Final Cut

Falter - Media Studies

Edited by: Lucy Usher
Directed by: Georgina Wilkinson
Enjoy! :)

Our Nine Frames Sequence (Two)

1) The first screen grab shows a High Angle Shot of Sam and his daughter Rosie playing with her toys ont the stair landing. A high angle shot is used to set the scene. It gives the impression of something weak and powerless which could be reflected on the characters.

2) In this screen grab, the camera is zooming closer into Sam's face through slow paced editing, which eventually turns into a transition.

3) The transition continues and eventually zooms out to reveal Sam's eye as a young boy.

4) The colour scheme has now radically changed to Black and White to represent a past time. An extreme long shot is used here to give the audience a clear view of Sam playing with his Red toy car.

5) Here a close up is used on Troys hand playing with the Red car. We decided to use this type of shot as it put into prespective the main prop of which was the cause of the flashback.

6) In this screen shot low key lighting has been used, it acts well on shadowing Sam whilst he peers through the banister, this angle increases the tension dramatically and is key convention in many Thrillers.

7) A low angle, close up shot has been used on Sam whilst he peers through the bannisters. This re-inforces Sam's feared expression.

8) We used an extreme high angle shot on the argument. This was a necessity for us as it represents the idea of something unstable happening and re-inforces the idea that Sam's mum is weak in this situation. This also acts as a point of view shot of Sam.

9) This acts as a point of view shot as Sam realises his Dad has seen him; therefore building up that much needed tense atmosphere.

Nine Frames Sequence (One)

1) The first screen grab shows the mass of bodies that are becoming crazy, this shows the amount of people who have become infected by the disease.

2) The second screen grab is a close up on a person who is infected by the disease, this shows the thriller aspect, of how people who are not infected will be scared.

3) The third screen grab shows the title. A simple shot on a black background, with deep red writing showing the gore that is going to happen in the film.

4) The fourth screen grab is of the sky, which shows a positive mood as it is a sunny day. This shows that the movie is actually for comedy purposes, with a few horror scenes.

5) The fifth screen grab shows the connotations of red to represent death/danger.

6) The sixth screen grab is taken to show that people high in command are trying to take control by being on horses and getting an army together, to help stop the infectious disease spreading.

7) The seventh screen grab shows fighting and the mass of people which have been infected.

8) The eighth screen grab shows the helicopter that has been flown in to kill the people who have been infected by the disease to stop it spreading. This shows a key point of the film, where people are trying to sort out the problem.

9) The ninth screen grab is of a black background to again let you rememeber that the death or danger is taking place.

Audience Feedback

Music

For the music we used website such as:

http://music-for-video.com/free-sound-effects-for-video-makers.html

http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/pir/PIRsfx.shtml

We went onto these websites and searched for a range of thiller soundtracks which built up tension and suspense. We then chose three soundtracks and blended them all together to add more effect. We then used a more lower and downbeat pitch of music whilst having a louder volume for the speaking parts so that the music was quiet but still building up that much needed tension in the background. Leading on from this we used a loud and fast pitch for when leading up the the climax.

Location details

• For the location we decided to use a normal everyday household as whilst researching into other thriller genres we found that it was a key convention for violence and murders to take place in a normal everyday house. We wanted to represent the idea that there can be secrets behind closed doors even in what looks like an ordianry household.
• The main area's we used inside the house were the landing, the stairs, the hallway and the lounge.
• The Landing - we used the landing as one of the key hints for the flashback, and to have the effect of the falling red car i.e Falter.
• The Stairs (bannister)- We thought it would be effective to use the staircase as we needed a way of showing Sam watching the murder but to still be unkown to his Dad. Therefore peering through the banisters was perfect for this. It also added to that much needed build up of tension!
• The Hallway - We used the hallway for the key point of the film (the murder). This was a necesity as it is what Sam is looking down whilst peering through the bannisters.
• The Lounge - The lounge was used for the last scene. We felt we had to broaden our location areas a bit more, therefore for the last scene we made sure to do this. This location was used for the part of the film where Sam has a mental breakdown.

Anamatic

Storyboard

Filming Schedule

Thursday 8th April - Today we begain filming our project. We did the more 'basic' things such as making sure our camera positions worked well and didn't look too unrealistic.

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Friday 9th February - Today we began the actual filming. We organised for our actors to come round in the evening and as soon as all roles had been explained to them we began. We filmed the first scene.

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Sunday 10th February - Today we filmed the second scene. This scene was the more challenging of the three therefore we had to make sure everything went to plan i.e lighting and camera work.

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Tuesday 12th February - Today we filmed our third and final scene. This was the less challenging of the three as it was much shorter and simple.

Preliminary Task

Textual Analysis Summary

To summarise, the ideas that we are going to include in our project are as follows:-

Camera Work -

• High angle shots
• Low angle shots
• Close ups
• Long Shots
• Medium Shots

Editing -

• Tranistions
• Dissolves
• Fast Paced
• Slow Paced Editing
• Distorted Colouring

Props -

• Toys including the Red car
• Katie - Car keys, Handbag (representing the idea she has arrived home)

Music -

• Downbeat Somber Soundtrack (greatly increases tension)
• High and low pitches (to build up to the climax)

Settings and Casting

Ben Usher - Father - Our production (Left)

Robert De Niro - Father - Hide and Seek (Right)

Robert De Niro plays the father figuire in Hide and Seek. He is schizophrenic who doesnt realise he has killed his wife. We have compared our character Ben to this as he also acts as the father figuire and also kills his wife. We chose to use this as a screen shot as the facial expressions are similar in that they have a 'serious' tilted look. It conveys the idea that what looks to be an ordinary person can be the complete opposite. The only major difference of both characters is that the character we used is of a younger age, however this was a necessity as we wanted the effect of todays society where most of the crimes are commited by those at a younger age. It also represents the idea that in todays society more young people are having children at a young age, a variety of these will be brought into violent families.












Troy Peace - Son - Our production (Right)

Dakota Fanning - Daughter - Hide and Seek (Left)

Dakota Fanning plays the daughter in Hide and Seek. She is mentally disturbed in that her dads schizophrenic behaviour leads her to believe he is her 'imaginary friend'. Troy plays the son in our production. He has been playing with his toys when he hears an argument between his parents, to which he immediately jumps up and peers to listen through the bannisters. He then is a witness to the murder of his mum. We chose to use this screen shots both characters in this point of the films have experienced a problem. You can see how we have followed a 'frightened' expression to represent that some type of danger has occured.

Step Outline

Researching Idents

• DreamWorks is an American film studio which develops, produces and distributes films, videogames and television programming...
  
• Pixar animation studios is an American animation production company. It is best known for CGI animated feature films

• Warner Bros is an American producer of film and television entertainment.

Target Audience

Our film would be most appealing to modern class 16-30 year olds. Social class isn't really an issue within this movie as we have tried to vary the characters and their backgrounds to show how social status isn't important.

Target Audience questionnaire.

1- Where do you hang out with your friends?

2- What is your favourite shop that you visit regulary?

3- How do you spend your free time?

4- What type of music do you listen to most?

5- What are your dreams and ambitions?

6- What attracts you to this music?

7- How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

8- What is your favourite tv programme? Why?

9- List 3 hobbies.

10- What attracts you when you meet a new person? Qualities?

11- What is your favourite film?

12- What is your favourite film genre?

13- What do you look for when choosing a film to watch?

Ident

Together we chose to keep our ident simple, to make it look professional. We chose three eyes to make our production look striking. We named our production company L2G to represent Lucy and Georgina. We chose a simple font to add to the professional theme we were aiming for.

To Do List

1 Introduce your blog by explaining the task, the group members and roles.
2 Write an entry that shows you have met and bounced around various different ideas.
3 Paste your treatment onto your blog.
4 Research the institutional factors of similar films to yours:

• what production and distribution companies are involved?.
• are the independents, majors, are they co-productions?
• what do their idents look like?

5 Paste this information onto your blog.
6 Design an ident for your production, paste it onto your blog and explain what and how you’ve done it.
7 Write an entry on your blog about who you target audience is (picture, age, gender, social class, interests etc).
8 Paste textual analysis information about the title sequences you have watched onto your blog – include titles and order and illustrate with an embeded video and 9 key frames from on your blog.
9 Produce a timeline of a title sequence and paste it onto your blog.
10 Step Outline.
11 Animatic.
12 Storyboarding.
13 Textual Anaylisis Summary.
14 Textual Analysis Research.
15 Nine Frames exercise 1 & 2.
16 Opening sequence timeline
17 The preliminary exercise

Done - Green

To Finish - Orange

To Do - Red

Researching institutional factors of similar films

We did research into the film Hide and Seek to get the general idea of the conventions of a Thriller......

Hide and Seek (2005)

Production Company - Twentieth Century Fox

Directed By - John Polson

Narrative -

• Shown from two characters points of view (this involves the audience in events)


• Story told from the view of the villain


• The dialogue in thrillers never contains a complete explanation of the plot (it maintains the mystery and builds up suspense).
  

Characters Dress Code -

• Characters appear smart and well dressed in dark colours
  

Character Parts -

• Helpless innocent female in need of rescue (Laura Callaway, Mum)


• Young 'mysterious' girl (Emily Callaway, Daughter)


• Unkown psychiatric (David Callaway, Dad)

Iconography -

• Isolated suburban city


• Mysterious Household


• Dim Lighting (low key - hides parts to the character)


• Camera Shots - point of view, close ups (commonly used - builds suspense), Long shots (sets the scene) low angle, high angle (opening scene), tracking shots, pan shots


• A lot of camera movement


• Colours - Red (connotates blood/danger) and Blue (connotates blue cold mystery and death)

Themes -

• Isolation


• Entrapment


• Murder


• Pain

Titles -

• Done on a black screen with non-diegetic music playing

The Dark Knight (2008)

Production company - Warner Brothers

Directed by - Christopher Nolan

Long shot – shows skyscrapers in new York.

Zooms into a building –

• close up on a gun shot and glass smashing.
  
• Close up on a man holding the gun with a joker mask on, to show he is part of a gang, and hiding his identity.
  A second shot is fired at a building opersite.

A medium shot -

• mans back holding a bag, with a joker mask in his other hand - showing he is part of a gang.
• 
  Zoom in on the joker mask
• 
  Car pulls up and man holding mask and bag jumps in.

High angle long shot

• The two men who fired the shots, sliding down on a tight rope
• 
  2 man talking in the front of the car, while the man they picked up loads a gun showing something is about to happen
• 
  2 men on roof talking about the “joker” whilst breaking into a buildings electrical supply.
• 
  3 men from car go into a bank

Medium shot -

• firing guns
• 
  Close up of the manager in the banks office as the guns shot – shows he is hidden from the joker gang

Low angle long shot - showing that the men in masks are superior and in control

Match on action shot - showing the men moving around the bank taking control of the people.

Close up

• on the men on roof showing multiple things are going on with the joker gang.
• 
  One man on roof kills the other one once he has unlocked the alarm of the bank.
• The man from roof now runs into the building heading down the stairs, with the camera to his back

Treatment

Our extract of a film will begin with a man playing toy cars with his daughter, a toddler. This all appears fine until the little girl accidently drops her car down the stairs, triggering a flashback in the father. We then see the man as a little boy who is playing on his own with his toy cars. From down the stairs, shouting is heard and the little boy peers through the banisters to see what is happening. His parents are having a huge argument, obvious to the fact that their son is watching and suddenly the little boy see's his father kill his mother in a drunken rage. Terrified, the little boy scrabbles to get up and gathers his toys together quickly. It is only when one of his cars falls down the steps that his father becomes away of his son and shouts his name. The flashback ends and the man, now an adult, has a mental breakdown.

The genre of our film extract will be a Psychological Thriller, with the main themes of perception and identity running through it as the lead character has to deal with the recurrence of a repressed memory.

Similar films that will influence our film-making will be others within the psychological thriller genre particularly 'The Bourne Trilogy' and 'Hide and Seek'. We will aspire to create a sense of mystery and suspense through the lead character's psychological conflict, which will come as a results of the flashback scene.

Our Roles

The task is to produce an opening sequence of a film lasting for 2 - 3 minutes maximum. It must consist of a range of camera angles and shots and show a professional use of editing.

The group consists of Georgina Wilkinson and Lucy Usher.

Georgina's Roles are :

• Director
• Location Manager
• Sound and Foley Engineer
• Musical Director

Lucy's Roles are :

• Cheif Editor
• Titles Designer
• Cinematographer
• Artistic Director

As a group we both decided to take on the roles of the Scriptwriter, Casting Director, Storyboard Artist and Lighting Engineer.

As a group after brainstorming and analysing other film openings, we came to the decision to create a film based on a Psychological Thriller.

Introduction

We have recently come to the decision to produce a second project for our media coursework. The reasoning behind this is that our previous project was not up to our expectations, and so we spoke to our teacher and came to the decision to start from scratch, and therefore in the last couple of weeks we have produced a much better project of which we are now happy with.