Costume Planning

We wanted to create a perfect costume to match the current characterisation of our character. Who is socially awkward and an outcast. Though we also had to consider other factors, such as age and gender. We did not want to exaggerate his personality through the costume but instead we wanted to simply imply it. 

One idea we had was to film using our school's uniform as a costume, which would make sense since we are filming in a school setting. Though we decided not to follow through with this idea in fear that using our school's uniform may make the short film look more amateur and very low budget.

Stereotypical Teenage Clothing

Another idea we had was to make the character wear video game related clothing which will relate to our topic. But we recently decided that we may dismiss this idea as it looks too forced and unnatural. So in the end we simply decided to stick to a regular teenager's clothing as they are easier to acquire and seem normal. 

Casting

Here are our potential choices for the main character of our documentary/short film. Our ideal choice as a main character is a stereotypical teenage "nerd" or gamer" and male as well. The person we decided that would fit this role best is Duncan Dibb-Holland.

Kareem Alsaady

Duncan Dibb-Holland

Sofian Ghazali

Sayyed Jilani

Ahmed Jahangir

Pranav Kamalakannan

Hammaad Zubair-Sheikh

Yamaan Atiq

Harris Ahmed

Social Media Research

Film Festival Research

Plot Summary

The plot line of the acted segments of the documentary is the story of the main character, Duncan.  The beginning shows him in an unspecified and implacable room, starting up a video game. The focus on him in the beginning shows that the film is character driven, and the video game clearly shows what the subject of the film is.

This introduction is followed by an interview giving a negative opinion on video games, and bringing up the common issues such as they cause violence, introversion and so on. The idea of this is to set up the argument the short film aims to counter. Duncan's character is then followed throughout several events. After the first interview, we are brought back to Duncan while he is watching a news report on the very topics discussed in the interview. This links in the idea of violence caused by video games. This is also crossed over by showing footage of DOOM, a game hailed with controversy for its violence in 1993.

The next segment would begin with an interview discussing introversion, and how video games make some gamers anti-social. This segment of Duncan's story is shown when he is shoulder barged while getting coffee, spilling the coffee. Frustration is seen with Duncan, but the crucial element of this is that poor social interaction is shown, but whether it is his fault is up to the viewer.

The final against argument is shown with poor school performance. An interviewee discusses this, and the Duncan perspective is that he receives a test back with a low mark and grade. After this the counter argument begins.

Voice overs and interviews overlap as Duncan is seen leaving the class to be praised by another teacher for his creative skills. He is seen walking up to a group of friends he has bonded with through playing games. The final scene will be him sitting down to play a game as in the beginning, but with a second player joining him once he does.

Whether or not the positive interviews are interlaced during every segment or whether the structure will be argument then counter-argument to end with is still to be decided. Statistics are also to be layered over the scenes when relevant, as well as spoken by the interviewees.

Location Planning

The location of our short film will be in the common room and halls of the school, for both the reason of accessibility and because a school environment makes it very easy to convey the message of our film. We plan on filming outside of school hours when the common room is empty. The common room needs to be arranged for our purposes, and this rearrangement will be described in the captions of the images.

The initial shot of our character walking to the TV will begin at the back of the common room towards the couches. The room will be tidied to look aesthetically simple and minimalist, with the couches being the only real objects.

The first and last scenes will begin here, following the character to the television.

This is another angle of the area the character will walk down.

The scene where the character meets up with his friends will be in another area of the common room, most likely in an emptier area where they can stand or possibly on the couches.

The character will start a game on the tv. The area needs to be tidied and cable management needs to be improved to make the shot look aesthetically appealing.

This is the rough area that the character will sit down and play - Possibly closer to the TV or the TV will be lowered.

Hallways the student will walk through during his school day.

The area the student will walk by when being credited by a teacher for his good school work. Not necessarily this specific classroom.

The classroom wherein the student will receive his failed homework. The room will be crowded and the traditional desk style will allude to the traditional way that the work ethic is viewed.

These locations are all located in the same building at Doha College, and so will be easy to re-shoot in if need be as well as all are visually similar, lending to the style of the documentary. Interviews will be in undecided locations, most likely around the area that the interviewees live or work to give a sense of personality to each interview.

Cast and Crew

Cast

Actor: Duncan Dibb-Holland

 Our main character will be portrayed by Duncan.

 He was cast due to his appearance and body type  being ideal for the role of the stereotypical  "nerd" or "gamer".

Crew

Director & Writer: Adrian Harder Gebrand

This is Adrian, who worked collaboratively with the other writers on the story and storyboard, and is in charge of all the final calls when it comes to camerawork, acting, editing and story.

      

  Director of Cinematography, Cameraman & Writer: Youssef Zine

Youssef is in charge of all the camerawork 

in the documentary/short film as well as being crucial to the editing process.

Head of Design & Writer: Faaiza Feroz

I am in charge of designing all our logos and 

titles, as well as the website and film postcard. Aside from all the design elements, I also collaborate with the rest of my group on the storyboard and the actual story of the short film.

Film Test Footage

This is the test footage for various shots in our short film. We experimented with different angles for the same shots and will decide which one we feel works the best when we film the full short film.

Company Logo

Adrian came up with the company logo and designed it on paper and Yousef came up with the colour scheme. I then created the company logo on Adobe Fireworks. I drew different sized blocks using the rectangular shaped tool and grouped them together to create the different letter, ultimately forming the word "Polygon". Each colour chosen for each letter is bright and almost all different. This is to make the logo appealing towards the audience.

Ideas for Opening Shots

Test Shots For Film Postcard

Below are some of the test shots we took for our film postcard. All of the shots feature the game controller as it represents the theme of video games that we are capturing in our documentary/short film. The shots range from extreme close ups to mid-shots. We are most likely to choose the first picture because it effectively shows all parts of the game controller. We also like how the the controller is in focus and the wire is is still in the shot, but not in focus, as the controller is the center of attention.

Shot List

Website Homepage Drafts

We created 3 different designs for a homepage of a website. I created the last design below. Compared to the other designs, my one follows more of the typical website conventions. We plan to combine all three of our ideas to produce a website that effectively promotes our short film/documentary.

Site Map

Postcard Drafts

Each person in our group created a different draft for our film festival postcard. We will combine our ideas from all 3 drafts to produce one that we believe captures our documentary best.

Storyboard for Short Film/Documentary