Interview With Kasim Mitchell

I wanted to find out how the participants of the Uncommon Shorts project thought the process was going. So I did an interview with Kasim to find out about his thoughts and feelings. He had quite an opinion on some particular points, but in general he was very chatty and easy to interview.



How did you find out about the Uncommon Shorts Film Project?
I found out about it through my mother who received an email about it from her work colleagues.

What made you want to join the project?
I like to create and design. I enjoy writing stories and making plays for my friends.

What do you enjoy most about the project?
Interacting with the other people, just chilling and chatting.

What do you think about the film's story?
Awful. I don't like it because it's dull and boring. I do not watch stuff like that on TV, so why would I be involved in making one? I feel like a hypocrite.

Because you're involved with this kind of film, do you think it makes you appreciate it more?
I love what I'm doing, I don't particularly like the storyline. But I'm gaining experience and I'm learning to appreciate it a little.

What are you looking forward to as an end result?
Being able to watch a film that was made by me.

What do you want to take away from this experience?
I want this to go on my CV. I want to be able to go to a job interview with this as my experience. Also just learning about different film and camera shots.

Have you enjoyed the film project so far?
I find it really interesting. Even when we have to get down to work, I still really love it! I find everything really great.

Interview conduction by Aimee Sutton.
With Thanks to Kasim.

The Importance of Storyboarding

Storyboarding, setting all your ideas out and getting an idea of what each shot is going to look like. It can be a daunting task and for major feature length films, storyboarding can take a long time. However it is worth it, it can in fact save you time.
So why do we use storyboarding? Here are a few reasons:

It's economic, it can save you time. If you have a well worked out storyboard, it can save time in editing later. If you know exactly how many shots and what the shots are meant to look like, you won't have to add anything last minute.

It prepares you for exactly what your film is going to look like. In that sense it can save you from disappointment. With your storyboard you will know what each scene will look like and it will give you a clear idea of how it's all going to work out. You can practically see your film just by looking at your storyboard.

It's ready. Hitchcock's storyboards were so detailed and so well worked out that they could be read and fully understood. A bit like a cartoon. This made sure his film was ready to be shot.

So before just going right ahead and filming, we had to make sure we had a well worked out storyboard. We did this by jotting down what was in each scene, then we did some sketched storyboards. Finally we went out and took pictures, lots and lots of pictures. Each was a shot that we would take with the camera. Looking at our full storyboard now we can see what our film is going to look like come shooting day.

The dreaded introduction...

So, I think I should start off with my name: Brandon Walsh-Alexander - a bit long so we'll just stick to first name terms ;). I’m 15 and in my final weeks of high school - finally. My first exam is on Monday with a further sixteen, gonna be an ace few weeks for me *note the sarcasm*! My sixteenth is in July and I really can’t wait – party after all the exams and just get to have an ace birthday really.
I’m currently just writing this in my first session, everyone’s story boarding and it’s looking really good! I’m really glad I’m apart of this, such a good opportunity for everyone.
I hope that you all come and see the end result because from this session it looks really good and everything is getting done in rapid time. There’s one more storyboarding session and then the location will be scouted and then the filming commences!

I have a few more blogs to put up tonight, you're in for a treat.

(apologies for the really bad photo, I don't really have a good one)

xxx

Putting Ideas Together..

It was important from the very beginning to start getting some ideas together about what kind of film we wanted.
to start with we came up with a very loose, rough outline of a story. We came up with a character to go in this story. We gave him a character profile to get an idea of what he would be like. We also tried out having the same story line with a different character. For instance a woman instead of a man or someone younger than the age we'd originally planned. We did this to see how it would change the story but also to see how it would change how the audience would view the story, or sympathise differently with the main character. We decided to do character profiles of the man and the woman. After putting down a few ideas of what they'd be like, we decided we preferred the woman character, and as it's important to like the character you want to use, we thought she might make our film more warm and colourful.
So now we had our main character, it was time to make our rough concept into an actual story.
We wrote a background story, which wouldn't be seen in our film, about where she came from and what her upbringing was like. Then after we knew lots about her we moved on to what we would like to show through our film and what was important to get over to the audience.
By the end we had a basic story and an idea of what we wanted to get across to the audience.

hey heyy guyss newcommer alert!! =]

heyy guys and my fellows bloggers. hi my name is stella yhhh as in the perfume loool =]. i am in 6th form college, 17yrs old almost 18 whoop whoop lool cant wait. i just joined the project on tuesday although i applied early but my phone got stolen so they couldnt get in contact. Luckily i am sturborn and i have alot of determination and i finally got there number and here i am lol. i am soo super exicted to get to know everyone and get special peeks on the set and post them to you guys. i have met one of ma co bloggers and its great to know that he will be blogging as well cause he looks professional. By next week hopefully i shall start adding pics of the set and the progression of the project. I would put some pictures of me so atleast you would know am actually ma real age lool internet these days never know who your talking or in this case blogging to. xD plz write i would like to know you all. I am the girl on the left xD. Have a blessed day! x

My Introduction

Hello, my name is Aimée, I'm 16, I live close to the city centre of Manchester, and have done for six years. Living so close to a big city is great in that there are always things do to, places to go. I found out about MYVP and the projects they run on their website, this year. I applied to be a blogger for a film they were going to make.

I have been involved in many projects elsewhere doing things like film making, learning about lighting backstage, radio producing and presenting and a bit of directing. A few hobbies and things I enjoy doing include: acting, singing, script writing, and more recently blogging. I think I may like to do journalism as a career one day, which is why when I saw this opportunity to do blogging/journalism for a film, I didn't hesitate to apply.

During this project I'm looking forward to learning by observation, watching a new short film come to life from literally nothing, to a piece of art.
I love working with new people, people who can teach me things, so this excites me getting to work with all different kinds of professional people as well as working with new friends. I also can't wait to look at all the aspects of what goes on on set, with all different people working together. I also hope to get some idea of what it's like being a journalist and get some practice in.

What I want to get out of this project will be some experience of writing/blogging and what it takes to be a journalist. I just can't wait to see how this project is going to come underway. And I can't wait to see what we'll all learn.

More Uncommon Shorts !

Are you a budding filmmaker? Do you think you have Spielberg/Tarantino/Michael Moore like potential?

Are you: Aged 14-19 years? Creative? Committed?

Contact sasha@myvp.org.uk

Are you ready to get into Uncommon Shorts?
Are you a budding filmmaker? Do you think you have Spielberg/Tarantino/Michael Moore like potential? Well, 'Uncommon Shorts' – a project run by MYVP could be for you! MYVP, working with our partners Littlestar Media Productions and Cornerhouse, will be creating a series of three new short films made by young people in Manchester, funded through FirstLight Movies and the Lottery National Film Fund. We are looking for committed young people aged 14-19 who would like to volunteer to be part of a dynamic film crew. The film that you create will give you the chance to put your creative hat on and really use your imagination, and to top it all you'll be able to get your voice heard on issues that you're interested in! You'll also receive training to take you from initial idea, through script, storyboard, direction, video production, editing and sound track to your completed film. And if that wasn't enough, you'll also be entering your final film into a variety of film festivals across the UK and abroad and it will also be shown as part of an MYVP film celebration event in central Manchester in April!

So what are we looking for?

In order to be considered for this opportunity you need to be:

• Aged between 14-19
• Living in Manchester
• Prepared to have a high level of commitment: we'll need you to be
• available over the Easter holidays (29th March – 11th April) for the filming
• and editing. The project will also have production planning workshops
• during some evenings and weekends beforehand
• Able to work in a team
• Able to think creatively.

PLUS are you a budding writer or film critic? A blogger or a photo- journalist in waiting?
Then the 'Uncommon Shorts' project also has fantastic opportunities for you to show off your journalistic, creative writing skills, photography and blogging skills. You will have "access all areas" passes so that you can follow the film production; interview the crew, the writers and the stars of our new film project.

How do you apply?
Film Crew Opportunity
If you are interested in applying to be a member of the film crew all you need to do is complete a short online application form that can be found using the following link:
Crew application

Film Journalist/Blogger Opportunity

If you are interested in applying to be a film journalist/blogger just complete a short online application form that can be found using the following link:
Journalist Application

When you finish completing either form online, just click the 'Done' button and your application will be winging its way to us in no time!
If you have trouble with these links or you'd prefer to have either of the applications posted out to you, contact Sasha at sasha@myvp.org.uk or call her on 0161 236 3334.

Make sure your application gets to us by Monday 15th February!

Then what happens?

As there are a limited number of places for this opportunity, we'll be interviewing film project candidates. We want to make sure that we select people that are passionate about the project and are dedicated to working on it and seeing it through to the end. If you have always wanted to make a film about an issue you are passionate about and would like to work with professionals and other young people and gain exciting new skills, we would love to hear from you!

So…APPLY NOW!!!