The Jelly Baby Challenge

Story One:

The first opening we decided on creating was for a "ghost story film, rated PG". As a group, we chose this one as we believed we had a good understanding of the key conventions used in ghost films. Before we began, we outlined a plot and several filming techniques we intended to include. The techniques we wanted to use was an establishing shot, whip pan shot and close ups.

The plot of our film opening is pretty simple but, I believe, very effective. It is a story of four friends who go camping in a field. When one of the characters (Stephanie) hears noises in the distance she goes off to investigate and is greeted and attacked by a demonic ghost. The next morning, the remaining three friends realise Stephanie isn't in the tent and later discover her lifeless body.

The planning of our Jelly Baby story was successful because all members of our group made a contribution. Before we started planning the plot, we all made suggestions and mutually agreed on the one we found most fitting. From there, we then discussed a range of shots we were interested in using. We printed out various images (the facial expressions, the backgrounds, the tents and the rock) in order to make our storyboard shots look as true to life as they would if we actually filmed them. I believe we stuck to our brief very well and ensured that it stayed within the PG-rating boundaries. 

We could have improved our finished storyboard by using the same surface throughout. As you can see, the surface in the last photo is different to the rest which creates a sense of discontinuity. 

Story Two:

The second brief we decided on was for the "independent movie". We chose this because it allowed a multitude of possible plots for us to decide between. The shots we would use include Long Shot, Tracking Shot and Medium Close Up.

The protagonist of our film is a regular at an indie coffee shop and knows almost all of the customers. One afternoon, somebody completely new and mysterious enters and catches our protagonist's eye. This is only the opening of the film, but the plot would develop further and follow the story of our protagonist and the mysterious male. 

I think this task was planned and carried out well as we put a lot of effort into it. We focussed heavily on the props and set of this opening to make it more apparent to the audience. All members of our group contributed and worked quickly so that we wouldn't run out of time. Because of this, our shots were consistent - unlike our shots for the ghost story opening. I believe our storyboard stands out because of the set. There were different depths, meaning the bar tender could sit behind the bar and our characters could 'sit' on chairs. 

A way of improving the overall look of our storyboard would be to find a way of having the jelly babies stand on their own. Using pencils worked, however it meant that the shots were obstructed and it isn't as clear to the audience as I would have liked. Picking a genre with such versatility in terms of plot meant that we spent quite a lot of time when deciding.