Cheyenne Joseph // UCA Television blog

After briefing simon on my updated idea, I received some helpful feedback during our meeting.  Think about the different ways you could approach the story.  At the moment, There seems to be a lot going on in terms of the story line but it is a good start. Think about how you can show what has happened without actually showing it.  Instead of showing the main character and his female companion meeting, how about having them already knowing each other? this is a way of cutting down time and getting straight into the story.   Maybe think about what stage in life the character is in. Is he an adult living at home, pretending to go to a corporate job but actually doing art against his parent's will?  Is he at university?  Find a way of selecting the major events. Don't just skim over everything otherwise it will lack depth. Find the important ones and capitalise on it.  My Thoughts: I fully agree with this feedback as I do feel like there is too much going on b

Finalising Ideas  After finding inspiration from previously mentioned short films, my story and the way in which I choose to tell the story has continuously changed. After watching the way in which The Cage told their story, I loved the idea of having a voice speak over, illustrating the story. I feel as though I would like to incorporate that style  "Inspired from true events": The young boy who committed suicide after failing his GCSE's and pressure to do well in school.  What I want to show is that depression can start from a young age, It doesn't always have to have a "justifiable" reason. but when it first occurs then goes unnoticed and untreated it can manifest. There are many common factors within black households that some people may not be aware of, even though every household is different, a vast majority of these households are religious. My research shows that religion hinders the improvement of mental illness most of the time as it allo

Andrea Kappos Masterclass Today's session with Andrea Kappos was very informative and eye opening. Not only did I learn tips for future projects, looking at her work actually inspired me to think about and gain greater insight into the world of working with non-actors for commercials. I also really enjoyed the pieces of work shown to us as I never really thought about what it would be like to work with children.  Casting and Directing : One of the main things we were advised to focus on. Here are some of the most important tips that I listed during the session.   One of the main things I learnt was the importance of Casting . She made it clear that the contributors play the biggest part in the content she creates because it has to have a watchability.  Get a sense of their personality beforehand, i.e skype, auditions. Natural surroundings Its about the methods used to get natural performances from non actors. If you keep asking a contributor or actor to keep repeating t

Following on from the research into realism as a story telling method, I came across an amazing short film on Vimeo that perfectly illustrates the style that I wanted for my short film.  The Cage (2017) https://vimeo.com/205212005 Written & Directed by: Ricky Staub Content What I loved about this short film was the way in which you're able to really understand the pressure that the main character faces when he has to make important decisions about his life just by his actions and expressions. This piece is far from being dialogue heavy, you rarely hear the main character talk but when he does, it serves a purpose and is ver. But this story isn't being told in a conventional way as there is a clever use of a voice over. His father is in prison, giving him advice on how the choices he makes could seriously impact his life. It was very poetic in the way it was done because the images matched the things he said but not in a direct way.  We are fi

Realism within films realism ˈrɪəlɪz(ə)m/ noun 1 .  the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly." In a blog post by Tony McKibbin, he lists some of the things that is considered to be part of realism cinema;  The absence of non-diegetic music  The presence of non-professional actors,  The use of off-screen sound, An unobtrusive, under-privileged sense of framing,  Colloquial dialogue – often only half-heard – against the light camerawork, Monochrome or muted colour photography, And the sense that if there is a plot it comes out of the immediacy of a life: that it serves to show up a social problem rather than offer an escape from it. An example of a modern spin on realistic style of story telling: Fish Tank (2009) Directed by Andrea Arnold One of the first things I noticed was the aspect ratio in which this was filmed in. 16:9 - This gives a less cinemati