#conceptualideas

The pre production phase of our project was where all the initial planning took place before the cameras started rolling. Jin and I found that the groundwork was extremely important in setting the overall vision of our film.

Locking Down on the Conceptual Idea (November 1 2016)

Jin’s initial pitch of her idea was to make a film which would delineate the big issue faced by teens and young adults in the 21st century of social media addiction. I had initially come up with a plan to make a mini series on comparative advertising however that fell through as nobody in my class wanted to do my idea so instead I decided to work with Jin. After much debate and planning, Jin and I decided to tweak her idea and instead of make a film on social media and Internet addiction we decided to do it on a broader topic of screen usage. Before locking down on exactly what our film would look like, Jin and I struggled to figure out what aspects of screen usage we would like to have in our film. Would we like to make it a story? Should we have statistics in our film? What sort of a flow would our series have?  Finally, after much help from our teacher, we decided to split our three series into short yet effective sequences, that on a holistic level, depicted the issue of too much screen time.  

Series 1: “What is the issue?”:  This series addressed and brought to light the issue of too much screen usage amongst teens and young adults. This series consisted of interviews with friends aged between 18-25 years of age, and they responded to questions answering what their screen usage is which ultimately brought to light just how “addicted” they really are.  

Series 2: “A specialists view point” The second series was on a specialist confirming the physical, emotional and social problems occur as a result of too much screen time. This gave our viewers a little insight into the actual damages done to ourselves when we are on the screen too much.  

Series 3: “Digital detox/ alternatives” The third series captured the alternatives to screen time and then introduced the ‘#offscreen’ campaign. The #offscreen campaign invited our viewers to take a selfie of themselves while deliberately doing an activity (or any of the alternatives suggested in series 3) that does not involve a screen and post it to social media using the tag: ’#offscreen’ 

Style and Artistic Approach 

While the conceptual idea came together, Jin and I started to discuss what sort of style our video would have. After much thought, we looked online to see what sort of examples we could follow. Here are a few links that are worth watching in order to get a better understanding of the sort of look we were going for. We every now and then referred to these exact videos in order to mimic their styles.   

1. Muji to relax:

The Muji brand is a retail company that sells a wide variety of household goods.  This video was the first video that Jin and I watched and we fell in love with the artistic and visual aspects of the advert. These were the main aspects from this video that we wanted to imitate in our own film:

· The slow motion effect (done in post production)

· Over exposed shots

 · Strong depth of focus

 · Extreme color correction

 · Appropriate music

After analysing the video we realised that most of theses looks would only be achieved during the postproduction part of the project in Premiere.  

2. Your phone is now a refugee’s phone: 

This striking film has some wonderful visual effects that bring to life how a refugee would use his or her phone.  These were the main highlights of the video that we were hoping to use in our film:

 · The on screen mobile phone that was used as part of the narrative

· The noises of the cellphone (vibrations, camera noises, text message alerts, phone calls, pings etc.)

· The strong colour grading

 Just like the Muji video, we came to the conclusion that achieving most of this would only be done in the editing stage. 

3. Buzzfeed: 33 questions white people have for white people: 

Ultimately, the general style implemented across all buzzfeed videos were what Jin and I decided to go for. This video has certain elements that we were extremely keen on reproducing in our film:

 · The motion graphics

· Bold on screen text

 · Different angles of the interviews

 · Consistent text and colours

· Strong and emphasised sound effects (comedic effect) 

Once we had a set idea of the sort of style we wanted, it was time to move onto crew casting.  

(Outline made just after finally deciding out main ideas for series 1,2 and 3)

(A few idea for series 3)

(Various tasks we had to complete) 

Gathering Our Crew and Cast Members (December 6 2016)

After doing lots of research, we found out that teens and young adults aged between 18-25 are the most effected by screens today. Jin and I have a few friends in London who fall in that age group and who were willing to be participants in our film for series 1. We had prepared a list of questions for them to answer regarding their screen usage and had planned to film their responses. Our questions were strategically framed so that by the end of series 1, our viewers would get a sense of just how big an issue excessive screen time is.

 For series 2 we needed a specialist who was ideally a doctor or a psychologist to explain in his or her words what the down sides are off too much screen time. This was honestly the toughest part of our pre production work. We got in touch with NHS facilities around London, psychologists from our university, friends who were still in medical school as well as private doctors we knew personally. We got rejection after rejection and the main reason was because these specialists and the clinic or hospital they work in, could possibly have been liable if they provided any miss information. Jin and I understood where they were coming from, but it was just extremely frustrating :( ! Despite the rejections, the other participants who we needed for series 1 were on board with our request to film them. We were now ready to shoot series 1!

(Table created confirming which of our participants were available)

Production Folder: My Learnings From Assembling all the Paperwork (January 10 2017)

My second biggest contribution other than some filming and editing was creating all the paperwork for the production folder. As listed in the previous post, the documents for the production folder came in handy during our shoot days.  Compiling a production folder taught me the importance of the formalities of filmmaking. While the actual film itself was a large part of the main submission, the preliminary work of filling out paper work was what made the filming a lot easier. Coordinating and pre organising shoot locations, dates, and various other aspects made the entire filming process a breeze. If we had any issues while filming, or had authorities ask us if we had permission to film, we had all the answers in the production folder.

In second year the production folder that I made was not as extensive and detailed at this one. I was able to build up the skills to produce, what my partner and I think, is a semi professional production folder that could be used at industry level. What was so different to the production folder from the year before was the in-depth research we had to do before filling out any paperwork. While the pre production section of our production folder was mainly the conceptual development, in order to complete the production paperwork for the production section of the folder, we had to do vast amounts of research. Before completing any call sheets or filling out risk assessments, we had to do a complete recce of all our shoot locations and ensure that we were not going to be liable or injure anybody while filming. Jin and I took a day out to travel to Southwark Park, Canada Water, Landale House, parts of Goldsmiths campus, London bridge, Waterloo and Canary Wharf to do a little bit of filming as well as see if these locations were suitable locations for some of our main shots. Doing a recce allowed us to not only determine if these were safe areas to shoot but also gave us an opportunity to understand if we required any permission to shoot in these areas. 

We had to also fill out insurance documents and a budget before starting to film. In the year before, I had not learned how to write a budget or fill out insurance documents so for me this was a huge learning. The purpose of writing a budget was to help us understand where exactly money would be allocated were we given a budget. In the industry, most film production companies are allocated a budget in which they must work with. Our teacher suggested that we look at BECTU rate cards to see how much a lighting person or a sound person would cost for a day in the industry and make a hypothetical budget for our film. Jin and I had no idea how expensive each unit would cost for pre production, production and postproduction and by doing a budget we familiarised ourselves with what sort of a spending plan film producers and directors work by. 

Thinking about how the imagery in the poem can be illustrated in a physical space:

 We both thought an installation would be the most effective way to communicate the poem. When reading the poem the rhythm and pace of emotions/thoughts is significant, an installation incorporated of a projected film, whilst experimenting with reflection and objects is how I imagined illustrating this poem. 

Using squares to symbolise the physical experience of the room, and using the movement of the projection to illustrate the rhythm of thoughts generated whilst being in this confined space. The idea is to have a film consisting of separate frames. One frame illustrating the physical space, the other showing the movement of light, and the last frame representing the personification of the physical materials and objects.

There is a constant contrast in the poem between the perception of yourself (body) and the physical space (room), both being confined spaces, being internal. Playing with the idea of ‘place’, whether you are physically somewhere and mentally somewhere else. Writing about perception through the senses as well as through the mind. 

Urban Imagination explores how to make cities more fun. It's a book of 50 whimsical drawings that add a playful twist to everyday urban objects.