LO5: Review
Have
needs/expectations been met for the client brief and target audience?
For this assignment, I was tasked with creating a shooting
script to use for my Unit 41 short film (named ‘Treasure!’). This script was to
be formatted correctly and professionally, and contain key features of a film
script. My short film follows two students who discover a hidden artefact, and proceed to have it stolen by a shadow figure. The students pursue this figure to get their back and hopefully the artefact back.
My short film’s target
audience, is predominantly males, aged between 18 and 24 years, with interests
in thrillers, adventure, mystery and horror genres. Their demographics are
mostly between C1 and D (due to being students or limited jobs) and live a
student lifestyle with the majority being university students. The script links
to this target audience by being relatable, for example when joe states “I got 42 out of 50 I think, so it was like a B or something.”
about a grade he gets in a recent exam. Another example of my script being
relatable to the above target audience is the use of swear words in a slang and
informal layout which is common amongst teenagers and young adults “Shit, that
one was pretty close to be honest”. The script is also relatable to my given
target audience due to the activities that are mentioned throughout the script,
for example sports. In my script the students stay active by playing
basketball. “The STUDENTS turn up to play basketball on the basketball pitch”.
This is relatable for another reason as well; with the students playing on an
open basketball pitch that is free to enter. This relates to the target
audience with a lower spending power, who will tend to go for free activities
whenever possible over paid ones. Basketball is also known as a ‘male’ sport
commonly. This appeals towards my 18-24 year old male target audience as it may
be a sport they play on a day to day basis.
What were the client
likes and dislikes?
In my interview, I spoke with ‘The writers group’ who
provided feedback on my script constructively. In my case, ‘The writers group’
thought my script needed some location changes to make the scene more fitting,
as an example the school should be changed to a coffee shop or other private
location. Another feature I need to improve on in my script is the addition of
special effects. Due to the genre of my short film being a thriller, it is
important to get across special effects to keep the viewer on edge and
appreciate the rather unrealistic approach to be as realistic as possible.
Finally, one more improvement was to include more intakes of breath from
characters; which acts the same as the previous improvement, to keep the
audience on edge more and make the viewing more immersive and enjoyable.
The improvements are important as they make
the film more intense, re-enforcing the genre of thriller whilst making the
overall film seem more realistic. It is important to gain feedback like this as
it helps to see the script from the perspective of an external company, as it
is easy to become immersed in your own ideology without thinking what is (in
the end) best for viewer experience.
Positives for the script were also prominent
throughout the interview. The writers group were impressed with the ‘subtle
enigma codes’ and ‘variety of camerawork and movement throughout’. The writers
group were also impressed with the way the narrative flows throughout the
script and that my suggested target audience was ‘spot on’.
What are the relevant
changes that need to be made to the script?
As a recap, the writers group stated that my shooting script
needed work on the following elements:
·
Increase in intakes of breaths from the
characters.
·
Change of locations for some shots
·
Increase of special effects to re-enforce the
thriller/action genre
It is important to make these amendments to the script in
order to create a final media product that will be enjoyed by the target
audience and also to re-enforce the genre for the final media product. It is
also important to make changes (and to receive feedback in a whole) to view
pros and cons of my interpretation of the genre, and how to portray certain
aspects to the target audience clearly and concisely. For my script, I will make
these changes by searching for additional locations where tense scenes seem
likely, and add intakes of breath within these points to add further tension
and suspense. I will also search for more areas within the script where special
effects may be required, but not too much to make it unrealistic. It is
important to keep a balance with special effects as too many will lead to the
film looking poor, but too little will make the film not tense enough leading
to potential viewer boredom. Finally, my last addition to the script will be to
recce more areas in search for a better location for filming certain scenes.
These must still fit within the diegesis but look more professional than in
school filming. Making these changes/modifications should bring the script to a
professional standard and make the viewing of the final media product more
enjoyable by all.
Is the content of the
product correct?
After looking through short film scripts of a similar genre
(action, thriller etc) I can conclude that based on the content and layout of
my script, it meets the requirements of a short film script based on different
aspects. One of these is the style that my script is written in. The script
uses more informal text which is similar to my analysed scripts in LO1. The
reason for this is that it creates verisimilitude between the film and
audience, which is a key feature in creating a successful short film. My films
target audience is teenagers, and for that reason a chatty and slang tone is
used throughout. Swearing is also used (although not consistently) to engage
the predominantly teenage audience. The script also contains formal speech in
certain parts, based on the character talking (in my script, this is the agent
figure), although this is only used briefly and to present mode of address more
clearly.
My script also follows the correct layout and house style as
a normal script, with text being written in ‘Courier New’ (which is a standard
for scripts across the globe) and a font size of ‘12pt’s’. This font size is
also standard for the majority of scripts including the ones I analysed
earlier.
My script is known as a shooting script; this means it
includes further information for crew rather than just dialogue. Examples of
this include editing decisions, camera movement, tracking and angles, special
effects, sound effects other important information. These decisions are
justified to the right, and prefix the dialogue to where they are used.
Dialogue is justified to the centre, with the name of the speaker being in bold
and capitals. It is also aligned towards the left within the centre, which
easily separates dialogue from other information. Character names are expressed
in bold full capitals, with the only exception being names spoken by characters
within the dialogue. Justified left is location information, which explains the
location, exterior or interior positioning, and time of day of which the
recording will take place, shortly followed by a few lines of text explaining
the scene more in depth. These layout conventions are common practise within
script editing, and so I have contained them all within my script to make it
more consistent with professional scripts.
The mode of address for my short film is peer to peer. The
reason for this is so the target audience can find the film more relatable than
if the mode of address was parent to child or teacher to pupil. The peer to
peer mode of address goes hand in hand with the informal and chatty nature of
the script, which is common across the majority of short films (including my
analysed script ‘The Night Roarer’). The peer to peer mode of address can be
seen in my script where Dan is leaving Joe at the end of a scene. Joe states
‘so I will see you in a bit.’ With Dan replying ‘See Ya’. A different mode of
address (ie Teacher to Pupil) would not be relatable to in my script, and hence
the peer to peer mode of address is used.
The mode of address changes slightly in places, for example where the
formality changes; but is heavily persistent all throughout the script to
encourage verisimilitude between the film and audience. This happens during the
agent scene, where the agent states ‘The individual who has your bag is
dangerous and for this reason we must take it from here.’
Elements missed off from my initial script were hard to come
across, with the majority of the script being correctly completed, however
certain elements that needed to become more apparent included character
emotions (heavier breathing etc, during tense or running scenes), increased
visual effects and sound effects (towards the end of the script where it is
important to demonstrate the power of the artefact), and in some instances,
camera movements (i.e an establishing shot at the beginning of scene 7). I will
make sure to edit these missing features to add them to my finalised script.
Does it meet legal
and ethical requirements?
My shooting script complies with the Ofcom regulation by
making sure it is suitable for under eighteens, is appropriate for watershed
scheduling, and does not breach any copyright laws.
Ofcom uses a strict rule set to make sure content is
appropriate to broadcast to a younger audience, and even though my target
audience is 18 plus, it doesn’t necessarily suggest that the overall viewing
won’t include views from younger than 18 audiences. Ofcom in particular states
that the content within my short film must not impair the “physical, mental or
moral development of people under eighteen”. My film on the other hand could be
potentially more suitable to compare with BBFC classification, as it may not be
aired on TV. The BBFC classification my short film falls under would be a 12,
due to “moderate language”. The BBFC also classifies “strong language” to be
permitted, due to the context in which it is used. In my short film, strong
language is used infrequently but when it is used, it is not used in an
aggressive or harmful manor “know my name or… Shit, he ended the call”. My
short film also needs to ensure it doesn’t follow “Imitable behaviour” which means
“no promotion of potentially dangerous behaviour which children are likely to
copy”. My film doesn’t breach this policy (as in my film the students never
handle a weapon) and therefore is still fit to result in a 12 classification.
Based on the strong language and potential tension of the final result, I have
not opted to set my film as a 12A, as stricter regulations that may be breached
will have to be adhered to.
Ofcom’s regulations for under eighteens also
specifies about the television watershed point. The watershed point is defined
as “Material unsuitable for children should not, in general, be shown before
21:00 or after 05:30”. My short film must therefore adhere to the watershed
point and must only be broadcasted after 21:00. The reason for this is due to
the strong language contained within my script. Discriminatory content is also
another factor of media being displayed after the watershed point, however my
short film doesn’t contain any form of discriminatory content. With my short
film broadcast on television, a 12 (or more specifically a 12A) film would be
allowed under the watershed point, albeit on a channel which accepts violence
more often (i.e Channel 5 or film 4). Due to the contents of my script
including: Slight horror throughout, Minor violence (at the end of the film
during the face off) and tense scenes, it would be more accepted to place my
film after the watershed point, on a more mature channel rather than before.
It is easy to sway towards stereotypes for audience
verisimilitude (specifically in this instance the teenage stereotype or more
anti-social), however these stereotypes can sometimes lead towards
discrimination, which is not accepted, even after the watershed point. For this
reason, careful effort must go into ensuring that if stereotypes are assumed,
they are not in any way suggested towards negative discrimination against said
stereotype. In my short film the students swear (which is commonly associated
with teenage behaviour) but to prevent it becoming a large stereotype, the
students don’t swear that often.
Finally, my short film must be cautious in terms of
copyright, as there are plentiful opportunities that, without proper research,
can lead to copyright strikes and legal action being taken against the said product.
When using music, graphics and content in my short film, it must be checked
whether or not any copyright has been breached and if not, proof of
non-copyright must be collected in the case of a claim later on. In my short
film, music will be an important part to ensure the audience are immersed in the
film and not bored. Music could be licensed from a license free site, or
obtained using a copyright free license on sites such as YouTube or Vimeo. I
could also create my own music for the final cut however this isn’t really an
option due to the lack on knowledge for creating my own music. It is also
important to have sufficient copyright evidence for filming in certain
locations/areas. Filming in public areas is completely legal, with no evidence
required. However, filming in areas that are not public, such as a coffee shop
or train station, will require a document from a high level representative of
the said establishment in order to evade legal action or a copyright notice. My
short film is filmed in public locations (like Norfolk Heritage Park and
different other location in public domain within Sheffield). Due to my films
all being in public locations, it is not required to gain any copyright
permissions for filming. Although copyright is needed for graphics, they are
not used often in a short film. Any graphics that are required (like the film
name screen) will be created by me and therefore will be copyright free.
