Experimating with jump cuts

In our short film we will be using the continutinty editing technique jump cuts. A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time. We will be using jump cuts in our short film to emphasise Claire's breakdown as the jumpcuts will signify her emotions. We practiced doing this so then when we start making our short film, it will be much more efficient when making this effect.

These are some examples of jump cuts:

Animatic with voiceover

Animatic

Media Language

Our short film begins with a series of flashbacks showing Claire and Wesley's preparation for their baby boy. We chose to do this to show the spectator what the characters lives were like before the tragic loss of Theo, to create an empathetic relationship between the spectator and characters. To signify that these are flashbacks, there will be high-level lighting and saturated so that the shots are brighter than the other shots. In the last series of flashbacks, Claire and Wesley are in the nursery and we have a close up of the mobile above the cot, as it dissolves into the next shot spinning and playing child-like peaceful music. In these flashbacks, Claire is looking healthy and happy. Her make-up and hair immaculate, wearing dresses and lovely tops. However, as the short film progresses and she struggles to cope, she begins to look tired and run down, her clothing turns to dressing gowns and trackies, and her hair is scruffy and scraped back. This is to show her transformation from before the birth of Theo to after the death of him.




















We use eye-line matches for effect through-out our short film, such as when Claire is watching baby programmes with what she thinks is with Theo, and when Wesley enters the room they're exchanging dialogue however there is an eye line match as he realizes what Claire is watching on TV followed by a POV shot of the TV.

Towards the end of our short film, there is a significant scene in a graveyard. We will shot this from behind the grave, showing Wesley and Claire distraught from the other side of the grave (LS). The lighting will be low-key to create a depressing, eerie atmosphere. After this scene, Claire is sitting at the table (MS) where we see that there are pills in front of her. It cuts to her hand hesitantly reaching for the pot of pills (CU) and back to a CU of her troubled face. There is then a sound bridge of off-screen diegetic sound of a baby laughing and an eyeline match from Claire to the other side of the room, which cuts to a POV shot of Theo sitting in his chair (MS). It cuts back to Claire and there is on-screen diegetic sound of dialogue as she shouts out in desperation for the hallucinations to stop, as shes just coming to accept and believe that Theo is dead. Her body language constructs meaning as to how she is feeling emotionally as she has her hands on her head and her fists clenched begging for her visions to stop and go away. It then cuts to the pills in her hands and cuts back to Claire (CU) where there are jump cuts. Then there is a cut to Claire on the floor and a fade to black as the sequence ends.

Permission for cemetery

We emailed the town hall that owns the cemetery we are going to film at, to ask for their permission. At first, we were worried because they seemed suspicious about our project; we had to explain exactly what we're doing:

We then got full permission to film at the cemetery. We have to make sure we go by the rules they have set us though.

Audience

The audience range our short film is intended for is adults of around 25-35 and middle class as they could relate to the story line maybe from personal experience so their more likely to want to watch it. It is not aimed at children under the age of 18 as I feel that they wouldn't quite understand what phantom pregnancy is and they may not get that the beginning is a flashback and not present day. Our short film would ideally be screened at a low budget cinema as it is a low budget film.

Narrative

The structure of our short film is non-linear as the film starts with two lots of flash backs therefore the story isn't told in chronological order.

Todorov's theory:

• Equilibrium - This is when Wesley and Claire are standing in their unborn baby's nursery talking excitedly about The being born.
• Disruption - This is when Theo dies and the couple are heartbroken.
• Confrontation -This is when Claire thinks that Theo is sill alive and keeps seeing him everywhere.
• Resolution - This is when Wesley takes Claire to see Theo's headstone in the cemetery and explains to her that he is dead and not coming back.
• New Equilibrium established - this is when Claire decides she can't cope with the loss of her baby so she overdoses on pills and dies.

The short film 'Flashback' has a similar structure to our short film as it has a non-linear structure and it begins with a flash back  just like ours.

Health and safety

As we are using a 4 month old baby in our short film we need to be very careful when filming, for example no loud noises around the baby and keeping our eye on him at all times.

Other risks that could occur are being careful when using the tripod as it may be a tripping hazard.

If we are filming any of our short film near of in the road then each member of our group needs to be careful of any cars driving in the road.

Makeup

Here I experimented with the makeup for the character of Claire where she is going down hill due to her phantom pregnancy. She is tired and has huge bags under her eyes because of this.

Audience feedback

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

We asked 5 people what they think about our short film idea. This was their feedback:

Our synopsis:

"Our short film is about a young couple trying to cope with the loss of their baby. Claire (mother) suffers from phantom pregnancy which means that she believes her baby is still alive and still sees him. For example, in our film there will be a variety of shots where Theo (the baby) is present in Claires eyes however we will have a POV shot from Wesley's (dad) perspective and the baby won't be there. As a result of Claire's inability to cope with the loss of Theo, she overdoses and dies. Our short film will begin with a flashback of Claire and Wesley when Claire is pregnant, where they are happy and looking at baby clothes in the nursery. Claire's hallucinations causes strain on their relationship as Wesley doesn't understand her condition and Claire is constantly trying to convince Wesley that Theo is still alive. This drives Wesley to take Claire to the graveyard and show her Theo's grave, which triggers her overdose." 

 

Question 1: What do you like about our film?
Question 2: Where would you expect to find it?
Question 3: What would you change?

Charlotte
1: I like the storyline because it's not too complicated and you will be able to sympathise with the main character.
2: I would expect to find this film on a professional short film site.
3: I would maybe turn the ending around by the husband finding her and helping her get through this.

Phoebe
1: I like how you spin around the happy beginning.
2: I would expect this to be shown on YouTube.
3: I would maybe change it so they haven't actually lost the baby.

Kelly 
1: I like this film because it sounds like a typical drama.
2: I would maybe expect it to be shown on TV.
3: I would change it so the man is grieving instead.   

Harry
1: I like how it's quite simple so you can make it really good.
2: I would expect to find it on Vimeo.
3: I would make it more like a thriller because I find this genre boring.

James
 1: I like the idea of her overdosing at the end because that will come as a shock.
2: I would expect to find it online, on a website or on YouTube.
3: I would make a bigger thing about how the main character is feeling.


 Evaluation of our results

From our results, we may focus more on Claire to create more sympathy. When we come to writing about the distribution, we will consider all those websites to put for where to show our film.

Organisation of actors

Claire: Tash Ruben

 

Wesley: Dom Buglass

 

Theo: Theo Mainwaring-Aylett

Location research

Locations in our short film:

• House
• Graveyard 
• Outside hospital 
• Outside shop 

House

A majority of filming will be taken in one of our houses. We will be filming in the living room, kitchen and nursery.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a screen shot of my mum giving permission to film at home and use my baby brother Theo in our film. 

Haywards Heath Cemetery

Only a short scene will be shot at this location as we realize there are ethical issues.

Outside the hospital - Princess Hoyal Hopsital

This will be a short scene of Claire and Wesley walking out of the hospital and sitting down looking at a picture of their baby scan that they've just received.

Outside the shop - Jojo Maman Bebe

This will be a short clip of Claire and Wesley walk out of the shop with shopping bags containing baby clothes that they've just brought ready for the arrival of their baby boy.

Sound design

Sound Design

At the beginning of our short film (for the flashbacks), we will use uplifting and lighthearted non-diegetic sound. There will be some dialogue to emphasise their happiness. 
After this, we will introduce a depressing non-diegetic soundtrack instead. There will also be dialogue, but this will instead show how their lives are falling apart. We will make the diegetic sound stand out for the ending (with the pills.) 
Ambient sound will be used throughout to show that this is their life and how life is passing by around them.

For the last scene when Claire is having a breakdown, we will need the diegetic sound of a baby crying. This one was the best sound I found; it will be easy to download and I think the baby sounds really sad (which is ideal).

 We will also need the sound effect of a heartbeat to emphasise panic in this scene:

This one could be used for the buildup, and then something like this when we use jump-cuts:

For our soundtrack after the soundtrack, we will use this music as I think it creates sympathy and will be fairly easy to edit the sound levels of it.

It was difficult to find sound that will work for our flashback scenes, this was the best one I found:

 

We will also need the sound effect of a children's TV programme being watched. Depending on how much of the TV we will show, we may just record sound from an actual TV programme.

 

Role allocation

• Rejected ideas - Jess
• Genre - Ailsa 
• Representation - Ailsa 
• Media Language - Jess 
• Audience - Frances
• Narrative - Frances 
• Script - Ailsa 
• Storyboard - Frances 
• Animatic - Frances, Jess, Ailsa 
• Evidence of location research - Jess
• Camera operator - Ailsa 
• Costume, hair and make-up designer - Frances 

Genre and Representation

Genre

 

The genre of our short film will be Drama. This will be shown by conventions such as sympathetic non-diegetic sound and lots of close ups. It will be a stereotypical drama because of the storyline. 
These are two short films that we found which are similar to what we are doing. They are both stereotypical dramas that create sympathy.

  

Representation

 

We will represent the woman as being stereotypical - vulnerable and weak. The man will also be stereotypical as he will be portrayed to not show his emotions and will be strong willed (not effected by the loss of the baby as much as the woman.)

Lighting

Scene 1:

This scene will have very bright lighting to make it clear to the audience that this is a flashback and not the present time.

The scenes after this will have natural lighting as most of it will be shot in a house.

Graveyard scene:

The lighting will be dark to convey an eerie feel as it will be more effective to reflecting the characters emotion to the audience. We realize that there are ethical issues with filming in a graveyard, therefore we will need to ask permission from the church to film there beforehand. 

Overdose scene:

The lighting will be darker and have a desaturated effect to reflect how low Claire is feeling.

Characterization

Costume

Scene 1:
At this stage, Claire is looking healthy and glowing in her pregnancy as her and Wesley are excited to become parents.
Claire - dress
Wesley - jeans, polo

Scene 2:
Claire - jeans, top
Wesley - shirt, trousers, tie 

Scene 3:
Claire - dressing gown


Scene 4:
This is the stage where Claire begins to let herself go, looking tired and scruffy and not making an effort with her appearance like she usually would 
Claire - leggings, long t-shirt
Wesley - trackies, t shirt

Hair

Claire's hair is down and neat in the first scenes as she takes pride in her appearance, but as the film progresses her hair is up and scruffy. It's not brushed and looks like she has just rolled out of bed.

Makeup

Claire's make-up done up nicely on first shots, however she begins to looks more run down and tired as the film progresses e.g dark circles under eyes, as that's when the trauma begins.

Props

• pillow - to be a fake bump
• cot
• mobile 
• baby chair 
• baby bottle 
• baby clothes 

 

Script

SCRIPT

First, we looked up how to write a script...

We found a website with the scripts of famous films...

 

Final script:

Scene 1 -

They are in the baby's nursery in their house. Wesley is talking to Claire's pregnant stomach.

Wesley: Can't wait for you to be born, you're gonna love your room. 

He looks up to then talk to Claire.

Wish he would hurry up and come!

Claire smiles and laughs.

Claire: I'm not sure he's able to hear you yet

Wesley: Once he's older he won't listen to me, I should get used to it!

Scene 2 -

Claire is sat on their sofa, watching a child's programme on TV. Wesley comes in the front door from work.
Claire looks at Wesley coming in.

Claire: Good day at work?

Wesley realises Claire sitting there and pulls a face.

Wesley:  Not too bad, just the usual. What are you doing?

Claire: Just watching this with Theo, he loves this programme - it's his favourite.

Wesley looks annoyed and confused. He sighs.

Wesley: Okay, whatever. I'm going upstairs now, call me when dinner's ready.

Claire doesn't look at him, she stays focused on the TV.

Claire: Okay.
  
Scene 3 -
     
Claire is in the kitchen making a bottle for Theo. Wesley walks downstairs, then past the kitchen. He doesn't notice what Claire is doing.

Wesley: Morning.

Claire replies to Wesley from the kitchen, and they carry on talking like this.

Claire:  Morning, I'll make you a coffee in a minute.

Wesley doesn't sound very grateful for this. He switches on his laptop.

Wesley:  No it's okay, I just need to finish typing up what happened at the interview yesterday, then I'll get a shower and have something on the train to work.

Claire: Okay if you're sure! 

Pause.

You don't want to take any in your flask?

Wesley is slightly annoyed now.

Wesley:   No, I said it's okay.

Claire is too busy staring at the bottle to notice that Wesley is annoyed. She turns on the kettle.

Scene 4 -

Wesley is home watching TV. Claire walks in from grocery shopping. He looks at the shopping bags and what's inside. He looks extremely angry and a little upset.

Wesley: Why have you got all this stuff, what's wrong with you?

Claire looks confused and defensive.

Claire: What do you mean? I just went shopping with Theo, we needed more things for him!

Wesley is slightly more calm now; he feels sympathy towards Claire.

Wesley: Theo is gone Claire, it's time you started to realise that. I'm so sorry. He's never coming back.

Claire sits down and suddenly looks completely lost. Wesley sits next to her and holds her hand. He speaks calmly to her as he stands up, still holding her hand.

Wesley: Come with me.

We see them both getting into their car, Claire looks even more lost and walks slowly. Wesley does her seat-belt for her.

Scene 5 -

We then see they are at a graveyard, Wesley is still holding her hand and is walking slightly in front of her.
We see them hugging in front of a grave. Claire is crying.

Wesley: I am so so sorry. He's in a better place now. It's time to let go Claire.

They arrive back home. We see Claire slowly walking upstairs.  

Scene 6 -

She sits on the bathroom floor with a pill bottle in her hand, she is staring at it with no expression on her face.  
CU of her holding a handful of pills.
We then see her lying on the floor - she has overdosed.

- THE END -