"A Sweet Surprise..."

As part of the module, we have to create a small film based on the title "A Chance Encounter". However, the emphasis is not on the actual film, but about all the pre production planning, such as arranging a story line and deciding which shots we are going to use.

The skills we learn will be useful when arranging our presentations of our major assignment project. As this small project is all about pre production, it will be helpful for us to prepare a convincing and coherent pitch of our new Spam product.

My part of the planning included creating the treatment for the film. This was a brief description of what we planned to do. Unfortunately, i cannot put the document on the blog, so here it is...

A Sweet Surprise

Lauren, Katrina & Laura

For our “A Close Encounter” project, we have chosen to make a short film following the story of two young girls, who after an unanticipated parting ten years earlier, unexpectedly meet at a bus stop once again.

As our film is not allowed to be edited in post-production, our plan must be clear and concise in order for the film to flow smoothly and form a coherent piece. Each scene must be filmed in order from start to finish, so the need for preparation in this task is highly important.

The storyline of our film involves the two characters mirroring each other’s actions as the film progresses. The characters will be involved in both the beginning and end scene of our film – but throughout the film they will be disconnected, which is why the idea or mirroring is so important.

Our film begins with two young girls (played by Katrina and myself) in the kitchen. As there will be no sound on the video, we will be using placards to communicate our ideas with the audience, so they have a better understanding of the film and the direction it is heading. The shot will be a long shot in order to convey the ideas that the characters are in fact school girls. Our next shot will be a medium close up of Katrina’s face to emphasise her expression of the shock of the news she has received that her friend is moving. We will then use a placard to show the transition into the present day, it stating “10 years later…”. This placard plays a vital role in order for the transition from one scene to another to flow smoothly, as when it is removed, the camera will be filming down by the river as opposed to the kitchen where the film begins.

We aim to use a variety of shots in our film in order to keep and audience entertained and to convey the message. The next few shots involve the characters being on their own, walking by the river and then across the bridge. Although the characters will be separate, a constant motif (in this case a bracelet) will be used to emphasise the thoughts of the characters – each are thinking of the other throughout the film. In these scenes we plan to use both medium and full body shots. As the characters separately walk over the bridge, the camera will pan 180 degrees to emphasise the “walking away”.

Our next scene involves using a sweet shop, as it carries all the connotations to a stereotypical schoolgirl, even though the girls are now older, the place in which they started they were both younger. The shots will once again be varied in order to keep the audience enticed by the film. Furthermore the transitions will emphasise the theme “A Chance Encounter” as we plan to shoot the scene so the characters miss each other by a fraction of time. The audience have superiority in knowing that the characters are soon to meet, yet they themselves do not know this. In this case it is involving the audience on a greater level.

The final shot will really enhance the chance encounter. The scene starts with a long full body shot of the two girls sitting on a bench in the bus station. The camera will show the back of the characters as this is emphasises the fact the characters are still slightly unaware they are about the meet because we cannot see their faces. Finally, the last shot will feature a wide close up of the two girls finally meeting, after all the build-up there has been. This will be the final scene.

Though our idea in planning seemed a challenging concept, the use of placards and symbolism as well as smooth transitions and a variety of shots will convey our concept of “A Chance Encounter” smoothly and concisely.

All our planning has been done, all we need to do now is film!

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