Ancillary: Film Magazine Review Page

We just finished our second ancillary. This was a Film Magazine Review Page. We made up a name, Film Mag, to name the magazine we were writing the review for. The page contains an image of our main character, Kamran, a few Behind The Scenes images of me and my partner Saad Tariq, and our Film Poster as well. It was designed on Adobe Photoshop CS5 and was a teamwork by me and Saad tariq.

Ancillary: Film Poster

We just completed our first ancillary, which is a Film Poster. We made this using Adobe Photoshop CS5. It was a teamwork by me and my partner Saad Tariq. We used screen shots from our own short film Ragged 2wice as well as a separate image taken of Kamran, our protagnist. we gave the images of the antagonists a thought cloud like shape, which shows that Kamran saw these people in a dream.

We have also shown him take of a red tie, the one which he wears in the film when he is ragged and told to dance. Our tag line is also something that indicates to Kamran's dream. The word "Nightmare" is used to give a hint of it. However, the film poster speaks about the film, without giving away the real juice of the story.

We also used a font to write the credits at the end of the poster, to make it look like a real film poster.

Audience Feedback

We had our film screening on the 9th of April, which was a Monday. All the media students from the AS and A level batch screened their media products. we got very good responses from the audience present at the screening. We even handed out a few questionnaires to different people. The feedback was encouraging. Everyone liked our film. Below is the video of the feedback of the audience and the Q/A round at the end of the screening. 

Ragged 2wice: Short Film

This is our final film, Ragged 2wice. We screened our film on the 9th of April in our school. The response the audience gave was very good.

Music for our Short Film

We had a bit of change in plans. We were supposed to ask a fellow student for some help in music, but instead we used music by a composer by the name of Kevin MacLeod. He is a free lance music producer. His music is royalty free and he lets people use it for free, specially students. He works on almost all the genres of music, be it for horror, romance, drama, action, suspense or company. Many of his music tracks have been used in famous films, specially the horror music tracks. We have selected a few of his music tracks for our film. In AS, we used his soundtracks for our opening title. This time, we believe, our film will be better than it was, with the assistance of his music. We will mention his name in the title for Background Score. This is his website which contains royalty free music: http://incompetech.com/

First Cut

Here are the Rushes of our short film, Ragged 2wice. This only contains the raw footage without any music any extra enhancements and it is unedited. This light editing was done on Adobe Premier Pro CS4.

We will not be using many transitions in our film, however, we will use a few fades and slow motion with the audio and video of the film. We also need to add music. The music will be by Kevin MacLeod, because his music is good. We used his music last year as well. We will also use Adobe After Effects CS4 to make the title of our film.

Done With Shooting

We completed our shooting just at our deadline day, i.e. the 10th of February. The shooting experience was great for us. We had encountered some problems with our actors and some management problem because our actors were students and teachers and our school was the location. We had to extend some times, quicken some shots and just do things in a short time span, but we managed to pull everything off in the nick of time.

We had a shoot log, on which we recorded all the shots that we took with their timings and their. We wrote the time, the shot number and scene number and the battery as well. We also wrote whether the shot we took was acceptable or not but just putting a tick in front of it.

Shooting Schedule

Working Title: “Ragged 2wice”

Genre: Teen Drama

Shooting Schedule:

Day-Date	Timing	Location	Scene and Description
31 January-Tuesday	8:30 a.m.	Outside School	Scene 1: Kamran gets out of car and goes into college.
		Inside College: Main Gate and Main Corridor	Scene 2: Kamran is in the main corridor of the college and is met by bullies after checking his section.
		Outside College	Scene 6: Kamran wakes up in his mom's car and finds that he had been dreaming all this time. He enters college.
		Inside College: Main Gate and Main Corridor	Scene 7: Kamran enters the college, checks his section and starts looking for his class room. While doing so he hears voices familiar to those from his dream, followed by being met with the bully leader from his dream
		College Back Alley	Scene 3: Kamran is brought by the bullies to the Back Alley, where he is ragged and then forced to dance for the bullies who make a video of him dancing.
1 February-Wednesday	10:00 a.m.	Class Room	Scene 4: Kamran enters the class room. The teacher is already teaching in the class and Kamran is late. He is also framed by the person sitting behind him for being a smoker. On finding Kamran holding the cigarette pack, the teacher takes him to the principal's office.
		Principal's Office	Scene 5: Kamran is in the principal's office. The principal tells him about the college's strict policy and is then nearly expelled when the principal starts telling him to "Wake Up!" Kamran is confused.
2 February-Thursday	8:00 a.m.	School	Any Scene that is left to be shot.

New Storyboard

We made a new storyboard for our short film. This is more accurate and organised than the one we did before.

Character Sketches

I have made Character Sketches of the characters in my film that have dialogues.

Kamran: Kamran Shahnawaz is playing the role of Kamran, the main character of Ragged 2wice. Male, 19 years old, he is a thin person, about 5 feet and 8 inches. 

In the film, he has short curly hair and wears glasses. His shirt is tucked in and he has a geeky look in the film. In the film, Kamran goes through some difficulties on his first day at college, before waking up in his mom's car and realising that he had been dreaming all the time, till he finds the bully from his dream in person.

In the film, Kamran has an innocent look. He is the victim of the college bullies who rag him. He is a low voiced character in the film, although the film revolves around him. Throughout the film, Kamran has the expression of fear of being ragged. Worry and tension are portrayed by him.

Bully Leader: Uzair Sohail is playing the role of the Bully Leader, the main antagonist of the film. Male, 19 years old, he is about 5 feet and 11 inches tall and is a bulky, perfect to overpower Kamran and dominate him on the screen.

His shirt is outside in the film, and he also has an accessory (either a winter cap or a hood sweat shirt). He comes in the second, third and seventh scenes of the film. He also has two other guys with him who are also bullies and can be taken as bully sidekicks. He is the only bully who does all the talking.

He has a sinister and mischievous smile which depicts the naughty character of a bully. He has rugged and rough look in the film. In the film, Uzair rags Kamran along with his partners and then meets Kamran in the last scene.

 Principal: Mrs. Humera Javed is playing the role of the Principal in the film. She is the third anatgonist of the film. 

Has glasses as well. Is a firm personality in the film. She appears only in the fifth scene in the film. In the film, she does not tolerate students who break the rules of the college and is very decisive in their punishments.

A senior person, middle aged, female, Mrs. Humera is a strict personality in the film. She has a very formal attitude in the film. She wears the typical Pakistani Shalwar and Kameez in the film.

Mom: Fatmah Qayyum will be playing the role of Kamran's mother in our film. Female, 19 years old, Fatmah agreed to play the role because of our fail to find a good actor for a mother, and one who could also drive.

Kamran's mother will be a typical Pakistani mother, wearing shalwar and kameez which is the cultural dress of our country. Many mothers also drive cars in our country and this is why we chose to put a mother in the role of the person dropping Kamran to college.

Her height is 5 feet and 1 inches, but that will be not very important as she only comes in the first and sixth scenes and will only be sitting in the car in those scenes. The good part about Fatmah is that she has the tendency to act well, just as our other actors.

Teacher: Mr. S. B. Zaman was supposed to act as the teacher for our short film, but unfortunately, we have had last minute changes as he will not be acting for us now. We have to find a substitute for him now, and at the moment we do not have a substitute, but we definitely will. 

Alice In Wonderland - Plot Summary

During the research for my Director, I came across Tim Burton, and I analysed Alice In Wonderland, a film that came out recently and one that has a dream sequence as well. I analysed the plot and I thought that I should upload my analysis.

• Nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh, who is disturbed by a strange and frequent dream and grieving the loss of her beloved father, attends a garden party at Lord Ascot's estate, where she has to face an unwanted marriage proposal and the useless expectations of the society in which she lives.
• Confused with the matter and not sure of how to reply, she runs away to chase after a rabbit in a blue waistcoat, and accidentally falls into a large rabbit hole.
• Through it, she is transported to a world called Underland, where she is greeted by the White Rabbit, the Dormouse, the Dodo, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They argue over her identity as "the right Alice", who it is prophesied will slay the Red Queen's Jabberwocky on the Frabjous Day and restore the White Queen to power.
• The group is then attacked by surprise by the Bandersnatch and a group of playing-card soldiers led by the Knave of Hearts. Alice escapes and flees into the woods.
• The Knave informs the Red Queen that Alice has returned to Underland and threatens her reign, and the soldiers are ordered to find Alice immediately. Meanwhile, the wandering Alice meets the Cheshire Cat, who takes her to the March Hare and the Hatter.
• On the way to the White Queen's castle, Hatter tells her of the terror of the Red Queen's reign, and comments that Alice is not the same as she once was. The Hatter helps Alice avoid capture by allowing himself to be seized instead. Also through his help Alice is later found by Bayard the Bloodhound, who wants to take her to the White Queen, but Alice insists to help the Hatter, so they go to the Red Queen's castle instead.
• The Red Queen does not of Alice's true identity and so welcomes her as a guest. Alice learns that the Vorpal Sword (the only weapon capable of killing the Jabberwocky) is locked away in a case inside the Bandersnatch's den. The Knave crudely attempts to seduce Alice, but she resists him. She later manages to retrieve the sword and befriend the Bandersnatch. The Knave finds her with the sword and attempts to arrest her. Alice escapes on the back of the Bandersnatch and delivers the sword to the White Queen.
• The Cheshire Cat saves the Hatter from execution, and the Hatter calls for rebellion against the Red Queen. The rebellion is quickly put down by Jubjub bird. The resistance flees to the White Queen's castle, and both armies prepare for battle. Alice remains unsure about the expectation for her to champion the White Queen, and meets with Absolem the Caterpillar. He reminds Alice of her past visit to Underland (which she mistakenly called "Wonderland" at the time) thirteen years earlier, and helps give her the courage to fight the Jabberwocky.
• When the Frabjous Day arrives, both the White and Red Queens gather their armies on a chessboard-like battlefield and send forth their chosen champions (armor-clad Alice and the Jabberwocky respectively) to decide the fate of Underland. Encouraging herself with the words of her late father, Alice manages to kill the Jabberwocky. The White Queen then banishes the Red Queen and the Knave to the Outlands, and gives Alice a vial of the Jabberwocky’s blood, which will take her home. The Hatter suggests that she could stay in Underland, but she decides that she must go back and promises that she will return.
• Alice returns home, where she stands up to her family and pledges to live life on her own terms. Impressed, Lord Ascot takes her in as his apprentice, with the idea of establishing oceanic trade routes to China. As the story closes, Alice prepares to set off on a trading ship. Absolem, now a butterfly, lands on her shoulder. Alice recognizes him and greets him before he flutters away.

New Location Pictures

On 26th January, Saad and I conducted a location research once again, this time with better visualisation of the shots that we wanted in our short film, "Ragged 2wice".

This is the main gate of Beaconhouse School System. Jubilee Campus. I will be showing the main character, Kamran, first arrive in his mom's car, get out of it and then enter the school. In our film, the school is actually referred to a "College" because it is a more general form, rather than mentioning "A" Levels or "O" Levels. This will be the location for the 1st Scene.

This is another shot of the same gate, but this is a better angle and has more space in the frame, especially for the car to enter the frame. This is an ideal shot for our film. I will be taking shots of the car arriving in front of the gate.

This is how the street in front of the school gate looks like from the opposite angle. I will probably use this angle while showing the main character walk towards the school gates as his mom's car drives away.

This is the gate that the main character will enter through. I prefer to use the small gate because the large gate is used only when it is home time. In the morning, the school uses the small gate only, due to security reasons, and I believe it is not an issue that should be challenged.

This is the inside of the same small gate shown in the picture above. I have kept this as an option to show Kamran enter the school, confirming that he has entered the school/college premises. This is  a side angle shot of the gate. The 2nd Scene of the film will start from this location.

This is another angle of the same small gate. I believe this is a better angle than the one mentioned above, because this has more space to show Kamran, the main character, enter the school/college premises and then it will allow me to pan the camera towards the left when Kamran walks into the A Level section, where the rest of the film will be shot.

This is the entrance of the A Level section of the school, and we will be showing the College atmosphere, with Kamran entering the area and finding other students like him checking their Timetable and then going of to their respective classes. This is also the place where Kamran will meet the first and main antagonists of the film, the Bullies.

This is the opposite side of the A Level entrance. This angle will also be used in the film.

The notice board can be seen on the right hand side in the picture. Here, the timetable of the A Level section is already present. From here, the film will pick the pace when Kamran will meet the bullies. This image was taken when there were no students in this area. During the shoot, there will be students roaming around and checking the timetable. Kamran will meet the bullies near the stairs on the right.

This is the back alley of the school. The bullies will bring Kamran  to this place. They will rag him here and then make him dance. This is the entrance of the back alley. The 3rd scene will be shot entirely in this location.

This is a different angled shot of the back alley. There will also be a bench here, to show that people come here, and also for the bullies to put Kamran and then put paint and a tutu on him.

The scene of Kamran being ragged is the biggest scene of the film, and so we will require a lot of shots and Match On Action for this scene. This is why I have taken pictures from different angles of the back alley.

This is the most ideal placement for the bench to be kept, because the bench is long and the back alley is narrow. Kamran will do the dance in this same area, with shots of similar angles. 

In one of my previous posts, I had used pictures of the hallway that is on the ground floor, but after some observation, I figured that the corridor of the second floor is clear of people when the students are in their classes. Almost all the class rooms on the second floor belong to the A Level section. 

This is the other side of the corridor. I have kept this location as an option as it may not be used, but while writing the story I imagined Kamran walking through the corridor and finding his class room.

This is the outside of the class room that I have chosen for the 4th Scene. This location proved to be more ideal for me as I wanted less extras in the hallway, which would help to depict that most of the students are in their classes, studying.

 This is the same door shown  in the picture above, but it has been taken from a different angle.

One thing that influenced me to chose this floor is that one of the class rooms is very neat and clean, and ideal for the 4th Scene. It also has a considerable amount of space to fit around 20-30 students. I want to show a good amount of the students so that I can have the teacher look at all the students and speak in different directions, so that the person sitting behind Kamran would put the cigarette pack in his shirt.

This is the back side of the same class room. The seats will be arranged in a different manner. 

While taking pictures, I was inspired to take snaps from different angles of the room, to give a good overview of the class room, and show the space it has.

This is a picture was taken from the side opposite to the one shown above. The walls of this class room are also very clean and there are a good amount of chairs present here.

This is the office of the Principal, Mrs. Humera Javed. She will also be acting for us as the Principal. The office was chosen because of its lighting and size. 

The office is also full of files, photographs, trophies and everything that a Principal might have.

This is a shot of the room from a different angle. This will be the place where Kamran will stand and talk to the principal in the scene. The fifth scene will be shot in this location.










Scene six and seven will be shot in the locations of scene one and two. Therefore those locations will be repeated. Apart from that, these are our final locations.