We have considered the cinematography for our short film very carefully. Through it we want to reflect the normal life of the girl but also be able to use the cinematography to infer that unfortunate events are about to follow. Secondly, the cinematography should reflect the genre that we have selected that is a Thriller/Psychological. It should create a dark ambience which will create the desired mood that we want to portray.
We will use Mid shots to show the young girl, this is an average shot that just portrays the girl as normal as she goes about her normal day routine. However to create that isolation that we want and a sense of danger we will use long shots or her walking the dog. This will enable the audience psychologically note that she is venerable. There will also be a range of over the shoulder shots and shot reverse shots as she interacts with different parts of the story line, for example: the dog; putting the lead on the dog; making tea. This makes the filming more interesting and keeps the viewer interested and keeps to the pace of the film.
Our aim is to be as creative as possible with our filming. We want every shot to be considered carefully to give the desired effect. Although when we come to filming various shots may be added or changed we have initial ideas.
When we see the main protagonist outside her house we want to use a point of view shot using a hand hold camera, this will show that she is being watched. The jiggered movements of the camera will infer the danger and hopefully the audience will then feel for the character wanting her too look directly at the bushes. Whilst we shoot the bathroom scene where she notices the man in the mirror we will use rapid editing. This will show the danger and set the mood, creating suspense. We will also use a variety of close ups and extreme close ups when we want the audience to feel like they are ‘in the film’ and try to build a connection with the characters. This will be mostly used around the protagonist as we don’t want to show his face straight up at first just what he is up to, and then in the opening credits. They will then be used to show the emotion on the girls face.
Using a Tri-pod will allow us create a variety of movements. We will tilt the camera up and down, tilting the camera up will create intimidation, power, triumph and determination. Shots such as Francesca walking into the house with the antagonist inside will show her intimidation. Tiling the camera down will create a High angle shot. This will be used to show vulnerability and danger.
We will pan the camera, which means to go from left to right. This avoids cutting shows the location and follows the route of a character in action.
We will use a cantered angle when Francesca the protagonist has been drugged and falls to the floor. This angles shows that she is drugged or hurt. It will show her confusion and leave her looking venerable which is what we want to create.
We are slightly limited in our choice of camera movements. We do not have access to a track or dolly if we wanted to follow a character down the street, instead we have to try and use hand held as steady as possible. A crane would also be useful in creating Arial shots so that we could establish isolation of the protagonist. One that can be used depending is the zoom/reverse zoom. On the cameras that we have zooming in whilst filming looks tacky and cheap but zooming in before filming has started can be used to show emotion on characters faces and iconography.
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Costume Influence
We based our costume for Francesca on Prue Sorenson from the TV drama Bouquet of barbed wire. For Francesca as we said before we wanted to portray an innocent girl by making her character wear more natural coloured clothing. We wanted to show she was a soft, gentle and innocent character. This is similar to the character of Prue Sorenson.
We thought that the hair of Prue was very natural; it shows that her character isn’t interested in her appearance as much as to her personality. We also felt that it also gave an element of innocence as she seems to not followed the trends with hair straighteners and curlers. We thought that this type of hair would go well with Francesca and the character we wanted her to play.
The Clothing of Prue is also very important in creating her ch
aracter. The clothes she wears are very earthy, delicate and create a sense of vulnerability about her. We can see in the picture of her here she wears a dusty pink cardigan which we can infer means that she is young and delicate. The pearls around her neck could also indicate wealth. We wanted to create the same kind of look with Francesca.We Costumed Francesca to wear a light grey coat, and denim jeans. This is casual wear to carry out normal day tasks. We feel that we have created the character she plays very well and the costume played a very important role in establishing her character. We were able to make her character look innocent, and pure. This will also help the audience connect with her and see parts of her in themselves.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Iconography
Iconography is one of the most important aspects of any media related production. They are important in establishing the genre and setting, for example the use of blood with be seen and straight away seen as danger and a part of a thriller/horror. Whilst a doctors would have needles and heart machines, this would establish the setting. A heart machine would be inappropriate in the middle of the desert.
In our short film the use of props is extremely important in establishing each location, understanding the characters, and establishing the genre.
In the house of the victim, we will see normal households objects to show she lives here and give it that com
fy warm feeling. A main object here is the mug. In this shot a mug is dropped and shatters to show distress, panic and danger. Destruction is also relevant to psychological Thrillers. We also see the main antagonist taking pills, this is the object that causes her fate, but this also infers that she has had some type of mental problem, as pills can be associated with illness or psychological problems. However we the see the girl walking with her pet dog, showing that she just tries to live a normal life carrying out normal everyday chores, the dog here is the reason that she leaves her hou
se in the first place allowing the psycho to enter into her home. A lead here is also needed to control the dog when she is seen taking him for a walk.
From outside the house, there will be an Aston Martin parked. This is important in showing her social class, however this contrasts with the taking of the pills because we do not expect to see a white middle class girl taking pills as it assumes she is unhealthy.
In the psychos lair, props used are newspaper cuttings to cover the window and block the light. The scrappy cuttings and dark colours made the mood dull, dim and psychologically the audience will know that something bad is going to happen. In the room also the
re are to be pictures hanging from the walls of girls, they are scattered about and cut and parts of the faces of girls are crossed out. This can infer the mental state of the psycho. There is also use of scissors- a potentially dangerous object.
In our short film the use of props is extremely important in establishing each location, understanding the characters, and establishing the genre.
In the house of the victim, we will see normal households objects to show she lives here and give it that com
fy warm feeling. A main object here is the mug. In this shot a mug is dropped and shatters to show distress, panic and danger. Destruction is also relevant to psychological Thrillers. We also see the main antagonist taking pills, this is the object that causes her fate, but this also infers that she has had some type of mental problem, as pills can be associated with illness or psychological problems. However we the see the girl walking with her pet dog, showing that she just tries to live a normal life carrying out normal everyday chores, the dog here is the reason that she leaves her hou
se in the first place allowing the psycho to enter into her home. A lead here is also needed to control the dog when she is seen taking him for a walk.From outside the house, there will be an Aston Martin parked. This is important in showing her social class, however this contrasts with the taking of the pills because we do not expect to see a white middle class girl taking pills as it assumes she is unhealthy.
In the psychos lair, props used are newspaper cuttings to cover the window and block the light. The scrappy cuttings and dark colours made the mood dull, dim and psychologically the audience will know that something bad is going to happen. In the room also the
re are to be pictures hanging from the walls of girls, they are scattered about and cut and parts of the faces of girls are crossed out. This can infer the mental state of the psycho. There is also use of scissors- a potentially dangerous object.Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Monday, 4 October 2010
Choosing Characters
Choosing who would play are main characters was an very important part that will contributes hugely to our final product. We had to consider and number of things when casting. The first most important was choosing people who we felt would not let us down, and would be able to film at various times. They also had to have the desired look that we wanted in order to portray the type of people that we wanted to show. For example we wanted to use some one with dark hair and defined features to show harshness, this would help in creating a character that would scare or intimidate the audience. We then had to consider who would be able to act, we are trying to move away from a ‘6th form’ production as much as possible. We therefore looked at people who had experience or who took Drama/Theatre as an A-level, this would also give them the confidence to carry out the scenes that we wanted to play.
The protagonist in our short film will be played by Tom Vale. He matches the brief of the character that we wanted very well. His very dark hair, pale skin and defined face, if shot correctly we can create him to be dark, mysterious, intimidating with the intention of making the audience fear this character. To make the character that tom is playing come to life we will dress him in dull, dirty black clothes. We want this character to be dark. The character does also not want to be seen by anyone or his victim to nothing can lead back to him if caught. This character is defined as a psycho, everything in terms of Mise en scene, cinematography and iconography must suggest this. Tom has also had previous acting experience as he was used in several of the Thrillers at AS, therefore he knows the expectations and from feedback we know that he is a good worker. Tom is also a member of our media group this year so he will be able to film at various time. This is also helpful as he will still be able to contribute idea’s of how he thinks it should be acted in a certain scene and whether or not he feels it works.
The second actor we used Is Francesca Thurston. Francesca plays the role of the female antagonist and the victim. Francesca will be good for the part as she has brown natural wavy hair, and wears no make up. This helps us to portray her innocence, the effect would not be the same if we had used a more artificial character. Francesca character will wear earthy clothes, again this will show her innocence and vulnerability, with the question why is this happening to her? The idea we have is to make the Francesca seem as innocent as possible and as much like any ordinary person with the idea that bad things can happen to good people. Francesca is well suited to the role because as a Theatre student who takes part in many of the school plays we do not doubt her ability to act the scenes well. Her dedication to production also ensure to us that she is a hard worker and will not let us down with filming.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Setting and Location
For our Media film we spent a lot of time discussing and deciding upon locations to film our final production, after many hours of deliberation we decided on these 4 locations:
Tom Vales house
Tom Vale lives in a private road, the houses are all nicely made and look like the place where you would expect the wealthier people of the nation to reside. This is the location we have chosen to be our Victims home. We feel this location gives our victim the look of someone doing well in life, and has very few worries, thus making it all the more shocking when she is kidnapped.
Hutton ‘Forest’
In our production there is a scene where our victim walks her dog whilst back at her home (Tom Vales House) the antagonist is breaking in and replacing the protagonist’s medication. We chose this location due to its footpaths which are commonly used by dog walkers and joggers so it gives the sense of a normal day in a normal life. The ‘Forest’, for lack of a better word, is less than 5 minutes away from our protagonist’s house which therefore gives us the opportunity to film the walk there as well, without changing locations and breaking the flow of events.
Tom’s Road
On the private road where Tom Vale lives we intend to shoot our protagonist walking out of her house onto the road where she will then begin to walk down the street. In these shots many other houses down the road will be visible, this will show our viewers more of the lifestyle our protagonist must have. We feel this is necessary because we really want the audience to see our character as a well-off, innocent girl.
Justine’s Room
In Justine Carron’s house there is a room we intend to use to film certain shots of our thriller. The room is the location where our antagonist keeps his kidnapped victims. The room displays certain qualities which could be interpreted as the room of a mentally ill person. The room looks ‘cold’ and feels secluded, the walls are a creamy white colour but due to the fact it is just painted bricks it looks like it is almost decaying, yet it is also strangely clean, thus giving the effect that the room is owned by a strange person who kept it clean for a special reason. The white could be seen as a connotation of the insanity of the antagonist, and also could display the innocence of our victims.
The shots we intend to film in this room are:
• Our protagonist bound and waking up in her new surroundings,
• A second victim is seen in the room,
• Our opening credits,
• Our antagonist frantically tearing and writing on pictures of our protagonist.
Friday, 1 October 2010
Props and Costumes
The main antagonist in our film is wearing a black jumper with a hood, dark jeans and black trainers. We have chosen this outfit because it maintains the characters element of mystery, his face cannot be seen clearly and little is known about him. Most of the shots obscure his face and the ones which don't show that his hood is up and his face is still not visible.
Props that this character uses include scissors to cut up pictures of his victims, both of these props create a sense of fear for the viewer in the way that they are portrayed. Also the shot where the pills are changed indicates that the main protagonist is in trouble.
To contradict this, the main protagonist is dressed in brighter colours and her face can be seen, showing her innocence and naivety.
She uses juxtaposing props, including a dog, which generates a joyful image for the viewer, and household objects, such as a hairbrush and a mug to demonstrate everyday life. One of the main props in the film is the car belonging to the girl, as she is kidnapped the antagonist is shown taking the keys to her car, he then throws the girl into the boot of the car, which is an Aston Martin, again showing her quality of life and what she is leaving behind.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Initial Storyboard
Our initial storyboard helped us to gain a rough idea of how our film was going to transpire, not all the shots have been planned out yet but we have a beginning, middle and end. Most films have equilibrium at the beginning, where everything is going fine and the characters are established, our film shows the girl leading a normal, happy life, albeit alone.
Then there is disequilibrium in the middle, this is when something affects the protagonist and/or the audience in a bad way, in this case the main character is kidnapped, the stereotype is adhered to up to this point. Finally there is new equilibrium, where, in most films, everything is back to normal. Our film ends differently, the final shot is of the serial kidnapper cutting up images of another girl. This shows that the cycle goes on, that someone else is about to get kidnapped and that there is no way out.
Then there is disequilibrium in the middle, this is when something affects the protagonist and/or the audience in a bad way, in this case the main character is kidnapped, the stereotype is adhered to up to this point. Finally there is new equilibrium, where, in most films, everything is back to normal. Our film ends differently, the final shot is of the serial kidnapper cutting up images of another girl. This shows that the cycle goes on, that someone else is about to get kidnapped and that there is no way out.
Mood Board
In this mood board is an assortment of images I feel our short film can relate to. All of the images convey a feeling of fear, entrapment and loneliness.
The genre of our short film is a psychological thriller, this means our audience will hopefully feel fear but not from intimidation, but from their deepest fears, which could play on their minds and cause them to feel true fear.
In our mood board I have included 2 particular images which may seem out of place, but when you consider our main character is a young girl who looks normal on the outside, but behind closed doors has hidden problems, the images do indeed relate to our production. I am reffering to the image of a young woman walking her dog and the image of a pot of pills spilling over.
The mood board also contains two images of our main protagonists influences. The Joker, from the Batman movies, is one of our character influences because of his mental instability yet his ability to predict, plan, assess and act like a highly intelligent person. Our other influence is an image of a hooded man, this I feel gives our character a stronger sense of danger since you don't know who or what you are dealing with.
The genre of our short film is a psychological thriller, this means our audience will hopefully feel fear but not from intimidation, but from their deepest fears, which could play on their minds and cause them to feel true fear.
In our mood board I have included 2 particular images which may seem out of place, but when you consider our main character is a young girl who looks normal on the outside, but behind closed doors has hidden problems, the images do indeed relate to our production. I am reffering to the image of a young woman walking her dog and the image of a pot of pills spilling over.
The mood board also contains two images of our main protagonists influences. The Joker, from the Batman movies, is one of our character influences because of his mental instability yet his ability to predict, plan, assess and act like a highly intelligent person. Our other influence is an image of a hooded man, this I feel gives our character a stronger sense of danger since you don't know who or what you are dealing with.
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Target Audience
For my A2 Advanced Media Production I, as me, have decided on focusing on a mature audience. I expect both men and women, between the ages of 18 and beyond, to be most interested in my production. My production will contain kidnapping, scenes of a violent nature and a strong emphasis on the thriller genre; therefore I find it most suiting to target those who will both understand and therefore find the events in my production most frightening. Those who are aged 16+ have more knowledge with the way the world works and what goes on, they know the world is not as wonderful as it seems when you are younger. This, I feel, gives my audience a strong sense of vulnerability, and will make the events of my production seem all the more real and frightening.
According to the BBFC official ratings chart our production falls into the category of a rated 15 production. I feel this in turn further enforces our choice to target the ages of 16 and above, the BBFC rating of 18+ can only be issued to productions which contain graphical images of violence or scenes of a particularly sexual nature.
Target Audience pt. 2 - Where our film would be shown.
When deciding on who our film would target, we also have to consider how we will reach this audience and where it could be possible. For us the answer came clearly, the 8th London Short Film Festival would be perfect for our needs. The 8th London Short Film Festival will take place from the 7th to the 16th of January 2011, and with over 200 short films, the festival is a wonderful event where upcoming film makers can show their work. For ten days the films will be shown in Shortwave Cinema in London, one of our capitals most presigious cinemas.
2010 Facts & Figures
• Over 6000 tickets sold
• 42 events across 10 days and 10 venues
• 75% of events sold to capacity
• 8 major media partners and 16 creative programme partners
• Over 200 films screened
(Statistics as seen on http://www.shortfilms.org.uk/about-the-festival/)
As you can see, it is very obvious the London Short Film Festival has a large number of films shown, and also a large number of viewers, many would be film enthusiasts between the age of 18 - 26 which is our target audience, making this festival the perfect place for our film to be shown.
According to the BBFC official ratings chart our production falls into the category of a rated 15 production. I feel this in turn further enforces our choice to target the ages of 16 and above, the BBFC rating of 18+ can only be issued to productions which contain graphical images of violence or scenes of a particularly sexual nature.
Target Audience pt. 2 - Where our film would be shown.
When deciding on who our film would target, we also have to consider how we will reach this audience and where it could be possible. For us the answer came clearly, the 8th London Short Film Festival would be perfect for our needs. The 8th London Short Film Festival will take place from the 7th to the 16th of January 2011, and with over 200 short films, the festival is a wonderful event where upcoming film makers can show their work. For ten days the films will be shown in Shortwave Cinema in London, one of our capitals most presigious cinemas.
2010 Facts & Figures
• Over 6000 tickets sold
• 42 events across 10 days and 10 venues
• 75% of events sold to capacity
• 8 major media partners and 16 creative programme partners
• Over 200 films screened
(Statistics as seen on http://www.shortfilms.org.uk/about-the-festival/)
As you can see, it is very obvious the London Short Film Festival has a large number of films shown, and also a large number of viewers, many would be film enthusiasts between the age of 18 - 26 which is our target audience, making this festival the perfect place for our film to be shown.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Influence: “Bouquet of barbed wire” (Ashley Pearce 2010)
Bouquet of barbed wire is TV Drama series featured on itv; it’s the second re-make of Andrea Newman’s original book. The series focuses on a father and daughter’s relationship and the struggles which come with the marriage of his only daughter. The husband of Prue (the daughter) is followed as being an aggressive creep to the audience.
The show has the theme of an upper class family, who at the start appear to be happy, however as the story processes we see the family falling to pieces. We liked the idea of taking an upper class happy family and turning there worlds upside down with one traumatic event. We believe this will leave a more memorable stamp on our short film. However as our story has developed we have changed our family to one female who’s home alone. We’ve shot the girl living in a big house and used the connotations that come with the upper class, such as an Aston martin car etc. We show the girl walking her dog and looking generally a normal happy young girl. We first stir up the notion that there are some complications when the audience see her taking some tablets. This is then clear when we see our antagonist switching the tablets. In Bouquet of barbed wire the husband tries to control Pure, not through drugs but emotionally, although we have no evidence of emotional taunting in our film we do have the notion of our kidnapper controlling our protagonist with drugs. The idea of being out of control is a very scary thought for most.
The show has the theme of an upper class family, who at the start appear to be happy, however as the story processes we see the family falling to pieces. We liked the idea of taking an upper class happy family and turning there worlds upside down with one traumatic event. We believe this will leave a more memorable stamp on our short film. However as our story has developed we have changed our family to one female who’s home alone. We’ve shot the girl living in a big house and used the connotations that come with the upper class, such as an Aston martin car etc. We show the girl walking her dog and looking generally a normal happy young girl. We first stir up the notion that there are some complications when the audience see her taking some tablets. This is then clear when we see our antagonist switching the tablets. In Bouquet of barbed wire the husband tries to control Pure, not through drugs but emotionally, although we have no evidence of emotional taunting in our film we do have the notion of our kidnapper controlling our protagonist with drugs. The idea of being out of control is a very scary thought for most.
Doodlebug – Textual Analysis
This short film, directed by Chris Nolan, has a controlling idea of a never ending cycle, the man in the claustrophobic room appears to be trying to catch a bug. The title sequence shows the name of the film with the two o’s shown as eyes shifting from side to side to create a spooky effect. This instantly portrays the genre of the film to the viewer.
The opening images show an obviously deranged looking man holding a shoe, most of the shots are close ups to emphasise the idea of an enclosed setting. The soundtrack is also very eerie, this matches the genre of the film and draws the viewer in as it creates tension. A continuity shot of him diving across the room and hitting the shoe against the floor lead the viewer to believe he is trying to catch a bug or insect that is in this room. He continues to chase this thing around the room, a close up of a clock builds up even more tension as to what he is trying to catch. The phone rings and he takes it off the hook and slams it down emphatically, the person can be heard on the phone so he throws it into a bowl of water, his movements are very primitive, animalistic and violent. The thing he is trying to catch is shown moving around underneath a rather large cloth, showing that it is quite large.
As the man lifts the cloth away a small version of himself can be seen. When he finally catches the smaller version of himself the viewer can see that he is also holding a shoe and hits something with it. He then repeats the action himself by hitting the thing with a shoe. Special effects allow the little man to be created, and for the even bigger man who continues the idea of a never ending cycle by squashing the main protagonist. The closing credits show that few people were involved in the film and the same font is used for the title sequence and ending credits.
The opening images show an obviously deranged looking man holding a shoe, most of the shots are close ups to emphasise the idea of an enclosed setting. The soundtrack is also very eerie, this matches the genre of the film and draws the viewer in as it creates tension. A continuity shot of him diving across the room and hitting the shoe against the floor lead the viewer to believe he is trying to catch a bug or insect that is in this room. He continues to chase this thing around the room, a close up of a clock builds up even more tension as to what he is trying to catch. The phone rings and he takes it off the hook and slams it down emphatically, the person can be heard on the phone so he throws it into a bowl of water, his movements are very primitive, animalistic and violent. The thing he is trying to catch is shown moving around underneath a rather large cloth, showing that it is quite large.
As the man lifts the cloth away a small version of himself can be seen. When he finally catches the smaller version of himself the viewer can see that he is also holding a shoe and hits something with it. He then repeats the action himself by hitting the thing with a shoe. Special effects allow the little man to be created, and for the even bigger man who continues the idea of a never ending cycle by squashing the main protagonist. The closing credits show that few people were involved in the film and the same font is used for the title sequence and ending credits.
Monday, 6 September 2010
Textual analysis of “Doll House”
Doll house is a short film directed and written by Pete Middleton that i discovered on YouTube. It is a Thriller/Horror hybrid that lasts 2 minutes 35 seconds.
Dolls house has a very interesting, smart uses of mise en scene throughout, as it is all filmed in black and white, giving it an eerie, spooky mood from the start. The dark colours like black and grey are often related to horror and crime, giving this the perfect tone from the beginning. Middleton has also used the non-diegetic soundtrack of a thunderstorm to add to the darkness of the film. Throughout the film Middleton uses the sound of the thunder to shock people (make people jump) the way a musical sting would usually be demonstrated in a feature length film.
The credits appear in a typewriter font that adds a sharp edginess to the opening backing up the atmosphere the colours and sounds are creating. The second shot is of the little girls black bed in a big empty white room, showing us, the audience that she is secluded and alone. People do not expect a little girl’s room to be open and empty; therefore Middleton has instantly told the audience that this girl is the victim of the story. This is followed by a close up of the girl lying in bed looking at something off screen. This makes the audience curious for just a split second as to what she could be looking at. Middleton then allows us, the audience to see what she is looking at by placing the camera behind the object which in this case is a doll. On the right hand of the screen is the back of the doll whilst in the left hand we can see the little girl sitting up staring at this doll. The iconography of a doll is smart as it is a stereotype of fears for many people and using stereotypes is a typical convention of a short film that is often successful. The camera then cuts between front view of the doll in the side of the screen to the back view of the doll and the little girl, this is repeated several times and builds up tension with the audience. The next couple of shots are of the little girl staring at the doll, there’s a straight on mid shot of her sitting up followed by a side profile shot before then jumping to a close up of the doll which is now slowly moving its head, this is a good technique of subtlety as the audience isn’t sure if the doll actually moved or not. This follows the conventions of keeping the audience engaged and thinking. Throughout there are also flashes of lighting which he has smartly placed on the dolls face illuminating it. The girl then hides under her covers and the camera focuses on her for a while.
A close up of the doll shows that its stopped swaying and the non-diegetic soundtrack of the doll stops. The audience know in the back of their minds that the doll is going to of moved when the girl comes out but they still stay watching in fear. A musical sting is then used briefly on a quick glimpse of the empty chair where the doll was sitting, this makes the audience jump. Middleton quickly moves over the chair before returning to the girl’s eyes where we see her staring in fear at the empty chair. There is then a mid shot of the girl looking under both sides of her bed, the young girls performance throughout is one of complete stillness, she doesn’t change her facial expression from this straight almost hazed look and she doesn’t make a sound, this brings a strangeness to the film and creeps people out. As she looks under the bed the camera follows the girls search to show the audience that the bed is clear, this keeps the audience guessing. Finally the camera returns to the centre of the bed as the girl sits up, as she does this the camera zooms in whilst a musical sting is played followed by the diegetic sound of the girls scream. This is a very predictable ending but also an effective ending as it does everything that is expected of a Thriller/Horror short film. It intrigues, it makes the audience think and it shocks.
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Textual Analysis-About A Girl
About a girl is directed by Brian Percival in 2001, it was very successful winning a BAFTA and 4 other nominations.
Straight away from the opening credits it suggests to us that the story is about a teenage girl due to the font used to open the film as the texting suggests her age. It then cuts to a girl singing Britney Spears’s Stronger by herself in a field, the lyrics in this song could represent how she is feeling. Here in the field she can be her self, we can tell this because she puts effort into the dance and song. Singing is her dream.
It then cuts into a close up of the girls face as she directly addresses the camera walking down the canal in her white coat. Straight away we establish her class, the canal is grubby with graffiti on the back walls, we then see her mum trying to win money with a scratch card. We have already noticed the stereotypes used, very working class living in a poor place with there single mum and sister. During her monologue she persists in talking down her mother while singing her dads praise, it seems she does not notice how hard her mum tries to look after her and her sister. Her dad is the good
parent as he buys her ice cream with sprinkles. However, the director then uses a long shot of the girl and her dad sitting in the local café, which to the audience contradicts what the girl has just said. He appears to be taking more interest in the newspaper he is reading than he is his daughter. It then cuts back to monologue down the were she states her Dad is always ‘dead interested’ in what she is doing, followed by a long shot of her standing by the goal post as she watches her Dad play football, this is what she calls ‘quality time’. This shows that she very much likes her Dad and wants a relationship with him, but he is too interested in playing football. We also see that she again is listening to music, practising to be star.
The next shot is of her sitting outside the pub were her Dad takes her to get a Coke a crisps, the camera zooms out to show her isolation. This also shows how interested her Dad is as he has most likely left her outside the pub whilst he is enjoying his after match Beer. The bench that she is sitting on is concrete, old, messy. This is similar to the surroundings. She is in a concrete jungle full of housing estates, factories and a canal. Typically working class.
There is then cutting between her walking along the canal and her with her friends on the bus. She is describing them entering a competition and making there own group. On the Bus the are practising again to a Britney Spears song, notice that this is the only time in the short film that we see her without the white coat on. Whilst they are sitting on the bus there young age is also represented here with a stereotype as they are sitting at the back of the bus where the ‘cool’ kids sit.
Carrying on her monologue down the canal she continues to talk down her mum saying she doesn’t do enough and spends all her money on ‘ciggies’. Although here again we cut to her mum trying to win on a scratch card which clearly shows that she wants a better life for them. The girl is talking about her dream, to live in a top end flat in London when she is famous, were she will be eating in top end restraunts drinking her Bacardi breezers and coke.
The canal in the next shot is full of rubbish, filled with old chairs and peoples waste. The background also shows how old neglected the area is with abandoned building. The long shot of the girl at the end of the canal shows her sitting there by herself with the white plastic bag she is carrying. The white used could portray innocence. It makes her stand out from the rundown surroundings.
We then hear the story about her neighbours do
g, who was drowned in the canal. It then switches to a high angle shot of it. This infers that the canal is something dangerous. That it has power, water can also be used to suggest danger as nature is unpredictable and fierce. The girl then chucks the white bag that she had been carrying into the canal and walks away, she addresses that she has become well good at hiding things recently.
The director then uses a low angle shot as a baby drifts out of the bag down into the depths of the canal. We then see her walking away singing to herself totally unphased by what she has done. To her all that mattered was the dream of becoming a pop star.
We
can now argue that instead of the white meaning innocence, it could have meant psycho which is another connotation of the colour white. Throughout the film the controlling ideas’ have been the canal and the girl. The film relied on monologue, and used foreshadowing. The dark miserable weather is normally something depressing, it has a psychological effect on the audience.
Straight away from the opening credits it suggests to us that the story is about a teenage girl due to the font used to open the film as the texting suggests her age. It then cuts to a girl singing Britney Spears’s Stronger by herself in a field, the lyrics in this song could represent how she is feeling. Here in the field she can be her self, we can tell this because she puts effort into the dance and song. Singing is her dream.
It then cuts into a close up of the girls face as she directly addresses the camera walking down the canal in her white coat. Straight away we establish her class, the canal is grubby with graffiti on the back walls, we then see her mum trying to win money with a scratch card. We have already noticed the stereotypes used, very working class living in a poor place with there single mum and sister. During her monologue she persists in talking down her mother while singing her dads praise, it seems she does not notice how hard her mum tries to look after her and her sister. Her dad is the good
parent as he buys her ice cream with sprinkles. However, the director then uses a long shot of the girl and her dad sitting in the local café, which to the audience contradicts what the girl has just said. He appears to be taking more interest in the newspaper he is reading than he is his daughter. It then cuts back to monologue down the were she states her Dad is always ‘dead interested’ in what she is doing, followed by a long shot of her standing by the goal post as she watches her Dad play football, this is what she calls ‘quality time’. This shows that she very much likes her Dad and wants a relationship with him, but he is too interested in playing football. We also see that she again is listening to music, practising to be star.The next shot is of her sitting outside the pub were her Dad takes her to get a Coke a crisps, the camera zooms out to show her isolation. This also shows how interested her Dad is as he has most likely left her outside the pub whilst he is enjoying his after match Beer. The bench that she is sitting on is concrete, old, messy. This is similar to the surroundings. She is in a concrete jungle full of housing estates, factories and a canal. Typically working class.
There is then cutting between her walking along the canal and her with her friends on the bus. She is describing them entering a competition and making there own group. On the Bus the are practising again to a Britney Spears song, notice that this is the only time in the short film that we see her without the white coat on. Whilst they are sitting on the bus there young age is also represented here with a stereotype as they are sitting at the back of the bus where the ‘cool’ kids sit.
Carrying on her monologue down the canal she continues to talk down her mum saying she doesn’t do enough and spends all her money on ‘ciggies’. Although here again we cut to her mum trying to win on a scratch card which clearly shows that she wants a better life for them. The girl is talking about her dream, to live in a top end flat in London when she is famous, were she will be eating in top end restraunts drinking her Bacardi breezers and coke.
The canal in the next shot is full of rubbish, filled with old chairs and peoples waste. The background also shows how old neglected the area is with abandoned building. The long shot of the girl at the end of the canal shows her sitting there by herself with the white plastic bag she is carrying. The white used could portray innocence. It makes her stand out from the rundown surroundings.
We then hear the story about her neighbours do
g, who was drowned in the canal. It then switches to a high angle shot of it. This infers that the canal is something dangerous. That it has power, water can also be used to suggest danger as nature is unpredictable and fierce. The girl then chucks the white bag that she had been carrying into the canal and walks away, she addresses that she has become well good at hiding things recently.The director then uses a low angle shot as a baby drifts out of the bag down into the depths of the canal. We then see her walking away singing to herself totally unphased by what she has done. To her all that mattered was the dream of becoming a pop star.
We
can now argue that instead of the white meaning innocence, it could have meant psycho which is another connotation of the colour white. Throughout the film the controlling ideas’ have been the canal and the girl. The film relied on monologue, and used foreshadowing. The dark miserable weather is normally something depressing, it has a psychological effect on the audience.
Top Short Films
Here is the Top Ten voted Short films on IMDB.Straight away I have noticed that the top two films have not been English, this supports my research into Institutional Analysis's that Northern European countries have a much larger success rate in the Short film Industry. This list is also helpful as we can view these short films and analyse them, this will give us an idea to how they were so successful and what we should do to improve our short film and make it to the best of our ability.
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Influence: Rear Window
Rear window is a 1954 Psychological Thriller. It has one numerous awards and one of the most well known today, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
The story revolves around a wheelchair bound photographer who spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced that one of them has committed a murder. After story boarding and initiating some ideas we found that Rear window was a key influence in the thinking behind our end idea. We needed a disequilibrium, Rear window was a huge influence. Wendall the photographer becomes convinced his neighbour has committed a murder, this is the basis of the story line.
As a group we like the idea that the character has certain disabilities that made him venerable and not your typical hero, he had limitations. This influenced how we built our characters. We decided that our main antagonist should have something that holds her back. A limitation was that we couldn’t make it anything to drastic, for example have her in a wheelchair as we didn’t have access to a wheelchair and it would also be impractical to film with. Instead we decided to go for something more subtle and practical that is an important part of the film and part of the iconography. We have created her to be on some type of films, although in the short the audience is not to find out what she takes her pills for but a shot shows her briskly turn around after seeing a man in the mirror, we want the audience to question if someone is really there or is it something psychological in her head?
Secondly another main influence was the use of the camera as part of the iconography (props). Were in ‘Rear Window’ the antagonist uses the camera to spy on the protagonist we decided to switch the role of the camera, as being the tool in the spying of the antagonist by the protagonist. In our short however we have decided not to shoot the villain taking the shots as we don’t have enough time as we are limited to 5 mins, instead we have incorporated the images that he has captured on his camera into the opening credits and the ending of the film.
As a group we like the idea that the character has certain disabilities that made him venerable and not your typical hero, he had limitations. This influenced how we built our characters. We decided that our main antagonist should have something that holds her back. A limitation was that we couldn’t make it anything to drastic, for example have her in a wheelchair as we didn’t have access to a wheelchair and it would also be impractical to film with. Instead we decided to go for something more subtle and practical that is an important part of the film and part of the iconography. We have created her to be on some type of films, although in the short the audience is not to find out what she takes her pills for but a shot shows her briskly turn around after seeing a man in the mirror, we want the audience to question if someone is really there or is it something psychological in her head?
Influence: Disturbia
Disturbia is a 2007 Drama/Thriller directed by D.J. Caruso starring Shia LaBeouf, David Morse and Carrie-Anne Moss. Its story is centred around a boy under house arrest who become convinced that his neighbour is a serial killer. 
When we were mind mapping ideas as to a dis-equilibrium Disturbia was a main influence and has influenced our choice of plot. In Disturbia LaBeouf becomes convinced that his neighbour is a serial killer, he then spends his time spying and trying to get access into his neighbours house. His initial feelings that he has turn out to be correct when his mum gets abducted by the Killer to his house. He must then try to save her from a man whom of which had earlier hurt his friend and had whiteness him hurt women through the window.
Our initial idea was to try and replicate in our own individual way the idea of a character becoming convinced that his/her neighbour is a serial killer. However we found many problems arose when planning this. For example we were unable to find a location that enabled us to have access to two houses where both are in view of the other. This was a major flaw that could not be avoided.
However some main ideas have still influenced our short film. Like in Disturbia we have the innocent victim (Francesca) who is kidnapped by the serial killer from the comfort of her own house. We had to change this idea to make it our own. In Disturbia there is a struggle when the mother is taken, and we no that the film will end by LaBeouf being able to kill the serial killer and save his mum in time, which is thus predictable. With the capturing of Francesca we wanted our serial killer to be more organised, hence he knew she takes pills and her daily routine. That gave him access to her house and gave him a convenient way to change her pills over. There is no struggle as the pills render her unconscious and unable to fight back. Secondly, we thought that giving a Francesca a relationship with another character would just give an obvious ending where she is rescued by that of a boyfriends for example. The way we have intended to end the film leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen and how she will escape, or not.
When we were mind mapping ideas as to a dis-equilibrium Disturbia was a main influence and has influenced our choice of plot. In Disturbia LaBeouf becomes convinced that his neighbour is a serial killer, he then spends his time spying and trying to get access into his neighbours house. His initial feelings that he has turn out to be correct when his mum gets abducted by the Killer to his house. He must then try to save her from a man whom of which had earlier hurt his friend and had whiteness him hurt women through the window.
Our initial idea was to try and replicate in our own individual way the idea of a character becoming convinced that his/her neighbour is a serial killer. However we found many problems arose when planning this. For example we were unable to find a location that enabled us to have access to two houses where both are in view of the other. This was a major flaw that could not be avoided.
However some main ideas have still influenced our short film. Like in Disturbia we have the innocent victim (Francesca) who is kidnapped by the serial killer from the comfort of her own house. We had to change this idea to make it our own. In Disturbia there is a struggle when the mother is taken, and we no that the film will end by LaBeouf being able to kill the serial killer and save his mum in time, which is thus predictable. With the capturing of Francesca we wanted our serial killer to be more organised, hence he knew she takes pills and her daily routine. That gave him access to her house and gave him a convenient way to change her pills over. There is no struggle as the pills render her unconscious and unable to fight back. Secondly, we thought that giving a Francesca a relationship with another character would just give an obvious ending where she is rescued by that of a boyfriends for example. The way we have intended to end the film leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen and how she will escape, or not.
Initial Ideas
As our group sat down and started to discuss ideas for our short film we struggled to decide on a specific genre. We first narrowed it down to doing a drama, horror, thriller or psychological film, we then thought of an idea where a man stands on the edge of a cliff looking over, the audience would see the surroundings from his point of view and would be left wondering why he was there. We were then going to have him commit suicide, and show the lead up as to why. However with much discussion we decided that not only was this a highly predictable concept that’s been done many times before, but we knew we could improve the idea. The second idea was that rather than a man, we would use a child, who would fall from the cliff when chasing after her dog that had got away. As this happens the screen would cut to black and we would just hear the diegetic sound of the dog barking and the mum, who was on the beach, screaming. This idea would have started with a close up of the little girl’s hand laying on the rocks with the sea crashing against her, the thoughts behind this idea, came from the notion that a small girl falling to her death was a shocking concept for the audience and would leave them “horrified”. However, realistically this idea was near impossible to achieve and was a random scene with no real plotline.
This is when we came up with our current idea, which falls into the hybrid genre of a psychological horror; we will shadow the life of a girl between the ages of 15 and 18. Our first scene will be of a man cutting up pictures of a young girl. We will then see her taking some tablets this immediately hints to the audience that she has some kind problem/illness. Next the young girl will be looking in her bathroom mirror and will see a man standing behind her but when she turns around there’s no one there, the audience won’t know if there really was a man there or if she’s going mad. Just before this scene we will see the psycho man’s hands removing her tablets and replacing them with his. The girl then takes the tablets and becomes dizzy and faints, we will have a point of view shot from the girl on the floor, looking at the man’s feet walking towards her. Throughout the film the audience will not see the man’s face. In the next scene the girl will wake up in a dark room where there will be another girl, to show that this is not the first time he has kidnapped someone. The film will end with a repeat of the first scene, the man cutting up pictures of another girl, giving the impression that it’s a cycle that will keep going round.
This is when we came up with our current idea, which falls into the hybrid genre of a psychological horror; we will shadow the life of a girl between the ages of 15 and 18. Our first scene will be of a man cutting up pictures of a young girl. We will then see her taking some tablets this immediately hints to the audience that she has some kind problem/illness. Next the young girl will be looking in her bathroom mirror and will see a man standing behind her but when she turns around there’s no one there, the audience won’t know if there really was a man there or if she’s going mad. Just before this scene we will see the psycho man’s hands removing her tablets and replacing them with his. The girl then takes the tablets and becomes dizzy and faints, we will have a point of view shot from the girl on the floor, looking at the man’s feet walking towards her. Throughout the film the audience will not see the man’s face. In the next scene the girl will wake up in a dark room where there will be another girl, to show that this is not the first time he has kidnapped someone. The film will end with a repeat of the first scene, the man cutting up pictures of another girl, giving the impression that it’s a cycle that will keep going round.
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