Risk Assessment

As my short film is going to involve in abandoned places and outside at points I have to consider a range of potential safety risks that could be present on set when filming. I have presented it in a table as this method is very easy to identify the possible risks that could happen. Even though some of the options are for my awareness such as forgetting storyboards as I am directing, I still need to hand them out to my actors so they are fully aware of the possible risk that could happen. This will make them feel more safe.

RISK LEVEL 1(LOW RISK) - 5 (HIGH RISK)

Location Scouting

It is important to location scout to plan and get the perfect locations for the short film. This post will be dedicated to this.

Main house shots 1:
I need a house for the majority of the short film. As this is where he was whilst the nuclear war happened he is in there for the majority of the time and he will be in the short film as he does not want to expose himself too much to the nuclear substances. The main house being used may as well be my own house as this resolves many problems and it is easier to film in. This makes it easier for myself as I can use the props within the house that I would need such as pictures of him and the family. Moreover, all my camera gear is already in the house so it is a faster process filming and recording. 

Garden shots:
Also, I need to use garden shots for the flashback to get shots of him having fun with his family playing in the garden. To represent the amazing times before the nuclear attack. This will be shown in a dream where he will wake up and realise he is in the hard lonely reality. Using flashbacks is effective as it demonstrates how much he is thinking of the past and how much he misses it. The garden is full of colours of green which is a colour that is bright and will help elaborate the happiness, it will 
comparison to the dull scenes after he wakes up.


House shots 2:
I also need another house for shots of him scavenging for food and other resources, as he will be running low on food from waiting for the nuclear substance to reduce all this time. He only goes near to his house for the first few years then eventually goes further. My second house for the short film will be a friends or family house, most probably my gran's who lives next door so it is easily accessible to shoot there and bring the gear there and back. It will be a similar house to this, however I have a few options for my second house so it will not be definite.  

My street:
There will also be some shots of my street at the start to show the complete quietness of the surroundings due to the nuclear attack. It will be shown when he is going to the second house and also for establishing shots. My street is very quiet so it will be perfect to film with and of course it is reasonable as it is right next to my house and therefore not a huge effort of transporting gear cause I can simply move it in and out my house.


Atherfield bay holiday camp:
There are many abandoned places where I live, on the Isle of Wight. This makes it easier finding somewhere that looks derelict, worn down and abandoned. When looking for abandoned places to go, I found Atherfield bay holiday camp. This is near by myself so getting there is easy and cheap, and the actual place has been abandoned for years. It looks incredible as there are many abandoned areas such as a swimming pool, skate park, and other facilities within a camp. The place is perfect.

Car scene:
I also decided to use a car for a scene, of when he goes to places this would make sense of him using a car, to travel distance to find better resources. I will be using my dads car shown in this image as nothing needs to be rented so It will not cost any money at all which is great.

Actors, Equipment, Props and Costume

Costume
Face mask
Needed to reduce any chemicals of him breathing in as it is a risk, even though it is years after the nuclear war there are still substances within the air.
Normal/casual every clothes of protagonist and other actors
No special clothes is needed, just casual clothing. Casual clothing is used for other actors, being the family of the protagonist, as there will be flash backs of the normal times. However the protagonist is also wearing normal, casual clothing as its all the clothing he had in his house before the attack so he wouldn't have any other clothing.
Weapon
When he goes outside his house a weapon is defiantly needed in case of any gangs or dangerous people coming his way. This will be used to defend himself.

Props
Canned food such as baked beans and tinned fruit
Canned food is needed for some scenes. Canned food stay in date for a long time so it is the only food that is left after the nuclear attack.
Map
This is needed when he is trying to find a place to go to find kind humans and more supply for him to last longer.
Wine
I need wine as this is what was in the storage room before, a wine cellar with aluminium surrounding. Perfect for canned food and other resources to use after the attack.
Water
Water is obviously a necessity so this is in the storage room also, as you could not live without water.
Medical Supplies
You need medical supplies to survive in case you get injured or ill so this is also useful to have and will be needed in the short film.
Bedding
Where he sleeps in his shelter for the most being.
2 Camping stoves
This is what he finds when he goes to another house, camping stoves which do not run on electricity. And makes him survive for a lot longer.
Bag
When he is travelling to other places, a bag is needed for his items such as weapons, water, food and survival items.
Aluminium
This is what the room is covered in to make a good bomb shelter, before was used for a wine cellar.

Equipment
1080p Camera - Canon EOS 650D
A camera that is in high quality and HD is necessary. Visual is a very important aspect in he short film and it needs to be pleasing to look at - not unclear and in bad quality.
Tripod
Needed for still shots to make the shots look more professional and not irritating for the viewer to watch.
Editing software (sony vegas & final cut pro)
After the shots are filmed I would need something to edit all the clips together to make the short film be an actual story. Editing is very important and I already have very expensive software such as Sony Vegas and final cut pro so this will help me make the short film look professional.
SD card
Whats inside the camera and will hold all the footage.
Computer to edit on
Obviously I would need a computer of some sort to actually use the editing software. I will transfer the footage from the camera through a wire into the computer.
Microphone
I have a rode microphone that goes into my canon camera. This microphone will make the sound a lot more professional. Even though there is not a lot of dialogue in the movie itself, it is still important to hear what he is doing without any terrible background sounds. The microphone helps reduce the background sound as wherever direction it is pointed in it will be most loud in that direction. 
Lighting
Lighting is also very important. Luckily I do filming in my spare time and I have two large professional lights that will make the scene a lot better pure and visually pleasing. 

Actors
WARREN (Protagonist) - Survivor 
Warren is the main actor, being the survivor of the nuclear attack. You will hear his voice being narrated over the short film and we will be seeing his story of it.
Random strangers from gangs 
These will be shown in his nightmare briefly. Bad guys from previous trips when he went out to seek kind people like himself and supplies.
Family members
In one of the flashbacks his family are also in the scene to represent the normal times.
Another survivor
There will be another survivor at the end shown very briefly to make it interesting and end the suspense. It will leave us at even more of a cliff hanger however which is what I want it to be, make people want to watch more.

Description of Scenes

Scene 1: Nightmare - Inside houses/Outside 
The film starts with a nightmare that Warren Is dreaming of his past. We see him looking at the map from a distance looking very unhappy. Then it flashes backs of him circling areas on a map where he is planning to go to then we see horrible things happening to him in those areas. Firstly there is a flash back of him hiding whilst hearing gun shots by him, the next area he is getting chased then lastly a sniper is trying to shoot at him.This happens till much of the map has been circled, realising there isn't much hope left. We hear loud sniper shots at the end causing him to wake up as well as the alarm.

Scene 2: Present - Main House
It then cuts up to the present, Warren wakes up and gasps for breath from the nightmare, shaking. He turns to see that his wife is still there but realises it isn't a whole dream and that it is all reality. He then turns the alarm clock on, turns the light on and leans out of bed whilst grabbing a photograph of him and his family. He is looking very emotional, sitting on the end of the bed. He eventually gets up and walks towards the curtains and opens them whilst it fades to white, along with the day light to the next scene.

Scene 3: Flash back - Main House.
Now there is another flashback, however of the time before the nuclear attack. We see it cut to news programmes showing how surprised they are. Then scenes of him showing how prepared he was and the cupboard under the stairs being a storage of wine. Then as he is on about trump's victory, there is scenes of him flashing on the screen, then afterwards military scenes whilst talking about China and Russia. We then go on and start to see him getting ready for the attack due to his superstitions. We see him turning his wine storage into a nuclear shelter. 

Scene 4: Present - Main House
We begin to see his repetitive routine. We see how draining it has become for him without the right food and how lack of human contact has effected him. He has lost hope.  It carry's on from him after opening the curtains, he walks to the kitchen and begins to eat breakfast of tinned fruit and baked beans with water. Then a little shot of him rationing water. We then see him looking at the map of him looking at an area that he knows is safe and full of people, however he is debating as he has never gone that far.

Scene 5: Flash back - Local streets and neighbours house.
Whilst he narrates over, he ventures to his local area showing scenes of him scavenging cupboards of tinned fruit. Then in another house he finds two camping stoves which excites him deeply as he can now have warm food which will last him 6 months.

Scene 6: Present - Main House
Scenes of him around the house feeling hopeless and looking horrible. It shows how being lonely has affected him emotionally and mentally. He talks about his current state, being very personal and will make the audience feel sympathetic.  Whilst he talks about what he misses he is looking at past photos around the house and family recordings from the time in the past. He then beings to prepare for the large trip to the area where he thinks there are kind people and resources.  He beings to go to the area, talking about how he thought it was his last hope and yet it was still dead. Until, we see it cut to a scene where he sees a light go off. It cuts and ends leaving the audience wanting more.

Story Boarding

I am containing many different shot types of angles and movements to keep my short film entertaining as it is not an action film, there is not much excitement. Therefore I am trying to do this with the fast paced shots. Resulting from this there would be a very large amount of frames on my storyboard. Which is why I have story boarded very roughly. I have storyboarded basic ideas of what I want to see in my film. Though story boarding is often seen as an essential part of production, personally I don't rely heavily on story boards. I mainly have the image within my head of the scenes, in great detail. However this is a very bad habit I still think they are essential and useful. I do like having the idea of shots that you want before filming as you feel more prepared and less stressed. So i have used this opportunity very well.
Now I have a great idea of my films progression, I can start planning on location for the scenes and props necessary within my short film.

Example of one of my storyboard sheets:

Script

For my short film there is no dialogue so a script with many characters conversing is not needed. This is as I have decided my short film to be a narrative short film so the character in the short film is describing what he is doing within the short film. Here is my script for the short film:

Fade in:

Warren has a nightmare, a montage of him exploring areas but only 
finding horrible humans chasing him and no useful loot. 

Warren gets woken up by the gun shots in his nightmare and also the alarm clock.

Fade out:

WARREN, Middle aged English man nuclear war survivor who is in a bad mental state due to the loneliness from the intense dramatic fall.

Warren leans up and gasps for air from his nightmare and begins to get out of bed.

WARREN VOICEOVER
This is what my life has become, my unconscious time takes me back to the life I had before. Brought back to the reality of my life now. I long for the life I had before, what I wouldn't give to wind back the clock. Now after the devastation and carnage of the nuclear war, my life couldn't be more different. Alone, afraid and on the edge of going insane.

FADE IN:

INT. Inside house - DAY

Flashback of the day of the attack and Warren preparing.

WARREN VOICEOVER

The day of the attack, took the world by surprise. My survival was purely down to my paranoia and preparation. I remember years before thinking the cupboard under the stairs which was lined with aluminium to allow storage of wine would make a fantasticate nuclear shelter.

CUT TO SCENES OF TRUMP AND MILITARY

WARREN VOICEOVER

As tension grew around the world following president elect trumps victory, I began to make the cupboard more sustainable, as China and Russia started military manoeuvres. Water, canned food, bedding, medical supplies and any other necessities to keep me alive during the initial aftermath. My conscious seemed to pay off.

FADE OUT:

INT. Inside house - DAY

Warren begins his daily routine.

WARREN VOICEOVER

It feels like groundhog day. Everyday the same routine, I get up alone. Always with the hope and belief of someone out there who is friendly, someone close - who will make this life more bearable. I eat breakfast, usually either tinned fruit or baked beans followed by a small amount of water which I have to ration now as my stock is getting low. I know a foraging expedition with a town of friendly citizens is close, and this fills me full of dread. I have never been out that far and it is just too dangerous out there.

INT. Streets and neighbours house - DAY

Warren goes to scavenge stock at nearby houses.

WARREN VOICEOVER

So far I have only ventured beyond my immediate neighbours a few times. I mainly adventure only within my area as people are not trusted out there. However, it proved to be quite fruitful as being elderly had cupboards of tinned food, most of which was in date. My other neighbour was a kean hiker and camper and I managed to obtain two camping stoves and enough gas for six months - if I last that long.

My will to live was like a roller coaster, I wanted to curl up and die, as the loneliness and lack of human contact was beginning to make me hallucinate more and more. Slowly, I was going crazy with my own company. And on the other hand I had waves of excitement, trepidation and adrenalin at the thought of meeting people in the same position, just trying to get through the hell that has become our lives.

I miss the human contact, the ability to talk, touch and smell another human being. My life is full of dull routines mixed with vivid flashbacks of what my life used to be like. The reality is my initial stock of food is critically low, this fact together with my human instinct to see if there was anyone out there who is friendly has driven me to the decision that I must look further afield. Tomorrow, I will drive to the local campsite in the hope of supplies and human contact.

Fade out:

INT. Abandoned campsite - DAY

Warren goes around scavenging the abandoned campsite in hope for food and human life.

WARREN VOICEOVER

I was unprepared for the devastation and desolate surrounding. A place which I remember to be vibrant, noisy and full of life - was now a ghost town. It also looked like I was not person to have the same idea, stores, supplies, and anything useful has been stripped out. My heart had sunk, my hope crushed, what was the point..

Changes to Plot and Idea

My first plot idea: resulting to a worldwide nuclear attack it leaves one survivor, who is my dad, as he is immune to the nuclear substance due to him researching this area for his whole life. He is on a quest to find other human life and to restart the human race.

Now once I have had done research, I have came to realization that I want my plot to be slightly different and needed improvements. So here is my updated plot:

Due to Warren being deep below the surface when the bomb hit, along with supplies and water, he finds himself a lone survivor in a world ravaged by the effects of a nuclear war. It takes time to adjust to the surroundings, but the mental toll effects him badly. Knowing he probably wont see his wife, children and family again hit hard, his world will never be the same. The world will never be the same. He is on a quest to find supplies to last him longer and other human life and to restart the human race.

Deadline Plan for finishing Short Film

Now I have finished Research, I am now going to plan my deadlines for the planning, filming, editing and my final product. Being organised and following a deadline plan is very helpful to keep up with my work, be focused and on track. I wont complete these to the exact dates however I will try my best to keep up to date with it as possible. I decided to put it in a table as its easy to comprehend and know my deadline dates.

There will be many posts throughout this process of showing my journey of the short film. Once I have completed the main task, which will hopefully be before Christmas so I can have a break, I will then have a month to complete the two little projects, the subsidiary tasks. I feel like that will be plenty of time as the ones I have chosen are Photoshop based which I am quite good at. I will make a deadline list after I have created all short film related posts, so it doesn't get too confusing.

Short Film Questionaire

I had 30 members of my sixth form to fill in a questionnaire related to my short film. I am interested to know the majority of peoples opinion on my idea of a short film and short films in general. This will hopefully direct me in the right path and see how successful my own short film will be.

Evaluation of Results
This information has been very useful to myself and great research for my short film. Firstly, people expect a short film to be 5-7 minutes as 17 people responded saying this and second was 3-4 minutes with 7 voting for this. This tells us that people prefer around this time therefore I am going to try and keep it around 4-6 minutes as this will help with peoples expectations and also keeping with their attention spans.
Furthermore,  we received great feedback that the majority of people would like to see a film about a nuclear war survivor as 5 only said they wouldn't, meaning more than 80% of people I asked would enjoy to see this. The only negative feed back about this was my plot as it does seem quite unoriginal as many films use the same plot however I have tried to change it slightly by it being a nuclear war rather than zombies or virus's.
Moreover, peoples majority vote of the importance of a short film was to tell a story and portray a message. I need to defiantly keep these in mind when creating my own if this is what people think is most important for a short film.
Lastly, one of my most vital questions was the last - what attracts you when watching a film. The 30 students I asked mainly said the actors intrigue them the most and also the look of the actual film. I do not have any big, famous actors that will attract them to watch the film so this is a shame however I can make the film look as professional and interesting as I possibly can by using cinematic and a variety of shots to maintain the interest and engage them to watch.

Short Film Title Ideas

Looking back at my research and knowledge of films within the same genre I see that the titles are always linked to either the catastrophe, describing the earth in some way, or something about the character. Therefore I followed the trend and made a mind map with these titles and had some title ideas for each section. It is essential to have an interesting title so it will attract the audiences attention and make them watch it, a title itself is an enigma code pressing the viewer to look into the films, essentially. 

My favourites
SILENT EARTH & WORLD ON MUTE
Silent earth and world on mute describes the earth after the aftermath of the nuclear war. Its clear and once watching it you understand the title, that the catastrophe has made the earth so silent, abandoned and isolated. It has made the earth complete silent, when it would normally be full of life somewhere on the globe.
ALONE & SOLO
Alone and solo are simple, effective and explains the majority of the film in one word. It is effective as it makes you wonder, why is he alone/solo? what happened? 
LAST SURVIVOR
I love this title, as it makes the protagonist feel special as he is the last human a live. It draws your eyes to it and makes him seem very heroic which I like very much.
END OF TIME
This title stands out very well. It is also very dramatic as it means its the end of the world which will grab peoples attention and wanting to watch the short film.

Why I dislike some
LAST DAY
Last day does not technically make sense as it is not the last day as there is one survivor and perhaps many more out there. It is the last day for most of man kind but not completely so this is why I have not used this title as its not completely right.
LEGACY
Legacy looks great, its simple being one word and you can remember it very well. However I feel like it is too similar to one of my inspired films 'I am Legend' and therefore I do not want to use this as I want to be more unique.
A1ONE
I like A1one as it is has more meaning than 'alone'. A1one means alone however the 1 is mean to emphasise that he could be the only human left, theirs '1' human. It has great meaning to it however it isn't easy and catchy to say and comprehend and this is why I cant use it.
W.O.M.D

W.O.M.D meaning weapons of mass destruction is related to nuclear war so it is very relevant. However, it makes the short film sound like an action packed film with a lot of shooting and war. This is not what my short film is about as it is after all that has happened t (post-apocalyptic not action). So using this title sends off the wrong message and therefore I do not want to use it.

CONCLUSION

Having done this mind map I have came to a conclusion that I am going to use the title Outlaster. I think this title has never been used before. It sounds and looks great. It suggests he is special as he has outlasted something that not many have (In this case a nuclear attack). This title will intrigue people as they will be keen to know what he has outlasted and what happens next. It is short and simple and hopefully will bring people in to watch it.