Project Proposal- FMP Year 2

2/4/17

Draft 1

Rationale

During my time on the course I’ve had the chance to work with a diverse range of film techniques and produced a number of projects including still image, film poem, multicam and fiction films. This has helped to give me a very broad understanding of film as well as skills in a variety of areas such as camera work, editing, writing and cinematography.

Before I started this course I hadn’t done any kind of filmmaking and have found film a fantastic medium to be creative in. I have found that my strongest areas of film have been within editing and imagery, which has influenced my final project as this will be a major aspect to my film. I also feel that editing may be an area of film I wish to pursue as a career possibly in the music video sector.

Concept

My idea comes from the brief horizon and how Stories can be the bridge between imagination and reality. I will be exploring the way in which people can empathise with characters, using traditional fairy tales as a focus point and present this as a film between 2-4 minutes.

I plan to follow the imagination of a young woman as she envisions herself as various fairy tale characters until she is brought abruptly back to reality, reading a book and making tea.

I aim to use three fairy tales in my film and so a main area of my research will be the connections they share and how I can use them to interlink and transition between each scene. I will also be looking at how I can use visuals as a way to develop character and establish a story.

In order to make this a successful project I will need access to various equipment and research sources. I will be conducting secondary research primarily through the use of the internet to source videos, articles, artwork etc and primary research through test shots, storyboards and rough cuts.

Feedback will be helpful in guiding the development of my project that I will collect from friends, family, tutors as well as a Professional film maker who is coming to college to hear our pitches.

Evaluation  

Throughout the project I will be evaluating various aspects and progressions in my work such as ideas, shoots and edits including a final overall evaluation where I will look at the success and failures of my project as a whole as well as how it compares to the initial brief. At each stage I will assess the strengths and weaknesses of my ideas, how I can develop them and how effective they are.

I will document my progression in the form of an online blog where I will be able to use a variety of media to show my development and process. This will be categorized into a selection of blog posts that I can update and add to as I progress. These will include Idea generation, development, research and feedback etc.

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Draft 2 ( Final)

Rationale

During my time on the course I’ve had the chance to work with a diverse range of film techniques and completed a number of projects including still image, film poem, multi-cam and fiction films. This has given me an insight into film as a whole including skills in a variety of areas such as camera operation, editing techniques, writing and cinematography.

This course has allowed me to explore film as a medium and how I can use it to portray and develop ideas in the form of stories. I have found that my strongest area of film has been editing, particularly for visual films such as music videos or film poems. This has influenced my final project as I will be focusing on how I can use editing and visuals to develop characters and story.

As a career prospect I think that becoming an editor would be a possibility but I also want to have a chance to explore a much wider understanding of film.

Concept

My film is based on the chosen brief, horizon. I interpreted the word horizon as being a boundary between two contrasting elements and have decided to represent this as imagination and reality. I will be using classic fairy tales to explore the way in which people empathise with characters and how stories can be used to bridge the gap between imagination and reality, presented as a short film between 2-4 minutes.

The basic outline of my film follows a young woman seen in the role of three classic fairy tale characters before it is revealed that she is reading a book. The film follows her imagination as she envisions herself in these roles until she is brought back to reality.

The main areas of my research will be the common themes these fairy tales share and how I can link them together as well as transition between each one. Also how I can visually establish each fairy tale and show the contrast between them and reality.

For my primary research I will be exploring my idea through a variety of means including, Test-shots, storyboards, rough cuts and mood boards. I will also be conducting secondary research in the form of instructional videos and articles. I will be paying attention to how I can create different visual styles to represent the fairy tales and themes of my film.

Feedback will be valuable in guiding the development of my project and idea. I will be collecting feedback from friends, family, tutors  at different stages throughout the project. I will also be doing a mock pitch in front of an industry professional in order to generate further feedback. This will all allow me to reflect on how my film is being perceived and whether it is effective in representing its themes.

Evaluation  

Throughout the project I will be evaluating various aspects and progressions in my work such as ideas, shoots and edits including a final overall evaluation where I will look at the success and failures of my project as a whole as well as how it compares to the initial brief. At each stage I will assess the strengths and weaknesses of my ideas, how I can develop them and how effective they are.

I will document my progression in the form of an online blog where I will be able to use a variety of media to show my development and process. This will be categorized into a selection of blog posts that I can update and add to as I progress.

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FMP Week to week plan

Wk 23	March 13th – 17th	Idea generation and brief analysis (Horizon) (mind maps, mood boards)
Wk 24	March 20th – 24th	Evaluate ideas, idea development, elevator pitch
Wk 25	March 27th – 31st	Research (fairy tales, forced perspective, visual styles, cuts/transitions) First story structure draft
Wk 26	April 3rd – 7th	First draft project proposal
Easter		Final story structure (content and structure of film decided)
Easter		Source props & costumes (Red cloak, Pumpkin, Basket, ribbons) Casting (drama students)
Wk 27	April 24th – 28th	Location scout (woodlands and old houses) Film Pitch (Rebecca day)
Wk 28	May 1st – 5th	Test shots (Forced perspective) (Rope tracking shot) Final Project Proposal
Wk 29	May 8th – 12th	Final shot lists & story boards Book equipment out (C100, tripod, slider, steady cam, bounce board)
Wk 30	May 15th – 19th	Filming (All scenes, Monday Tuesday Wednesday)
Wk 31	May 22nd – 26th	Logging rushes, Shoot evaluation,
HT		First rough cut, Pickups (if needed)
Wk 32	June 5th – 9th	Rough cut deadline, Rough cut evaluation
Wk 33	June 12th – 16th	Finish final cut of film, Prep for screening
Wk 34	June 19th – 23rd	Film Screening (20th), Final evaluation

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Bibliography –

Primary sources:

• Peer and Tutor Feedback
• Test shots
• Mood boards
• Shot lists
• Personal reflection
• http://freemusicarchive.org/
• Matt Tucker – Previous Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYFPMoK-rVE

Secondary sources:

• ActionLeo – YouTube: https://youtu.be/umQqeKN3O68
• Adorama – Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJlWVCfotSM
• Angie Piccirillo – YouTube: https://youtu.be/eT_wXhkqMLc
• Ben Shirinian – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxl3AuL3_Qs
• Celia Gómez – Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/188527960
• D.L.Ashliman – Article: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html
• Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – Article: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm053.html
• Kamel Films – Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/58150375
• Rocket Jump film School – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH0MoAv2CI
• Warner Brothers – YouTube: https://youtu.be/5FxHPQiTwYQ
• Warner Brothers – YouTube: https://youtu.be/A3X4KgcHAJo