Character Costumes

We want our character to suit a look of a teenage boy that loves music, has a relaxed attitude towards life, and wears casual clothes to reflect that. We want to show this in his clothing.
I've drawn a picture of the image I have in my head of what Niall should look like. The clothing is casual, and looks like someone who acts that way, but is ready for anything. His attire looks like it would be an easy way to stay warm, but at the same time comfortable, and easy to travel in.
There's another image below, which is an example of the kind of shirt/hoodie I'm looking for.

Further Location Research

I went out to certain areas around Norwich and took photographs of locations we had previously discussed and were enthusiastic about using in the film, as well as some other possible locations.

Picture 1 was the shot I was most keen on finding. This is where the opening two minutes finishes and ends and had to right. It's a plain bench, no graffiti, no litter, no rubbish bins. It's quite obviously in a park, and the natural background of the trees, the grass and the bushes give a tranquil and calming feel which fits in perfectly  with the song  we have chosen and the ethos of the opening itself.

Picture 2 & 3 are similar shots of paths and walkways within Chapelfield Gardens and for me just confirmed that Chapelfield Gardens is the right choice of location for what will make up most of our opening.

Chapelfield Gardens was a location we already knew well, and didn't need to think about too much. The real location research was to find locations within Norwich that would work well for the shots where our character (Niall Fletcher) has left home and is walking towards the park through various locations in the centre of Norwich. Most of the possible locations I found were alleyways or quiet streets, but Picture 4 is a location that particularly caught my eye as I believe it has the makings for what could be a strong sequence to fit into the opening. The bridge has the potential to be shot from below, showing Niall walking across the bridge but filming the shot from below. The tunnel below the bridge has a lot of interesting looking graffiti in it and if I was to film on a sunny day like when I took the photograph, I think a shot of Niall walking from the dark tunnel into the light outside could look really impressive.

Picture 1:   Bench - Chapelfield Gardens

Picture 2:   Scenery shot - Chapelfield Gardens

Picture 3:   Scenery shot - Chapelfield Gardens

Picture 4:   Bridge off an estate near the forum in Norwich

Release Forms

I will use the following release forms when conducting my short film productionand research.
Location Release Form
I hereby give consent for the following property........... to be used in the filming of Strange World...........by Tom Dallas During the period of (dates)...........Signed...........Print...........

Image Release From
I hereby give consent for my image to be sued as an on screen performer in the filming of Strange World...........by Tom Dallas...........During the period of (dates)...........Signed...........Print......


It is very unlikely that i'll need these release forms because we are filming the video in a public park which is available for anyone to use without permision. The forms would be needed if i wished to film on a location that was privatley owned.

Mood Board

Production Company

We have decided to name our production company Optimus Productions. This is because 'optimus' is the latin word for 'the best'. And we want our project and production company to be THE BEST! We have created the logo and background for our production company which will we show at the very beginning of our film...

Music

For our opening 2 minutes we needed to find a song performed by an unsigned group/artist that fit the mood and stroyline. We were looking for a slow, acoustic and a rather soppy song as it fit the mood of the opening 2 minutes. A while back we found an unsigned group on youtube called Obadiah Parker who we really liked! One of his songs particularly appealed to us and we realised that it was perfect for our film. Although Obadiah Parker is an unsigned group, we decided to send the lead singer Matt Weddle an email asking for his permission to use the song just incase he wasn't happy about it. A couple weeks later Matt replied saying he was more than happy for us to use the song for our project.

Pitch!

We had to pitch our idea for our film and 2 minute opening to our media teacher and two other senior members of staff. The following week we recieved positive and negative feedback from how our pitch went:

Positives

- Fantastic location ideas
- Certainly fits the target audience
- Good overall idea
- Appeals to couples - lucrative market
- Good ude of powerpoint
- Clearlypassionate about idea
- Potentially a great opening 2 minutes

Negatives

- Don't run away with your passion for the project, make sure you listen to people's advice
- Make sure you have a mix of ages...Parent actor needs to be convincing. Parents are huge facotrs in young people's lifes and shape development.

Our media teacher also announced the 'top 3 pitches' and the 'top 3 ideas'... And our pitch and idea happened to be in the top 3 for both which was was ver encouraging! This gave us further confidence in our idea and we believe we can make a great fil opening.