These are the main things I would change if I could go back to the edit. I personally think that the footage shot looks clear and bright but can sometimes just be a bit out of focus especially on the close up shots. In terms of the story I still think it's lacking development and you sometimes can't see how I intended a gap in time to show the journey. This could have been improved by more variety of shots and costume changes as it didn't seem as important until the viewing. 

Overall, despite the various problems we encountered, the process was successful and organised and got finished in plenty of time which really motivated us to complete the piece in the best way we could. The reason we encountered problems was due to our small team and changing the group idea later on in the process. We know as a team that this could have been handled better via communication and explanation.

 I think to improve we could have had better communication and expressed our concerns in a more professional manner. This really slowed down the process especially changing the idea.  I think that as a producer/director I was prepared and organised as I knew to expect problems from knowing what happened with the first idea. I feel that I was more ready for issues and communicated more efficiently with my team. I do still think that the Communication wasn't perfect but still achieved what it needed to.

I feel that overall, our project ended up being really successful. We were well organised and well prepared for all areas of filming. For example, we filmed during the Easter holidays as that was what worked best for the actors. We knew that we couldn't book out equipment from the university for these days so luckily we had our own equipment. We also decided that due to no sound equipment it would be easier to just re-record all the sound separately as we had already planned to do Flynns narration this way. I think we were all prepared for a change of idea and I think that making sure you have a contingency in place was crucial for us and made sure we had something to fall back on.


We did end up having a few small issues throughout our process but were quickly able to turn these around and create our film efficiently.
Firstly, we had been put in a small group with 4 members so we decided it would only be fair to share out the 6 roles between us. Me and Myles both took on 2 roles - Me as director and producer and Myles as cinematographer and editor. This worked well as me and Myles both worked on developing the idea throughout. Chris and Nyle both shared out the sound roles as this is where they felt they would excel. This made the process easier even though we all had a very large amount of work to do. By helping each other with ideas and communication it made it an easier process. We also picked roles we all knew we could get done quickly and really well.

Our teamwork was an evolving process. We all know that as a team in the beginning we should have expressed our concerns in a better way as we were all unsure how to discuss the problems of the first idea without upsetting anyone. We definitely learnt from this and communicated any concerns or ideas in a positive way and worked better in our individual roles. I think that I did work well in a team and learnt a lot from working with different people. I do think I could have communicated better and not let my own opinion hinder anyone's work which sometimes I feel it did. I often come across as opinionated and this was something I had to work on.As the director/ producer I feel that my own contribution was strong. I was well organised and prepared through the process but I do think that there was room for improvement. I worked through the entire process and definitely contributed a lot but I do think that this lost its way a bit when working in a team. I can improve by being calm and thinking more about how to word my concerns to the team. In the process I learnt a lot both technically and creatively. As it was a role I had never done before I felt it was important to research into the role and make sure I was capable of doing all the work. I have learnt the importance of communication and teamwork and how to direct a team in a motivational way without being harsh. I learnt a lot about bringing a script to life and how to visualise it in shots and developing it from direction to production. This was a steep learning curve for me and I do think although here was room for improvement, I did do enough to make a successful piece of work.

The Documentary... 

The concept of the work was to raise awareness of rare cancers and how they don't just affect the child, they affect the entire family around them. We filmed Eleanor from Liverpool on a journey and interviews with herself and her daughter to raise the awareness. We wanted to show the family together in a comfortable environment to make it seem natural and put the family at ease as obviously it was invasive. The inspirations came from local Liverpool news articles. We went on the Liverpool echo website and came across the particular story and felt inclined to help. I think this piece has no set audience as it's about all ages. I would say, this is more focused on parents though.

 The finished piece of work was a success overall. Watching it back, we did see a lot of room for improvement. However, what I do think was the main success point was how we dealt with the sensitivity of the project with it being about cancer. What I noticed when watching it back was how well the story itself flowed. However, I did notice several parts that could have been improved. Firstly I think that the sound could have been improved. I was the sound recordist and encountered many issues with the sound especially as we suddenly lost it all off the equipment. This meant we could only use in camera sound that was muffled and poor quality. This affected the film. We also had similar issues with the camera work which looked totally different when watching it back. The room we were filming in was dark and we had limited lighting options. If I were to make this piece again I think that I would improve by changing those 2 errors and also including more detail about the cancer itself as this was sometimes overlooked and didn't feel as important especially as the focus was to raise awareness. The way we presented key facts also didn't work as we'll and was hard to digest against all the other information. The on screen text felt distracting to me and isn't something the audience noticed enough as hey were more focused on the documentary itself. I feel that to improve the piece could have been more structured and told more of a journey as at times it feels a little rushed. Perhaps the nature of this story meant that we needed longer than 5 minutes to really get to the emotional core of the story.

The process of making the film in my role of sound took the 3 days we were in Liverpool. I feel I had a small contribution to the film in this role and felt I didn't really do well. I would have proffered to be more involved in the production process. I think that I was well organised and prepared for my role and knew to prepare for losing sound by setting up more equipment and checking the in camera sound. This obviously suggests that I had envisioned things differently at the planning stage. I think that I did my work well and tried hard in a role I was struggling to understand as I don't find sound particularly easy. 

My contribution was there especially in the production and planning stages but not as much in my role. I was eager to plan and develop the idea and figure out how to tell the story. I thought it was important to contribute here as the story was really sensitive and difficult. I have learnt a lot in this process and project especially in my role of sound. Encountering the problems I did definitely helped me to learn more about recording sound making it a bittersweet process. I didn't know much about sound so recording it was difficult, mainly in the set up phase. I learnt quickly how to set the equipment up for clear sound and on play back it was clear and crisp. Losing the sounds really hindered my confidence and I think affected the rest of the process for my team. However, making sure I had other options was essential and really helped. Learning about the equipment was a steep learning curve for me and I do feel that I succeeded but I am disappointed that I wasn't able to show this due to the equipment breaking. I feel I wasn't able to show how I developed and learnt how to record sound in an effective way. However, I know that I did my role successfully and know it wasn't my fault we lost the sound. I constantly checked the sound was there and played it back several times and I am still unsure how the sound was lost. I have also improved my student ship and how I view teamwork by working in a well organised group. All members of the team contributed and worked together really well and we're well organised. This was really successful and made us all motivated and get along well. To improve though, I think a different method of communication was needed as sometimes some members struggled to keep informed without the use of Facebook. When it comes to teamwork I think I do well at communicating ideas and opinions but struggle to keep totally informed with the progress. I think taking all his into consideration will help me improve in the future and be a learning curve for me to think about.

Shot lists/storyboarding

These are the shot lists and storyboards created by Myles as he was the cinematographer and me as director. We met up together to discuss each scene of the script and then develop firstly, what type of shot it would be and secondly how it should look. You can see with our storyboards we wrote some details. This was to make sure we could refer back to this and see what shot it was. For example, we wrote if the shot was wide, mid or close and if it had any movement such as a pan. It really helped me as director to guide my actors and put them in the right place in the shot. The shot lists also helped us know every single shot we needed and worked hand in hand with our storyboards as they had a little more detail.

Final idea

The reason we changed idea was due to some creative differences between the team and the logistics of that particular idea. It wasn't handled in the most efficient way but when we did change the idea over the teamwork definitely improved and we learnt how important it is to keep communication especially if you're worried about something.

My idea - the final idea: Whirlwind.

The theme:
Journey of self discovery.
Journey usually means to travel somewhere.
I thought about the theme in 2 ways.
The first was - my character(s) could go on a physical journey e.g. using transport and it could take them somewhere that puts their life in to perspective.
The second was - my character(s) could go on a journey of self discovery.
I decided that I wanted my character, Flynn to go on a journey of self discovery and learn about himself and why he is such a negative person. I wanted it to seem really positive and something we could learn from whilst also having a negative and selfish side as he focuses all of his attention on someone else, forgetting about the real world until his girlfriend suddenly leaves.

Genre:
Drama.
Drama means a piece of writing that is acted out or performed.
Dramas are typically serious fictional pieces of work that focus on a story. They use realistic situations and characters to develop the story and takes them on a journey. The character usually goes through a hard situation that they then go on to solve which can be a personal journey or hardship.Typically, they depend on in depth character developments and emotions shown throughout. Most Hollywood films use drama as a base for their film but often incorporate other genres such as: Horror and action. Dramas are simple for audiences, giving them a preferred reading of the story which they understand easily and takes them on a emotional journey with a happy and resolved ending with no questions left to be asked. With this in mind, I wanted to create a simple story that has no questions but you can still have your own interpretation so therefore, isn't completely conventional to the genre. I took my character on a journey of self discovery in a real life situation where he deals with conflict e.g. - his parents divorce and his girlfriend leaving suddenly after not enough time together. You can see this play out and solve itself as the characters develop.


Examples:

 Dramas, like all films include character development, an action or twist and then an equilibrium once solved.  So, my set up is Flynn telling us about his life and meeting Lily. The confrontation would be Lily leaving so soon after they've met as he's become dependent on her and the resolution is that she has changed his outlook on life and that he can be happy without her. This theory and method of filmmaking is called the 3 act theory. It's really simple to follow and is used in most films, typically Hollywood and big budget.

Moodboard:
These are pictures from films that inspired me. I thought mainly about how it would look as I wanted it to look really interesting with a set colour scheme and distinctive look. I looked at films such as Amelie that is very distinctive to look at and only has 3 main colours you see - yellow green and red. I think these colours help bring out emotion especially happy emotions.

Directing/Producing

Directing

Overall, the directing process was simple and easy. I guided the cast and team in a positive way and let everyone have their opinion. The directing part worked hand in hand with producing so I felt I lead the production.  Directors usually focus on guiding the more visual side of the project. I knew that this would mean guiding the whole team and cast and making sure they were doing the right thing. With the actors, I went through the script with them and told them how it should be read out e.g. with emotional emphasis. Doing this before we shot the film ensured that the actors knew what to expect and covey the right tone and emotion for the scene. During filming, I would watch closely and observe the action. If something was wrong I would cut the scene. One instance of this was someone walking past the camera in the street and looking directly/speaking to the camera. I had to be assertive to make sure each scene was done correctly and to save time. I also worked with the cinematographer to establish where the shots should be set up and what type of shot this would be. We worked on shot lists beforehand and did test shoots to help the cinematographer know how the camera needs to be set up for each scene. As the director, I had to bring the script to life and one way I did this was by printing off a copy of the script and then write notes on it to help me know what was needed for each scene visually. I wrote a list of props and design aspects on the script and sent this to everyone involved - the cast and team. 

Producing.

The producing part was something I was doing even when we were sticking with the original first idea. Being a producer means supervising all aspects of the production and having the final say over all parts from shots to sound. It also means being organised and getting a team and cast together. As the producer, the team came to me with ideas and questions which I would sort out asap. The main part of my role for this project was getting everything organised from locations to actors. I am a naturally organised person and had everything already in place for both ideas so I continued with the role. During post production, I supervised all decisions made in the edit.

Preparation

To prepare for each role I did some research into the roles and their responsibilities. I did this so I knew exactly what to expect and how to mange my responsibilities.

Here are 2 brief explanations of the roles I took on:

http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/film/job_roles/758_director

Film art: an Introduction: Page 5-10

BORDWELL,David and THOMPSON,Kristin (2013). Film art: An Introduction. 10th ed., McGraw Hill, New York

Producers are responsible in 4 main parts of the production process: 

Funding and finding the scriptwriter.

Preparation.

Shooting.

Assembly.

With this in mind I had to make sure that I was always easy to contact and available to solve problems as soon as possible. I had to ensure that I planned for everything and constantly make schedules and team meetings to discuss the progress. As a producer, these processes will overlap so you have to be prepared for if something happens in each process. Keeping in contact with the team and cast ensures that you don't miss any changes because as the process develops everything will change from the script to the shot list. Directors however, have to be visual and creative throughout the process and work mainly on the shoot itself. Directors have to be able to bring the script to life and guide everyone. The director usually has assistants to set up shots and get everything in place. The director needs to know and be ready for all the questions people will ask as the team sets up. The director is asked questions about everything. Both roles are very demanding and need crucial amounts of detail and planning. Taking this on board, I need to constantly be able to answer questions and make sure I cover everything when talking to everyone involved in the process. I need to plan for any issue that might come up and keep preparing myself and my team to keep them motivated. 

2 Existing short films.

Sign language - Oscar Sharp 2010. Even though this film had more of a documentary feel I think that it's a really strong short piece of work that has a clear message and sets this message out in a way that doesn't feel rushed. It keeps the viewer engaged with the variety of shots included and doesn't break away from the story for too long. I really liked how the camera felt hand held as it felt a little more personal to me and told more of a story. I think in my piece this can be important as it will seem more real and not so staged and rehearsed especially in the narration pieces with cutaways. I really liked how vivid the colours were and this seemed to be an important factor in the story as I felt it showed the contrast between a man who loves his job as a sign holder and he rest of the world being more negative about theirs. The bright colours certianly added a nice contrast as it was a really dull and rainy day. It all brings out personality and narrative in a really interesting way. This has inspired my piece as I would like colour to accentuate characters personalities as they're both contrasting people and with the story and dialogue limited, it'll really help he story.    

Le Miror - Ramon and Pedro 2010. This piece felt totally different to Sign Language and was more of a dramatic and stylised piece of work. What first stood out to me was how the point of view shots really grabbed your attention and instantly make you ask about the films themes. It was done in a way that felt natural and realistic. In my film I think this could bring the narrated scenes a bit of depth and variety especially in terms of shots. The piece is repetitive in a really clever way and doesn't bore you it just makes you more interested. I really liked how the colours set the tone here and worked well with the repetition throughout. It's similar to the repetition of the job in Sign Language but shown in a more emotive way through showing darker colours. I think the sound in this film also makes you think more about the themes and narrative as there's no real dialogue only the sounds you would typically hear in the bathroom. You really sympathise with the character and wonder what has triggered him and I think to do this in 5 minutes is difficult and this has inspired me to write strong stories for my characters. 

Character Bios

To help the actors get an idea for the character in terms of costume, personality and the more visual aesthetic I created small character bios for them both. It helped them to prepare for the role and know what kind of character I wanted. As you can see, I included details of their personality and  what they would act like. 

Pitch & Treatment

Idea development and process

As a group we came up with 2 ideas that we could work with. We had a team meeting to discuss the 2 ideas and found that my idea wasn't quite there yet and was lacking an ending to the piece. Due to the time limits we thought it was best to go with the first idea. Throughout the process however, I kept working on my script and getting an idea in place as a contingency.

The first idea:
This was our first idea that we started developing as a team. It was based on dream sequences and awkward relationships between a couple and an ex partner, set on a plane going to Kuala Lumpur. We had a lot of ideas that would have developed this idea further, however as a group we decided this story was lacking a strong narrative and was too difficult for a 5 minute short film. We also had an issue with locations as a plane was too difficult and some team members did disagree on the location. This could have been communicated better to save us time. We did do some research into other options such as tutorial videos and different locations such as trains or waiting rooms to give that inescapable feeling.
http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2012/03/new-tutorial-mid-air-emergency/

The second and final idea:

Whirlwind.

A story about infatuation and young love that's positive and changes the way we think about love. 

As the first idea fell through I made sure that as a team we worked together to help develop the idea I had created as a contingency. We were really lucky that we had a contingency with everything in place. After we changed our idea our communication and team work drastically improved as I made sure everyone contributed and no one was left panicking about the process. We changed idea mainly because mine was achievable and ready to film straight away as I had been working continuously on a script and story. Through email communication I got the help of my team to help me develop a visual idea for the piece. 

I also created short back stories for the characters by answering a series of questions. Even though I didn't answer them all it gave me an idea of who the characters were and what they would act like and wear.

We looked at existing short films on Vimeo that were similar to how we wanted to structure our piece. This helped us to think about how we'd tell quite a developed story into a simple short 5 minute drama. 

https://vimeo.com/63898509 - what I liked about this and took on board the most was how the music and sound stood out. It wasn't over the top so your attention was never diverted away from the story - which is based on real events. The sound and music was really crisp and clear and worked well with the theme of the piece which is why it was so subtle.

https://vimeo.com/60959747 - as a short film I felt that the story fitted in very well in 17 minutes and didn't feel rushed. The camera moves fluently and helps you glide through the story.

overall process

The overall process has been a mixture of learning and doing. We've all had to work really hard as a small team to get this project finished and I am really proud that we got it done despite all the changes we had to encounter. Even though there are parts of the film that still need a little improving, as a team we've done really well at learning new techniques and getting this project off the ground in the short time frame we had.

Things were extremely difficult in pre production as we never got chance to pitch our first idea and get feedback from it. I feel this hindered our work and we weren't prepared for reactions to the script/idea. I think changing to a simple idea really paid off and the idea was well organised and structured. Due to the filming times we had to use though, it didn't quite bring the script to life, especially in terms of location.

I think the shoot was the easiest part of the process despite there only being me and Myles available to shoot. Because of the strong and positive relationship we had with the actors however, I feel that this is why it was so easy. None of us felt pressured to get it filmed, we took our time and made sure everything was planned out perfectly so we didn't feel overwhelmed especially as it was 2 of us filming instead of 4-6 people like most other groups. I think that having a small group made us have more work but through communication managed a fine balance.

I feel that sometimes people in the team didn't communicate well and either never replied to messages or gave very late replies. I think that this made us have some differences when it came to what would be in the edit. I think the teamwork was good but often felt a little awkward when people didn't reply when we all needed help and opinions. I think after having tutorials we realised that we all needed to meet up and discuss what had been done so far and move on. I think our teamwork overall has maybe given off a bad impression but it was actually really good and I think the small problems we did have we came to terms with and learnt from. Overall, it didn't affect our edit, or anything in Post production. The edit was difficult as we had to learn new techniques such as syncing sound and mixing the levels. This still isn't perfect but as a learning curve is definitely something to reflect on and keep working on.

Producing

The producing process.

As we had less time due to changing ideas later on in the process, I became the producer as well as director so I could quickly organise the shoot and have everything I wanted and needed for it in place. I thought this was best as I knew exactly what was needed for the project and had everything I needed ready to go. To make sure everyone was on board and knew what was happening I organised schedules so the actors and team could prepare themselves and nothing was last minute. Below, are the schedules I sent out.  As the producer I organised the entire production including actors, locations, schedules etc... so it was important for me to be on time and prepared for anything.  As a producer, I emailed my actors and crew every day to keep them informed especially if anyone had ideas or something changed.

Equipment Lists

Locations

Getting the location was also crucial as I didn't know anywhere in Sheffield well enough. Myles went and scouted locations with me and we found 3 locations that were very easy to get to and very convenient for filming. I wanted a bus stop on a busy city centre road, a park and a quiet street. The first location actually had a park attached to it so we decided to use this and make the shots appear as if they were 2 completely separate places e.g. you couldn't see the park from the street. We also filmed various cut a ways in the city and park but these were all done in the same place.

Location 1/2 - street and park - Gell Street

We chose this location as it was out of the way and had a more rural feel to it as opposed to the city centre scene which has traffic and large buildings. It was also really local so the actors and crew had no problem getting there, especially with the equipment. This street was really quiet and peaceful surrounded by trees so gave us a really good visual look. As for the park, we asked for permission to film first and that was fine. The park itself was small and had lovely serene surroundings and was always empty. 

Location 3 - City centre bus stop.

This was the 2nd location and we used the entire street and an out of service bus stop outside of the adsetts centre. This location was perfect to use as we had access to an empty bus stop where you could see all the traffic going by and buildings all the way up the road.

Getting the actors.

As soon as the idea changed over I instantly emailed actors I knew from University and asked them if they'd be interested. I sent over all the details including - script, potential schedule, treatment and character bios so they could really get the idea and understand what I am trying to achieve before agreeing to film and act for us. Overall I emailed 4 actors - 2 boys and 2 girls just in case any were to say no or were not available on the dates. Luckily, I got fast responses and met up with my actors a few days later for a script read through and to discuss any issues or ideas they had for me. 

Communication

As we changed ideas I also decided that I needed to find a simple way to communicate with my team. I didn't think social media was a good way to do this especially as some team members had no social media.  I wanted it to be professional and equal so everyone could get involved whenever they had something to share. I thought the best way was to set up a group email where we could attach documents, links and share ideas whenever we wanted. As well as this I also got the contact numbers of my team to inform them if I had anything that required a response asap. This proved to be really effective for us and everyone in the team communicated much better like this and it was easier for when we were not at university.   I also arranged full team meetings twice a week to make sure everyone knew what was happening. If some one was able to attend I copied the information to them via email. I do think that some members could have contributed more and this might have affected our student ship but overall we communicated and got along well.

Directing and Director notes

I wrote up these notes for each team member based on their role. I did it to help them know exactly what they needed and what they had to do. It made sure that as a team we were all organised and prepared for the production both pre and post. It tells them what equipment they need for each role and what exactly they need to do. Hopefully it will ensure that we don't run out of time to fix problems such as sound levels or camera mishaps. 

Establishing Roles

As a team we sat down and discussed our strengths and weaknesses and then worked in the role we thought would be best for us. This made it fair for everyone in the team and no one was left feeling uncomfortable and worried about the work they had to do. As we changed to my idea, I thought it was best to be the director too as I had already organised everything and knew exactly what was needed throughout the process from the vision to what days we would be filming. I thought that this was best for me as I am very organised and got the team to do the work in plenty of time.


Carrie Marples - Director/Producer
Myles Chimutanda - Cinematographer/Editor - We both worked on 2 roles each as they kind of work hand in hand as it is and as a team of 4, made it easier for us.
Chris Kelly - Sound Design/ Recordist
Nyle Roberts - Sound Recordist/ Design   - These roles were both shared out as the sound was a large part of the film due to the narration and this eased the workload, giving the team more time to focus on getting it right.

Script

Idea Research

"Whirlwind" Research and inspiration.

I looked into existing pieces of work and techniques I can use to help me create this story in 5 minutes. I basically watched a lot of similar films and found that the stories were all similar and kind of dragged out. I wanted to take this and put it into a short film by using techniques such as montages to show different time periods in the story so it doesn't seem like it's all done in one day. I also researched some techniques I was looking to use and how they work to tell a story.

Films:

Submarine by Richard Ayoade.
This film really inspired my piece both visually and how the story is told.

What inspired me about Submarine was how it looked. The whole piece looked like it was a dream, especially as the relationship between the characters evolved. For example, I liked the lens flares in the scene where the characters are kissing as it seems almost surreal and suddenly these characters feel brighter and it almost looks like the love is an object (the light) and it's magical. I think it makes the relationship between the characters seem more real especially as the dialogue is quite mundane throughout. I also really liked how they used the colour red as a symbol throughout on Jordanna, the female character. It makes her stand out as all the other characters are dull and copies of each other. It makes you realise why he's so attracted to her because she really is different. I think overall the story develops quickly but is told with underlying stories to make it a full length film. My story is just one main story and theme and focuses entirely on that even though the characters both have problems outside their relationship. I think it shows that they're both so infatuated with each other they've forgotten about what's happening elsewhere.

500 Days of Summer - Marc Webb

This film definitely inspired me to tell a story that's real and has an underlying message that even when you're infatuated you shouldn't let it control your life because an event might change all of that. I like that this film is described as: "This is not a love story, this is a story about love" because when watching it, it's not what you think. It's only until you read into the film more that you realise. I like that you have to notice how selfish these characters are as they stop caring about anything else. This inspired me to tell my story like this. I also like the change of tone in the film which is subtle and very effective. When the characters are happy, we see them in brighter colours and the film has a more yellow tint to it to show the love. When they go through down periods we see dull colours and it feels more grey and unhappy. This really sets the tone.





Techniques:
BORDWELL,David and THOMPSON,Kristin (2013). Film art: An Introduction. 10th ed., McGraw Hill, New York


Editing:
To tell a story in 5 minutes is going to be quite difficult. I looked into several editing techniques to help condense all the information in to 5 minutes without skipping key information.
Montage is an editing technique. It's a series of short clips edited into a sequence to condense the information in a film. I think that this is important in my film as it will only be 5 minutes long and I want to see the characters develop. Montage is more about the passage of time rather than being symbolic. It will help my story establish different time periods.
Montage has inspired me in the idea process. I think using montage will help make the story seem less rushed and show that these characters have been together for what seems like a few weeks. There will be 2 montages in the film. One in the middle showing the times the characters have shared in between meeting and falling in love and one at the end of just Lily on her own to show how in love Flynn is.
Editing can shape chronology. By showing flashbacks or montages I can show recollections from the characters point of view and express information that's important to the story in a more condensed way. I can also use elliptical editing to cut long scenes of action that don't need to be long. I can cut to a fade to show that time has passed. It cuts less important shots down which will make more room for key scenes.


Narration:
Narration is a creative decision I have decided to use in my film.
I will use narration in my film to tell the story from Flynns point of view as he's an awkward character who eventually opens up whereas, Lily is already an open book and is really confident. Narration builds up the story and can provide us with more information and a grasp on the story. As my piece doesn't have much dialogue I think it's important to tell the audience what's happening and how the characters are feeling. Typically, the narrator is a character in the story who tells the story. Non character narrators however, are more prominent in documentaries. Narration from the character gives us a subjective view of the story which for my film is important as we want Flynn to tell us how this journey has changed him. Overall, narration gives the audience a unified experience as the audience all gets the same information and story due to the narration.