It's a scary thought that this is my final year at university. I'm a week into the first semester, and so far we've been introduced to all of the modules (and I've even managed to fit in a gym session, go me!) and I have so many ideas floating around in my head.
We have 3 modules for this semester so far:
- Make a short film between 3-10 minutes long.
- External brief (using people outside of the project in our films)
- Design Project Report, which is a 4,000 word report film related/related to creativity.
3 modules sounds easy peasy, right? Wrong. The pressure of this being my last year means that my film needs to be my best yet and I need to put 110% into every aspect of the production. Also, the word 'report' put shivers down my spine: I love blogging, but writing in a professional manner with facts, statistics, references and everything in between seems to be something I find ridiculously hard.
Last year I wrote my first report, which was more difficult than I originally anticipated. It took me around 12 drafts to finally get the structure right and several more after that to get the information right. Why is writing a report so hard?! However, on the first day we had our module introduction, I went to the library and got 6 books to help me start of my report. I decided on the question of my report to be "Why is biblical iconography used in horror films?" (the title might change). I wanted to write about this because horror is my favourite genre, and I've noticed a pattern in their scare techniques: a large handful of films use crosses and the bible etc to make the audience terrified, but the question is, why? This is something I will hopefully find out through extensive research and interviews.
I'm both excited and nervous to start the production of my short film. I've had my idea since the summer holidays, and I've already thought of my crew, logistics and structure. It's a great idea that I think will have a large audience and have a great story, and I'm certain it will look visually interesting (especially with the C100 cameras, thank you media centre!). Also, the external brief module seems to be in full swing: I have my contributor and location already sorted and I'm looking for a photographer, poster designer, composer and possibly someone in graphics. It looks like it's going to be a great film and a fantastic way to get some contacts in the industry!
So, what's next on the cards? Well, first I need to delve into the pile of books I have from the library and get some notes down for my design project report. Secondly, I need to finalise my crew and research into my idea before I make a proposal for my supervisor, who will hopefully love it. Then it's a case of development, research and shooting! Keep your eyes peeled for more updates as the project develops.
