From when we were researching Goldilocks' costume for Just Right we came across several different outfits but all around the same blue and white theme. On the descriptions of these outfits there was a common occurrence of people writing 'works just as well for a Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy costume' or other similar characters appearing all together.

After finding this we showed our audience this photo:

We then asked them which fairytale character they thought it belonged to, the results were a mix of Goldilocks, Alice in Wonderland and Dorothys with no majority. Due to Goldiclosk already having the blonde curly hair we didn't want her to have a yellow dress as well so wanted to stick with the blue dress. We will therefore be having to rely on other elements around the costume of Golidlocks on the ancillary task poster. 

We want to create a curiosity with our audience so they are intrigues about the character and plot rather than be confused as to who it is and be asking the wrong questions. By having the bear in the shot in the poster and the well known phrase from the fairytale 'just right' above the shot it should be clear to the audience who the character is. We are also using the conventions from the fantasy genre where the main character is the focus of the shot and the colouring (pitch black and pastel colours) are used to suggest the battle between good vs. evil. 

We haven't been able to find any short film radio adverts and have therefore done our research on these feature length films:

Gravity

Pacific Rim

The Conjuring

The Great Gatsby

Which you can listen to here.

Each advert has a similar set up with extracts from the movie, voiceover, and background music setting the scene for the genre of the movie.

SET UP OF:

GRAVITY -

(continuos background music)
Quote
Voiceover "critics"
Quote
Voiceover "opinion with quality fact"
Quote
Voiceover "opinion"
Quote
Voiceover "film of the year"
Quote
Voiceover "director/film by"
Quote
Voiceover "starring"
Quote
Voiceover "title, release date"

PACIFIC RIM

(Continuos background music)
Quote
Voiceover "director/film by"
Quote
Voiceover "Warner Bros."
Quote
Voiceover "Pacific Rim/Release"

THE CONJURING

(Continuous background music)
Voiceover "Director of.."
Quote
Voiceover "Critics call it"
Quote
Voiceover "Opinion, opinion"
Quote
Voiceover "Opinion"
Quote -continued in background
Voiceover "The Conjuring/Release"

THE GREAT GATSBY

(Continuous background music)
Quote
Voiceover "Music by"
Quote
Voiceover "Leonardo DiCaprio"
Quote
Voiceover "Directed by/Release"

*Problem with PDF - cut off bottom.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
CLICK HERE

In our film we will be using a combination of the 3 genres researched

1. Crime
2. Thriller
3. Fantasy 

We will be using elements from each genre and intertwine them with the others, our main genres will be focused on crime and thriller with fantasy conventions used within that to create a more interesting and unique storyline that our audience would be interested in. 

From the fantasy genre we will be using talking creatures and animals as the bears and the fact that they have personalities and are treated and act as if they are human beings with their own cottage, furniture, human food etc. We have also used a fairytale to pivot our narrative around, although not using fairytale scenes in the actual film, they will be mentioned in referencing crime scenes. Fairytale characters have also been used; Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, Grandma, Wolf, and the 3 Bears. Luckily another fairytale element we will be using also coincides with our main genres with a strong sense of good vs. evil and the hero trying to restore his world and justice as to how it was before the works of the villain. However our film will not have the 'happily ever after' ending and positive outcome that fantasy films have. 

We will be using heavy influence of lighting from the thriller genre in our film, we hope to create a chiaroscuro effect when in the interrogation room - as this is a convention of interrogation scenes and we hope will create the element of mystery and uncertainty that thriller have, creating anxiety in our audience. 

We have decided on the girls to use for the roles. A description of each actor will be posted later. During the callback we used a camera to film the girls to see what they will be like when filmed.

Here is the footage:


After the callbacks we have decided that we are going to cast Maggie. She is in Year 9 and not only is the best actress for the role but she is also the most prepared. After speaking to teachers we also agree she will be a good person to work with. We are figuring out our filming schedule with her now and will post later.

Luckily, at the beginning of the year I was on a short film screenwriting course with the BFI - I therefore already have a lot of existing knowledge on the conventions of a short film. With this knowledge and further research we have a good depth in the understanding of the conventions of a short film.

Rules I learnt from the BFI;

1. Don't waste time on back story.

We were taught that making the script incredibly intricate with back stories to then explain the big finish within an 8 minute period doesn't work, and any 'backstory' is a waste of screen time and should only be used for feature length movies and TV dramas etc. Our script does have a backstory (the fairytale) but screen time isn't wasted on it as the audience who watches our film is likely to already know the fairytale and therefore nothing will have to be explained. 

2. Avoid repetition/ Punchline twists 

Although repetition does work in comedy, using it extensively in short films doesn't work as on average you have 5-8 minutes and repetition can become predictable, unfunny, and generally fall flat. If there is a great punchline twist in the short film then it should be short and witty as the audience can get tired and disappointed throughout the 6 minutes to hear a joke that they saw coming.  

3. The first page is everything

As you have very limited time to grab the viewer, the first page of the script (1 minute) is very precious and shouldn't be wasted. The viewer will want to know as soon as possible;

• The main character 
• Basic characteristics 
• Their problem/goal
• What's standing in the way

How long should a short film be?

On the screenwriting course we looked through several different lengths of short film and the different impacts and styles of film the length of it has.  We have also looked at websites such as films short  and the film network which each specify and refine searches due to length. The films short has specific sections for films under 5 minutes, which there are several, and then films 5+ minutes, which we have found films no longer than 20 minutes. On the film network, they refine their length searches by 0-2 minutes, 2-5 minutes, 5-10 minutes and 10+ minutes, where we have also found no film longer than 20 minutes. From this research and what I was previously taught, 20 minutes seems to be the maximum length for a short film. 

The films under approx. 3 minutes tend to have very little dialogue and are very visual, usually comedic. There are also a lot of animated films at this length, and are very artistic. I've noticed a trend where the ideas in this length of film aren't 100% original and completely different, but the artistic twists and style of film make them unique. They also tend to include only 1, or very minimal actors (usually less than 3-4).

Example: A Film About Poo

The films from 4-7 minutes  have more dialogue in them and generally go into more depth with characters, and have more characters that the shorter films. If these films do have only 2 or 3 characters, they all have significant speaking parts. Generally we haven't found any animations at this length, but we have found film that include more special effects than animations. Its also at this length that we find more dramas and a range in genres as they now have the time to have the set up/goals/obstructions/over coming/reaching goal.

Example: Clowns vs Society 

The films that were 8-12 minutes long were all generally dramas/suspense thrillers, however horror was practically not there, gore may have been involved but wasn't the main focus. Special effects were also very minimal or non existent in this length of film, and were on average quite dialogue heavy and aimed to make the audience become emotionally invested in the character. 

The rest of the films that were 12-20 minutes long, we found, were very hard to stay invested in the film and finish. When a short film gets to this length, it become similar to an episode of a programme on TV and more often than not, dragged. Nearly all the films this length were drama/tragedy and involved a singular person struggling to cope, which made the watching experiences very 'samey'.

Example: Detour

Our script is 8 pages (including descriptions) and we predict after filming and editing it will come out as around 6-8 minutes.

Other Conventions:

Budget:

When budgeting a short film the first things that need to be included are all the aspects that are essential;

• Cast and crew 
• Location
• Travel
• Camera, Lights
• Equipment 
• Post production and marketing 

Applying this to our film, luckily we won't have to pay any of our cast and crew, hire equipment or pay for post production/marketing but we do need to arrange a date and pay for 'The Island' prison cells (£30 and hour). 

Last Week we held our auditions for Goldilocks, we had a good turnout with 9 girls auditioning for it. We got them to read the first 2 pages of the script to assess how happy and cheery they could appear, then followed by them screaming 'I just wanted to be friends' to see how well they can portray the psychopathic/scary side to Goldilocks.

We scored each girl in each category out of 10.
Here are the actresses and results:

Abigale, Year 8
Happy - 6
Psycho - 7
Scary - 7

Lottie, Year 9
Happy - 5
Psycho - 5
Scary - 6

Summer, Year 8
Happy - 4
Psycho - 4
Scary - 4

Charlotte, Year 8
Happy - 4
Psycho - 3
Scary - 4

Lara, Year 8
Happy - 3
Psycho - 6
Scary - 5

Ellie, Year 8
Happy - 4
Psycho - 2
Scary - 4

Erika, Year 8
Happy - 3
Psycho - 5
Scary - 2

Maggie, Year 9
Happy - 5
Psycho - 7
Scary - 6

Izzie, Year 9
Happy - 7
Psycho - 5
Scary - 4

We have emailed Abigail, Maggie and Lottie for call backs as we were most impressed by there performances. Especially Maggie as she emailed us before hand, and had learnt the script - getting to know the character. We have organised these call backs this week after school where we will be asking the girls to learn the final monologue in the script, we will also be filming the girls to see how well they act on camera (which we will be posting later on).

On Zoe's blog she has gone into further detail about Goldilocks' appearance, which you can see here.

On Zoe's Blog you can read about our reasoning into using 2 characters from different fairytales here.

We have booked our auditions for Goldilocks this Friday in our school drama room.
We have advertised to girls in year 8 and year 9 as we feel like they would be small and young enough to play Goldilocks but be old enough to understand the role and play it well with confidence.
   Zoe and I will be discussing our thoughts on Friday afternoon and consider call backs. The results will be sent on Monday morning.

1. Interrogation room
   School drama studio (completely black room with no windows)
   Characters needed - Detective, Goldilocks, DC
   Props - 2 chairs, table, overhead light, files, voice recorder

2. Police Cells
   The Island - Bristol (stairs, and cells)
   Characters needed - Detective, DC
   Props - Cigarette, Files
You can see our blogpost about it here.

3. Woodland
   Weston Big Wood
   Characters - Goldilocks
   Props - Bear Skin

4. The 'Skin' Room
   3B Cabot park, Avon-mouth - Warehouse
   Characters - Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood
   Props - Collection of skins, sofa/comfy chairs, plate of biscuits, lamp
-Zoe has written a blog post in further depth about the warehouse, as its her dad's and has previous knowledge about it.

VOTES: 29

VOTES: 20

VOTES: 12

VOTES: 4

From our results we can see the publics favourite choice of of the 4, we particularly like this choice as you can't see the girls face and it adds an element of mystery to it. In addiction to this, she is hugging the bear, suggesting friendship and innocence, we will be testing out different colour schemes and effects to the pictures that we will take with our actress to suggest darker connotations that link with the short film. We will experiment with different shots as well including the focus, the enhanced/weakened definition of the colour however we will be keeping the same pose at the bottom of the shot in a medium-long shot.

We will also play around with our text (whats actually written, size of font etc.) as we have a lot of room around the picture of Goldilocks and the bear. Once we have done this we will create a second survey to give back to our audience to vote on their favourite. 

The DCI:

The DCI shall be wearing -

A grey suit (matching jacket and trousers)
Plain white, smart shirt (collar done up)
Simple red tie
Analogue wrist watch

His hair shall have a slight side parting
 - not gelled down, slightly out of place

With the DCI we hope to represent a smart, professional look due to his job but not over the top with regards to expensive or flashy clothing as his pay wouldn't allow that - that look is commonly associated with spies. His looser hair will represent the slight scruffiness that comes with working hard, long hours and general stress. We didn't want to do this with his clothing such as unbuttoning his top short button as we wanted him to look smart and authoritative.

The DC:

The DC shall be wearing -

Plain black trousers
Black shoes with minimum detail
A black police sweater (purchased on amazon)

His hair won't be gelled or purposely styled
- a slight 'mop' look

The DC is an extra character that will blend into the background in the interrogation room, he is below the DCI in authority and therefore won't dress as smartly and will have a more relaxed appearance.

1. Se7en

  A 1995 American néo-noir crime psychological thriller.
   The film follows the newly transferred David Mills and the soon-to-retire William Somerset, two homocide detectives who become deeply involved the the case of a sadistic serial killer whose meticulously planned murders correspond to the seven deadly sins.
   We only meet the serial killer (Doe) 90 minutes into the 127 minute movie where he turns himself into the detectives and therefore has minimal dialogue in comparison to the other characters. Therefore this dialogue manages to have a large impact on the movie in a very small space of time.
    Doe claims to represent the sin of envy, he was envious of detective Mills' normal life, and murdered his wife after failing to "play husband" with her. He then taunts Mills with the knowledge that his wife was pregnant, asking if Mills will kill him and become "Wrath". Somerset fails to control Mills as he shoots Doe serval times completing Doe's work, and essentially, letting the bad guy win.
   From this dialogue, Doe builds up by speaking with a hateful tone and full of spite as he speaks about his victims to the two detectives in the car, he also continuously talks from the car to the end of the film. This makes the detectives engulfed in Doe's voice and thoughts becoming increasing annoying if not disturbing, when Somerset leaves Doe with detective Mills, Mills is left with Doe's calmer tone of voice but persistently taunting him, trying to push him over the edge (which he eventually does). Although Doe makes Mills' hatred towards him personal, we believe that if he didn't continuously talk to him, slowly building up the "wrath" Mills may not have killed him.
   Dialogue - Sophisticated, educated
   Tone of voice - Sharp, hateful - leeds into normal but persistent

2. Misery
   A 1990 American psychological thriller film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name.
     Misery is about a psychotic fan who holds her favourite author captive and forces him to write her stories. Annie Wilkes is the 'psycho' in the movie is a nurse by training, she became one of the stereotypes of a nurse as a torturer and angel of death. Annie is cunning, brutal and devious who hides her malice behind a childish cheery facade. She despises profanity, to the point that she will fly into fits of rage if its used infant of her. She instead expresses anger with childishly strange phrases such as "cockadoodie", "mister man", "dirty bird", "dirty bird", "oogie", "fiddly-foof" and "rooty-patooties". She also has violent tantrums over insignificant matters.
    We think we can echo her personality and characteristics in our short film, as Goldilocks is initially young, innocent and cheery but then sporadically shouts in tantrums and has a much darker personality. Both Annie and our version of Goldilocks we see as almost bipolar, but our Goldilocks won't be as depressed as Annie as she won't have the same bouts of depression or evidence of self-harming.
   Dialogue - Childish
   Tone of voice - Mix of soft, cheery, and shouting/hateful

3. The Dark Knight

   The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film.
The Dark Knight is about when Batman (with the help of police lieutenant James Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent) raises the stakes on his war on crime by setting out to dismantle the remaining mafia group that plague the streets. The partnership proves effective, until the mob draw Batman into combat with stopping a criminal lunatic known as 'The Joker' from unleashing a reign of chaos that would make Gotham an anarchy.
   The Joker is probably one of the most well known villains in the comic and movie world, apart from his physical appearance and acts of violence, The Joker's dialogue has a huge impact on the movie and makes his character. However, we feel that what he's saying is frightening and threatening etc. but its the way he speaks that makes The Joker as evil as he is.
   His tone is very deep and dark, he sounds old in his voice due to the harshness, he does have elements of the childish-fun side of the joker in the comics with his laugh, but in the dark knight there is no humour, The Joker is sadistic and has no empathy, his version of humour and fun is causing chaos.
   Dialogue - Threatening, simple in understanding
   Tone - Dark and harsh
 

During research we have found 2 different outfits for Goldilocks, when googling just ‘Goldilocks’ she appears in a blue dress with a white pinafore. If we googled ‘Goldilocks outfit’ all the dresses are the same style as the previous search but the dress is yellow and white instead.

All results came up with the character having neat, yellow ringlets with no make-up - apart from rosy cheeks. All of the drawn and realistic depictions of her are very young and innocent looking which we will be sticking to for the basics of her costume, but twisting it to give her new psychopathic characteristics.

We will be dressing her in the blue dress and white pinafore rather than the yellow for two reasons. Firstly, that we believe all the dress up outfits are yellow just to prevent confusion from Alice in Wonderland. We believe that this confusion won’t be made in our short film as we will have the tight yellow ringlets and when the dialogue begins, it becomes obvious which fairytale character she is. Secondly, as her hair is yellow as well, we don’t want all of the colours to blend together. We will be keeping the no make-up innocent face, but will be covering her face, hair, and dress with blood splatters as she would have just been arrested from the crime scene. All of this will add to our theme of twisted, psychopathic innocence.

Tops:

In the 1960s, men's shirt collars got longer and wider and men started wearing high-collared jackets. Coats, jackets and long-sleeved shirts were nylon or polyester. The shirts worn were usually printed with paisley or bold prints like optic art and psychedelic prints. It was common for men to wear mismatched patterns. Pique polo shirts were worn as casual sportswear. Later in the decade tie-dyed shirts became fashionable.

Bottoms:

Men in the '60s often wore velvet trousers and black slacks. Sometimes men wore trousers with multicoloured stripes or plaid prints. Trousers with flared legs were also popular. When the mod look came into fashion in the early '60s in England, men started wearing single-breasted collarless jackets and slim, tapered trousers. Frayed jeans that were fitted through the leg and flared at the bottom (known as bell-bottoms) came into fashion in the late '60s.

Shoes:
Shoes that came into fashion for men were footwear made of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, a shiny plastic. Ankle boots with a side zipper closure and one-inch heels were often worn, especially with trousers that featured tapered legs. Sometimes the shape of the shoes was pointed, but loafers with a square toe were also fashionable. In the late '60s, during the hippie era, it was common for men to wear sandals or sneakers.

Accessories:

Just like women accessorise, it was common for men in the 1960s to accessorise as well. It was fashionable to wear wide neckties printed with patterns such as paisley or stripes, with combinations like sky blue, brown and orange. Other ties were in bright solid colours such as orange and red. In the late '60s, some men wore bandannas around their foreheads, love beads, medallion necklaces and leather belts with large buckles.

TV Shows/Films:

Mad Men

The Man From U.N.C.L.E

  - TV show (1964)

  - Movie (2015)

The Boat That Rocked 

Legend

Catch Me If You Can

The Mop-Top

Arguably the most iconic men's hairstyle of the 1960s, the moptop was popularised by the band The Beatles and further emulated by rock groups such as The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits and The Doors. The moptop was a haircut that sported a fringe of long bangs that grazed the eyebrows in front and hung down to hit the shirt collar in back. It was based on a haircut that John Lennon and Paul McCartney saw on the streets of Paris in 1961 and liked so much that they had their hair cut to match it exactly. 

The Crew Cut

From young boys to business men, this style, continuing from the 1950s, was considered clean and wholesome. The crew cut is also known as a "flat-top," which means the top of the head is cut to give a flat, level effect, and the "buzz cut," in which the hair is shaved as close as possible to the head. This hairstyle is also used mainly in the TV drama 'Mad Men' where the characters are business men based in New York. Since the 1960s, the crew cut has been considered the haircut of choice for the clean-cut, conservative boy, teen or man - which will suit our police men and detectives best. 

The Rockabilly Look

Music legends like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash wore a stylised haircut known as a "Rockabilly" or "pompadour." This style's swept-up, waved and locked in place look was first worn by musical artists in the late 1950s and early 1960s and seen as as sexy due to the magnetism of the men who popularised it. The hair itself was short in the back and long in the front, with the front pieces worn swept up and away from the face, secured with beeswax or other product with strong holding power. The sexiness of this look emerged when the icons who wore it, like Elvis, got moving onstage, allowing the carefully set hair to fall forward over the eyes.

Sideburns

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, sideburns did not extend far past the ear and they were kept neatly trimmed. By the middle of the 1960s, British bands brought long sideburn styles back into the mainstream. The Beatles influenced many young men to grow their hair and sideburns out to be like their idols. Later, stars such as Jimi Hendrix made shaggier sideburns popular. By the end of the decade, sideburns of varying thicknesses and lengths were commonly seen on television and on film, and the American public copied these styles. As a result, even extreme sideburn fashions like the wide porkchop style became popular.

Beards

Similar to the evolution of the sideburns, beards in the early 1960s started out as small and neat, and then took on a variety of forms. Styles such as the goatee and the goatee and moustache combination known as the Fu-Manchu were common. In the last half of the decade, long, unkempt hair became popular for men in the free love movement, and beards were grown to match.

   Moustaches

Moustaches did not gain wide appeal, unless combined with a beard, until the last years of the 1960s. These were not necessarily associated with hippies, but rather reflected the influence the long hairstyles and fuller facial hair had on the rest of society.

Conclusion 

As our characters are police officers we want them to be incredibly formal and smartly dressed, therefore we are going to style both the detective and the officer with neat crew cuts. Although facial hair did become popular in the 60s we will be keeping our male characters clean shaven to keep up the appearance of men of authority rather than the hippie and 'free love' movement.