revised questionare

In order to properly ascertain our target market and give ourselves something to work for while editing I have revised our questionare in order to pin down out target market and will be putting up the results soon.

1. What is your favourite movie genre?

·         Thriller

·         Horror

·         Drama

·         Comedy

·         Crime

2. What do you see in the opening of a movie that you enjoy?
3.  If you had to choose a Thriller sub-genre what would it be? Crime-Thriller, Psychological-Thriller

4. If you had to choose, what would be your favourite Thriller movie?
5. What do you like about that movie? I.e. the tension it creates.
6. What setting do you think is best for a high tension thriller?
7. Have you ever stopped watching a movie after 5 minutes? If ‘Yes’ why?
8. What in the opening to a Thriller would keep you asking questions?

9. Give your age?

10. Your status (lower class/middle class/upper class)?

11. Do you like intelligent well thought out films?

13. Do you like foreign films?

14. What is your favourite type of music?

15. What was the last film you watched?

16. What was the last thriller film you watched?

17. What did you like about it?

18. What did you not like about it?

19. Do you like films with lots of effects?

20. What type of effect do you prefer?

In other news John and I will be confronting Zander on the lack of shots other than POVs as we think it leaves much to be desired. I will be confronting him in his media lesson today as John is preoccupied.

prelim

although our prelim was finished ages ago I am only now uploading the link to the youtube channel it can be found at. Look for the Morris conspiracy for the preliminary task I accomplished with my original group of Jake Fox, John Hughes and James Dench
www.youtube.com/user/plato503

Our Film Production Idents

Before our filming we needed to create a film production company to credit in the opening tites. we came up with three ideas and then several idents for them which I created using text generators and will be animating over the weekend.
I apologise for the intial lack of animation.

my first idea was more filler than anyhing else and was initially unliked by the rest of the group until they saw the design choosing it after an initial change of font to a sharper design.

Black cat studios was the first idea and the one which was eventually chosen. the final design will be animated with a slightly diferent font colour.

The idea of white chapel studios comes from the white chapel murders of jack the ripper. the intiial design seen above is a small section of victorian street designed in google sketchup the font is old english and it was initially supposed to contain a fog effect to add an old london setting.

the second design featuring a sketch of several inspectors pursuing a jack the ripper suspect went through several re designs concerning text font and colour.

both designs for crusader entertainment thought of by Zander Parkin contain a woodcut of a monk, a crusader and a priest one has been given a charcoal redesign and the other a flame effect which if it had been chosen would have been animated.

storyboard by Zander Parkin

Stickman storyboard by Zander.

Thriller Questionnaire

   1.   What is your favourite movie genre?
2.  What do you look for in the opening of a movie?
3.  If you had to choose a Thriller sub-genre what would it be? i.e. Crime-Thriller, Psychological-Thriller
4. If you had to choose, what would be your favourite Thriller movie?
5. What do you like about that movie? i.e. the tension it creates.
6. Where do you personally think is the best place to shoot a Thriller Opening?
7. Have you ever turned a movie after 5 minutes? If ‘Yes’ why?
8. What would you want to happen in the opening to a Thriller movie, in order to keep your attention and to keep you asking questions?
Narrative Script

I knew you … Ha … Well I did know you before the accident. You only killed for the state, now you just kill for revenge? You’re an animal. I remember that mission, we knew what we had to do it was easy, easier than 1, 2, 3, but it was just after your daughter had been brutally murdered. You thought they were responsible, you took it to heart, and you went after Belakov on your own personal mission,
(Stands up) you jeopardised the whole mission! (Sits back down)
You, I and McNeal were taken, tortured. But they took you away … We thought you were dead … Well you were dead, you came back looking for answers. And here they are. (Pushes pictures of Belakov across table) That’s him, you were right he did take your daughter, but he didn’t kill her, our sources stay she’s still alive … being held, but we don’t know where, if you wish to find her … You must take Belakov alive. That wont be easy … He’s heavily guarded 24/7. He knows we’ll be coming, that’s why we need you cause after all you … are … dead …
This post also taken from John Hughes Blog

Costume ideas for our main task.
Costume for the narrator - He will be wearing a black and white suit so that the audience when they see him will be able to get the idea that he is in some sort of business, The representation of a black and white means that he could be seen as being the Hero or the Villain because the white would resemble the purity in his heart and the black could resemble his dark heart.

Costume for the Villain - For the villain we have a full black suit so that we could resemble the fact that darkness is everywhere around him and that his intentions are purely evil. Also to go with the suit we have the leather gloves showing that this guy is a professional and that he is aware that leaving any tracks would be a horrible mistake for him.

 

Roles for our final Idea
Acting Roles
Main Role (Person being dragged) - Zander Parkin
Bad guy - Morris James
Narrator - John Hughes (Me)
Directing and camera roles
Main Directing Role - John Hughes
Assistant director - Morris James
Main Camera man - Zander Parkin
Sound and editing - Zander Parkin and John Hughes
Prop organisation - Morris James, Zander Parkin and John Hughes

Transportation
Zander Parkin - none needed, lives in Baston
John Hughes - Bus or possible getting a lift from relative
Morris James - Getting a lift off of a relative

Shootin Script

Shot	Shot Description	Audio/Dialogue
1	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
2	POV shot of legs being dragged along, travelling backwards.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
3	POV shot of empty room, mainly focused on the door (sideward)	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
4	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
5	POV shot of legs being dragged along, travelling backwards.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
6	POV shot of empty room, still focused on door but camera starts to rotate (getting up)	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
7	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
8	POV as dragging stops and character (camera) falls backwards onto the floor.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
9	POV shot as man opens the door and enters the empty room	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
10	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
11	POV shot of character getting picked up to kneel.	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
12	POV shot as man walks towards the camera (door shuts)	Heartbeat, Heavy Breathing and amplified door shutting, Narration
13	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
14	POV shot as character gets shot (falls over)	Heartbeat, Heavy Breathing and Gun shot, Narration
15	POV shot of man grabbing character and shaking him	Heartbeat, Heavy Breathing, “WHY DID YOU DO IT! WHY WHY? (Echos, Discombobulated)” Narration
16	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
17	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining)
18	POV shot of man walking away, eyes slowly closes	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
19	POV of man leaving as character falls back down, eyes slowly close	Heartbeat and Heavy Breathing, Narration
20	Mid/long shot of man sat behind desk, being interrogated	Man speaking (Narrates the whole begining

taken from group member John's blog at johnhughesfoundationproduction.blogspot.com

this is a powerpoint summary of the pitch for our ideas in the end we chose idea 1 as it makes the most sense in terms of what we have to work with.

                                     

Plannig the Thriller

having finished the preliminary task I have started on the main task with Zander Parkin and John Hughes. our three ideas are as follows...

1. a man is kidnapped and shot in the head-Zander
2. a man held in prison is killed by an assasin that snuck in in the night-Me
3. a detective with near superhman deductive abilities-John

More detail can be given in our pitch that we will be finishing on thursday and showing on friday to help us decide which idea to follow through on.

the BBFC

The BBFC and the ratings system

The BBFC are responsible for film classification in the united kingdom, deciding whether or not a film is suitable for release in the united kingdom and who it’s suitable for. The bbfc was set up in 1912 to rate the films coming into the country. Though there have been some controversies regarding films like “the human centipede” and “clockwork orange”.

Ratings

U-universal suitable for all.

PG-parental guidance recommended, meaning that the film is generally suitable but may require parental viewing before showing it to younger children. The film may contain mild fantasy violence.

12-suitable for people age 12 and over only this means the film is not allowed to contain extreme violence or easily imitable behaviour. A 12A is slightly more extreme in that it may only be seen by people 12 and over but adult guidance is recommended.

15-suitable only for those over 15 due to either explicit language, partially graphic violence or un explicit sexual scenes.

18-it is illegal for anyone below 18 years of age to see or buy film even with parental accompaniment. This is because it is allowed to contain explicit violence and scenes of a sexual nature.

I believe that the best certificate for our developing thriller is the 15 certificate as it allows us the moderate violence to make the opening exciting and the dark themes that would allow intrigue. Also I believe it would work best with our in development scripts.

Warner Bros production studios

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. (though the name was occasionally given in full form as Warner Brothers during the company's early years) is an American producer of film and television entertainment.
One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California and New York, New York. Warner Bros. has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Comics. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network.
Warner bros make a suitable production studio for our thriller because of the obvious advantages to using a station that owns it’s own TV network as this allows for easy distribution of advertising.

The opening scene of memento

One of the first things you will notice when you begin to watch memento is the way it is presented. In the opening credits a very plain and not very interesting font combined with blue colour is used for the type. This plain straightforward font makes the audience realise the serious nature of the film this combines well with all the things the blue makes one think of, sadness, anguish and loss. The very next scene is the end of the film shown as the beginning to start the audience thinking of the chain of events that set this event into action. The first scene is played entirely in reverse up until the killing when the actual scene begins. This reversal is meant to shake up the audience and set the tone of the entire film. It is also a joke somewhat on the context of the film being in reverse. In the next scene leading up to the murder there is a small slip up when Leonard claims he told teddy he didn’t like the nickname Lennie, but he would have been unable to remember it and did not write down any notes pertaining to it.

The next scene running through the murder of teddy is used as a way of introducing the premise of the film being in reverse. The idea of the reversal is that it allows the film to focus on plot and draws the audience’s attention to the way the film is strung together rather than the occasional flashy fight scene, joke or killing.

preliminary film task

This post is about a week overdue but the I already started filming a preliminary film which was finished on friday. I'm working in a group with James, Jake Fox and John Hughes. Our film records the progress of a man trying to evade mysterious black suited men. I think we may have gone a little overboard with the "plot" but it's really shaping up quite well.
One small continuity error on the second day of shooting i was wearing jenes for national jenes for genes day. editing begins soon...

A Short Deconstruction of M Night Shyamalan's The Happening

A deconstruction of the happening

The happening is a scientific thriller which could be called a commentary on pollution and mankind harming the planet. The happening focuses on the experiences of one family of Elliot and Alma Moore who have adopted their best friend’s daughter and are trying to take her away from the destruction.

The film relies on an idea of constant danger to keep the tension up. The idea is perpetuated by the use of very quick camera cuts from one scene to another and uses a lot of realism. The mise en scene of most scenes in the film is that of a very normal background: a park, a city or a small town or house. This setting helps the film seem like the disaster is happening in a real world scenario. In moments of danger a lot of close up shots are used to help establish personal danger.

The characters in the film are meant to appear very realistic the main character Elliot Moore is portrayed as a smart high school teacher which gives him a unique perspective when compared to other characters and allows him to explain certain situations to the other characters and by extension the audience. Other characters are set out as being to panicked by the situation to apply much rational thought and the ones that can are usually roundly ignored or not taken seriously.

The film uses the personal fear every American citizen had post 911 of some massive horrible event this is effectively art imitating life. The film also uses ambiguity as it is never quite explained how the characters escape at the end. The plot leads through sensibly until the final scene where it is not properly explained to the audience how the story is resolved.

The shower scene from the Hitchcock thriller psycho is one of the most notable scenes of cinema in the history of film. I intend to look at the nineteen ninety eight version as it gets a lot right and yet falls when compared to the original.

first opening shot sets the scene as a perfectly normal visit to a hotel as one woman sits alone at a desk. Judging from her costume and expression she is perfectly relaxed but tense about something that is not revealed if you have only watched this one scene. She does not expect anything to happen which helps establish the “this could happen to you” setting most thrillers choose to sit within. Looking only at what is provided we see that she is set up in a cosy well lit room which judging from the lamp attached to the wall(not a fixture in an ordinary room) is a form of rented accommodation. A hotel of course is always creepy as it is a home away from home, in other words a place that attempts to imitate a home but is dissimilar in the smallest way in order to upset the human mind.

The problem with much of the actual shower scene is how you get the camera close to the action without it getting wet and breaking the fourth wall. In this scene the camera also needs to pan left to reveal the killer stepping in the door this would have been solved by removing the aback wall of the shower so the camera could see right into the room uncompromised. This shot roughly follows the rule of thirds starting with the girls head just off the centre and then gradually moving it right as the camera pans left along the shower curtain.

Something I would like to say hear is that this single shot holds an advantage over the original in that the killer is more easily distinguishable as a woman by the hair frankly the original could be anyone. Again however one is faced with the problem that water must not get on the camera this would be solved in this scenario by angling the camera downwards and placing a cover over the top to ensure water only falls in front of the camera and not at all onto the lens. An area where this shot is very well compared to the original is the use of lighting to mask the killers identity, of course in the original the lighting was used to completely obscure the killer but in the original the light is used not only to shield the face but to brighten the white in the hair and occasional glint in the knife. Natural light is used in almost every shot in the sequence in this instance coming from the lighting of the hotel bathroom itself via the lamps on the wall and the one the girl left on in her room.                                                         

In this shot of the dead girl’s body we have a zoom out from the eye which rotates from the point of origin to resemble the plughole from which this scene fades in from. Given the girls proximity to the floor and the smoothness of rotation this would have been nearly impossible to create manually. Most likely this shot was achieved by zooming an extra wide camera lens out from a fixed position close to the body and then rotating it in the edit within the screen being careful not to exclude anything.