Smile - Evaluation

Smile Final Film

Our Magazine Article

Job Table

Poster

Instead of typing out the title and other information of text on on our film poster, we decided to write it all up on the board, so that is was similar to the Dogme 95 rule. Dogme is amovement, set up by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, whose goal is to instill a sense of simplicity into filmmaking. This was done by using hand-held cameras, an easy location, no music, no titles made on the computer, no lighting and no fancy costumes.

Here you can see the different stages of making our poster:
1) We first did a rough version of what the poster would look like

2) We then shot a photo of Ryan standing in front of the whiteboard, with draft words around him

3) Using photo shop, we cut around Ryan's body so that he could be put onto another/different background

4) This is a second version of our poster. It was made using Photoshop, and apply texts onto the picture.

5) Instead, we decided to write everything onto the whiteboard.

6) This meant that we could then place the cut out Ryan onto the new background, and our poster would be complete.

Magazine Article

We made our magazine article by using Adobe InDesign. We were able to add screenshots from our film, type our own text, and arrange it to how a professional magazine would look.

Smile Rough Cut

Audience Feedback

Claudia Humphreys, 17
"The film was very entertaining to watch, and it is a film that most teenagers would go to see, because they would be able to associate themselves with the characters and the events that occur in the film."

Petros Poyiatgi, 17
"I like this film because one of my favourite genres is Teen Drama, which I believe this film fits in nicely. The only criticism I have for it is that one of the scenes (after the two boys hear what the girls says about her ideal man) I thought isn't needed or should be changed to make more obvious to the audience. Other than that, I really enjoyed it and would think it would make a fun feature film."

Ed Bullock, 18
"The film follows the conventions of the genre and the mise en scene is fitting to the style to other§ romantic comedies. The use of editing techniques makes the narrative easy to follow."

Nini Hadjipateras, 17
"The setting of the film, in the school and in friends rooms, really emphasises the conventions of a young, romantic comedy. The editing technique used in the outfits scene is entertaining and the music helps create a climax for the final look."

Charley Lebetkin, 17
"This film follows the conventions of the romantic comedy genre. The editing of this film made is extremely easy to follows the story line. I enjoyed watching the outfits scenes and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the whole film."

George Butterworth, 27
"I enjoyed the film immensely; the comedic scenes work very well, although the dialogue is a little too quiet. The costumes are great, the story moves along at a nice pace, but unfortunately some of the actors rush through their lines a bit which makes it a little confusing in places."

Smile - Trailer

Another convention with this trailer is that we created our own distributor, 'Fine Art Films', parodying Paramount Pictures.

Poster Idea 2

As well as the first poster idea, we also thought that we could have just the one main character, with words written on the board. As well as these describing words shown, there would also be the name of the film and the films director, producer and actors.
Below is a rough preview.

Pre Production Film

For our group, we made a video, talking about the different sheets we have produced, such as the production schedule, characters and their costumes, and we also filmed them talking about the location of the courtyard, classrooms and corridor. Ryan then edited the short clip on iMovie, then uploaded it onto Youtube. Using iMovie, different titles, transitions, and other effects were added. As well as the locations and the printed sheets, music was also added. One of the pieces of music that was put in was composed by Max, and will be used for Charlie's imagination scene, for when he imagins himself leaning in for a kiss with Gabriella. Ryan also added the music which we might use for our montage scene. I have added both songs, so everyone can see which one is better, and which song would fit that part of the film. The music for that part was done by the artist, Shaheen. As well as Max and Shaheen's music, he also added the songs which our group might use for the second last scene, when we see Max preparing Charlie to go up to Gabriella, and Charlie is acting all cool, as well as dressing a bit more cool, unlike his geek outfit. The songs which go into consideration for this scene are by UnkleJam.



These are the screen shots for when I was editing the short clip in iMovie:

- This screenshot shows all of the iMovie application. You can see the video files at the bottom, and everything around it.


Selected Parts:
- Here, you can see which part of the video file I have used in the video. Where it has an orange line at the bottom, that shows it has been selected, and where there is no orange line, that shot has not been used.

Titles:
- This screenshot shows the options for selecting the titles. In iMovie, there are around 20 titles that you can change and edit.

Editing Titles:
- Once you have selected the title you want, you can then edit the size, colour, font and boldness etc.

Transitions:
- Similarly to the titles, you can choose from a range of pre-loaded transitions.

Music:
- When editing the short documentary style clip, I was able to add different songs and music. I created my own playlist in iTunes called 'Smile' which consists of all of the songs we might use in our 5 minute film. You can then drag it into your iMovie 'Project' so it fits in with a piece of video.

Sound Editing:
- Once you have put the music in place, you can change the volume of each of the different sound tracks. For example, in this video, I had to raise the volume of the dialogue because compared to the music, it was not that loud.

Anamatic

Charlie's imagination Scene - Music

Max created the music for Charlie's imagination scene, using Logic Pro. Max and Ryan had the idea that they wanted it to sound similar to Marvin Gaye's 'Sexual Healing'. It started of calm and mellow, but with a big climax half way through. The song consists of a total of 19 tracks, and instruments which include: harps, violins, pianos, horns, cellos and many more. Max added effects such as reverb, delay and and he edited the panning, EQ and velocity of each track. Max also dived deep into synthesis, editing the ADSR and envelopes. To create the soul feel drum kit, he used Ultrabeat, which is a drum beat sampler, making the kick and snare drum very soft with the high hats and symbols very crisp.



Full Screen:

Piano roll:

Mixer:

Ultrabeat:

Instruments used :

Location

Final Script

We wrote our final script using Celtx. (To see the script bigger please double click on image).

Film Poster Ideas

Between our group members we discussed ideas in how to create our poster. We came up with many different ideas that we couldn't agree on so we decided on mixing them together and came up with something we were all really liked.
Here is a sketch of our poster.

Background: White (Yellow Border)
Writing: Yellow (Black Outline)
The character at the Top Left is Gabriella and Top Right is Max. Both their bodies we plan to fade into the background. The character in the Middle is Charlie. We plan to split him in half and fade it together to show his geek side and to show his cool side.
We then had the title at the bottom in a curve, curving upwards.
We placed all the characters and wording in particular places to create a smiley face.

Here are some examples of some famous Romantic Comedy posters. You can spot the similarity between them all. They all have white backgrounds, bold writing and a bright happy vibe to them.

Production Roles

Costumes

3 Different Costume changes:

Production Meeting

We had a group meeting during a lesson to decide who was taking what part in managing our film. We gave each group member a role and tasks to do.

Props, Sound FX & Music

1 - Ext. - Cycling to college
Sound FX of bicycle
Whistling "Lucky - Kylie Minogue"
Pink bicycle

2A - Int. - Classroom
Classroom Sounds
Pencil Case, Text Books

2B - Ext. - Outside classroom
Romantic music
Blackberry (Gabriella)
Starbucks Coffee (Gabriella/Sophie)

2A - Int. - Classroom

3 - Int. - Outside classrom
Common Room Sounds
Pen, paper
Blackberry's
Coffee
Half eaten muffin

4 - Ext.- Sitting in courtyard eating lunch
Tuppa Wear Lunch Box
Picnic Chocolate Bar
Carrot Sticks

5 - Int./Ext. - Montage
Music - Shaheen (Mircales/Hip Teens) or UnkleJam
Clothes , hats , shirts etc

6A - Ext. - Round the corner from school
New look props e.g Rocky
Blackberry, Watch
P. Diddy - Bad Boys

6B - Ext. - Outside classroom
Blackberry, watch, sunglasses

8 - Ext. - Charlie is inside class, Gabriella is outside
Text Books
Lunch box , Pencil Case

Character Breakdown

Charlie:
- 16 boy
- From London
- Goes to college
- Nerdy/ geeky
- Nervous/ shy
- Has only one friend
- Has a crush on the popular girl
- Studies maths, chemistry and biology
- An only child living with his mum and dad
- Big imagination


Max:
- 16 year old boy
- Geeky, but not as geeky as his friend Charlie
- From London
- Goes to college
- Studies P.E, maths, English
- Lies about previous experiences
- Lives at home with mum, dad, older brother and younger sister

Gabriella:
- 16 years old
- From London
- Goes to same college as max and Charlie
- Most popular girl in school
- Charlie’s crush
- Confident but ditsy
- Has a best friend called Sophie
- Lives at home with just her Dad
- Studies P.E, Photography and Art


Sophie:
- Gabriella’s best friend
- Giggly
- From London
- 16
- Goes to same college
- Popular
- Almost Gabriella’s ‘side-kick’
- Studies P.E, Photography and Art
- Lives at home with both parents

Stereotypes of Our Characters

Popular/ stereotypical blond/ Girlfriend


Geek/ Nerd


Good Looking/ Cool Guy


These are exaggerated conventional stereotypes that we created some our main characters round in our film Smile.

Flat Plan

This is a flat plan one of our group members created on Celtx. This is just for one scene that we had created in our script.

Script 1st Draft

This is the first draft of our script, which will be changed and finalised.

1. Ext.
Charlie is riding his bike in to college. Music in background. Cross cut to shots of Max Sitting in Starbucks waiting for Charlie to arrive.

2A. Int.
Max is sitting down in Starbucks next to the window. Charlie arrives and sits down.

Max:
About time
Charlie:
Sorry, was up late last night doing work, I'm shattered.
Max:
Did you see the new eppisode of Dr. Who last night?
Charlie:
No i didnt i missed it, i told you i had too much work! What happened?
Max:
It was amazing, Dr Who became friends with the evil guy but he didn't know he was evil, but the audience knew. So I was literally sitting there screaming at the television you don't understand I was getting so in to it! And then at the break, there was an advert for a Dr Who Live Show, I've already told my mum and she's booking us both tickets.

Max starts to describe lasts nights episode of Dr.Who, his voice starts to fade out and become a mumble as Charlie begins to stare at Gabriella and zone out.

2B. Ext.
Charlie Imagines himself getting up, marching outside, throwing his glasses, ripping open his shirt then grabbing Gabriella, dipping her and leaning in for a kiss. (Music "Just the two of us")

Cut


2A. Int.
Shot cuts to Charlie sitting back at the table in Starbucks with Max. Max slaps charlie.

Max:
Charlie wake up, your never gonna get a girl like that.
Charlie:
Sorry sorry I am listening! I need to go outside tho and get some fresh air.

Charlie and Max walk outside Starbucks and sit on the ledge.

3. Ext.
Max and Charlie begin to over hear Gabriella and Sophie's conversation. Charlie shakes Max to get his attention.

Charlie:
Oi! Listen!

Cut

Gabriella:
I cant believe me and Brad broke up, hes such a prick.
Sophie:
You know you can do so much better Gab so why do you care so much.
Gabriella:
I just wish i could meet my dream boy already.
Sophie:
And that is?
Gabriella:
I dunno, a boy that's fit obviously, good body, always smartly dressed...and...urm... with a cool hat of course!

Sophie Giggles and Gabriella laugh sarcastically.

Cut

They look over and can see that Charlie and Max and listening in.

Gabriella:
...and he has to come up to me and go "Alright sexy?" I then would want him to smile, wink, and say a really cheesy chat up line!

Sophie and Gabriella are still laughing.

Cut

Charlie and Max together

Charlie:
Did you hear all of that?
Max:
Ye, so? What's your point?
Charlie:
That if I change myself, I can make myself her ideal boy. See! I told you I do have a chance!

Dissolve

4. Int./Ext. - Montage
Charlie and Max in Max's room, looking for different clothes and hats to wear. He tries them on and keeps checking himself out in the mirror. He also tries different smiles to use, and practices his wink. They both practice chat-up lines whilst getting changed.

Max:
Ok, so let's practice some chat up lines. What you got?
Charlie:
I hope you know CPR, because you take my breath away
or Excuse me, but I think I dropped something!!! MY JAW!!
Max:
Do you work for Royal Mail? No? I could have sworn I saw you checking out my package.
Charlie:
You must be Jamaican, because Jamaican me crazy

Charlie looks into the mirror, turns to Max, and presents himself to him.

Charlie:
What about this?
Max:
Ye that should definitely work!

Fade to black

5. Ext.
Charlie walking down the street, dressed very nicely, looking very smug. He approaches Gabriella.

Charlie:
Alright sexy. Nice to meet you, I'm (your name) and you are...gorgeous!

OR

If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd but U and I together...

Gabriella laughs, slaps Charlie and walks away.

Fade to black

6. Ext.

Next day Charlie comes back, back in his normal clothes. Gabriella spots Charlie and realizes how hard he tried to impress her. Charlie looks up at her. Gabriella smiles at Charlie and scene fades out.

Working Towards Our Film

Scene List
Scene 1. Int
Ryan being beaten up in a dark room by Dami
Scene 2. Ext
Ryan spots girl with his rich boyfriend
Scene 3. Int
Ryan is in the library with max looking at books and talking about the girl he has seen, max tells him the only way he has a chance is by making money. They then spot a book “counting cards”
Scene 4. Int
Fast forward cross cutting of ryan playing cards and racking in chips
Scene 5. Int
Ryan is playing a game of cards, voice over of him counting the cards, hes then grabbed on the shoulder and voice over stops. He is taken into a room.
Scene 6. Int
Ryan being beaten up in a dark room by Dami (Scene 1)

We also came up with the film title - Five Card Charlie. We came up with this film title be researching Blackjack slang and terms used in the game. We found these on Ildado.com. Five card charlie in blackjack terms is a blackjack rule variation where if you get 5 cards without busting, you win that hand. We picked this particular term out of all the others because we thought it had a good ring to it and we imagined it would be a catchy film title which related well with out film.

Group Meeting
We had a group meeting where we discussed our ideas and scenes. We came to the conclusion that there was just to many story strands to narrow down into a short 5min film. So we desided to take the basic idea of a boy trying to get a girl and take it in a new direction.
This is the scene list we came up with

Second Scene List
Opening Scene:
Open to Charlie riding his bike to college.
Scene-1
Max and Charlie are sitting in a room; Charlie is staring out window at Gabriella. Mean whilst Max’s voice is in the background trying to have a conversation with him. Charlie zones out (Imagines him approaching Gabriella, dipping her and giving her a kiss). Max hits Charlie back to reality telling him to stop staring and that he could never get a girl like Gabriella.
Scene-2
Max and Charlie walk out room and are standing outside, they hear the girl telling her friend how her and her boyfriend just broke up, and starts to describe her perfect boy. Charlie and max over hear the conversation and Charlie begins to hatch his plan.
(smartly dressed, Good looking, nice body, cool hat, laid back personality, charming & most importantly an amazing smile and someone who makes her smile) – Ideal man
Scene-3 (Montage)
Charlie goes out to try and achieve the girls ideal man, with max’s help.
Scene-4
Charlie finally gets everything together, approaches girl with a cheesy chat up line dressed in the way she had described her ideal man. Girl laughs, rejects Charlie and walks away.
Scene-5
Next day Charlie comes back, back in his normal clothes. Girl spots Charlie and realizes how hard he tried to impress her. Gabriella smiles at Charlie and scene fades out.

We desided on the title Smile because the girls ideal guy is just someone who can make her smile and smiles at her too. We also felt it gave a warm feeling to the film and it was a nice simple title.

Homework 13th-17th September (Starting Research For My Short Film)

Short Stories:

An Uncomfortable Bed
By Guy de Maupassant

This is a story about a man who visits chateau in Picardy with his friends for hunting season. He is convinced that his friends are going to play a practical joke on him so does everything in his power once he enters his room to figure out what they are planning and try to avoid it. By doing these things he in fact creates a problem for himself by leaving obstacles on the floor for the valet to trip on when delivering his breakfast to him which results with him waking up to the valet on top of him along with his morning breakfast.
- This story to me indicates the moral to not be paranoid.

Death By Scrabble
By Charlie Fish

This story is about a man and his wife playing scrabble on a hot day. The man hates his wife and throughout the whole game is thinking of ways to get rid of her. Everything his wife does irritates him even the smallest thing. As the game continues he starts to notice the words that are being places on the board are being applied to real life. He wants to test his theory so he places the word quake which then leads to the room starting to shake. His wife then places death on the board which ends in the man choking on one of his scrabble letters he had been chewing on in his mouth which leads to his death. His wife sits and does nothing.
- This story to me sends a message to not wish things bad on other people otherwise karma may return it back to you.

Zippo
By James Ross

This is a story about a man called John who is explaining to his friend a recurring dream he is having whilst sitting in a car. He tells his friend how in this dream he is in a pub on a friday night, goes to buy some drinks and meets a girl. Then out of nowhere a boy walks in and throws petrol over John and pulls out a Zippo lighter. As the dreams continue they get worse, starting form the first couple times he had it when it was un expected and the Zippo did not work. But now the last one he had the zippo did and just before his death in his dream he wakes up. John seems to be worried and afraid that the next time this dream happens something even worse will occur or that it relates to real life.
- This story to me is very relatable because since i was young i have had recurring dreams the i fear to.


Short Films:

Shame
By Tom Geens

Genre: This particular short has not got a basic genre. It can be viewed in different ways such as a horror, or a dark comedy.
Setting: Suburban House
Story: A woman who has unusually large hands and who is treated like an animal by her Grandmother/Mother.
Beggining- Girl is hiding behind a chair and wont reveal herself
Middle- She begings to speak about her hands and her relationship she has formed with them
End- She moves her hands from her face when her Grandmother/Mother returns who locks her in a cage and bangs on it whilst she screams.
Dialogue: Voice Over
I viewed this personally as a horror. I thought the situation was very disturbing. The way this is filmed, the tension is built up between this woman and the audience because the audience want her to reveal her face behind her hands.
It is interesting to listen to the relationship that is formed between the woman and her hands and how she uses them to get through her day to day life.

The Black Hole
By Phil & Olly

Genre: Comedy
Setting: An office at night time
Story: sleep-deprived office worker who ends up discovering a black hole which allows his body to go through anything.
Begging- Tired man in office copying paper
Middle - finding the black hole and using it to steal from a vending machine
End- Gets greedy, tries to use it to steal money from the safe and jumps through and gets stuck inside.
Dialogue: None
If i where to describe the outline of this story i would use the word greed.
The comedy genre is not revealed till the end when the paper falls and he is trapped in the safe.

Post-It Love
By Elizabeth Gower & Lucy Gossage

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Setting: An Office
Story: Girl and guy who fancy each other and communicate using post-it notes
Beginning- Man and woman working in an office both copying papers
Middle- They notice each other and begin to send each other messages through post-it notes
End- Both girl and guy go to make a large message, guy gets there first and girl catches him half way through.
Dialogue: None
This short has a good contrast between a dull office and the bright post-it notes and music they use in the background.
When i watched this my personal feel towards this short is that it felt very advert like for me and i think could be a very successful add on television for post-it notes.

3 Directors:

Mark Waters
(Mean Girls, Freaky Friday, Just Like Heaven & The Spiderwick Chronicles)

My favourite film out of these is Mean Girls. I like this film because its a classic chick flick but i know boys that love this film too. It is very funny, and teenage life is over exaggerated in a comical way. There is a clear story line which keeps you going and in general is very intriguing.

Tim Story
(Barber Shop, Taxi, Fantastic 4 and 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer)

My favourite film out of these is The Barber Shop. It is a classic black comedy which is hilarious from beginning to end. Its also come from a basic idea of being placed in a barber shop yet so much goes on. It also stars some of my favourite actors such as Ice Cube & Michael Ealy.

Roger Kumble
(Cruel Intentions, Just Friends, The Sweetest Thing & College Road Trip)

My Favourite film out of these is Cruel Intentions. A twisted comedy/ drama/ romantic film that is always making you guess weather the characters are playing games. I love the fact they use romance in a different way and don't make it so superficial. It stars a great main actress Sarah Michelle Gellar from the TV series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" which i also enjoyed watching when it was aired on TV.

FILM STYLES

Defenitions & Examples Of:
Auteur: Auteur is a filmmaker who has their own personal ideas and visions towards creating a film and that has full control over all their work.
Cinema Verite: A movie that shows ordinary people in their surroundings without being controlled by a director, similar to a documentary type film. For example a modern day form of cinema verite is a show like "Runs's House" which we would now just call reality TV. Click Here for a clip from Run's House
Avant-Garde Film: A range of filmmaking styles that are different from main stream commercial films and documentaries.
Film Noir: Film Noir comes from the french which means black film. Its usually used to describe stylish hollywood crime dramas that show eccentric attitudes and sexual motivations. This was mainly used in the early 1940's to late 1950's. Heres a video showing prime exaples that film Noir uses. Click Here
French New Wave: The French new wave was influenced in the 1950's and 1960's by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. it allowed them to do different experements wid editing, visual style and narritive. Heres a trailer from a famous french new wave film called "The 400 Blows" released in 1959. Click Here