A design process on a past project

In my first year of sixth form I was given a coursework assignment for one of my A level subjects; Film studies. I created a short horror/thriller film called ‘Without Intent’. For this particular kind of media based product I came up with a strategic design process in order to produce something successful for my target audience.

In the beginning I obviously had to come up with an idea for a short film. My idea all began from an inspiration from a scene in a film that created an impressive impact. The film was directed by one of my favourite directors known as ‘James Wan’ who has created a successful range of films, such as the First ‘SAW’ movie that carried on to be a sequel and ‘Dead Silence’. The film that gave me the inspiration to make a similar sort of film, with a similar kind of genre for example Thriller. The film was called ‘Death Sentence’. The difference with my film is I wanted a mix of genre which was horror and thriller.

My short film has a completely different story to tell in comparison to ‘Death Sentence’; However my film has similar conventions to a particular scene that inspired me. What I liked so much about this specific scene in ‘Death Sentence’ is the intensity it creates which is a great impact to engage an audience and make them feel uncomfortable and unsettled at the same time. From this I wanted to produce a similar type of impact and conventions.

To begin with I started mind-mapping down the ideas I had for my short film and the main plot for my story, which is also known as a synopsis. Once I had my main ideas written on paper I produced a storyboard to give me a visual idea of what I was going to produce. I drew the main outline of the film and the scenes that had the most importance within the story.  By each drawing in my storyboard I had a detailed description of the scene in my film for example the shot length, purpose, lighting and an explanation of the scene.

After creating a storyboard for my film I continued to produce more paperwork to help me with organisation, allowing me to know exactly what it is I had to do within the deadline I was given to complete my short film. The paperwork I carried out for my film was a risk assessment, equipment list, budget sheet, contact / profile sheet, and a work schedule. Once I had produced and filled in all my paperwork I was ready to start producing my short film.

Once I had edited my film it was ready to be shown to my target audience. From this I gained feedback which allowed me to recognise what I could improve for next time and whether my style for the film was a success. The feedback also allowed me to evaluate my work which was a part of my coursework.