Outline of finalised decision on film in terms of narrative and themes

For our film we have decided to make our film about fate and fortunes. We thought this could be a good idea because although there have been films on fate we could make ours different by having a clown give the fates to the same person four times before going insane and escaping his box to seek out the same man it had been giving the fates to, which slowly but surely get worse and come true each time. We have also decided to set our film in Felixstowe where  the amusements were to create a creepy atmosphere.
We thought that we would set our film into five chapters so that we can show how the man’s luck and fate gets progressively worse. We have got ideas for what we want each fate to be and have thought about designs for the fates to be on card or paper. We also have thought and decided upon making a box for the clown to be in when handing out the fates. In addition we have made a decision as to who would be taking responsibility of each chapter of the film working together on both the opening and closing credits.  I would be responsible for the first two chapters which have the first two fates, Chloe would be responsible for the third chapter and fate, Adele would be in charge of the fourth fate and finally Paige would be responsible for the moment that the clown escapes and pursues the man it gave the fates to. We have decided on a script however still need to determine who our target audience would be and also what exactly our theme would be, however we have made sure that we will keeping our idea to fate and fortunes. And so research can be done to look into superstition. 

My Idea

My idea:  After researching and analysing a few short films I have come up with my own idea for a short film. It would not be classed as a typical showcase film but more artistic by filming the film to go from colourful to black and white. For my film I wanted to have just one person sat their describing how they felt when their father has left them and started to neglect them. This is a raw subject to undertake and as much as it may be slow for an editing pace it could show the effects of how they felt previously to how they feel by the end of the film. The classification for the film would possibly be a 15 as the language content may be a bit strong for younger audiences and could be distributed to schools and possibly www.youtube.com  to give the message that there are more people who do go through this sort fo thing and that their emotions are not always taken into account.   

Certification

Certification: when making any film it is must have a certification. This is ruled by the British Board of Film Classification which is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since 1912 and DVD’s/ videos since the Video recordings Act was passed in 1984. The BBFC have made seven types of classification on films to determine which age groups the films were to view, they are;

-          Universal (U)  This means that the film is suitable for all. Although it is practically impossible to predict what may upset any children, ‘U’ films should be suitable for audiences aged four and over. If a film is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be included in the Consumer Advice. There would also be no form of discrimination, drug use swearing or imitable behaviour which could put the child in danger.

-          Parental Guidance (PG)  This type of film may be slightly concerning for parents to let their children under the age of eight actually see the film as there may be mildly offensive language or frightening scenes  

-          ‘12A/12’ 12 films basically mean that the film is not to be viewed in the cinemas by anyone under the age of 12. This is because there will be stronger use of language and possibly more imitable behaviour. This would be because as a 12 year old, the child would be able to distinguish what is real or fantasy and so can see more far- fetched or disturbing sequences. Violence is allowed to be featured but not to an extreme extent. 12 A’s go under the guise that as long as an adult is there to view the film and they feel it is suitable for the child who is under the age of 12 to see, then they can see the film in the cinema. It does not necessarily mean that is designed for children under the age of 12.

-          ‘15’ films of a 15 classification means that no people under the age of 15 can buy or rent films under that classification. There may be features of strong violence, nudity without strong details or dangerous behaviour. There should not be details which could be copied and easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised as it could cause the audience serious harm.

-          ‘18’ no person under the age of 18 can view an 18 in a cinema. In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s public consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override the principle that adults should feel free to choose their own entertainment.

-          ‘R18’ this type of film is only to be shown in licensed cinemas or to be supplied only in sex shops, and to adults of not less than 18 years old. 

Lovefield

Lovefield is a 5 minute short film from French director Matieu Ratthe. It is a story with a twist in the tale and completely goes against people’s expectations of the audience in this deceptive film. By creating tension through use of both location and the use of the crow throughout, this creates the illusion of something bad about to happen. With the location of Lovefield being in a field the title itself shows that there must be some form of romantic atmosphere but still challenges the typical conventions of character. The leading male character has been dressed to look scary like a killer with the blood on his hands but it was purposely done to have the male dressed this way and the leading female to scream in the background as though she were in pain combined with the blood on the males shirt leads you to suspect that she was going to die and then with the silence used to think that she was dead. Then the crying of a baby gives the film a completely different twist as it was not interpreted by the audience for the woman to be having a baby in pain. The use of sound and camera angles within the film were impressive with this film because it was completely covering the fact that the female was in labour and looked as though she was dying. I felt that this was an impressive artistic film to show off the talents of Ratthe’s camera crew.