A2 Media

By linking my research of mental health to the target audience I have chosen has allowed me to figure out if this was the correct topic to focus my production around. 50% of mental health problems are stabilised by age 14 and 75% by age 24. I also found that 20% of adolescents may experience a mental health problem in any given year. Looking at these statistics mental health commonly affects people of a similar age to the target audience I have chosen through my research. This meaning that the audience I aim my short film at will be able to relate to some area of my plot. Depression from a young age is becoming increasingly more common amongst young people due to loss and bereavement. Therefore creating a short film based on this topic is not only relatable but shows that more people are suffering, creating a re-assurance for the audience who view it. Mental health is more of a social norm than it used to be. Many people are developing mental health problems throughout their life

A contingency needs to be created in order to prepare for any possible events that may occur during the time of filming. It is essential to create a contingency by planning in advance to ensure that no further time is wasted trying to figure out a solution to the event. By doing this it can still allow us to film successfully. Unexpected weather: There is medium possibility of unexpected weather occurring on the days that I film. As the majority of my short film includes using the indoor space, this shouldn’t be a major problem. However, one location towards the end of my film is outside, although light rain would not be ideal, it wouldn’t have extreme effect on the outcome of the scene as it may even add dramatics due to the my chosen plot. If the weather was extreme, a alternate day would have to be arranged in order to film that specific scene. The day would preferably be close to the original day. The weather may also damage equipment used which has to be considered when

When producing a media product, certain ethical factors have to taken into account. Accurate representations/facts - As I have decided to focus on mental health it is incredibly important that the way I decide to represent it within my short film is accurate. This due to the subject being sensitive as well as being significant in society. The view on mental health should not be glamorized or distraught do in order to give the audience the wrong perception. Restrictions: Many restrictions are put on media products due to certain factors that it could contain. Bad language should not be used unless absolutely needed in a scene, sexual content and extreme violence should also be kept to a minimal or not at all depending on any age restrictions the film may have. For my short film, both sexual contact and extreme violence will non existent as this is not suitable for the type of film I have decided to do. Actors: When using my chosen actors, I need to ensure that they are not forc

For my short film, only two main locations are being used. This mainly being due to the idea that as the short film is of a short length, the more locations used, the more confusing the film may become. As I’m doing a drama, I felt it was most appropriate to keep it both simple and as realistic as possible. House: As my short film is based on mental health (depression and anxiety) it makes sense to have it based within a house to signify the impact it can have on someone’s life. Multiple rooms will be used as by using only one, it limits how interesting the story could be as by only seeing one room doesn’t give the audience much to look at. As drama’s tend to revolve around realistic settings my home is idea as it will be able to reflect certain elements which audiences will be able to connect with such as things similar to what they have within their own home. Three main places used will be a bedroom, kitchen and dining area. As this location is also easily accessible, it is

Due to the length of my film being only 4-6 minutes, I wanted to include a limited amount of actors in order to create a relatable and non complicated storyline. Two people seemed the perfect number in order to achieve this. It became obvious that I needed to find two actors who were able to show compassion for each other as well show a strong connection from their relationship. I thought of multiple options to finally conclude on the people who would be best for this. Becci: main character. I chose Becci to be in my production due to her background in drama. She has taken it through GCSE to A level which shows her knowledge behind certain acting skills. Her as the main character made sense due to this and also I believe she will be able to portray the particular character well. She is not just a strong actor, however a strong dancer which also helps her link her emotions to her acting through actions and body language. Anya: playing the sister. Anya hasn’t got a direct link with

The editing software I have decided to use to edit my short film is Adobe premiere pro. I am already familiar with other adobe products such as photoshop and will also be using them throughout the process of creating my ancillary tasks therefore believed I would be most confident with the layout and overall software adobe provided. Adobe premiere pro is also free for a certain period in terms of download meaning that no money is needed in order to use a decent software to edit my film I realised through creating my AS into A2 trailer and through research, there are other editing software options available for me to use for my project, however most other softwares cost quite a lot of money or are not up to standard compared to my chosen software. For example, IMovie was used for my AS into A2 trailer which did not offer enough options or flexibility that I feel I need for my short film. I decided to put together a mix of pros and cons about Adobe premiere pro: Pros: Offers hel

Camera: Canon 600D. To film my short film I will be using my personal DSLR canon 600D. This camera supports 1080p and is fairly light in weight making it easy to carry around to film various shots. The fact it can film in 1080 allows me to film in higher quality to improve the visuals of my shots. This camera can also add attachments such as small soft boxes and microphones. I personally don’t own a detachable microphone which may affect the quality of sound but at this time I am unable to purchase one. Fortunately what the camera does provide is of good enough to produce a loud and clear enough sound. Tripod’s: These are the two tripods I am planning on using for my production. The main one will be the …… due to its ability to extend and reach all different levels that my shots can be from. Whereas the gorillapod is often used as an extra grip. This will be what I use outside of my inside locations as I will be able to handle it, giving me more option to move freely, where the …..

Due to my plot being inspired by the effects of both depression and anxiety, I felt it was important to research into the both in more detail in order to portray these correctly and ensure that I understand the affects it can have on younger people. Losing a loved one can often trigger intense feelings of grief. This can therefore lead to depression or making already underlying depression worse. Depression can make it difficult for people to think of anything else but the loss of a loved one and making it difficult accepting that their loved one is gone. In my film, I personally wanted to focus on these two symptoms which link to the character I am creating for my piece. The effect that this causes my character is slightly dissimilar, however it is not unknown for people to imagine that these loved ones are still alive. People who suffer depression also often find the ability to function as normal difficult. Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or

After considering all 4 idea choices for my title, my final decision is on using the title ‘Lola’. I believe this title has most effect considering the meaning behind the name itself and the initial idea that Lola, the sister, is the figure of the protagonists depression. Her death has lead to the mental health problems which she faces, therefore using the name ‘Lola’ makes sense. Out of all 4, ‘Lola’ is my favourite and also has most meaning to me.

I have played with multiple ideas for the title of my short film idea. As my short film focuses on mental health problems and awareness, I wanted to ensure my title somehow related to either depression, anxiety or mental health in general. I felt by having this within my chosen title may help the overall perception. However, I don't want something overly obvious to the audience as it could potentially be viewed in the wrong light. By narrowing down my ideas to 4 different titles it has allowed me to further look into the meaning of each. Out of these 4 one will be the title of my short film Breathe: The first title I initially thought about was ‘breathe’. I thought by having a simple one word title injects more of an impact on the audience. Breathe relates to anxiety which is one of the mental health issues my protagonist suffers with, therefore makes sense to use this for a title chose. It could also relate to the ending on my piece in which my character is able to realise th

From reviewing all the research I have found, I began to think about the plot for my own short film. I wanted to create a relatable piece of work which both myself and my audience can reflect on. I made the final decision to create a drama short film based upon mental health, particularly on mental health that occurs after a tragic event or loss. This is both very dear to me and is seen to increasing amongst young people. My short film will focus on a character who suffers with depression and anxiety after the loss of her sister, who died in an car accident . The storyline will follow her struggles with mental health after everything that has happened. In her mind she still sees her sister beside her as she can't come to terms with the loss of her closest family member. She is the only one who still sees her presence and therefore is not fully aware that her sister is no longer around. She doesn’t leave her home due to the anxiety and depression it has caused. Only for her to f

‘Empty’ is an award winning short drama which follows Keira as she struggles to live her normal day to day life while suffering from the effects of an eating disorder. Mid-shots are most commonly used through ‘Empty’ which are hand-held in order to add to the realism of the storyline. The fact that hand-held shots are used also could signify the unstable life that Keira commonly lives with having an mental health disorder. Nothing is straightforward, therefore this is shown through the camera shots. Close ups are also used to draw attention to certain areas of the storyline or objects that are used within. A close up/over the shoulder shot was used at the beginning to directly show the initial problem Kiera is facing. It shows her touching her collar bones which highlights the struggles she is facing with her eating order. I have found mid-shots are often used within dramas as this is a direct way to show realism of both the character and their surrounding. Drama is about realis

The second short film I decided to deconstruct is called ‘ALONE’. This short film is about a man who lost his son in an accident, who tries to rebuild his life and move forward to overcome his death. Out of the 3 deconstructions, this is the shortest of them all. This is only 2 minutes and 40 seconds compared to ‘a social life’ which is nearly 5 minutes shorter. I believe by this being so short, it is harder to create such a big impact on the audience as there is such a small space to do it in. The way in which this particular short film has been short is very raw and realistic. This is made up of mainly short clips relating to the protagonist and his life both before and after the death of his son. Around 0.55 seconds into the short film, a flashback is used to bring the attention of the audience to his life with his son. The director of this decided to include a shot of the man and his son playing around outside which plays on the viewer's emotions automatically. For me per

‘A social life’ - Production by Kerith Lemon Pictures A social life is a short film about a woman living her dream life through social media. It connects to the effects of social media depression, she is that the point that she realizes  this is not her life but an online persona she has created. At the beginning of the film a pan is used to introduce the young women in bed followed by the sound of an alarm which is continually used throughout the short film to represent new mornings.  It manipulates the audience to think that more time going by without showing a whole day. The most common types of shots used throughout the short film are mid shots and close ups. The mid shots are typically used to signify the things she is doing for social media, rather than her own good. The mid shots are able to capture her movements and gestures through the small journey it shows. Special effects are commonly used to show the social media aspect of the film. Pictures are displayed on the

 There are multiple codes and conventions for short films that are constantly followed within the media industry. Characters  are an obvious convention in any type of film and are an extremely important aspect in the terms of narrative. Short films do tend to only have two or three main characters in order to allow the audience to relate to them in a short amount of time. There is therefore no need to create deep back stories as it wont be able to fit in in the time slot. Characters have to have a strong presence in short films in order to make an impression as there are a small amount of them. Nearly all short films contains  twists . These make the short films interesting as without, there wouldn't be any excitement in the short period of time for the audience. Short films typically have a low  budget  due to most directors of short films being independent. A way to keep budgets low is by only have a limited amount of locations and using one to two actors. Some actions may

After exploring the codes and conventions of short films, I feel as if it is necessary to look into specific conventions of my chosen genre, drama. These are significant to my research in order to portray to my audience what genre my short film is as well as to ensure that I include this within my production and conform to the conventions.  Typical dramas exhibit real-life situations. They portray realistic, believable and relatable characters. The characters should be believable enough that the audience can emphasis or sympathies with them. Realistic settings and stories/narrative are also included within drama films. These conventions make it easier to produce a short film of the genre drama as they are common and easier to access. Drama seeks to move the audience emotionally with a steady increase and build up of tension to keep the audience hooked. The end commonly portrays a ‘hard hitting’ ending to leave a lasting effect on the audience. The heart of

After completing my primary research I have made a decision on what genre I will be picking for my short film project. My final decision ultimately came down to my own personal preference and how confident I was with creating a piece based around a certain genre. Drama was also the top picked preferred genre out of all the responses I was given. This ended up working in my favour as I believe I can create a short film to fit around the genre and its conventions. I had to consider that action and horror were both also 2nd and 3rd top choices of genre, however as I am also on a tight budget as a media student, drama allows me to use easy to access resources due to it being mainly based on realistic location, characters and plots. Drama gives me the most variety. Drama was also the highest earning genre for the uk independent films in recent years showing its popularity amongst the public.

The target audience for my production will be females of the ages 16-26. I've allowed a 10 year age gap to help reach a variety of people. Through my research I’ve found, It is clear these are the ages of people who enjoy the genre drama and will most likely view my short film when finished.

As a way to broaden my primary research, I decided to present my questionnaire to a wider range of ages. I only previously presented the questions to people of the ages to 16-20+ and although this is the age range I personally want to target, I felt it would be beneficial to explore the interest of other ages in order to compare my results. For this, I asked 3 people from the ages of 40-70 and two from the ages of 10-12. The questions remained the same: What gender are you? What is your preferred genre? Do you think genre is a key aspect to why you watch a certain film? What attracts you to watching a film? What poster do you find most attractive? Do you often view short films? If so, on what platforms? What gender are you? 2 out of the 5 people were male. Both being the two eldest. What is your preferred genre? When asking these 5 people, I got all different answers. Horror and thrillers were the ones with most in common which came from the two eldest that I asked. Thi

From conducting my audience theory research, it has allowed me to gain greater understanding about my audience. I have created a questionnaire in order to pick a clear target audience for my product and as my genre is also undecided I included a question to see what genre was most popular locally as these are the people who will most likely view my short film production. I wanted to ensure that my questionnaire was simple and only included questions relevant to my final product and ancillary tasks. These were the questions I presented: What gender are you? What is your preferred genre? Do you think genre is a key aspect to why you watch a certain film? What attracts you to watching a film? Which poster do you find most attractive? (Posters listed below) Do you often watch short films? If so, on what platforms?  One of my questions asked the age range of the particular person filling out their answers. These 8 questions were given to range of my friends who were of the ages 1