Monologues and scripts.

We opted not to use a script in writing Popcorn for a few reasons.

• We knew exactly what we wanted: Myself, Ben and Jake had an exact visual idea for shooting the film which we explained thoroughly to our actress Chloe, so a script was unnecessary.


• We wanted a more spontaneous, improvised style to the film. Scripts can sometimes be so filled with instruction and direction that the actor's performance does not feel so natural - without a script, the actors' performances became far more sincere.


• The entire script would be filled with 'stage' direction, because there is little in terms of dialogue, the script would look like an instruction manual.

We did type out the monologue of the film. The reason we did this was to discuss such features of speech like intonation and where stress should be placed - although this seems basic and unimportant, we really wanted to ensure likability for the protagonist, and sympathy when it is revealed he is being cheated on - making it all the more shocking when the final twist is revealed.

Planning

Our planning for telling the story of 'Popcorn' was through this poster we collectively came up with. We decided to make the film efficiently, in an organised manner while stile being creative, we decided to divide the film up into ten different parts - informally called a 'wordyboard' because of it's storyboard-like instructions but with text instead of pictures.

With this 'wordyboard', we were able to shoot knowing exactly what we wanted from more-or-less each shot. Although the final product is not exactly faithful to the 'wordyboard', a basic idea can still be seen through this poster.

Technology

To get the old style effect on the film we ran the footage we shot through affter effectrs and to edit the film we used premier pro.

Equipment

Whilst shooting the film we where after a good quality image so we decided to shoot on a HD camera as opposed to a standard DV tape camera. Superior image would make the film look more professional thus resulting in us having more marks. We decided to use a Sony Nex VG10, It gives good image and sound quality and is reasonably easy to transport.

The Projector Video Blog

The Projector Effect

In our film we have the old projector as a reoccurring visual motif. It acts as a symbolic gateway between the main characters thoughts and feelings and the screen on to which he projects those feelings. Other shows have used the projector technique to create a emotional response from their audience.


See below for 4 screen shots from our film with the projector and a screenshot from the popular comedy series scrubs. We both use the projector for similar reasons, Mostly to create a emotional response

Radio!

Here is our 30 second radio advert for Popcorn.

Narrative structure

We knew that in such a short space of time, we'd have to have a unique was of telling the story, in order to make it a more interesting piece.

In coming up with the idea for Popcorn, we decided that Todorov's three act structure could be told without showing the beginning, middle and end.

As a story, the story for Popcorn is simple.
(BEGINNING)A boy and girl fall in love, but (MIDDLE) she eventually leaves him for someone else. Scorned he stalks her and her new lover, and eventually (END) kidnaps her and leaves her to rot in a dark room.

The way we told the story, however, is of the boy and tied-up girl watching a film telling the BEGINNING and MIDDLE segment during the END segment of the film. The END segment is shown throughout the film, with the boy watching the film, it is only until the end that the girl is revealed, as part of our twist.

And the end is left very much open. All the audience sees is a fade to black and a click of the projector, the click of the projector is used to show and suggest different things without spoon-feeding it to the audience.

- The end of the film - in - film.
- The end of 'Popcorn'
- The end of the relationship
- The end of the girl's life?

In feedback for the film, many people have asked us what happened to the girl: whether she was just left there to rot, or he killed her, or let her go. We have enjoyed leaving the ending open and up to speculation, the only real hint being that the click signifies different kinds of endings and that the ending of her life is very probable.

JJB

The final product: Popcorn

Here is our final main product, our 5-minute short entitled 'Popcorn'.

JJB

Video Copilot

Video Copilot was the website that helped us to create the old school projector look and create an authentic film-in-film... http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/old_film_look/

The film in film is complete!

So we took it into the studio to see how it looked.



Exactly how we imagined it!


JJB

Music for the final seconds/credits

The ending of our short film always reminded me of an ending to a film from the Saw series, when the girlfriend can be seen tied up, the film takes a turn towards horror cinematically. To emphasise the twist, we thought of a song to accompany the last few shots...
Because of the Saw influence, we immediately thought to use the score that is used in the final sequence of every Saw film: Hello Zep.



We did however think that this would be too obvious a reference to spot and rather tacky, so we started to think of alternatives.
The introduction to this song came to mind...



The opening piano and effects seemed to fit with the tone of the film, and the piano follows on nicely from the previous sound clip: Hand Covers Bruise from The Social Network.
We did not want any vocals however, so started to look for an instrumental version. Ideally, there would be the studio version of the song, simply with Jared Leto's voice removed, but there is no such thing so we'll have to make do with this...



Not too disheartened about this, however, it makes our work seem a little bit more original.

3 weeks left, so the pressure is starting to mount. Bring it on, yo.
JJB.

An update on the filming

We are dangerously close to finishing the film-within-film. We've got about 3 minutes worth of the old school projector style footage . It has literally just been a matter of filming something, putting that footage into after effects where we apply the projector effect and then putting that in the grand Premiere Pro timeline.


We've finalised the cast, along with our friend Chloe, Ben will play the protagonist and Jake will play the new boyfriend. Primarily, we decided to stay with people within our group for convenience's sake... we knew that Chloe was reliable, and Ben and Jake are both keen to take part, seeing as they are in the group.


Ben is in the film-in-film very little, because in the story, he is the cameraman: all the footage is things he recorded (apart from the christmas footage, which was filmed by his dad). He can be seen at two points: during an argument where the camera has been left on the floor and straight after, when his girlfriend has left.


Speaking of the Christmas footage, the opening part of the monologue refers to his childhood, so we wanted to find accompanying childhood footage. Recently, Joni's dad had converted old family videos from tape into digital format and could therefore be accessed on computers... he brought in an external hard drive containing the footage and put them through the projector after-effect. Looks bitchin'.


Next filming will be monday, which will be the final part of the film in film, shooting at Jake's house, just down the road.

JJB

Into Filming

The grainy imaging was used to the effect of an old-fashioned projector, throughout the scenes in which the boyfriend was producing home videos. We used after-effects to focus the shots into a rounded-off screen style and added sepia toning to dim the lighting, lowering the mood.

We'll add this to a pre-recorded monologue, setting the atmosphere of the piece over the first two minutes, leading to the inevitable twist and crazy turns of events that will no shake the foundations of modern cinematography to its very core. Stay tuned for more tales of the unexpected.

JJB

Black Box TV

Another short film here, but this time state-side!
Black Box TV are known for doing Twilight Zone-esque shorts, but set against a modern backdrop and less cheesy than Twilight Zone. The shorts are released through YouTube quite often and depend on marketing from other YouTubers to gain subscribers.

What we liked about this was the twist at the end, although not shocking, it was quite subtle and had a more philosophical perspective than say, the Saw films.

JJB

Perfecting Fee

We watched this short film just before throwing ideas about for 'Popcorn' (Our short) and we can safely say that it has had a direct influence on our work.

Most enjoyable was the lack of dialogue throughout 'Perfecting Fee', it simply sticks to narration and we never see the man talk... also, initially, he seems to be a very likable person until later on.

We tried to emulate this with our character, he never says a thing and through dialogue, at least for the first two or so minutes, he seems to be humble and modest.

Ben, Joni and Jake.

Old style film.

In an attempt to give the character a little more depth and personality we have decided to first shoot some scenes then run them through adobe after effects to make them look like an old film. This would make him appear as if he has some form of obsession with old films and old film equipment and give the character a little more depth and a possible back story. It also fits in with this initial idea of the man filming all the high and low points in his life with his woman.

Hand Covers Bruise by Atticus Ross

We wanted to find a fitting score to accompany the short film, but not a well-known chart song. By having a popular song, focus from the audience would divert from the images on screen to the song and would be totally distracting.
Having been a fan of the 2010 movie 'The Social Network' and of Atticus Ross, we thought that this music would be appropriate to accompany the film.



The music has a creepy feel to it throughout, and the piano adds a tint of the feeling of nostalgia, which is of course, a huge factor in the film. The piece is almost 5 minutes long, so we may consider it to be played throughout the film.

Jake, Ben and Joni!

A2 Group 5