…. I’d much rather say hello.

Hello is a new adventure

(Harwell, 2018)

Figure 1 Hola Image (Google 2018)

Figure 2 Hello Splash (Google 2018)

Unit 1: Introduction to Media Processes & Technical Skills in Creative Media

Production

Unit 2: Introduction to Design & Research Skills in Creative Media Production

Unit 3: Introduction to Professional Practice in Creative Media Production

Unit 4: Critical & Contextual Awareness in Creative Media Production

WEEK 9 - CHAPTER 1

PRESENTATION OF INITIAL IDEAS FOR HELLO PROJECT

First idea

Second idea

WEEK 10 - CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH FOR APPROVED IDEA AND PRE-PRODUCTION PLANNING

AND

PRODUCTION APPROVAL PRESENTATION

Type of Research

Subject to be Researched

Research Question

List your Sources or the form or the method of your Research

Literature review

Genre

What makes something funny?

https://www.psychbytes.com/what-makes-something-funny-benign-violation-theory/

http://socialpsychonline.com/2016/04/psychology-of-humor-funny-comedy/

http://www.pnas.org/content/112/23/7105

What Makes Something Funny? Benign Violation Theory – psych bytes

Psychology of Humour: What Makes Something Funny? – social psych online

Opinion: What makes things humorous - PNAS

Exploration

Location

Props

Narrative

character

Is my location suitable?

What props are best used for a comedic purpose?

What elements are vital for a comedy?

Is a younger person more suitable than an older person?

I will check out different locations to see if I’m in anybody’s way and to see if the scene is achievable in that location. I will take photos and ask a focus group which location is best.

I will do a survey and write down a list of what they told me and choose what one best fits in my short film.

I will watch top 5 comedy films/T.V shows to ascertain what is common about the narrative.

I will ask a group of people and get their opinion on the matter.

Experimentation

Camera

Lighting

Sound

Editing

Can I make the video look natural?

How can I make the lighting look balanced?

What objects create the best sound effects?

What cuts work best for comedies?

I will look at certain angles that look professional but also natural at the same time so it doesn’t look too staged.

I will look around my locations and check out multiple light sources and see if the natural light from the sun is good lighting or if I need my own.

I will gather a bunch of objects and practice on some Foley sounds and work out what the best outcome is.

I will experiment on the editing and see what the best cuts are; I will test if they need replays or if they need slow motion.

Target Audience

Genre

Competition

Why does slapstick comedy work for this narrative?

What is the competition?

https://www.britannica.com/art/slapstick-comedy

https://www.thoughtco.com/slapstick-comedy-definition-801516

https://thedramateacher.com/slapstick/

Slapstick - Encyclopaedia Britannica

What is Slapstick Comedy? – ThoughtCo.

Slapstick – The Drama Teacher

I believe that Mr Bean is similar to my film because it has that whole stupidity to it. Both films are about someone who is clumsy, take Mr Beans Holiday for example an unfortunate event happens leaving him in a certain situation and it’s the same with me where I say hello and an unfortunate event happens.

Everything has tied in with my original contextual analysis, it is all coming to how I want it. I now know that my influence to this is Mr Bean because he always has something bad happen to him sadly. My motivation is still the same, I still want to tell a story about a curse of the word hello and I want it to still be funny.

Almost everyone likes to watch a comedy movie because it’s great fun and it’s something that people end up talking about by saying stuff like ‘oh have you seen this scene or can you believe what they did?’ So since I am doing a comedy short film I will be asking the question what makes something funny?

Well there’s always an occurring theme in this and there’s one in particular called Benign Violation Theory and this was created by Peter McGraw who is a psychology professor and the director of the humour research lab. So it’s quite simple, you have two parts to it the Violation part and the benign part.

So the violation part to this is all about how you say something that is not meant to be spoken about and you’re going to get some giggles out of it. But it has to be harmless, and that is where the benign part comes in because of that we know that the person or animal is ok so you don’t feel bad for laughing.

Comedy also has that surprise element to it, so when it comes to pranks, harmless ones, then you would be shocked first and then go into a laughing fit.

So to my understanding comedy is almost always about something bad happening which makes you laugh but it’s not something too extreme to the point where it no longer becomes funny and can cause backlash. So for my film it needs to be funny but not over the top to the point where people no longer find it funny

Locations

Picture 1 is of Hartsdown park/Tivoli woods.

Picture 2 is of Margate beach

Picture 3 is of Hartsdown park

These are the few places that I would like to film my short film in. As the woods are mostly always quiet I want to do it there because it’s out of the way and I believe it can really help with one of my scenes. The beach is quite open and it goes quite a bit of distance, also depending on what time of the day it is people don’t like to go out later because it’s colder by the beach. The park is a place that will be easy to film in because its right next to the woods and you rarely get a lot of people on there. I asked a group of people if these locations best fits my description and they agree that these places are best for my film and that all I need would be in those locations. Most of my scenes would be filmed in these three areas as it’s easy to access and it’s close to me.

Props

Props are a big thing when it comes to a production. Certain productions have occurring objects and I would like to see what occurring object is used in comedy films. This is a short list that some people have thought about.

· Banana skin on the floor.

· Fish slap to the face.

· Tomatoes chucked at a terrible comedian on stage.

· And pie to the face.

These were the many things that they found was an occurring theme in some old comedy films. Another thing was the whole waking up the next morning to either find that you stole an animal or you stole a baby but that is a bit too far for a production like mine. These aren’t really things that I would need in my film but it’s great for if I was to do a typical comedy stand-up

Narrative

When it comes to television programmes/ film comedies they are similar, it is usually based around a group of friends or just a group of people and they are living their life, doing every day to day things. You would get the few odd jokes or a moment when something happens causing them to be in trouble which triggers an audience reaction such as laughs or gasps. This makes me question whether I should add a laughing track to my film. I will test it out in the editing process.

Character

I have asked a group of people the question is a younger person more suitable than an older person? This was their response. There was a mixture of responses. One said that you’re going to laugh more at a younger person getting hurt than an older person because their more fragile. Others had said they would laugh at both but when it comes to an older person they will start to wonder afterwards if the person is ok and if they’re seriously injured. One also said that if they know it was staged then they would find it funny. As this is the response I would find it better using a younger person as people don’t really question it as much

Camera

I wanted to go for a few natural looks and do the usual long shot, mid shots etc. I want to do stuff like the 180 degree rule and match on action. I want to capture it so that when it’s at the right angle you can only see me fall whereas on the other side there could be some kind of mat to keep me from hurting myself.

Lighting

I want to make my film look as natural as possible so I wanted to use the natural light from the sun but I also don’t want it looking too blue or too yellow so I need to work on my colour balancing.

Sound

I would need to makes sounds such as slapping, water sounds, sounds of leaves etc. so I would need to use stuff such as maybe just my hands, water in a bucket or a bottle, a bag and many different things. The sound effects that I would mainly need are things such as slapping sounds, crunchy sounds for the sand, and sounds of leaves for trees in the background. Mainly outside noises that are heard quite a bit.

Editing

When watching videos online it tends to show people doing something such as falling over and they would replay that back but in slow motion to make it seem funny so I wanted to edit that and see what the outcome is to see whether it was something I liked or not. I will edit it to see the fall at a different angle to the way I’m walking.

Why does slapstick comedy work for this narrative?

Slapstick is known as physical humour or physical comedy and it’s known as stuff like smacks in the head, poking in the eye, falling down, banana skins and many other things. My film is kind of like that except I want the scenes to be natural looking. Another thing when it comes to slapstick is that it usually is about the character not talking and you see the comedy through their actions. Which is practically what this project is about.

What is the competition?

I believe that Mr Bean is similar to my film because it has that whole stupidity to it. Both films are about someone who is clumsy, take Mr Beans Holiday for example an unfortunate event happens leaving him in a certain situation and it’s the same with me where I say hello and an unfortunate event happens. I have come to also realise that Amy Schumer is a lot like the character in the film i.e. clumsy and funny

Costume

Exploration of suitable costumes for my main female character – The girl who is very clumsy. My research question is what costume would make someone look clumsy? I want to find out which costume looks best, so I asked a group of people which costume appears to look clumsy.

I got these three photos that looked responsible, these were also taken at my main location which will be a woody are

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

I showed this to a group of people. I cropped the head off so that they would only have to look at the costume and not go based off of what the person looks like or what they’re doing. They felt that picture 1 is more of a lazy person who spends time inside a lot. Picture 2 was found to look more mature and the type of person who doesn’t hang out with friends much. So that left me with picture 3, they found that picture 3 looked more like the type that would hang around friends, they look like they’re wearing a funny top and don’t mind getting messy.

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Candidate Name

Danniella Jasper

Pathway

Level 3 Film and TV year 1

Project Title

Hello *whack*

Section 1 : Rationale (approx. 100 words) Minimum 90 Maximum 110

My project is about someone who has something bad happen every time they say hello.

I’m interested in how such a bad thing can happen to someone over one word and that it could ruin them.

I want them to understand that there is a recurring theme of bad luck. I want them to understand that it’s only this one person it is happening to and when know that when she meets up with someone else nothing happens to them.

I think it’s important that they think the person has a lot of bad luck but it’s actually the word that is cursed.

Section 2 : Project Concept (approx. 200 words) Minimum 180 Maximum 220

My media format is a short film.

What I am trying to say is don’t always assume that a word doesn’t hurt someone because it can hurt them more than you realise.

My influences would have to be mainly Mr Bean and a bit of Amy Schumer because they’re both clumsy in the films/programmes they star in and they always get back up and keep doing what they were doing, even if they get hurt again.

I will research the comedy genre and short films to see if what I’m doing can make someone laugh. I will also research my shot types so it looks like I’m getting hurt but I’m not.

My target audience is for people who like comedy and like watching someone get hurt.

My role will be the writer, director and actor. But I would need someone to film behind the camera and to tell me if I’m in shot.

I would need the usual camera and a tripod; I would like to make it look handheld without actually having to hold it due to not wanting it to be shaky.

Section 3 : Evaluation (approx. 50 words) Minimum 45- Maximum 55

I am going to record everything I’ve done through my reflective logs. This is to help keep up to date and to make sure everything makes sense. Everything that I change will be put into the reflective log as well to show that if I had some complications then it’s been documented.

Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format)

Britannica, T. E. o. E., N/A. Slapstick. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/slapstick-comedy[Accessed 28 November 2018]. Bromley, P., 2017. What is Slapstick Comedy?. [Online] Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/slapstick-comedy-definition-801516[Accessed 28 November 2018].

Cash, J., 2006. Slapstick. [Online] Available at: https://thedramateacher.com/slapstick/[Accessed 28 November 2018].McGraw, C. W. a. A. P., 2015. Opinion: What makes things humorous. [Online] Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/23/7105[Accessed 28 November 2018].N/A, 2016. Psychology of Humor: What Makes Something Funny?. [Online] Available at: http://socialpsychonline.com/2016/04/psychology-of-humor-funny-comedy/[Accessed 28 November 2018].Verhaagen, D., 2018. What Makes Something Funny? Benign Violation Theory. [Online] Available at: https://www.psychbytes.com/what-makes-something-funny-benign-violation-theory/[Accessed 28 November 2018].

LOCATION REECE

Date of Survey

27/11/2018

Location

Tivoli woods, Margate

Hartsdown park, Margate

Margate beach

Day of Shoot

5-7th December 2018

Time of Shoot

11am-3pm

Production Contact

No contact

Power Available

Quantity

Batteries

Extension Cords

None needed.

AC Outlets

Quantity

No AC Outlets required.

Reflection Interferences

There’s nothing to reflect on.

Obstructions blocking camera view

Everything is pretty wide so I wouldn’t have anything in the way.

Sprinkler System

None are in the area so that’s not a problem.

Sun Location

The sun should be the main light for two of the locations, park and beach but with the woods there will be trees covering it so I’d have to work out the colour setting on the camera.

View from inside looking out

There will be no footage inside a house or building.

External Surroundings (noise interference)

There may be an interference with cars in the background but I’m going to use a microphone to help cancel out the noise as much as I can.

Type of Floor

Grass/muddy for the park and woods and then sand for the beach.

Type of Wallcovering

There are no walls.

Ceiling Height

No ceiling.

Width of hallways

No hallways.

Width of Doors – for room dimensions, door and window locations (see attached diagram)

No doors.

Permits/Clearances

Police

Parking

Fire Dept

Names of Contacts for Permits/Clearances

Special Props Needed

A ball

External Filming – Traffic Noise

I will be using a microphone close to myself and will be filming most of the sounds separately through Foley.

External Filming – Source of Power available?

Will be using camera with a fully charged battery and bring an extra incase.

External Filming – road access/parking

Will be walking to places as they’re close.

External Filming – public interference

I will find a place that is quite empty and try not to get anyone in shot, if I got a clear view of their face in my video I will blur it out.

Any Additional Location Specific Information/Observation

There a lot of sand so I’m going to have to have someone keeping hold of the bags for the equipment so no sand gets on them. I also need to watch out in case it rains because the field and the woods can get very slippery due to the mud.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

MOOD BOARD AND SYNOPSISTreatment

This is a story about a girl who thinks she is cursed, every time she meets up with her friend and says hello to him something bad happens to her. She has mud chucked at her, a ball chucked at her, she falls into a ditch and also walks into a tree. How much bad luck can you get? But it’s not her actually, it’s the word hello. What will she do with this knowledge? Will she use it to make other people’s day turn bad? Or will she use it to make people aware?

This is about Danniella, a girl with brown hair and the tips dyed blue, she wears average looking clothes that is just a pair of jeans and a top, who every time she says hello something bad happens to her.

The film starts off with Danniella heading to the beach, she wants to head to the beach since it’s usually empty during colder days. She meets up with a friend called John, John looks like a normal teenager who has short hair and wears tracksuits every day. It’s a normal looking day and she says hello to John, as she carries on walking over to John, she accidently falls into a little ditch in the sand, it’s not too deep but deeps enough that no one was able to see it. John ends up laughing at her.

Danniella who already planned to meet up with John, decides that the woods would be a better location as it’s quite empty. She says hello to him and as they’re walking they hear a scream in the distance, Danniella turns around and gets hit in the face with mud.

Danniella is a little bit scared to leave the house since the last two days have been horrible but decides she wants to meet up with John at a park. Everything is going ok and as Danniella is walking towards John, she shouts out hello to him. She hears a shout to the left of her, as she turns around she gets hit in the face with a ball.

Danniella who is feeling a little bit down with bruises all over her decides to go hang out with John again to cheer herself up. As she goes to say hello John says it instead. Danniella feels as if something was about to happen to her but as they hear a shout to the side of them John turns his head instead and gets hit in the face with mud.

Danniella thinks back to all her times she said hello and had something bad happen to her and decides to do a little experimentation.

Danniella goes to the park where she knew her friend Zander would be, Zander is a well-built guy with brown hair that is a little lengthy, you can only ever see him wear shorts or jeans and a top. Danniella gets a sign out and writes the word hello onto it but she wrote it so that it’s backwards and upside down.

Zander sees this and decides to go and check it out. He is a little confused at first as to what it says. He says the word “Hola” and then realises and says the word “Hello”. Danniella stands there with a grin on her face and as Zander goes to turn back around and head back to where he was, he walks into a tree which causes him to stumble back into a big pile of mud.

Danniella starts laughing at him and as she turns around to walk home she herself walks into a tree. Karma.

STORY BOARD

SHOOTING SCRIPT

Location – Margate beach

Storyboard

Shot No.

Action

Dialogue / Commentary

1

Danniella walks towards her friend John and John nods their head.

Danniella - Hello

2

Danniella falls into a sand ditch and John laughs

Location - Tivoli woods

Storyboard

Shot No.

Action

Dialogue / Commentary

3

Danniella meets up with John

Danniella - Hello

4

Danniella hears a shout and turns around to get hit in the face with mud.

Background – Ah!

7

Danniella meets up with John and goes to say hello but John says it first.

John – Hello

8

John hears a shout and turns around to get hit in the face with mud

Background – Ah!

Location – Hartsdown Park

Storyboard

Shot No.

Action

Dialogue / Commentary

5

Danniella walks to meet up with John, she shouts out.

Danniella – HELLO!

6

Danniella looks to her left and gets hit with a ball.

9

Danniella holds a sign that says hello but backwards and upside down

10

Zander reads it and is confused at first.

11

Zander finally figures it out

12

Zander goes around saying hello

Zander – HOLA! HELLO!

13

Zander Walks into a tree

14

Zander steps in mud

15

Danniella laughs at him

16

Danniella walks into a tree

CALL SHEET

Production Title: Hello *whack*

Production Group: Danniella, John

Day:5th – 7th

Month: December

Year: 2018

Shoot Start Time: 11am

Wrap Time: 3-4pm

Location: Tivoli woods, Margate

Hartsdown park, Margate

Margate beach.

Address: No address

Contact Name/Tel No: 01843297852

Main Production Contacts/names

Number & e-mail

Director:

Line Producer:

1st Assistant

Co-director:

Danniella Jasper

Danniella Jasper

Danniella Jasper

Zander O’Donovan

07895 204150

07895 205150

07895 204150

07545646902

Danniellajasper@gmail.com

Danniellajasper@gmail.com

Danniellajasper@gmail.com

Zander.od@gmail.com

Cast

Name/Artiste

Character

Call Time

Contact No

Danniella Jasper

Danniella

11 am

07895 204150

John Tainton

John

11 am

07547 252267

Zander O’Donovan

Zander

11 am

07545646902

Name

Production Role

Call Time

Contact No

Danniella Jasper

Producer

11 am

07895 204150

Danniella Jasper

Director

11 am

07895 204150

Zander O’Donovan

Camera

11 am

07545646902

Zander O’Donovan

Sound

11 am

0754564902

Danniella Jasper

Design

11 am

07895 204150

Lighting

Camera Assistant

Design Assistant

Danniella Jasper

Health+Safety

11 am

07895 204150

Assistant

Production Requirements

Props: Ball, John is in charge of it

Equipment: Standard equipment

Preliminary Schedule – Subject to change

Time

Action

11 am

11:15

11:20

11:50 / 11:55

12:00

12:05

12:35 / 12:55

1:00

1:05

1:35

Register at Location 1

All equipment is set up

Start filming

Finish filming / Register at location 2

All equipment is set up

Start filming

Finish filming / Register at location 3

Everything is set up

Start filming

Stop filming

Travel

Name

Travel Method

Departure time + any additional information

Return time (plus any additional information)

Danniella Jasper

Walking

Leaves at 10:40 to head to location arrive at 11, leave at 11:50 to next location arrive at 11:55, leave at 12:35 to next location arrive at 12:55

Leave at 1:35

John Tainton

walking

Leaves at 10:30 to head to location at 11, leave at 11:50 to next location arrive at 11:55, leave at 12:35 to next location arrive at 12:55

Leave at 1:35

Zander O’Donovan

Bus

10:00 to head to location at 11, leave at 11:50 to next location arrive at 11:55, leave at 12:35 to next location arrive at 12:55

Leave at 1:35

WEEK 12 – CHAPTER 4

POST PRODUCTION OF YOUR PROJECT

WEEK 13 – CHAPTER 5

EVALUATION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

TABLE OF FIGURES