Narration

Documentaries without words

Films in the documentary form without words have been made.
Here are some examples:
From 1982, the Oatsi trilogy and the similar Baraka could be described as visual tone poems, with music related to the images, but no spoken content. Koyaanisqatsi(part of the Qatsi trilogy) consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. Barakatries to capture the great pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity and religious ceremonies.

Body song made in 2003 and won a British Independent Film Award for "Best British Documentary."

The 2004 film Genesis shows animal and plant life in states of expansion, decay, sex, and death, with some, but little, narration.

Narration styles

Voice-over narrator

The traditional style for narration is to have a dedicated narrator read a script which is dubbed onto the audio track. The narrator never appears on camera and may not necessarily have knowledge of the subject matter or involvement in the writing of the script.

Silent narration

This style of narration uses title screens to visually narrate the documentary. The screens are held for about 5–10 seconds to allow adequate time for the viewer to read them. They are similar to the ones shown at the end of movies based on true stories, but they are shown throughout, typically between scenes.

Hosted narrator

In this style, there is a host who appears on camera, conducts interviews, and who also does voice-overs.

For my short film I will be using a combination of voice-over narration and silent narration. I will be doing the voice-over about my main character as I think it would work better with someone talking about her and not talking about herself. I am also using silent narration where some of the script appears on the screen at the same time as the voice over.

Draft clip of Filming

I uploaded this clip to youtube to document my filming so far. It was also a test to see whether the camera I used was suitable or not. I used my iPhone 5c and thought it was easy and effective. I experimented with camera angles and shots e.g.

• close up
• birds eye view
• POV
• pan

I cut them all together with imvid on my macbook to look like a montage got see the effect and I liked the effect as all the angels make you feel like your there with the character. I manipulated the sound by overlapping it. I made the sound louder to emphasise the sketching sounds and changed the order so it wouldn't go with the clip as I have been some documentaries do this. I used some different editing transitions on iMovie to see if they were good, I used:

• page curl right
• cross dissolve
• ripple
• cross zoom
• fade to white
• wipe down

I used a variation to see the effect and I prefer the dissolve and cross zoom as they are more subtle and don't shorten any of the clips.I also speeded and slow motioned some of the clips which I think look effective when she is sketching as it looks interesting.

Camerawork

You can be as experimental with camerawork in a documentary genre as  it can give different interpretations and effects to the audience. All of the types of shots make a film much more interesting. I have incorporated typical teen and documentary style camerawork to include these genres. But I am still challenging the teen genre by making it more realistic as I am basing it round a normal teenager in normal places except Lanzarote which can show a more stereotypical teen aspect.

Types of Shots:

Bedroom- drawing/art hobby.

Low angle shot: 

Birds eye view shot:

POV shot:

close up shot:

Lanzarote holiday shots:

Medium shot & wipe pan

medium close up shot:

 canted angle shot

 close up shot

 head on shot

 zoom in shot

 medium close up shot

 extreme close up shot

Most of these shots help the audience connect with the main character through the POV shot as you can see through her eyes and close ups help capture her emotions as it on her face.

Main Character

I am using my sister as my main character , who is called 'Beth' and evolving my film about her and her everyday life and use her real name. I am going to introduce her and tell the audience what she is doing. I will then start to talk about how she distresses through her hobbies: and show all of these in a montage.

• dance
• art
• face timing
• friends
• holiday
• Pet dog- Toby

Locations

Talent release

Below is a 'Talent Release' form signed by my main character, as it is only a short film I only need a small contractor the main character. I only have 3 extra characters who appear in some scenes but don't think there needed for a talent release. My main actress has agreed and signed this therefore I can start filming.

Call sheets

Film Name Survey

Use, Develop or Challenge Codes and Conventions of a Teen Film?

MISE-EN-SCENE:
Locations- I will use a combination of scenes in school, activities and in her bedroom as it is her everyday life.
Props- I am going to use social media and technology e.g. a laptop and iPhone.

Costume- I am going to stay in with the conventions of the teen film. I am going to make the costumeup to date to attract the then audience.lighting- I am using natural lighting in my scenes as I want to make it look realistic and developed the lighting as Hollywood films use professional bright lights. As you can see by this image from the 'DUFF' a recent teen film.

EDITING:
Techniques I am planning to use- montage of clips manipulating the speed by slow motion and speeded up and reversed.
-In teen film they use quite quick transitions between scenes and use interesting transitions. I want to make a realistic teen film therefore I am combining characteristics of a normal life with a teen film.

CAMERAWORK:

-I want to use many different camera shots e.g. close ups, aerial shots and tracking shots to show my character throughout the film. The close up shot of her face will show her emotions through the film. I am using an aerial/birds eye view shot to show her on her bed. In the 'DUFF' they use tracking shots for the mean girl and over the shoulder shots through conversations which I want to include. 
SOUND:
-I want to emphasises the sound in the montage clips at the start of film as I want my main role to be writing, cutting, drawing and gluing and the sound to be really loud as it portrays her concentration. 
- I want my music to show the emotions of my character and the music to get happier through the film to convey what happens to my character.
In most teen films they use very up to date pop music in their films to attract the teen audience. I want to use music my target audience will know to attract them more but have it to up to date as it will distract my audience from the storyline.

Use, Develop and Challenge codes and conventions of a Documentary?

Mise-en-scene:

• Locations: I am using different locations as documentaries use many,bedroom, school-dance studio, pool and beach. To show Beth's everyday life and the activities she does.
• Props: I am using her art books to show her hobby and how it helps her to stop stressing.
• Costume: there is no set costume worn in documentaries therefore I am using normal clothing.
• I want the lighting to be all natural as there are no professional lights in everyday life so I am challenging the genre  and wont give a realistic look. 

Editing:

• I am going to use slow motion, reverse, split clip and speed up to manipulate my clips to show the emotions of my characters.
• through different types of cuts to shift to a different angle can create opinions and thoughts in the audiences head.
• I want to use POV as it makes the audience live through the eyes of my character and helps as it is her everyday life.
• I will use of a reaction shot--a medium shot or close-up of a character/person just after significant action occurs within the scene.

Camerawork:

• I want to use different unique shots as I want my audience to get different interpretations. 
• I want to develop the distance of the shot to show different emotions of my character e.g. close up and medium shot.

Sound:

• I want to detach the sound and manipulate it to give it an artistic feel. 
• I can also use different types of interviews e.g. direct and indirect through my film.
• I want to use voice over narration or direct narration, I think I am going to challenge this by combining them together. 

I want to combine the codes and conventions of the genres of teen and documentary to make the sub genre 'Teen Documentary'.

What are the important aspects to creating a Short Film?

There are different aspects within creating a short film but all are fundamental to the overall product. Before you have made your short film it is hard to know which aspect is most important. Here are some of the processes I will go through when making my short film:

• Script writing- Is the foundation of a story/plot of a film.Through script writing you see your words translated into film. Script writing is used in most media, for example films, TV programs and video games. Most scripts include stage directions, character lines, lighting and visual actions.

• Producing- Film producers fill a variety of roles depending upon the type of producer. A producer is either employed by a production company or independent, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting script, coordinating writing, directing and editing, and arranging financing. Film producers help and look over the whole film process and present it to the distributors. 

• Directing- The director controls the artistic and dramatic aspects. Directors visualises the script while guiding the technical crew and actors to fulfil the vision.

• Cinematography(director of photography)- Means "the art of making motion pictures" . They are responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image.Director of Photography is in charge of all the photography components of film, e.g. framing, costumes, makeup, and lighting, as well as the assistant of the post producer for color correction and grading.

• Sound- in film is curial to portray emotion and the story/plot. The soundtrack of a film will include music, sound effects and human voice. There are two different types of sound effects, synchronous sounds match what the audience see and shows realism of the film. Asynchronous sounds are not matched to the visual film on the screen, this gives a certain atmosphere and style to a film. Background music have different interpretations including adding emotion and rhyme to the film, linking different scenes in a film and sound can suggest what will happen in speed. 

• Editing- is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. The editor works with the raw footage, selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture. They can control how the audience feels and what emotions they will feel throughout the film. Editing is done on digital technology for example Final Cut Pro and iMovie. 

With all of these aspects it would create an overall successful film  from all the research and planning then production and post production.