Page Summary
This page contains the pre – production for my short film project. The brief for this project can be seen below.
Link to brief – unit-9-2017-brief-1
Synopsis
The genre I plan on doing for my short film will be a political comedy. The main subject I plan on focusing on is Brexit. My comedy sketches will be based on the following subjects: Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK and Past political leaders trying to become Prime minister (ED Miliband and Nick Clegg). I will present most of these topics as comedy sketches for my target audience, with my own twist of humour to.
Narrative
Beginning – A character called Samuel works for the local government and is a respected politician. He is called in to meet his senior manager called Bruce to discuss his progress. Bruce tells him that he has been promoted from his job in the local government to a job in the national government. Samuel asks Bruce why he is being promoted. However, Bruce doesn’t give Samuel the answer he wants which leads to Samuel getting frustrated with the lack of explanation for his promotion. ‘Bruce’ then rings up Samuel’s line manager Martin so he can help him provide an explanation for his promotion.
Middle – Martin walks into the room and greets Samuel. Martin and Bruce only give brief details of why Samuel is being promoted. Samuel questions why he is being promoted and why they cannot promote his other colleges instead (Brendan and Edward. They explain to him they are not promoting the two other colleagues because they are obsessed with two past political leaders that failed to become the prime minister. Samuel hesitates after their explanation. Martin then tells Samuel that their superior Raymond also known as the big boss will give more details about ‘Samuel’s’ promotion.
Ending – Raymond’ walks into the room and tells Samuel the full details of his promotion. ‘Raymond’ tells ‘Samuel’ he will be in charge of talking about post brexit plans. This annoys Samuel as he prefers to work locally rather than work in London. He then scolds the three other characters and tells them to go for the promotion instead. Samuel then walks out and his three superiors then smile at each other. After Samuel walks out of the room and he can sense something behind him. He finds his other work colleagues giving him the thumbs up wishing luck on his promotion. The film will end from here.
Extra Synopsis notes
Character Bio’s
Samuel – (The main protagonist of the film) – Samuel is a politician who works for the local government. His main area of work is working on post Brexit and how it will affect local governments in the UK . He can easily get frustrated if nothing makes sense to him and has a preference to work locally rather elsewhere he likes to eat egg mcmuffin.
Appearance – Blonde hair, Blue eyes and innocent expression. Wears a suit with a white shirt and green tie.
Bruce – (Samuel’s senior manager and a supporting character) – Bruce believes Samuel has a lot of potential to expand his career in politics and chooses to promote him. Bruce also hates past party leaders that failed to become Prime Minister (EG: Nick Clegg). He doesn’t like to dwell on the past to much and wants to always look ahead for the future.
Appearance – bright clothing, funky tie and latest gadgets (google watch)
Martin – (Supporting character and line manager to Samuel) – Martin is Samuel’s day to day manager. Like Bruce, Martin also believes Samuel has the potential to expand his career. A major difference between Bruce and himself is that Martin finds ways of making situations easier and less stressful. In short, he is very clever at making things easier for people.
Appearance – Slim, lanky, wears glasses , bookish look and bowtie + waistcoat
Raymond – ( Supporting character and the superior manager) – Raymond is the superior manager. Raymond believes that anyone can succeed in politics if they are willing to take the job on and do it. In short, he believes anyone can have the potential to succeed if they try. He gets out of breath easily and sometimes uses his inhaler.
Appearance – Overweight, tight clothes
Treatment
Title – The title for my short will be called ‘Breakfast’. I have decided this as the title for my short film because it is a play on words for Brexit and will be featured during the comedy sketches.
Format – My short will be uploaded to Youtube and Vimeo. For equipment the main camera I will be using is a Nikon Camera (DSLR). For backup cameras I will use a JVC and a iPhone 7.
Budget – The budget for my short film will be a micro budget.
Rationale – My short film will last for at least 5 minutes.
Target audience – I will be aiming my product at young and older adults. I am aiming my product at this audience because from my research I have found out that comedy is a popular genre among young and older adults.
Style – The genre for my short film will be a political satire.
Storyboard Artist Analysis
The storyboard Artist I will be analysing is man called ‘Oscar Wright’. Oscar Wright is a storyboard artist who has created storyboards for famous films such as: Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs the world and Wonder Woman. Below you will see two storyboards of his I have analysed.
Hot Fuzz Storyboard
This is a storyboard created by Oscar for the film Hot Fuzz.
The storyboard has been drawn very well and is very clear. This shows Oscar has clearly understood the director’s vision for the cinematography of the film and has done his best to make sure it looks accurate when it comes to filming the scene.
An important part of this storyboard is the arrows. The arrows show what the characters of the film will be doing with their props when it comes to filming. Furthermore, this will also help the camera crew and editor because the camera crew will be able to understand what shots need to be created and the editor will understand how these shots will work together during the post production for the film.
Scott Pilgram vs the World Storyboard
This storyboard was created by Oscar for Scott Pilgrim vs the world.
Once again, Oscar’s storyboard shows he has drawn it very well and is very clear. An important part of this storyboard is the text. The text is important as it shows what the camera will be doing to develop the story in this film and the numbering for the scene/page shows where this scene in the film will take place.
These details show that Oscar wants the story to develop a lot for the technical production and make sure the technical crew understand himself and the director’s vision for the film.
In addition, during an interview Oscar was asked about his storyboard that he created for this film. He stated that it was important for him to be influenced by the comic’s art style and make his drawings look good ,but also make the storyboard simple and do its job.
This answer by Oscar shows that he likes to be influenced by different art styles as it will develop his work on future storyboards he creates and wants his work to look good. Moreover, his answer for keeping the storyboard simple shows he wants to make it easy for the technical crew to understand his vision.
His answer can also be found on a blog I found when I researched this storyboard.
Link to blog – Scott Pilgram vs the World interview
Shot list
Scene 1 Mcdonalds Stratford Upon Avon Western Road
Shots 1 – 11 (These shots will be video clips from the computer)
Zoom out shot of Samuel
Medium Close up shot X3 of Samuel sighing
Close Up shot of phone
POV shot of Samuel Checking phone
Extreme close up shot of Samuel’s Surprised reaction
POV shot of phone
Medium shot of Samuel panicking
Medium close up shot of Samuel Picking up bag
Medium close up shot of Samuel putting on coat
Close up shot of Samuel zipping up his coat
Close up shot of Samuel putting on his bag
Eye level shot of Samuel
Pan to the left showing Samuel going to the counter
Eye level shot of Samuel asking for Egg Mcuffin
Eye level shot of Employee getting the Egg Mcuffin for Samuel
Eye level shot of Samuel waiting patiently and POV shot of him looking at the time on his phone
Eye level shot to POV shot of Employee handing Egg Mcuffin to Samuel and him thanking the employee
Long shot of Samuel coming out of McDonalds
Close up shot of Samuel quickly biting the Egg Mcuffin
Close up shot of Samuel’s legs running
Scene 2 – CG33 Media Department
Close up shot of ground and Samuel’s legs
Pan up shot of Samuel panicking
Close up shot of Samuel opening the door
Zoom out shot of Samuel arriving to meet Bruce
Zoom out medium shot of Samuel closing the door and facing towards Bruce
Medium long shot of Bruce frustrated with Samuel
Medium panning shot of Samuel apologizing
Eye level shots of Samuel and Bruce Talking
Eye level shot of Bruce talking about Samuel’s promotion
Eye level shot of Samuel being confused
Eye level shot of Bruce explaining Samuel’s promotion
Crash zoom shot of Samuel’s shocked reaction
Medium shot of Bruce explaining Samuel’s further details of his promotion and throwing his phone into his hand
Close up shot of Bruce dialing a number to call Martin
Medium close up shot of Martin coming in through the door
Close up shot of Martin saying hello to Samuel and questioning about his promotion
Eye level shot of Martin and Bruce talking to Samuel about his promotion
Eye level shot of Samuel asking why he is still being promoted
Medium shot of Bruce and Martin explaining his promotion
Eye level shot of Samuel trying to explain why he won’t be good for the job and preferring his job
Medium shot of Martin and Bruce explaining why Samuel will be good for his job
Eye level shot of Samuel arguing with Martin and Bruce explaining why he isn’t suited for the promotion
Medium shot of Martin and Bruce explaining the benefits of his promotion
Close up shot of Martin telling Samuel if he is okay with the superior manager coming in (Raymond)
Eye level shot of Samuel saying he doesn’t want Raymond coming in
Medium shot of Bruce and Martin explaining it will make their explanation a lot more easier
Panning left close up shot of Raymond coming and Panning right medium shot of coming to the desk
Medium shot of Raymond telling Samuel about his news
Medium shots of Samuel and Raymond talking
Medium shot of Raymond explaining why Samuel should go for the promotion
Eye level shot of Samuel asking why he is the best choice for the promotion
Medium shot of Raymond explaining why London is a great place to work and explains to Samuel that he will be starting on Monday
Medium tilt up shot of Samuel getting up from his chair and shouting at the three managers
Medium three level shot of Samuel and his managers. The camera will then pan to the left as he leaves
Medium shot of the three managers smiling at each other
Close up shot of Samuel coming out of the door and sensing something behind him
Crash zoom of Samuel’s face reacting in shock
Close up shot of a sign saying good luck. The camera will then track out to show Samuel’s colleagues giving him the thumbs up
Eye level shot of Samuel’s face in shock and then swearing
Crew list
Director, Producer , Editor and Bruce Actor – Sammy Gabrria – Nivas
Samuel Actor – Dylan Hulland
Martin Actor – Jackson Clifford
Raymond Actor – Mark Whitehorse
Camera Operator – Kireon Mckeown
Sound Recordist – Kireon Morfill
6 Extras for Scene 2 – Josh Wood Stacey, Joe Nelson, Lydia Dawson, Charlotte Taylor and Alice Thurley
Below you will see, the following people who helped during the production of this film when other crew members were unavailable.
Camera operator – Joe Nelson
Camera operator – Bilal Raja
Runner – Matthew Malin
Short Film Analysis
The film I analysed is a short film called ‘Trouble Agent’. My analysis can be seen in a pdf document below.
Location Recce
Location 1
Office Scene
Postive
- There is plenty of room to place equipment anywhere and enough space for filming.
- A lot of chairs can be used for the actors to sit on during filming and when having a break.
Negative
- If the carpet is dirty then someone could get sick from the microbes on the carpet. This room must be cleaned before any filming can take place.
- If there any broken chairs or tables they must be removed straight away before anyone could it sit on it and hurt themselves.
- If the room has a bad smell then someone could get sick from it. Therefore windows must be opened so the room does not smell and has a fresh air.
Location 2 – McDonald’s Stratford Upon Avon Western Road
Positives
- Plenty of space to place equipment anywhere.
- Lots of room inside the fast room restaurant to film the scenes.
Negatives
- The location for this short film is in public, which means wherever the filming for the scenes takes place, people could walk by during filming which can cause the production to slow down.
- Depending on how many people are their in the restaurant the noise level is a huge problem during the filming.
How to counter the problems
- Make sure to contact the fast food restaurant’s food manager to check if they are okay with the production crew filming in the restaurant.
- Make sure a crew member is on guard while filming is taking place.
Equipment and Props list
- 4 suits for the main characters and other smart clothing for extras. This is the costume design for my short film.
- Bag
- Coat
- Two phones
- Card board sign saying ‘Good Luck!’
- Laptop
- McDonalds Egg McMuffin burger
Extra notes
The bag and Laptop will be provided by me. For costumes actors and extras will have to get their own suit/smart clothing for filming. The McDonalds Egg McMuffin burger will be brought when filming is taking place.
Filming Equipment
- Nikon Camera (Main camera for filming)
- JVC and iPhone 7 (Back up camera)
- Lighting Stands
- Boom microphone
- Sound box
- Dolly Tripod
Colour Pallet
The colour pallet won’t be important for this project, however I have looked at a website that breaks down the colour pallet and how it is used in filmmaking.
Link to website – Colour Pallet website
Short film Script
Below, you will see the script I have created for this short film.
Filming Revised Production Schedule
Below, you will see the revised production schedule I have created. It shows my updated schedule that shows the new days my cast and crew will be filming during the week.
Risk Assessment
Below, you will see the PDF risk assessment I have created for my short film.
Sammy Productions 
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