Potential Issues.

Obviously, when making anything to do with media, there's always the scare of something not going quite to plan. So, I figured that knowing all the problems that could occur would be a big help, as at least it gives me something to look back on and potentially have a plan for, so I can deal with problems as they happen.
Now, there are a few big ones that are nearly impossible to fix, but there are some I can plan for and try to avoid!

Now, the absolute biggest problem that could occur, is if the weather isn't right. As I want my film to be shot in daylight, with there being no rain, this could be a huge problem. The joys of living in England. The thing here is, that there's simply nothing I, or anyone else can do about the weather and so the best thing I can do, is to either shoot in a different setting, such as one of the indoor scenes, or simply call of the day of filming and work on something else!

Another huge problem is that one of the actors doesn't show up, or can't make a scheduled filming date, then effectively it's a wasted day. There's nothing really that can be done about this, apart from filming any parts that don't need that specific actor/actress or again, just doing something else. This is a reason for why I will be making sure that any actors I 'hire' are able to commit to dates. As there is no budget, I'm relying on volunteers, so I need committed volunteers!

A third big problem is if the equipment becomes faulty. If I turn up to film and something doesn't work, then we're in big trouble, for a number of reasons. Most obvious is that I won't be able to film what I want, but also it annoys the volunteers. If they all get ready and come out to film, then get told to just go home and come back another day, they're going to be annoyed, which is the last thing I want, as they could choose not to do the film, meaning I'd have to ask another actor. If a lot of the film is already filmed, it would mean I'd have to do it all again! The way to overcome this is to check the equipment the night before and on the day of filming, so I can let people know in advance. If anything isn't working properly, then at least people get to know before they take time out of their day, or I have time to fix what is wrong.

Now, there are other problems that could occur before/during or after filming, yet many of them aren't too huge. Despite this, I still want to have some kind of plan, just in case something does happen! Camera lenses can get dirty and affect the quality of filming, so I would simply make sure I have a lens friendly cloth with me. Similarly, the batteries could run out, so I'd make sure to always carry spare batteries. Also, simple things such as people being in the way of filming can be an issue, if there aren't supposed to be 'extras' in the shot. This can be fixed by politely asking them to move, or simply waiting, whilst filming something else, or taking a break.

There's even the possibility that someone's phone could ring mid-shot, which isn't too bad, but it would be an idea to make sure people switch their phones off, so this doesn't happen and it doesn't affect the flow of everything.
Another problem could be people in the background deliberately trying to ruin the film, such as kids or people with little better to do. If this happens, then it's a case of just waiting for them to get bored, as shouting only empowers them.

Any other problems are bound to be minor and nothing that can't be dealt with on the day, all clothing will most likely be brought by me, so as long as I have a checklist of the things I need, stuff can't really go wrong!

Knowing Myself!

It sprung on me, that I'm actually quite a forgetful person, which isn't brilliant considering I need to remember exactly what I want in my finished film trailer in regards to sound, picture, lighting, scripting, etc!
So, this tells me that I need to have a plan that I can stick to quite rigidly, to make sure I have what I need for my film. Because of this, I will be planning every single scene in writing, planning the sound to that, planning the lighting to that, all before I finally go to storyboard it. Although, I'm doing this for more reasons than simply forgetfulness. Whilst that plays a big part, I also want it so I don't confuse myself. As you'll soon see, my art skills aren't the best, so story-boarding is going to be quite a challenge for me, especially since I'm going to be using the program 'Celtx' to do it, so my already non-existent art skills are going to be transferred onto computer drawings. My aim is that anyone could pick up all my planning and know exactly what I wanted to do, even to the extent of being able to do it themselves.

I know that all great things take planning, so I know I'm not 'special' in this respect, but I also know that I personally need a lot of planning to make it work. Also, if there is good planning behind everything, then any problems that arise I will more than likely be able to work around them! Saying this, I'll also be looking into any possible problems that will arise, mainly in filming. 

On top of planning for filming, I'll also be doing sketch plans for my poster and website, too, before putting them into production! 

Names!

So, one thing I seem to have avoided is the topic of naming my characters. Whilst this doesn't necessarily need to be told in the trailer, I think it would benefit the entire media package, if the three main characters were to be named, even if it is only for reference in areas of planning and evaluation. This in mind, I need to come up with some names!
Now, when we look at other films, there are many different names for characters, from films like 'Saw' where the main character is called John Kramer, yet often goes under the alias of 'Jigsaw' to comedy films where the characters are simply named things like Chuck Levine (I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry).
Whilst mine isn't a horror or a comedy, names are still pretty standard anywhere you look! In the sports film 'Facing The Giants' the lead character is simply called Grant Taylor and in 'The Longest Yard' the character is called Paul Crewe. What is to be noted is that many sports films have a comedy aspect to them, which is different to mine, as mine is far more dramatic, with very few comedy aspects to it. What is also to be noticed, is that most sport films are American, unlike 'The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner' which is British, where the main character is called Colin Smith. Again, very simple. This in mind, I can start looking at names that sound British to put into my media package.

What I want to do is capture quite modern times in my film, so I want to go with modern names. The top boys name last year was Oliver and actually, I took quite a shine to the name. So, the main lead character, shall be called Oliver. Now, I also want last names to the character, so they have more character and feel more real. The theory is that if they feel real, then the film will be more real! So, picking a last name isn't that easy, as there are no 'popular' last names, if we don't look at it on a historical basis. If we did that, then every character would be named Smith. So, I decided to just come up with one that took my fancy! Simple as that! The last name I liked was Young. Now, Young also has some great connotations with it. As my film is essentially focusing on British Youth Culture, the name Young is pretty much directly focusing on 'Youth'. As simple as it sounds, my hopes are that the name Young, will directly influence a younger generation to watch my film. So, now that I have the main characters name, I need to move onto the 'Love Interest'.

Picking a girls name is going to be slightly harder than the boys, as my female character is designed to be a love interest, so the name needs to be pretty and elegant, yet relatable. A film that does this very well, is 'Bend It Like Beckham'. One of the main characters is played by Kiera Knightley, who is more often than not seen as a very attractive actress and so her name is one to be looked at. She is named Juliette 'Jules' Paxton. The name is simple, easy to shorten and pretty. So, with this in mind, I need to come up with a good name myself, following pretty much the same guide as before! Something modernly popular with a random last name. Unfortunately, I didn't find a name I liked in the top names until I reached close to number forty in the list. The name I found was Scarlett. Whilst not a particularly conventional name, I took a shine to it and thought it would fit my female character well! As for the last name, I decided to go with Stevens, as the double 'S' sounded quite nice and free-flowing.

The last name I needed to come up with was the Antagonist. Now, for this I do want a popular name, but without wanting to offend anyone when I choose the name, I want something quite sinister. As I'm sure many people would agree with, sometimes names like 'Randall' and 'Darius' can sound quite evil, if taken in the right context. So, I wanted to create something like this. After checking out a few different sources, I realised that I actually quite liked the name Sebastian, as even though it's not particularly sinister sounding, it's quite harsh to say and is very unconventionally British, making it quite perfect! As for a last name, I decided I wanted something else quite similar, so I decided on Powers. Okay, so actually yes, it is conventionally British and before someone says all I did was copy Austin Powers, I have my reasons!
The Antagonist in the film has a considerable amount of 'Power' in a sense, so the name Powers, implies that directly.

What is also to be kept in mind here, is that these are just the main 3 characters and more characters will more than likely make an appearance in the trailer, although they aren't that important. Also, these are just references and will most likely not even be said across all three of the media products I am creating.
But, it's good to have names for many reasons, and here I have them!

Pause For Thought.

Following my research into audience theories, I can see a great opportunity to play into the Cultivation/Culmination theory. As my film is going to be on quite a 'touchy' subject, there's a possibility that if it's done right, it could almost desensitise people to the idea of disability, which following recent events, would be huge. The fact that disability is highly seen (still to this day) as it should be hidden away, a film made about disability and the best side of it, could really educate people on disability in quite a subtle way and really play to the theory that it would desensitise people. If my film was made into a real film, it could quite easily be marketed this way to potential sponsors, as it can be seen as a film that has real purpose behind it and not just solely for entertainment.
There isn't much else to this other than a real reason for making a film such as this, as it even fits in with the audience theories, previously looked at and adds something to the overall creation of the media package.