Week Two: Developed Story Board

In class this week we had a critique with the lecturers where we pitched our ideas and previous story boards. From this critique we gained feedback on the 'narrative' of our film, or the lack of. We found that our previous storyboards and ideas were a bit all over the place and there was no real story being told. From this we went back to the drawing board and began to brainstorm how we would create more of a narrative for our film.

We stripped all our ideas right down and created a simple narrative of a shopping experience. Below is what we came up with. 

Narrative:

1. Shopping list shot
2. arriving at the market/ arriving at the supermarket (could use time lapse or following shot. 
3. browsing for produce (following hand-held shot)
4. choosing items (close-up of hands picking items)
5. Buying products (mid shot paying stall owner vs mid shot self checkout) OR (close ups of handing over cash + pin code)
6. Leaving ( happy with experience vs expensive receipt)

Below is the storyboard we drew out for the narrative:

Week One: Ideas and Storyboarding

Once we had established our overall theme and direction, we began to start sketching out our ideas onto the story board templates we were given. These ideas were very short and quick, also out of order and interchangeable because at this stage we weren't ready to create anything concrete, we were more looking at quickly sketching down the first things that came to our head.

From here we then re-directed ourselves and decided to create more of an orderly sequence for our ideas, although it was good to get the ideas down on paper like above, we needed to go about it in a more analytical way. So from here we decided to begin to write out some film ideas in order, using both new ideas and the ideas we had also came up with above.

Film idea 1

 Film idea 2

 Film idea 3

 Film idea 4

Once we were happy with these, we then sketched them out into storyboards so we could better visualize the shots and have something to refer to when we begin to shoot. 

Film idea 1

 Film idea 2

 Film idea 3

 Film idea 4

Week Two: 4 points we want to show in the film

From some of the research we have gathered and from our brainstorming we have developed 4 points that we want to get across in our film. This will help us to keep to our overall theme of conscious consumption tightly, without getting too broad and off-track. We want the viewers to gain knowledge as well as be entertained, rather than be overloaded with too much information to process. By only having 4 main points this will mean that our ideas will come across strong and refined.  The 4 main points are:

1. Local produce tastes better and is better for/benefits you
2. Local food supports local farm families 
3. local food is the future
4. environmental factors

After choosing these points we then jotted down some camera shots and ideas that would show them, as shown below. 

Week Two: Statistical Research

• The market has operated in its current location since August 2002, where every Sunday up to 25,000 people attend the market. The market is now widely known as Harbourside Market and has been in is current layout since 2011.

• KAIBOSH FOOD RESCUE and the market stallholders have a partnership. Kaibosh is New Zealands first food rescue charity and fills the gap between retailers with surplus food and the charities who need it most by rescuing food that is good enough to eat, but not good enough to sell. In 2013 they rescued over 117 tonnes of food from their donors and redistributed it to over 20 charities in the Wellington region.This is the equivalent of 336,228 meals! The Harbourside Market Food Partnership Programme Stallholders provide KAIBOSH with unsold, fresh produce from the market on a weekly basis to be sorted and distributed to charities for collection. This programme is a great example of how the marketplace is working to support the local Wellington community.

http://www.harboursidemarket.co.nz/community/

• Under a standard retail model a grower typically gets around 30% of the retail price.

https://www.ooooby.org/auckland/faq

• Rainforest the size of ten football pitches is felled every second, some of which to make room for exported food crops.
• Whilst only 1% of food is transported by air, it accounts for 11% of carbon emissions.
• 95% of our fruit comes from abroad.
• ince 1992, the amount of food flown by ‘plane has risen by 140%.

http://www.pollutionissues.co.uk/food-miles-environmental-impact-food.html

Week One: Direction/ Theme refinement

After getting together and re-thinking, we looked over the theme brainstorm and though to create more of an umberella theme and use multiple themes from this brainstorm. Where we came up with an overall theme/ direction of "Conscious Consumption." This then including aspects such as nutrition/health consciousness, authenticity, community-minded experience and familiarity/ relationship with the grower.  These will be the points which we will portray in our film.

Week One: Research/Video Inspiration

While researching the benefits of buying local produce, a New Zealand company called Ooooby popped up and their website featured a video about their company and local NZ produce. The video can be found here. I thought this would be good inspiration for our own video, as it uses different shots and methods of shooting that convey a personal, friendly vibe, which would work well with our subject matter.

Another set of videos that were appealing of their use of shots, music and narration are short documentaries by the director Tom Gould. He cleverly establishes his subject matter and conveys the tone of his films well using various camera and sound techniques which could be useful inspiration for making our own video. His films can be found here.

Week One: Initial research into reasons to source locally

Why Buy Locally Grown?

Consumers worldwide are rediscovering the benefits of buying locally grown food. It is fresher, tastier, and more nutritious. It is also good for the local economy--buying directly from family farmers helps them stay in business.

Five reasons to Buy Local

1. Local produce tastes better and it’s better for you.
   Studies have shown that fresh produce loses nutrients quickly during transportation. During the trip from harvest to dinner table, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality. Food grown in your own community was probably picked within the past day or two and therefore is much fresher.
2. Local food supports local farm families.
   Local farmers who sell directly to consumers cut out the many middle people and get full retail price for their food - which means farm families can afford to stay on the farm, doing the work they love.
3. Local food protects genetic diversity.
   In the modern industrial agriculture system, produce varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously and withstand harvesting equipment. Shippers demand produce with a tough skin that can survive packing, transport, and a long shelf life in the store. Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. In contrast, local farmers that sell direct to you or direct to your local restaurants and grocery stores grow a huge number of varieties selected because they have the best flavors, provide a long harvest season, and come in an array of eyecatching colors. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation because they taste good. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds or even thousands of years of human selection. They may someday provide the genes needed to adapt to a changing climate or new pests.
4. Local food preserves open space, and can support a diverse environment.
   As the value of direct-marketed fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. The patchwork of fields, hedgerows, ponds and buildings can serve as habitat for many species of wildlife. That landscape will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.
5. Local food is about the future.
   By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow, that there will be green space for wildlife, and that future generations will have access to locally grown food.

http://livinggreen.ifas.ufl.edu/food/local.html

Notes for film:

1. Local produce tastes better and is better for you: This could be shown in the film through a comparison shot, with a close-up of one person eating a product from the market compared to another eating from a supermarket. Could use a split screen. Obviously this would also have to be over-exaggerated in order to express the point that one tastes better than the other.  Could compare actual product (i.e apple from market vs apple from supermarket) to show like one looking better than the other. However with ideas like this we would have to take into consideration misleading advertising. 

2. Local foods support local farm families: This looks at the whole idea of creating a relationship with the grower and not making the rich get richer by buying from a franchise supermarket, but rather supporting the local families around you.  You also know the legitimate source, since your buying straight from the grower themselves. 

3. Local food protects genetic diversity: This could be a view point to come from in terms of buying organic/pure produce over pesticide or chemically altered produce. 

4. Local food preserves open space, and can support a diverse environment. This really reflects the whole idea of small action, big impact, where by buying from local markets we are supporting the idea of not needing a shop/factory to be built to house the products but rather just a carpark or large area, its also supporting the endurance of farms, which is preserving the landscape. So keeping the land greener and much more pure and healthy.

5. Local food is about the future:  This could be shown in the film with bringing the idea of a mother and kids at the markets, where by buying local with the kids the mother is not only  influencing her kids to do the same when they are older but she is also supporting the farmers selling at the markets to keep their business afloat so that the markets will be able to stick around until her kids are old enough to buy from them.

Week One: Direction/ Theme Brainstorm

We also discussed the idea of coming from a particular theme or direction/view point to narrow down the action of sourcing produce locally, as this can be quite a broad subject. This will help us to identify our target audience better, as well as make much more refined choices when it comes to narrowing down the most important aspects to present/ communicate in the short amount of filming time we have. 

From here, we need to decide on the direction/view point we are coming from and develop our ideas from there. 

Week One: Brainstorming shots

In class today, we brainstormed the possible shots that we could have in our short film, where we discussed the type of shot that could be used (i.e long shot, close-up) and also the subject of the shot. These were just initial ideas to jot down that we could refer to when creating our story board. 

Week One: Initial Brainstorming

Once we were introduced to the brief and the concept of 'small action, big impact' we started brainstorming possible topics to choose for our film. This further turned into a class discussion, where ideas were shared by each group. Following this discussion we then narrowed down our choices to one, where we chose to explore the action of sourcing your produce locally. 

From here we then had more of an in-depth brainstorm on the action we had chosen, where we looked at Markets vs Supermarkets. We discussed aspects that where pros for the markets, and were cons for the supermarkets. This established the direction we were heading towards, which was the whole idea of being pro-markets for sourcing your produce.  Some of the justifications/ reasons are listed below in the brainstorm.