Developing my ideas.

After wanting to create a split narrative, I watched Steven Jones' 'Connected' as he presents similar ideas. The entire short film focuses mainly on one character and portrays two different storylines but through the same character. I however, do not want to use a split screen even though the film constantly opposes each narrative with each other. The way I want to create my short film at the moment may be technically difficult and I have been inspired to create something similar seen in 'Hunted':

Pics Hunted

From 1-18 the pictures show a flash back from the characters past which takes place very quickly to portray her loss of memory with age. The blurriness and change of colour in each shot adds to this and further exaggerates the memory. The quick shots back to the protagonist remind the audience the flash back is not a dream as she is portrayed as uncomfortable. This is the type of effect I wish to create with my short film. At the moment my ideas are as followed:

1. Flash back of memory - on one story the character is involved whereas with the different story the character isn't (haven't thought of situation yet) and this creates two different narratives of what could have been in each story - parallel universe
2. Waking up - blur of this shot then separates the character into two different story lines
3. Short film continues showing different narratives and the possible endings they have due to the decisions made in point one

Point two explained by images: 

  

Establishing my genre and area of focus.

After my audience research, research into codes and conventions and my research into real short films, I feel I can now pin down my idea and develop it. Ideas that have caught my attention have focused around memorable reflections of a protagonist that is shown in two different situations. For example, after watching 'Sliding Doors' I want to create a split narrative. The film uses this idea of a split narrative and it plays with the idea of fate. It portrays two situations: one where the protagonist misses the train, and the other where they don't miss the train. The opposing story lines develop and compare each other throughout the film. At the end of the film, one of the stories finishes, but results in the other story to start where the other one began. 

With my short film, I want to do something similar. I have noticed that a student has done this idea before but with a split screen. I personally don't want to portray my film in that way so at the moment I want to film the same way 'Sliding Doors' does. I now have to develop this idea further and include my originality to make the story unqiue and interesting. I also have to consider where I want to film and which actors I want to include as in my AS production, this was constantly an issue which slowed down progress.

I now know what my area of focus is going to centre round: a split narrative where a protagonist is put in contrasting situations. The genre I want to focus on is a type of short film which typically breaks boundaries and includes many alternative ideas. I will develop this idea further and research and plan into the different routes I can take.

Thrush: photograph technique.

After watching this short film, I can reflect on the unique technique which the short film uses. By telling a story though images and pictures, it makes the short film original. Even though I don't like the narrative, I feel the way it tells the story is very different and it could be something I want to expand into. However, at this moment in time I feel like I should expand my knowledge into different genres and then focus on how I should film and portray my narrative. 

Influences in camera techniques.

Hunted Slides

Brainstorms.

Here is the first brainstorm I have done. I have covered topics such as nature, love, loneliness and loss: all themes presented in some of the short films I like. At the moment I definitely want to include nature in my short film and present some emotion along with it. I also want to include my kittens in my short film but not sure how to fit animals into my narrative yet as I haven't thought of a storyline.

I have also questioned what narrative to follow. I want to make my short film confusing yet interesting and to do this I want to play around with narrative. I have considered making a circular narrative, where it begins at the end and goes back in time to the beginning. However, I have also thought of creating a loop, where the narrative continuously plays over and over again.

Evaluating audience research.

After completing and analysing my audience research, I feel I must reflect on my performance and be self critical. I feel I produced a good survey that fulfilled my questions into audience and my short film. However, there was one question which I feel was unnecessary.  This was the genre question as typical genres such as comedy, romantic and action don't appear in short films. I feel short film is a genre in its own, hence, this is why I feel the question was not needed. Furthermore, I feel I got a small amount of responses back. 21 responses however is a fair amount and being a student it was difficult to attain lots of data as posting it on twitter and facebook meant some people didn't want to fill it out. Nevertheless, this means my audience research is to small to be analytical. However, I feel I produced a good survey which answered most of my questions. I got back positive feedback and I now know areas which I need to focus and improve on for next time.

Analysing survey results.

After looking back at my results I can see that more females answered the survey compared to males. Over half of my responses were completed by females giving me a ratio of 14:7. In particular, most responses came from the age group of 17-25 which is explained by the fact I posted my survey through Facebook and Twitter. However, I have a responses from each age group except 65+ giving me a good range.  Even though the survey showed more females responses, male protagonists shows to be the most popular choice when it comes to main characters. This influences me to create a short film where a male character is the protagonist. With the next question, I was really trying to find whether audience's prefer destruction or happy endings. Not surprisingly, most people answered with 'where balance is restored' which can be explained through mainstream feature films compared to short films which challenge and subvert traditional content. However, a 13:8 ratio shows that there is a small gap, meaning others prefer films which are unconventional.

With the next question I received a range of responses. "In England, in woods and forests", "In a city with technology", "Somewhere interesting and exotic", "Beautiful countryside" etc. With location however, I will be limited so choosing a suitable area is key in my filming. With my next question, the majority of people that answered with a linear narrative also chose an unclear ending. This was the most popular response. On the other hand, people that prefer circular narratives chose closed endings. Only two people chose a loop. These responses make me want to mess and change around with my narrative. With my last question the most popular genres were comedy, thriller and drama and not to far off was romantic and action. This question reflects typical mainstream films.