Short Film Production
'The Monday Syndrome'
Reflection
In our short film production, I teamed with two of my classmates where I had the role of being one of the directors, a cameraman, and the cinematographer. Our production is called ‘The Monday Syndrome’, our aim was to target people who have a negative view of the day Monday, and help them realize the wrong conception through the use of irony. It revolves around a regular high-school girl who wakes up misunderstanding the day of the week due to a broken clock, which is a misleading trick in the storyline that later on helps build the climax. She then pursues a day of bad occurrences, one after another. Some of these incidents include doing poorly on a math quiz, not playing well during volleyball practice or simply spilling on her clothes during lunchtime. As a team we tried to come up with small incidents that can occur due to a negative mindset. Our intention with this was to help individuals reconsider the manner in which they approach concepts that are perceived as “unbearable, or horrifying”. What we are really tackling is how a positive mindset could improve the out come of a day that is universally accepted as negative. I think what really helped us out with this plot was that it was an aspect we were very comfortable with. It is what we face every week due to the people around us, and with “The Monday Syndrome” we managed to address this topic in a comedic and playful manner.
The idea of basing our short film on the concept of Mondays was merely a thought in the beginning phase that we had to refer to after not being able to come up with more suitable ideas. We came to realize that coming up with an idea was one of the most challenging parts to the production process. We attempted to pursue ideas which were very in depth, yet were too detailed to be showcased in a short film. We noticed that there didn’t need to be an excessively complicated storyline, but rather a pact plot with less locations and preferably actors to be able to widen the chance of creative shots and artistic techniques.
Some of these artistic choices included the usage of a “Black bedroom” this was done in order to reference what was to come, visually. Sarah (the protagonist) has a horrible day due to the misconception of it being a Monday, yet only towards the end of the day she realizes that it was actually Friday and that the reason she was having a bad day was solely due to the stubborn misunderstanding that it is the start of the week. Transitions were mostly successfully in a unique way. These were planned out during the storyboarding phase, where they were mere creative thoughts, which was very pleasing to see in real life. An example of this would be the door of the locker getting shut, and the next scene displaying darkness that lights up as Sarah opens her pencil case. I think this was particularly effective since it also really gives a moment for the audience to blank out and think about what is happening. Its almost kind of grim looking, in a sense where there is a lot of darkness, and when looking at the meaning of color this is essentially a reflection of the day Sarah is having ("The Shortest horror story ever: Monday")
The role I had as the director and cameraman was harmonious as I was also in charge of cinematography. Being a main part of these three fields resulted in balance, since they are all tied to each other very closely. Throughout this process what I realized is that it is hard to execute the initial idea that was presented in the storyboard. There are a lot of external factors that can’t be controlled, such as weather, or people. At times due to these, shooting was either postponed or footage was not to the highest quality. The role of being a director is very significant, hence it is directly in relation to the outcome of the final piece. It was good to have more than one director, however what we had realized is that it also complicated the process. All members had more than two areas to focus on, and this was a positive element at first, that lead to disorganized situations. It was a good idea to have more than one cameraman since the storyline required many locations, this meant that one cameraman could replace the other when there were issues with arrivals to specific locations. Which we had also realized was a big disadvantage. More locations yet again resulted in the interference of more external factors. We were also quite disappointed with the camera we have used, and how it negatively affected our production. At times the camera was too dim, or out of focus. Whether it was during the first shot in the bedroom, or in the cafeteria. We also decided to use a different camera for the coming productions and assignments, with previous practice beforehand.
Another major element, which taught us a lot about the production process, was having a number of actors, and how that inhibited the furthering of creative shots. In this production we had asked friends of ours who have had previous experience in acting to be a part of our cast. In the beginning we hadn’t thought that this could possible prohibit the rise of dilemmas, yet there were many challenges that came along with casting friends. The schedule was very tough to tackle, along with location differences. Not everyone had time to go to certain places, and whenever they did we have to make sure that all shooting was done within that given time frame. This meant there was no time to be disorganized or experiment on set location. Which is another unforeseen factor, we had experimented shooting small parts as part of a trial for each of us. Yet it is important to practice on the setting with all external forces, in order to try to figure out a way to dismiss them, or include them harmoniously. We came to a conclusion that organization was definitely one of our strong suites, however this didn’t mean we had an easy time with the process. We have definitely learned that it is best to shoot in a few locations, in order to maximize the quality of the footage, without external forces or with if it is required. It is also important to note the option of hiring actors, since it enables us as a team to be more flexible and take more steps according to our schedule. Hence working with more professional actors also makes the jobs of the directors and cinematographers easier since the person in front of us already has a grasp of what to do and what not to do. It was a very good experience to see the negative aspects of producing a short film, along with the satisfying measures. It was very good to work with a team; it helped balance the workload more efficiently along with getting more work done in a shorter period of time. It enabled us to cover for each other at times when there was too much of a workload from other subjects. Overall working with a team on a production has been a great experience. However having been able to see all sides to producing a film has been vital and hopefully highly beneficial for the success of the productions to come.
The idea of basing our short film on the concept of Mondays was merely a thought in the beginning phase that we had to refer to after not being able to come up with more suitable ideas. We came to realize that coming up with an idea was one of the most challenging parts to the production process. We attempted to pursue ideas which were very in depth, yet were too detailed to be showcased in a short film. We noticed that there didn’t need to be an excessively complicated storyline, but rather a pact plot with less locations and preferably actors to be able to widen the chance of creative shots and artistic techniques.
Some of these artistic choices included the usage of a “Black bedroom” this was done in order to reference what was to come, visually. Sarah (the protagonist) has a horrible day due to the misconception of it being a Monday, yet only towards the end of the day she realizes that it was actually Friday and that the reason she was having a bad day was solely due to the stubborn misunderstanding that it is the start of the week. Transitions were mostly successfully in a unique way. These were planned out during the storyboarding phase, where they were mere creative thoughts, which was very pleasing to see in real life. An example of this would be the door of the locker getting shut, and the next scene displaying darkness that lights up as Sarah opens her pencil case. I think this was particularly effective since it also really gives a moment for the audience to blank out and think about what is happening. Its almost kind of grim looking, in a sense where there is a lot of darkness, and when looking at the meaning of color this is essentially a reflection of the day Sarah is having ("The Shortest horror story ever: Monday")
The role I had as the director and cameraman was harmonious as I was also in charge of cinematography. Being a main part of these three fields resulted in balance, since they are all tied to each other very closely. Throughout this process what I realized is that it is hard to execute the initial idea that was presented in the storyboard. There are a lot of external factors that can’t be controlled, such as weather, or people. At times due to these, shooting was either postponed or footage was not to the highest quality. The role of being a director is very significant, hence it is directly in relation to the outcome of the final piece. It was good to have more than one director, however what we had realized is that it also complicated the process. All members had more than two areas to focus on, and this was a positive element at first, that lead to disorganized situations. It was a good idea to have more than one cameraman since the storyline required many locations, this meant that one cameraman could replace the other when there were issues with arrivals to specific locations. Which we had also realized was a big disadvantage. More locations yet again resulted in the interference of more external factors. We were also quite disappointed with the camera we have used, and how it negatively affected our production. At times the camera was too dim, or out of focus. Whether it was during the first shot in the bedroom, or in the cafeteria. We also decided to use a different camera for the coming productions and assignments, with previous practice beforehand.
Another major element, which taught us a lot about the production process, was having a number of actors, and how that inhibited the furthering of creative shots. In this production we had asked friends of ours who have had previous experience in acting to be a part of our cast. In the beginning we hadn’t thought that this could possible prohibit the rise of dilemmas, yet there were many challenges that came along with casting friends. The schedule was very tough to tackle, along with location differences. Not everyone had time to go to certain places, and whenever they did we have to make sure that all shooting was done within that given time frame. This meant there was no time to be disorganized or experiment on set location. Which is another unforeseen factor, we had experimented shooting small parts as part of a trial for each of us. Yet it is important to practice on the setting with all external forces, in order to try to figure out a way to dismiss them, or include them harmoniously. We came to a conclusion that organization was definitely one of our strong suites, however this didn’t mean we had an easy time with the process. We have definitely learned that it is best to shoot in a few locations, in order to maximize the quality of the footage, without external forces or with if it is required. It is also important to note the option of hiring actors, since it enables us as a team to be more flexible and take more steps according to our schedule. Hence working with more professional actors also makes the jobs of the directors and cinematographers easier since the person in front of us already has a grasp of what to do and what not to do. It was a very good experience to see the negative aspects of producing a short film, along with the satisfying measures. It was very good to work with a team; it helped balance the workload more efficiently along with getting more work done in a shorter period of time. It enabled us to cover for each other at times when there was too much of a workload from other subjects. Overall working with a team on a production has been a great experience. However having been able to see all sides to producing a film has been vital and hopefully highly beneficial for the success of the productions to come.
Final Production
Storyboard
Shot List
Script
Following are a few examples of our stages throughout the process, such as our script, storyboard, and shot-list.As much as we tried to plan everything out in an organized manner, as we progressed we adjusted to unforeseen implications and also expanded on previous ideas.