Mood Board:
5 Line Outline:
My short film follows the story of a man who is looking for an important VHS Tape. The film will follow a slapstick comedy theme and portray the unusual places that this man looks for the tape within his home. Some of these places include, a bathroom, a fridge, a washing machine, and the shed. After looking in these obscure places, the man will finally spot his VHS Tape hidden amongst some books on a bookshelf. However, to expand on the comedic theme, when playing the VHS at the end of the film, the man will discover that he has accidentally recorded over it with an old football match.
Synopsis:
For my short film, I have chosen to use Idea 1, which follows the story of a man who has accidentally recorded over his Wedding video tape with a recording of an old football match. The short film will start with a box of tapes, clearly labelled, ‘Tapes’. This immediately tells the viewer what the narrative is based around. It will then follow several match on action shots of the man carrying the box and frantically trying to find this specific tape. This would allow the viewer to understand the importance that this tape has to this man. When the man cannot find the tape in the box, his frantic facial expressions intensify, and he looks in silly locations around his house – even in places where it seems impossible for the tape to be. When the man finally finds the tape hidden amongst books on a shelf, there is a sense of relief felt by both the man, and the audience. This would seemingly be the resolution. The arc of the story being, the man (character), with a goal (to watch his video tape) but faces an obstacle (unable to find the tape), however, then a resolution (finds the tape after a moment of suspense and panic). This narrative has a clear story structure, but does not have any particular genre, or connection with the viewer. This element comes in at the end of the film, where the man plays the tape, to find it has been recorded over. This adds to the comedic element and leaves the viewer happy and satisfied with the film. This moment can also act as a moment of connection between the character and the viewer, as the viewer may be able to relate to the situation based on their past experiences.
When filming my short film, there will be several skills that I will need to use to create an effective one-minute video. One of the main skills that I will use will be to focus on what Shot Types I use. In order to create a varied piece, I will use a range of different shot types and angles. In the opening shot of the box of tapes on a shelf, I intend to use a close-up, establishing shot – perhaps an unusual choice of shot for the opening, however, I am keen to focus on the box in particular, rather than the character, to allow the viewer to immediately understand the main subject in the film. Throughout the film, I would also experiment by using different angles, such as high angles and low angles. I would also use a Dutch angle during the moment of panic and distress, to display the mans emotions. I will vary these throughout the course of the film to ensure that I have a wide range of shot types. I would also need to focus on Lighting elements in my film. Overall, I intend to use a bright, white lighting to keep the light-hearted theme throughout the narrative. Whereas, if I used dark lighting, this would create a more sinister and frightening tone and destroy the comedy element. I would also like to use hard lighting, particularly in the moments where the man is panicking and where he finally realises his mistake at the end of the film. At different points in the film, I will use all three light sources (key light, fill light, and back light) to create a bright shot design. To add to this, during the opening scene of the box on the shelf, I would like to use slightly dimmed lighting to suggest that the door to the shelf is closed, immediately suggesting that the box is shut away and out of view. After the title fades, the light will suddenly brighten, cutting to the shot of the man opening the doors.
Treatment:
My short film has a clear, beginning, middle and end, narrative structure. At the beginning of my film, the character will be portrayed as attempting to look for his video tape. At first, his emotion is calm, however, as the beginning of the film progresses, the viewer is able to see the mans panic and fear increasingly grow. I intend to show this through the use of exaggerated facial expressions to add to the slapstick theme. The way in which I visualise my film to be is fast paced and clumsy, as I feel that this will help to complement the man’s feelings throughout. As the narrative develops, it is clear that the man’s worry, and dread has further amplified as he can now be seen looking in ludicrous places where it seems impossible for his VHS to be. The middle of the film will build upon the mans exaggerated emotions and portray to the viewer just how much he wants to find this tape. Towards the end of the film, the man is seen finally finding his VHS tape hidden amongst some books on a bookshelf. However, in the final moments of the film, when the man plays the video tape he finds that it has been recorded over. It is at this point that his emotions return to a feeling of disappointment and sadness. Although sad for the protagonist, this moment will prove funny for the viewer as they are aware of all what he has been through to find this tape, only for it to play something different to what he wanted.
In the first scene, the first shot will be of the box of tapes, sat on a shelf and covered in dust. Through the use of Mise en Scene, this will immediately indicate to the viewer that this box hasn’t been touched in a long time, and therefore, perhaps hinting that it holds some sentimental value from the past. In the second scene of my film, the man will place the box on the floor and start to take out several VHS Tapes, only to cut to a second shot of his face to show his distressed facial expressions. It is in this moment of the film that the comedic element is introduced as the man begins his search for his Tape. In the following scenes, the comedic theme will continue to build as the man starts searching in strange places for his VHS, such as, in the fridge. For this scene, the camera will be placed inside the fridge to give the impression that the audience is immersed into the action of the film. By doing this, it will also allow the viewer to clearly see the mans facial expressions when opening the fridge door to check for the tape. After closing the door again after not finding it in the fridge, the man will reopen the door and take a shoe out of the fridge before looking directly into the camera. This moment takes both the character and the viewers out of the action as they share a brief moment of the mans disorganisation being highlighted. This will allow for another moment of comedy in the middle of the film. After searching in several more obscure places, when the man finally spots his hidden VHS tape, the viewer feels a sense of achievement for the man and are satisfied with the end resolution. However, in the very final moment where the man realises his mistake that he made in the past when recording over the tape with an old football match, the mans disorganisation skills are reinforced for one last time, when hinting that this trait is in this man’s nature. This is one last moment of comedy in the film that the viewer is able to find funny about the situation.
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