Update on Film Ideas

After Lucy helps Daisy to her feet, she takes her back to a camp of other survivors in hiding.

The camp is in a woodland area, overgrown and well-hidden. The camp inhabitants are well secluded and out of sight of anyone who might be looking for them. At the centre of the camp is a large, white, battered tipi. Nearby, is a small stream running through the trees, leading down into a water-filled pit.
The pit is used later in the film to dump the bodies of attackers.

As the woodland area we will be shooting in isn't that large, we will either have to travel to the other woods in the opposite orchard for more shots, or change the angle of our shots in the same location. Using a range of cinematography, we should be able to give the effect that we are in a completely different area of the woods.

Ideas and Brainstorming for Short Film Project

In our group, we've been brainstorming ideas to put towards our short film. Main inspirations for the film are The Hunger Games, How I Live Now, and other films set in dystopian/post apocalyptic eras. As we were planning on the film being set in a dystopian future.

Our current idea focuses on the opening sequence to the film. In the opening sequence, we see a young girl (Daisy) dazed, regaining consciousness in the aftermath of what could possibly have been a nuclear blast. She is in shock, confused and possibly hallucinating from her trauma. The surrounding scenery is foggy, cloudy and Daisy is surrounded by smoke and ash in a farm-like setting. People are running from something in the distance, in chaos. Daisy's friend Lucy runs over to her after finally finding her since the chaos started. Lucy then helps Daisy to her feet and tries to explain to Daisy what she already knows about the event.

Characters: 4 Girls 1 Boy (undecided)
                  Possibly a male character, most likely female majority
Location:    My family farm
Setting:       Plain marshland/bare cornfield shrouded in smoke and ash.
                  Weather is cloudy, foggy and misty.

Paramore - Now

This is one of my favourite music videos as it shows a new start for the band and that they have put all of the struggles of their past behind them, ready to start fresh. I love the post-apocalyptic themes and the chaos of the battle, a different turn form their other music videos. The opening scene reflects the lyrics that play at that moment. "Feels like I'm waking from the dead, and everyone's been waiting on me", is very relevant to the situation. While Hayley's been unconscious, a war has been waging and her side have been waiting for her to wake and help them.
       I love that throughout the video, Hayley is determined to get to the enemy leader. She walks through the fight, shaking off attackers, while her allies defend and protect her, prioritising her. She is not violent towards any other enemy, she just calmly makes her way through, with an expression of determination to reach her target and end the war. The whole theme of both the song and video is having the hope and determination to to start over and pick up the pieces.
         At one point, it seems like all hope is lost as her bandmates have been defeated and restrained, and Hayley has been struck and is on the ground looking at the hopelessness of the current situation. She still has hope, picks herself up and runs at the general. Even though she gets caught, she still fights and struggles, it's a tense moment as she's about to be struck by the general. As she breaks free just in time she does something no one sees coming. She charges at him and hugs him. As she does so the sky immediately turns bright and the general, shocked, hugs her back and the war is over.
      That scene is putting across a message that you do not need to use violence to end a war that was ignited by violence, you can instead use peace.

Evanescence - Everybody's fool

I like this video more than Evanescence's others because it is very hard-hitting in some parts and touches on issues of society that many people, especially students, can relate to. For example our constant tendencies to hide behind a mask, put on to please other people so we can feel like we fit in somewhere. Or the constant pressure to try and be perfect all the time, because it's all that is expected of us and nothing less.

      In the beginning of the video, it shows the lead singer having to put on a fake smile and hide how she's actually feeling. She has to lie about the pizza she supposedly made to seem like she did a good job and try to be perfect. We are shown the truth as the display shows the repetition of the word "LIES", A recurring theme throughout the video. Similar occurrences are shown in the video, such as the scene where she rides up on the motorbike and drinks from a can with the word "Lies" written on it. Again when she is in an advertisement for a child's toy, there are the words "lies" on the screen.

      Between the Ads, we see scenes that show Amy breaking down under the pressure of being someone she's not, having to hide behind a mask a fake smile and the pressure to be perfect and do everything right. Something everyone can probably relate to as we are all constantly pressured, criticised, and ridiculed if we don't do something right, or not to someone else's expectations.