Textual analysis of Final Approach

http://www.slideshare.net/10lowean/textual-analysis-56371067

Click above to read my other textual analysis...

One page pitch

One Page Pitch

Working Title: A Souls Redemption
Tagline: Sometimes the kindest of hearts can be tainted
Film Genre: Paranormal thriller

Commissioning Editors: Conabel Productions
Length: 1 hour and a half. The reason our film is this length is because there is a lot of information which needs to be addressed to the watcher. This is proven with what I have written about the plot below.
Plot:  Bertie has been possessed by the devil when a dark part of his soul has been unlocked after witnessing everyone he loved being killed. This caused him to be possessed due to his soul being caught by the devil after the anger of seeing the murderer kill his family weakening his good will. This means Bertie is still in his body but trapped in the devils grasp.  But then a person comes and triggers a memory which keeps reoccurring meaning that Bertie begins to fight against the devil to return to his body.
Statement of intent: The main theme of our story is that even those who once had such innocent eyes can be changed simply by the devils hand. We want to tell this story in order to teach people how one event can change a person’s life forever and cause them to be someone they may have hated before. However Bertie gives out the message that it does not define you as a person but can simply just make you stronger.
Visual realisation: We will put black and white colouring  when editing and use high angled shots, tracking shots and close ups. Cabin in the woods slightly explored this with the use of dark lighting and basic colours like brown. Also the Blair witch project has also done it with night vision, a hand held camera and dark lighting.
Target Audience: We have chosen a target audience of 13-17 year olds. The reason we have done this is because anyone at young age may find parts uncomfortable to watch and agitating due to the way Bertie is acting. We were guided by Cabin in the woods for our target audience which is an inspiration for our thriller. 
Story synopsis: A young boy playing in the woods. Does he mean any good? Or does he kill just for fun. No one will ever know. All because the devil is in control. While Bertie fights in his mind, hoping that he will survive. 

Extra research: While telling others of our thriller I was told that Bertie was a parallel to Anaken Skywalker from Star Wars. The reason is because Bertie turns evil out of losing the ones he loves while Anakin does simply from the fear of losing his wife and unborn children. Therefore this shows the common theme in films with good against evil. 

   

Role of a script writer

Okay, so, to be honest,I didn't really know what a script writer was until I got researching, its basically someone who writes a screenplay in which you need good story writing skills and a good imagination (which actually appeals to me since i have a good imagination).Every script starts with a theme or idea with the script writer intending on selling them and having them produced, Screenwriters are not hired, as they are 'contracted freelancers'. A lot of screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation also known as a 'spec' this means they write without being hired or paid,if a producer likes the script,and the script writer decided to sell their script, this is called a spec script. 
The basics in which should go into a script is concepts, characters, plot and the structure.By concepts it means what the films about and what you intend the actors to say, without a scrip writer they'd be no script and so no order on set. The characters within a script are essential as you need to know who the film is about and the main characters, You also need to include the protagonists and antagonists of the movie, the script writer needs to have a good ability to develop a character and make them believable.The plot is what drives the story and what happens to the characters to make the story line, the plot needs to be engaging otherwise it'll bore the audience making it unsuccessful.

Script writers use this particular font ( 12-point courier) as the standard screenplay format is designed so that one page approximately equals one minute of screen time, consistent character spacing is important.

Thriller opening intial ideas

Our groups initial idea is in a wood setting simply because it looks very creepy and edgy. We aim to give it a old fashioned effect with black and white tones,either by using dark lighting and actually doing the filming at dusk to give us a darker affect or we use after effects once we've finished filming. The Characters within the opening will be Bertie ( Elsie's younger brother) and Elsie, The plot of our opening is basically, Bertie is possessed and creepily skipping or running through the words. I thought it'd be affective if after each tree he runs past, we have the title sequence going on at the same time with names on the tree's. We would ideally start off this  opening with old fashioned news paper articles with 'Missing boy' on the front hinting to the audience who Bertie could be and that what he's doing could suggest is out of character, we initially will open with an establishing shot in order to show where its taking place and with Bertie first walking into the woods, We also aim to use a low shot when finishing the opening with Bertie pushing Elsie over and a low shot pointing to the ground to show the distortedness . During the title sequence,we will also overlay Elsie's cover of the song for non diegetic sounds to give it a more creepy affect and also use other non diegetic sounds such as owl sounds and leaves rustling.

Conventions of a thriller film

http://www.slideshare.net/10lowean/conventions-of-a-thriller-film-55556265

look above to see my conventions of a thriller film :)

7even Textual analysis

In the film ‘7even’ starring Brad Pitt and Morgan freeman (them being the first characters we see right at the beginning) many different camera shots/angles and movements are used in order to portray a normal man, with a normal life, however, a canted angles was used when showing the man’s (Morgan freeman) jacket. The jacket it very well ordered on this bed, he spots a hair and picks it up, suggested his life is very ordered and he likes things to be very structured, this links in with the fact this is house shot as the beginning using a establishing shot is very simple and has nothing personal in it, e.g. pictures, it just has the basics, there’s nothing personal or character to the house, it’s just simply a place where he sleeps.

The title sequence is super imposed with different documents layering each other with rapid cuts and strobing showing how hectic and busy his life is and that he works very hard. However, this could also suggest something suspicious about him due to the fact the camera cut from it being on him sleeping, to suspicious crime based documents, whether that’s him trying to find out the killer, or him being the killer….

I think the sound of the ticking was very interesting within the opening of seven as the ticking leads straight into the opening credits and fits right into the rhythm, The use of the ticking going straight into the title sequence could show that the man and the killer have similar thought process and gathered thoughts, this could also suggest that he knows/is/or is going to find out who the killer is. I think the use of the ticking noise is showing the order he needs and clear thoughts, he seems like an intelligent man as he has to have a clear mind, and gathered thoughts, the fact that the audience can tell he’s an intelligent man and the ticking goes into the title sequence could also show the killer is intelligent but both use it for different reasons.

Lighting techniques

http://www.slideshare.net/10lowean/lighting-55431223


Like my others...Click above to see my lighting techniques pictures :)

Media title analysis

http://www.slideshare.net/10lowean/title-analysis-54772348

Click above to read my title analysis

Q5- Feedback from others

My preliminary task

Q6- Evaluate your contribution to the groups work

http://www.slideshare.net/10lowean/q6-evaluate-your-contribution-to-the-groups-work

click here above to see my contribution to
my groups work :)
 

Q4- How well did you meet the brief

In the task set I think we successfully used the shot reverse shot and match on action within the scene and it was very obvious we did so. However I do not think we successfully obeyed the 180 degree rule as it is not clear where. If we was to re-do the task, I think we should keep in mind the brief and make sure we include the expectations needed, I think our video made is a good video and we as a group are proud of it, but I think we should've added the 180 degree rule as this could have made the video even better.

Q3- Areas for development

what went wrong....
-I think the only things that went wrong was finding the music that fit properly and still had to same effect and built tension but was also copyright free, at first we wanted to use 'eye of the tiger' but then realised its not copy right free, so,we couldn't:(
-It took many takes to obtain continuity as they where filmed on separate days and so hard for us to adapt it so it still made sense.
I think the thing that went wrong most of all was...My fall at the end;

there it is...it really hurt as I full on body slammed the floor, next time, if we were to do something like that, I would be more careful.

If I could turn back time....
-I wouldn't body slam the floor :)
- I would do more on the editing side as we only used minimal editing skills by making it black and white at the beginning and cropped/cut parts out, and muted the sound to put music on top.

Next time I will....
-add more shot camera types as there was a lot of close-ups in which we used, I think if we stepped out our comfort zone and did something a bit more out there by using a long shot establishing it could've been better than it is now.
- Finally I would change the lighting a bit more, when it comes to the fight scene dimmer the lights creating more tension and create certain moods.

Q2- Areas of success

I think that within my group, we overall did a good job of our preliminary task, it included a shot/reverse shot, match on action and 180 degree rule, I think the story of it was engaging, and the use of the 'to be continued' part leaves the viewer on edge. I think the use of the close-ups are funny as the facial expressions are over dramatic making it seem as though we are almost mocking the situation yet we still 'fight' or more like Charlie throws me on the ground. I think our finished version was successful mostly because of the backing music, it makes it funnier as it starts off with a calm old fashioned silent movie feel to it, then goes into a dramatic chase, we never planned on adding the music in and adding the 'beep' on top of the swearing but I think if we didn't add the different sound clips, it wouldn't have been as funny and may have been taken more seriously than intended.

 I think when planning for the task was one of the easiest parts of the task as we all the members of my group had similar idea's to me, so we just improved on this by adding the 'silent' conversation between Brooke and Charlie but due to her facial expressions we knew as a viewer, something was about to happen , the only props needed were a bad in which Charlie ripped off and a bag for Brooke when walking down the corridor in which they both already had, and a phone for me which (obviously) I already had. I also think we managed our time very well, as each lesson in which we filmed, we left time at the end to upload any clips making sure non of them where lost so we wouldn't have to re-film any, I think if we didn't do this, we may have finished quicker but the clips may have been lost or saved in a place we don't remember because we were rushing. It only took us 3 lessons to film the clips, and that's including re-takes as we (occasionally) had a giggle when the camera got too close to us...

Within the scenes we used a lot of close-ups and mid shots, I think this made it more comical as it showed our expressions which were over exaggerated on purpose to emphasise the humour of the situation rather than it being serious which made it less awkward and easier to act and also less toe curling for the viewer (i.e. our friends owps). I really enjoyed making the preliminary task is enabled us to get used to working together and sharing roles when editing and filming and also giving each person within the group a go at the 'acting' side to it.

Q1- What have you learned during the making of your preliminary task

http://www.slideshare.net/10lowean/q1-what-have-you-learned-during-the-making




                                                                 
                                                       click above to read what I have learned :)

Preliminary task storyboard

This is my groups storyboard for our preliminary task, Its basically a follow on of our 'shot types story' with a plot twist, mind the drawings, I was the artist behind them...sorry:) 

Mid shot- In this shot Charlie and Brooke are talking
and Brooke tells Charlie something about me.

Close up- The close up is showing Charlie's emotion
and how mad she is at me (lol sorry Charlie)

Long shot- Charlie's looking for me and
basically on a mad hunt

Long shot- Charlie walking towards the
camera

Shot reverse shot- Charlie looking through the
windows in the classroom looking for me

Shot reverse shot- Looking through the window

Match on action- Charlie is opening the door only
half way from behind

Match on action- Carrying on opening the door from the front
 

Close up - Charlie's face as soon as she opens the
door in rage at what she has been told

long shot- Me in class and then I turn and see Charlie
at the door

Close up- My face towards Charlie and my reaction
as I know that she knows (owp)

180 degree rule - I'm facing Charlie, looking at her

180 degree rule - Charlie is facing me, looking at me,
she starts walking towards me and I start backing
away

Tilt shot- Charlie grabs my hair :/ 

long shot- And then drags me out

TO BE CONTINUED...

Shot types

Take a look at my shot types :)

Preliminary Task

The preliminary task it to involve film and edit a character (Charlie) opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character (me)  with whom she exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. The task should demonstrate match on action which basically gives the impression of continuity, shot/reverse shot which shows conversation between characters and finally 180 degree rule which is the idea that two cameras showing the characters at different angles within 180 degrees.


     <-------- (180 degree rule)
 Me and Charlie will be doing the 'acting' as such and Brooke will be behind the camera. We will be doing this outside in the same setting as we did the 'camera shot types' (which hasn't been posted yet lol) #leaked.We're doing this outside to create verisimilitude which means a realistic feel to it as its going to be a normal setting and a normal conversation between friends.

Introduction

Hi everyone, I'm Annabel, I'm in year 12 and this is my first time doing media. I don't have much experience with writing blogs or any previous skills so this could be eventful, I like watching films (or any sort of TV) but I've never had a go at making one. I'm not picky with films either, I'll watch anything as long as it makes me laugh. I'm pretty outgoing and talk to anyone unless I feel intimated which isn't hard at I'm 5 ft 2. I'm looking forward to being a bit more creative as most of my subjects I chose for A-level are social sciences... I'm nervous about how cringey I may come across and stepping out my comfort zone but I think it'll be a good experience for me and I'll be able to build my technical skills and become more comfortable with doing something I've never done before and adjusting to change. I think the task set will be a good way to apply my imagination too as we have to make a opening to a thriller film which will be very good to experiment with. Thought I'd keep this short nd snappy as no-one wants to read a novel for an introduction so bye *awkwardly waves bye*