Casting






For the roles of Alex as a child and older child, we've chosen 2 of my younger brothers to play the roles. One of them (Harry) is 3 and the other (James) is 10. As these are the perfect ages and I know they're available to help us, I see no reason not to use them to play the characters in the film. They look similar to each other, which is good because they're playing different versions of the same character. Also, these roles don't require too much acting and I know that their acting ability is good enough for their roles. 

For the future versions of Alex, the adult and teenager, we decided to cast me. It makes perfect sense when you think about it. Seeing as the younger generations are played by my younger brothers, I'm next in line and would seem like the obvious person to cast. We accept that this seems a bit lazy, but it's perfectly justified and makes everything easier. Plus, I look similar to my brothers and can act (apparently).



This is Alex.
(Ignore the cocktail)



As for the role of "The Shadower" we've chosen Alex, Rachel's boyfriend. This is because Alex apparently really, really wants to be in our film. He also has some acting ability and can drive to our filming locations in his fancy car, which is handy.

Plus, just look at that face. You say no to that... You can't, can you? fwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr.

Jokes aside, Alex fits the bill for some cool time-travelling guy. Why? His futuristic hairstyle, that's why. It just screams "Hey there, I'm a sexy guy from the future and I'm going to leave you cool notes and stuff throughout your childhood, which will leave you with psychological scars that will never heal and make your girlfriend leave you!.. Accidentally, of course". Why else would a time-traveller leave mysterious notes throughout somebody life? 



Rachel
(Ignore the face)



For the small part of the Skye girlfriend, we've chosen our own Rachel. This is because she is highly available and can easily throw a hissy-fit, which is what the role demands.





Here's Chloe
(Ignore Moomin)



Also Chloe's going to appear in it at one point, in a small cameo. Just like Stan Lee or a modern day Alfred Hitchcock, but female. 

We're also assembling a load of extras to appear in the pub scene. I'd type the list here now, but the list would be long and we don't yet know if anyone will drop out. Hopefully we'll get lots though.

-BW

Developement Update #2

-CM, RM & BW

Character Profile: Alex

CHARACTER PROFILE: ALEX.

PART ONE.

AGE: 2-3 YEARS

WEARING: SOLDIERS OUTFIT.

SYNOPSIS OF CHARACTER: THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ALEX AND HE STRANGER HAVE CROSSED LINES. ALEX DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS HAPPENED AS HE IS TOO YOUNG. BUT HE DOES NOTICE THAT THERE IS A CHANGE IN THE ROOM.

PART TWO:

AGE: 7-8 YEARS

WEARING: JEANS, JUMPER, COAT, SCARF ETC

SYNOPSIS OF CHARACTER: THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ALEX HAS MET THE STRANGER BUT HE SEEMS TO RECOGNISE HIM HE IS HESITANT AT FIRST AND LOOKS TO HIS PARENTS FOR HELP. HE ISN’T SCARED THOUGH AND COMES TO TERMS. HIS REACTION TO THE CHARACTER IS PRICELESS EVEN WHEN HE SMILES ALEX MAKES SURE HE SEEMS UNFAZED ESPECIALLY WHEN BEING GIVEN THE FIGURE. THIS ALEX HAS TO BE VERY CONFUSED AND FRIGHTENED.

PART THREE:

AGE: 16-17 YEARS

WEARING: MAINLY DARK CLOTHING HE NEEDS TO SEEM CONFUSED AND LOST THIS IS SHOWN THROUGH COSTUMING.

SYNOPSIS OF CHARACTER: A VERY CONFUSING TIME IN ALEX’S LIFE. AS WE CAN SEE CLEARLY WITH PROBLEMS WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE THIS HAS DONE TO HIM WITH THE STRANGER HE HAS CLEARLY BECOME OBSESSED.

PART FOUR:

AGE: 19-20 YEARS

WEARING: A FOOTBALL SHIRT AND JEANS HE HAS CHANGED BUT IS THE SAME ACTOR THAT PLAYED THE TEENAGER. THIS WILL BE SHOWN THROUGH A HAIRCUT.

SYNOPSIS OF CHARACTER: ALEX FEELS LIKE HE IS BEING WATCHED AND STARTS TO PANIC MORE WHEN HE SEES THE CLAY HEAD IN HIS EMPTY PINT GLASS. HE GETS EVEN MORE FRIGHTENED AND CONFUSED WHEN HE SEES THE STRANGER AND HE SPEAKS TO HIM. WITHOUT HAVING A FULL CONVERSATION WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT HE FINALLY UNDERSTANDS AND IS AT EASE WITH HIS PAST.

-CM

The Script - First Draft

                             TEMPUS

DIRECTED BY BW, CM AND RM

WRITTEN BY BW, CM AMD RM

INT. PAN AROUND A CHILD’S PLAYROOM/BEDROOM. THERE IS A GAME OF SOLDIERS GOING ON.

CLOSE UP ON SOME OF THE PLASTIC SOLDIERS.

CUT TO A CHILDS EYES.

DECREASE SHOT SO WE SEE THE WHOLE FACE. THE CHILD IS WEARING A SOLDIERS HAT AND IS UNDERNEATH A TENT SURROUNDED BY A BATTLE.

THE CHILD’S MOTHER CALLS TO HIM.

MOTHER: ALEX DARLING!

HE LOOKS UP BUT DECIDES TO IGNORE WHAT SHE IS SAYING.

MOTHER: ALEX!

CLOSE UP ON THE CHILDS HANDS THE DROPS THE SOLDIERS LEAVING THEM DISCARDED.  CLOSE UP ON FEET. THE DOOR BANGS SHUT.

WITH THE CAMERA STILL ON A CLOSE UP OF THE SOLDIERS A SHADOW PASSES OVER AND A HAND SWOOPS DOWN PICKS UP A SOLDIER AND THEN MOVES THE SOLDIER OUT OF THE SHOT.

SECONDS PASS AND THE SOLDIER IS BACK INTO SHOT BUT IT HAS A NOTE SELLOTAPED ONTO IT.

“I’M HIT”

THE CAMERA PANS ROUND THE ROOM AND SETTLES ON SOME UNSETTLED PIECES OF PAPER THAT ARE STILL FLOARING TO THE FLOOR. WE DON’T SEE WHO IS POSTING THE NOTES.

SECONDS LATER THW DOOR CREEKS OPEN AND ALEX RUNS IN ECU OF HIS FEET WALKING IN.

TILT SHOT HE IS HOLDING AN ANY-WAY-UP-CUP FULL OF JUICE. HE STOPS IN FRONT OF THE TENT AND A CLOSE UP OF HIS CONFUSED FACE.

HE DROPS THE CUP CLOSE UP OF HIS HAND AS HE PICKS UP THE SOLDIER.

SHOT REVERSE SHOT. OF SOLDIER THEN CLOSE UP OF FACE THEN THE SOLDIER AGAIN.

CLOSE UP OF SOLDIER ALEX RIPS THE NOTE OFF AND TAKES IT TO THE BIN.

END OF PART 1.

PART TWO

EXT. A MAN AND A WOMAN ARE SITTING ON A BENCH TALKING. WHILST AN OLDER ALEX IS RUNNING AROUND KICKING A BALL.

POV OF THE BALL BEING KICKED. HAND HELD.

THE BALL IS KICKED FAR AWAY. TILT SHOT TO WHERE THE BALL IS.

WHIP PAN AS BOY LOOKS UP TO SEE WHERE HIS PARENTS ARE HE SMILES AND WAVES THEY ARE NOT REGISTERING THAT HE IS THERE. SHOT REVERSE SHOT.

THE BOY SHRUGGS HIS SHOULDERS AND RUNS OVER TO THE FOOTBALL. HAND HELD CAMERA OF THE FLOOR AND HIS FEET.

CUT TO ECU ON A MAN’S FOOT ON THE BALL. SHOT REVERSE SHOT. THE BOY STOPS HALF WAY. THE MAN’S FOOT. THE BOY’S WORRIED FACE.

TRACKING SHOT OF THE BOY WALKING TOWARDS THE BALL HE STOPS ABOUT 3ft AWAY FROM THE MAN.

ECU ON THE MAN’S SMILE. ECU ON HIS HAND IN HIS JACKET POCKET. HE PULLS HIS HAND OUT AND IN IT IS THE TOY SOLDIER FROM THE PREVIOUS SCENE.

ECU ON THE TOY SOLDIER IN THE PALM OF THE MAN’S HAND.

THE BOY PICKS IT UP FROM THE HAND.

CLOSE UP OF THE BOY LOOKING AT THE SOLDIER HE LOOKS UP AND STARES.

WHIP PAN THE MAN IS NO LONGER THERE. THE BOY COMPLETELY FORGETS ABOUT THE BALL AND RUNS TO HIS PARENTS.

HE LOOKS DOWN TO HIS PALM.

TILT SHOT HE IS HOLDING SAND. HE LOOKS BACK AT HIS PARENTS. THEY ARE CALLING HIM.

FATHER: ALEX WE’RE GOING. HE RUNS.

END OF PART TWO.

PART THREE

INT. THE BOYS BEDROOM BUT IT IS SEEMINGLY DIFFERENT THE YEARS HAVE CHANGED AND SO HAS THE LITTLE BOY. ALL OVER HIS ROOM ARE PICTURES OF THE FIGURE. PAN AROUND THE ROOM THERE IS EVEN A CLAY FIGURINE. THE ROOM HAS A GLOOMY EERIE FEEL TO IT.

STOP ON THE BOY SITTING AT HIS DESK. GRADUAL CLOSE UP. HE IS SKYPING HIS GIRLFRIEND. THEY’RE ARGUING.

MID CONVERSATION. SHOT REVERSE SHOT ON SCREEN AND ON HIM.

GIRLFRIEND:… YOU’RE NEVER THERE FOR ME I LOOKED LIKE A FOOL TONIGHT.

ALEX: I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO.

GIRLFRIEND: I WANT YOU TO ACT NORMAL, ALEX!

ALEX IS LOOKING AT A PAD ON THE TABLE HIS LATEST DRAWING OF THE FIGURE.

ALEX: HUH!

GIRLFRIEND: YOU’RE NOT EVEN PAYING ATTENTION. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

ALEX: DRAWING.

GIRLFRIEND: NOT ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR PICTURES. ALEX IT’S REALLY CREEPY. YOU’RE SCARING ME AT THE MOMENT. THAT’S IT I CAN’T STAND IT ANYMORE.

ALEX: WHAT? LIL?! BABE!

GIRLFRIEND: SEE YA ALEX!

SHE LOGS OFF.

ALEX: LIL? BABE? AHHHHHH.

HE SHOUTS.

SHOT ON HIM HE LOOKS AT THE PICTURE OF THE FIGURE AND STARTS TO RIP IT UP. THE CAMERA PANS ONTO ANOTHER PICTURE ON THE WALL HIS HAND COMES INTO VIEW AS HE RIPS THEM OFF THE WALL AND STARTS TO TEAR THEM UP. HE FINALLY COMES TO THE CLAY FIGURINE AND THROWS IT AGAINST THE WALL. HE FALLS TO THE FLOOR DISTRAUGHT.

BACKWARDS TRACKING SHOT OF THE ROOM AND THE STATE IT IS IN.

CUT CLOSE UP OF ALEX. HE JUMPS AS HIS PHONE GOES.

BIRDS EYE SHOT OF HIM AND THE PHONE. HE PICKS UP THE PHONE.

CLOSE UP OF PHONE. IT’S AN UNKNOWN NUMBER HE OPENS THE TEXT.

IT READS

“TOO BAD MATE”

HE DELETES IT.

ECU ON HIS EYES THEY SHOWS TERROR.

END OF PART THREE.

PART FOUR.

EXT. ALEX IS SITTING ON HIS OWN WAITING FOR SOMEONE. HE GLANCES AT HIS WATCH.

OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT. HIS MATES ARE COMING TOWARDS HIM WITH DRINKS.

THEY SIT DOWN AND HAVE A CHAT. THEY’RE ALL DRINKING THERE PINTS HE FINISHES AND TURNS TO LOOK AT THE TELEVISION. THERE’S A MATCH ON.

HE LOOKS DOWN AND THE HEAD OF THE CLAY FIGURINE IS SITTING IN HIS EMPTY PINT GLASS.

TILT SHOT. THE MAN IS STANDING THERE SIMLING HE PULLS HIS HOOD OFF AND SMILES ALEX MOVES UP. THE MAN SITS DOWN. HE STARTS TO SPEAK.

MAN: OOH THIS IS A GOOD MATCH.

ALEX: Y-Y-Y-YOUR…………

THE MAN TURNS HIS HEAD AND SMILES.

ECU INTO HIS EYE THE CAMERA TURNS SLIGHTLY.UNTIL WE GET A FULL SHOT OF THE EYE.

END OF PART FOUR.

PART FIVE.

THE EVENTS THAT HAVE ALL HAPPENED REWIND BUT IN THE MAN’S POV.

EVERYTIME WE SEE ALEX IT GOES IN FAST REWIND. BUT HEN SLOWS DOWN TO UNVEIL THE MAN’S FACE.

FINALLY TO THE POINT WHERE THE MAN PICKS UP THE CLAY HEAD PUTS A BLANKET OVER A SLEEPING TEENAGER ALEX AND STEPS BACKWARDS. AS HE STEPS BACKWARDS HE VANISHES.

END OF PART FIVE

PART SIX.

CAMERA PULLS OUT OF SHOT OF THE MANS EYE AND SHAKES HANDS WITH ALEX. HE STANDS UP LOOKS AT THE MATCH ON SCREEN WHILST SOMEONE SCORES THEY ALL SCREAM AND CHEER WHILST ALEX IS LOOKING ABASHED AT THE MAN. POV SHOT OF THE MAN HE LOOKS OUT INTO THE DOOR.

ECU OF HIS FOOT. HE LIFTS IT UP AND STOMPS WITH THAT HE IS GONE.

END OF PART SIX.

BLACKOUT.

What Influence Can a Poster Have?

Film posters are a very important way of advertising films. They are mainly displayed in popular places, over cities and  on the sides of buses and buildings. Vary rarely will you see a poster advertising a short film. It's usually Hollywood films with a large advertising budget that use this money for large poster campaigns.

Posters are made to be eye-catching and fairly to the point. If the advertisers want to indicate that it's an action movie, then the audience who seeks out action films want to know this and will expect to see cliches, like gun, explosions and fast cars... Maybe a tank if they're lucky. This kind of thing if made to lure and hence influence people to see the film.

Another way posters can influence people into watching it is through quotes. Usually along the bottom of a poster you'll find a quote with typical text within it, such as "a must see!" Or "you can't miss it!" This will commonly be accompanied by a rating out of 5, typically no lower than 4 stars, as they want to make you think it's a good film. Seeing these and assuming they're from loyal and totally un-bribed sources should theoretically convince audience members that this is a fantastic film, making them want to see it. 

-RM (Edited and added to by BW)

Film Poster Mock-Up

In order to make our pitch, we needed to produce a mock of our film's poster. I knew what I wanted it to look like, however capturing the image how I wanted proved to be difficult, especially due to lighting issues. Despite this, I'm pleased with the outcome of it. 

The concept of the poster is likely to be the one used.

The editing I've done on Adobe Photoshop revolved a lot of issues, taking advantage of adjustment layers and altering curves. The original image was very bright on the face so I dimmed it. I also wanted the person behind Ben to look like a shadow, giving the implemented idea of being "shadowed" or "followed". As our film is about time travel, I wanted there to be questions asked about the film poster. This question would be about the figure behind the main character, attracting people to see the film in order to find out.

As you can tell from the backdrop of some photos, we did use the studio first. And although we could create some cool lighting, in the end we decide to use the more natural lighting outside because we wanted the poster to have a natural feel. This is because we didn't want the lighting to look face as we thought it looked a bit tacky. And the wall looks cooler.

This is Rachels first concept design of our poster. I think it looks pretty good. But don't hold us to the 22nd of December cinema release date... Plus there's a "t" missing from Chloe's last name. Also Jacob isn't in our group, he's just the guy standing behind me.

-RM (Edited and added to by BW)

The Audience Interview: What have we learnt?

From the data which we've compiled, we have an idea of what our audience expects from any short film. We also know what they want from our short film and what they don't want.

So, what do they think short film is? The majority rightly know that a short film  has a duration that is up to 40 minutes in length. I expected them to say it was only 10 minutes. Meaning they have more knowledge on the subject than previously thought. 
Others in the audience only describe short film as having a duration of around 15 minutes, while not wrong, it shows that some people don't have as much knowledge on the subject as others within our audience.
One person also described short film as being "artsy" and "experimental". I like this because it shows that some, while a small percentage, of the audience expect what we are aiming for. They're also thinking outside the box.

A lot of the audience have seen short films before. However, the films they have seen are mainly those from Disney Pixar. This is nothing like our film at all, which could be an issue. Because the audience have seen nothing like it, they could be deterred from enjoying it because it's unfamiliar. Alternatively, they could enjoy the change.

The way the audience consume short film is generally through 3 methods. The first and most common is through cinema. They don't go to the cinema specifically for the short film though, it was just screened before a feature film.
The second most common is, surprisingly, at a different public screening. But it was a student film shown at this school, so perhaps this is an anomaly. It doesn't seem that the members of the audience openly seek out short films, sadly.
The third way is through television. They said that they simply sat and watched it. Not particularly interesting, but it's third most common way of short film consumption according to our survey.
This all means that the best way to get our film seen is apparently to get it shown at cinemas before feature length screenings or at public screenings. Sadly though, getting our film into the cinemas isn't realistic. However, we can have a public screening in school, the second most popular option. Effectively, we could have our own mini-film-festival, showing our film amongst those of other students.

What do the audience expect from short films? They expect the plot to be simple. I assume this is because it's harder to develop an elaborate plot in a shorter time frame. But if there was an elaborate plot in a short space of time, then it may be hard to follow.
In terms of characters, they all expected less characterisation, again this is probably because the short time frame isn't god for the development of lots of characters.
Some people expect short film to be more experimental, artsy and hence more original than feature length films.

The actors that are generally expected by are audience are unknown actors. The audience don't expect to see bigger faces in short film. They think it's more likely to be actors who want to get there face out there in attempts to get famous.

And the finale, what did they think of our idea? Luckily, all of them told us that they liked the idea and the concept. Hopefully this wasn't just them being nice to us.
They all said that they thought the film would be good, so long as it isn't too complicated. And what have we learnt from that? We need to make the plot interesting, yet not too hard to follow, as this would seem to make the audience lose interest.
Our audience won't have vary many expectations either. The reason for this is they have no experience with short films. This means we are more free to do what we want, in terms of mise-en-scene, camera angles, editing style and sound.
-BW

Tempus - Title Concept

It's essentially a timeline.

-BW

Tempus - Plot Synopsis

"Tempus" is the Latin word for "time". It's also the only title for a movie we, as a group, could agree on.

One person’s timeline is interrupted by a time traveller who’s leaving mysterious messages throughout their life.

These notes include:

The points in their life where the notes appear are: Early Childhood (1-2 years), Childhood (7-10 years), Late teenager (16-18), Early Adulthood (19-21).

Part 1:
A child is playing with their favourite toy, they leave and come back to it, it then has a mysterious note on it. At this point, they may simply discard it, but it happened.

Part2:

An older child meets a mysterious figure, the figure gives the, an object of relevance, they go to tell their parents about is, the figure then disappears before the parents see them.

Part 3:

A teenager, obsessed with this figure, has lots of drawings of this figure, though no clear face is shown. A girlfriend breaks up with them because she thinks they’re crazy in this scene. The main character discards the figure and seems to throw them away from their life.

Part 4:

In a local pub, the main character is seen laughing with friends. Another friend enters the pub; they’ve bought a new person with them, the mysterious figure (though this is currently unknown to the main character). They get talking, the figure hands something to the main character. It has something to do with the object handed to them as a child. They remember and a sequence of reverse footage is shown, then the sequences are played from the point of view of the mysterious figure. A reaction shot of the main character is shown as they realize. “Y-you’re-“stumbles the main character “Yep!” says the figure. POOF! The mysterious figure disappears, leaving the main character speechless.

-BW

The Audience Interview

We interviewed potential audience members in order to get feedback which we'll use when we do some further planning on our film.


More info on this later.









-RM, CM and BW

New Lighting Equipment

The media department have bought some new lighting and studio equipment. In preparation for our short film, NOVA Team, particularly Rachel, our chosen photographer, has been experimenting with the new toys. We tried using numerous filters, including a red one and two others which weren't coloured, but fragmented and faded the light.

Emily, our model.

Rachel also used a desaturation effect while taking some of the photos.This is an example of the desaturated image. The aim of this experimental photo shoot was to test out idea we have for our future film poster. In this image, Emily's face is highly lit and her facial features are clear, rather than shadowed which is what would have happened in natural light. 
Though I cannot image why we desaturate an image to this level in our actual poster, I could see a little desaturation being used to remove and ultra bright colours.

The image to the left has been captured by lowering the shutter speed and changing the camera settings to portrait. This means it has had time to capture all the light and the movement. We particularly like the effect it gave. We could see our film poster involving a similar type of effect, as the trails of like remind us of the movement of time. The image on the right is me. It too has been captured at a low shutter speed, except I sat still in the dark while a light was waved behind my head. It was also quickly flashed on my face to light it too. Apart from looking rather professional, its given a really cool effect, which we could combine with the previous one. If we had two models, one could stay still while the other slowly walked around. This would show how one moves around in time as the other watches. We could also do something cool with the lights if we could justify it. 

This image is just of the set-up. As you can hopefully see, we have 1 screen and 3 lights. We used one light with a filter and one with an umbrella to bounce the light  The third light had no other. We turned off the room lights, only using these lights to illuminated the model.







Rachel really likes the image on the left. The light bounces off her eyes and face, leaving a slight shadow on the side of her face. This is effective and quite flattering. 

The reason these images may be blurred is due to us not being familiar with the cameras used. Me and Rachel both have our own cameras which we know well and will hopefully utilise well when doing our actual shoots.




- RM (Edited by BW)