I have done some research on different distribution companies that may be willing to distribute my film - that is, if I wanted to make the full film and have it distributed to the public.
Screen Gems
This is an American based distribution company that is a subsidiary company of Sony Picture Entertainment's Tristar Motion Picture Group. This company mainly distributes films of the horror, thriller, action, comedy and urban genres, but sometimes takes on other projects. They distribute "films that fall between the wide-release films traditionally developed and distributed by Columbia Pictures and those released by Sony Pictures Classics." They originally formed in 1939 as an animation studio, but in 1948 were used to distribute a number of TV series - up until 1974, where it was re-named Columbia Pictures Television. Finally in 1999 the company name 'Screen Gems' was resurrected as another film producing arm of Sony's Columbia Tristar Motion Picture Group and until now has distributed many films.
This distribution company may be interested in distributing my film because the distribute a number of films similar to mine - for example: the 'Resident Evil' film series. They focus on distributing films in the same sort of genre as my film and so my film may be of interest to them. However, they only distribute films that they produce, so I will have to get their interest in it and get them to produce it too.
Dimension Films
This company is a major American film distribution company. It was founded in 1992 by Bob Weinstein to primarily distribute horror films, but was soon expanded to release other genres. It's main focus is to distribute horror, comedy and action films to the public. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, but in 1993 Walt Disney Studios fully purchased Miramax Films and so consequently became owners of Dimension Films. This caused Bob Weinstein and his brother to leave Dimension Films to set up their own film company. Dimension films distribute higher budget releases than its parent company.
Dimension films may be interested in my film because they distribute many films that are similar to my film idea. However, they usually only distribute films that have a much higher budget than mine, so I fear it may take a lot of persuasion to get them to distribute my film.
Breaking Glass Pictures
Breaking Glass Pictures are an independent film distributor. They distribute a wide range of films from many genres. They usually plan on distributing at least twelve titles every year and release them in the cinema, as well as online and on disc (DVD and Blu-Ray). Founded in 2009, they have had a number of successes and are still distributing a number of films today.
This would be a good company to distribute my film because they focus on independent films (like mine) and put them in cinemas as well as releasing them on disc and download. However, they are based in Philadelphia (in the USA) and so it may not be a good idea due to the fact that it will be awkward for me to distribute the film abroad and hard for them to distribute the film in the UK.
Axiom Films
Axiom Films is an independent film distributor based in the UK. It was established in 1997 and has built up a reputation of being a company that takes creative risks, works with new talent, while also working with original ideas. There have been many successes and even a few Oscar Nominations from this company. They also produce films as well as distribute them - this is due to the 'quality, not quantity' idea they have; they want to work with the most outstanding film-makers from all over the world, rather than just the ones that have a lot of money.
This distributor would be perfect for my film because they distribute films to a high standard, while also keeping the company based on independent releases. They also take on projects from all over the world, but are based in the UK, so should be easy to contact if I want to distribute my film.
Dazzle Films
Dazzle Films are "an independent short film label, handling the exclusive distribution, exhibition and sales rights for a selective catalogue of award-winning, critically acclaimed UK and international titles." They distribute a range of films and have no running time limits... As long as it is an original short film, they will be interested. They are based in London and Paris.
This company would be perfect for my film, because instead of creating a feature length film, I could always make it a short film - this would be much quicker and easier on a low budget. They are based in London and so are easy to get hold of, and they distribute films to a wide audience.
Of course, the course specifies that my project needs to be a trailer for a feature length film, so on these grounds, I will rule out this company as a possibility.
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Planning - Pitch
9/12/2013
8/11/2013
Working title: In Seclusion, We Find Safety.
Working title: In Seclusion, We Find Safety.
Genre: Horror.
Form: Teaser Trailer.
Location: In an abandoned garage.
Time: Present day/near future.
Time: Present day/near future.
Plot outline: Two character's stumble into the garage after one is bitten by a zombie. These two people are partners (boyfriend and girlfriend). The girl has been bitten. After the boy frantically tries to stop her bleeding, she eventually dies. The realisation dawns on the boy that he will have to kill his own girlfriend. He takes his time, but eventually shoots her to stop her coming back as a zombie. There is a cut to the film's title as he does this, so we do not actually see it.
Characters: Jack (the boyfriend), Anna (the girlfriend).
Aim: To evoke a feeling of sadness and/or empathy from the audience. Also to make them want more and to watch the feature film that I would be advertising.
Target Audience: 15+ (due to blood/gore, violence and mature themes).
Audience Appeal: It is a horror film with a difference, its main focus isn't to fill the audience with fear. Instead, it will aim to make the audience care for the characters and their emotions in a stronger way than a horror film - more like a drama film. However it will be set after a zombie outbreak and so the full film will contain many different classic horror scenarios that make the audience members scared.
Unique Selling Point (USP): Many horror films focus on just scaring the audience (such as the 'Paranormal Activity' franchise) or making them feel 'squeamish' (such as the 'Saw' franchise). However, my film will play off many different emotions, such as happiness, sadness, fear, confidence, hope, doubt, etc.
Obviously, I won't actually be making the feature film... However, if I was, I would be filling it with these qualities.
Audience Appeal: It is a horror film with a difference, its main focus isn't to fill the audience with fear. Instead, it will aim to make the audience care for the characters and their emotions in a stronger way than a horror film - more like a drama film. However it will be set after a zombie outbreak and so the full film will contain many different classic horror scenarios that make the audience members scared.
Unique Selling Point (USP): Many horror films focus on just scaring the audience (such as the 'Paranormal Activity' franchise) or making them feel 'squeamish' (such as the 'Saw' franchise). However, my film will play off many different emotions, such as happiness, sadness, fear, confidence, hope, doubt, etc.
Obviously, I won't actually be making the feature film... However, if I was, I would be filling it with these qualities.
Why the title?
Naughty Dog's latest video game 'The Last Of Us' features part of a sentence, as it's title. Most titles for films are one word/sentence, such as Uncharted, Children of Men, Isolation, Natural Born Killers, Predator, Alien... Shrek. So I liked their spin on the title - is there meant to be something before the title: "I hope we aren't the last of us"? Or maybe something afterwards: "The last of us are dying"? We will never know, but the title alone creates a number of enigmas. So I created the title "In Seclusion, We Find Safety" because I can imagine that (or something similar) being said after a long, meaningful, almost 'movie-style' speech. Maybe something being said by a newsreader, such as: "Secluded places are less affected, due to less people living there - in seclusion, we will find safety"?
My title also relates to the state of the world in my fictional universe - where less people live, there will be a decrease in the amount of zombies because there is less food. This means that secluded places are safer to stay in, rather than more inhabited places (such as cities).
My title also relates to the state of the world in my fictional universe - where less people live, there will be a decrease in the amount of zombies because there is less food. This means that secluded places are safer to stay in, rather than more inhabited places (such as cities).
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Planning - Costume and Make-up
5/12/13
Costumes and make-up will be key to making this trailer. This is because we need to make the audience members believe that Jack and Anna are trying to survive in a 'post zombie-outbreak world'. The way we will do this is by dressing the actors in dirtier clothes and have (hopefully) good looking fake blood on their clothes and bodies.
Make-up
For the fake blood, I have found a useful video on YouTube - it explains a number of ways if making fake blood at home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLouVD0Otog
I have ordered the necessary materials from www.amazon.co.uk and they will be arriving in 3-5 days, so I can start experimenting to get the right kind of fake blood that I am looking for. After the experimenting, I will make a big batch on the day of filming.
In the garage that we will film in, there will be a lot of dirt and dust around, so we will cover the actors in this dirt, so it looks like they have been travelling for days. I may also ask the actors to skip a morning shower to make them look that bit more dirty.
Costume
Both characters will be dressed in casual clothes, but (as said above) they are meant to have been traveling for a number of days - so we will make these clothes dirtier on the day of the filming, as well as maybe ripping one or two holes in them. This will hopefully give the impression that they have been traveling for days and have been chased by zombies a lot of the time.
Note: both costumes and both actors will have many patches of dirt/dust all over them. This will be created on the day.
Joel and Ellie from 'The Last of Us' (2013), I want to base the 'dirtiness' of the costumes on these characters. See how Joel has cuts all the way up his arm due to fighting the zombie-like creatures, how both of them look unkempt, and their clothes look so dirty.
Costumes and make-up will be key to making this trailer. This is because we need to make the audience members believe that Jack and Anna are trying to survive in a 'post zombie-outbreak world'. The way we will do this is by dressing the actors in dirtier clothes and have (hopefully) good looking fake blood on their clothes and bodies.
Make-up
For the fake blood, I have found a useful video on YouTube - it explains a number of ways if making fake blood at home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLouVD0Otog
I have ordered the necessary materials from www.amazon.co.uk and they will be arriving in 3-5 days, so I can start experimenting to get the right kind of fake blood that I am looking for. After the experimenting, I will make a big batch on the day of filming.
In the garage that we will film in, there will be a lot of dirt and dust around, so we will cover the actors in this dirt, so it looks like they have been travelling for days. I may also ask the actors to skip a morning shower to make them look that bit more dirty.
Costume
Both characters will be dressed in casual clothes, but (as said above) they are meant to have been traveling for a number of days - so we will make these clothes dirtier on the day of the filming, as well as maybe ripping one or two holes in them. This will hopefully give the impression that they have been traveling for days and have been chased by zombies a lot of the time.
Note: both costumes and both actors will have many patches of dirt/dust all over them. This will be created on the day.
Costumes
|
||||
Jack
|
Anna
|
|||
Clothing
|
Notes
|
Clothing
|
Notes
|
|
T-Shirt
|
Ripped
a little at the bottom.
|
Dress
|
Maybe a
little ripped at the top/side.
|
|
Jeans
|
Ripped
at one knee.
|
Tights
|
Lots of
small and big holes.
|
|
Trainers
|
Covered
in dust/dirt.
|
Plimsolls
|
Covered
in dust/dirt.
|
|
Joel and Ellie from 'The Last of Us' (2013), I want to base the 'dirtiness' of the costumes on these characters. See how Joel has cuts all the way up his arm due to fighting the zombie-like creatures, how both of them look unkempt, and their clothes look so dirty.
Monday, 2 December 2013
Research - Typical Audience Member to View my Film
This is Daniel; he is 23 years old and is between jobs right now. He has just finished his Animation undergraduate degree at the University of Bedfordshire and so is living with a few friends in a flat in London (searching for work). He is in a relationship with Amanda - a woman who was on the same course as him. Daniel, Amanda and friends sometimes go out for drinks at local pubs and clubs, but due to the lack of money, this doesn't happen too often. On a normal day, Daniel dresses in smart-casual clothing (maybe a button shirt with jeans), but when he has job interviews, he will happily wear a suit.
Both Daniel and Amanda love to watch films together - they watch a wide range of films, but their favourite thing to do is to snuggle up in bed and watch a horror film when it is raining outside. This is because it is fairly miserable outside and they can feel safe together while they watch something scary. In the flat, Daniel has his PlayStation 3 hooked up to a HDTV in his bedroom - so this is perfect for the 'rainy-day-snuggle' that they like to do.
Daniel also watches a lot of films and TV shows with his friends - some of his favourites are 'The Walking Dead', 'Dexter', and 'The Dark Knight' trilogy. This is because they revolve around action and/or violence, but also have strong story-lines and characters to build on. This means they can all get 'sucked into' the fictional universe of these characters and care about what happens to them quite easily. Daniel uses Spotify for listening to music because he finds it cheaper and easier to pay a monthly subscription, than to pay for every album that he listens to and then put it on his computer. This is also because he listens to a wide variety of music - a bit of heavy metal, as well as the latest 'Take That' album... On occasion, he plays some video games with his friends (this is mainly Call of Duty), but if he is on his own, he will play something more intense - an example being 'The Last of Us'.
I think that my film would appeal to Daniel because both him and Amanda can snuggle up in bed while watching it. This is because they will be afraid of the zombies, but also be emotionally attached to the characters - hoping that they will be safe. It will also be a useful film for Daniel's friends to see for the same reasons: they can follow the character's story-lines and then discuss possible solutions to the problems as the film goes on.
Both Daniel and Amanda love to watch films together - they watch a wide range of films, but their favourite thing to do is to snuggle up in bed and watch a horror film when it is raining outside. This is because it is fairly miserable outside and they can feel safe together while they watch something scary. In the flat, Daniel has his PlayStation 3 hooked up to a HDTV in his bedroom - so this is perfect for the 'rainy-day-snuggle' that they like to do.
Daniel also watches a lot of films and TV shows with his friends - some of his favourites are 'The Walking Dead', 'Dexter', and 'The Dark Knight' trilogy. This is because they revolve around action and/or violence, but also have strong story-lines and characters to build on. This means they can all get 'sucked into' the fictional universe of these characters and care about what happens to them quite easily. Daniel uses Spotify for listening to music because he finds it cheaper and easier to pay a monthly subscription, than to pay for every album that he listens to and then put it on his computer. This is also because he listens to a wide variety of music - a bit of heavy metal, as well as the latest 'Take That' album... On occasion, he plays some video games with his friends (this is mainly Call of Duty), but if he is on his own, he will play something more intense - an example being 'The Last of Us'.
I think that my film would appeal to Daniel because both him and Amanda can snuggle up in bed while watching it. This is because they will be afraid of the zombies, but also be emotionally attached to the characters - hoping that they will be safe. It will also be a useful film for Daniel's friends to see for the same reasons: they can follow the character's story-lines and then discuss possible solutions to the problems as the film goes on.
Monday, 25 November 2013
Planning - Facebook Group
I have created a Facebook group and invited the appropriate people to it. I will post everything that they will need, such as the script, the shot list, dates and times for filming, etc.
Research - 9 Frame Analysis - Kara (2012) tech demo
Kara (2012)
Note: Kara was a seven minute tech demo that was released by Quantic Dream at the 2012 Game Developers Conference. This was after their last game Heavy Rain (2010) had 'wowed' gamers with its next generation graphics engine - creating a game that looked close to real life footage. This demo was simply to show their next game engine that was bigger and better than the one used on Heavy Rain. It IS NOT part of any game in development, however it created hype for their next release - due to the amazing graphics. This is essentially a really long trailer for their next graphics engine.
1. The demo starts off quite slowly. Our ears are filled with the sounds of machinery, while lights 'wipe' the titles onto the screen. The background to this is an extremely blurred out image of some sort of automated assembly line. This intrigues us and we are a little impressed with the imagination of how the titles are placed onscreen. The font is of a 'sci-fi' nature, with parts of letters missing and each letter having a perfected finish (no blurring, no pixelation, no ink spots, etc.).
2. The first real shot we see of the demo is a close up of a woman's head - this is being moved somewhere and we are following it. It is then placed on a body, as mechanical arms then set to work adding bits and pieces to it to create a person. The continues noises of the machinery from around the room keep us believing in the film and it suspends our disbelief. There is a medium close up and we hear a voice that asks "Can you hear me?" to this, the person being created ('Kara') replies with a "Yes".
3. There are a number of different shots that show the process of Kara being created, while dialogue is being performed. These consist of many extreme close ups of parts of her head and arms, as well as some medium close ups and the occasional long shot. We find out that Kara is a robot designed to help humans with everyday tasks and the voice is checking everything has been assembled correctly for her to be sold. Everything is really detailed and we get a good look at almost everything on, in and around Kara. The white room and machinery helps remind us that it is set in the future, due to the fact that everything is extremely clean... Not to mention the robots... There is an extremely nice shot that follows Kara's arms from beside her body, up to in front of her face, and then out in front of her (towards the camera); this shot firmly keeps out attention on her arms and not much else in the frame.
4. Kara has finished being made and the voice tells her to "take a few steps" - she tentatively walks forward a little, exploring her new body. Slow, emotional stringed instruments are played at this point in the soundtrack - this helps us realise how amazing this is for her because she is walking for the first time ever. She does a twirl and the camera follows her with a medium shot, while her skin starts to form on her body. The voice tells her that she is going to be sold and she realises that she is a piece of merchandise; the emotional music makes us feel extremely sorry for her because she is about to be sold as a slave, even though she has a personality (even if she is only a "computer with arms and legs").
5. There are close ups of Kara as she says "I thought..." and the voice gets confused as she isn't meant to 'think' at all. She then explains that she thought that she was alive and during this section of the demo, the music has a lower pitch, but it equally as emotional (if not, even more so). For the final line "I thought I was a live", there is an extreme close up that moves from Kara's lips, to her eyes - this captures the emotion conveyed through her eyes (any actor will tell you that your eyes convey much more emotion than pretty much any other part of the body).
6. After this, everything changes... The voice says that Kara's behaviour is non-standard and she needs to be disassembled. The music becomes a little faster, louder and more emotional - bringing in different elements from each instrument. There is also much faster camera movement as it contains many close ups of Kara and the robotic arms, as they quickly try to take her apart. Meanwhile, Kara is making a plea for her life, but the voice is having none of it and is continuing with the disassemble. There is a very poignant moment when the camera moves around to her head for a moment and she exclaims "I've only just been born, you can't kill me yet!". The music gets louder and louder and comes to an all time high (almost drowning out Kara's pleas), when she screams "I'm scared!". This is when everything freezes - the robots, Kara, the music... Just the sounds from the beginning machinery in the background are left. The music starts again and it starts as one single, high pitched note to help keep us feeling sad for longer than usual. Kara says "I want to live" and the music starts to build a little, for the aftermath of the attempted disassemble. There is a big close up on her face as she looks into the camera and says "I'm begging you" - this is extremely emotional, as it seems as if she is actually talking to the audience... Almost breaking the forth wall, so the emotion comes flooding towards us.
7. We hear the sounds of the man typing on the keyboard and the robots start putting Kara back together. There is a close up of her as they place her skull back and we can see a tear rolling down her cheek - another poignant moment in the demo (she has been in such a state that she has started crying). The music remains as prominent as ever, as the robots finish off putting her back together - among other camera angles, there is a push in on Kara (from a long shot) while the robots put her together (Kara is in the centre of the frame, while the robots are putting her together around the edge of the frame). We can easily see the lines made from her tears - keeping the emotion as the main focal point of the demo. The re-assemble is complete and the music slows down a little. There is a close up of her face as she smiles at the camera, we feel the same as her - relieved (which is reflected in the slowed music). The man tells her to join the others and she looks camera left we don't see where she is going just yet, but we know she is safe.
8. There is a long shot as Kara steps onto a conveyor belt - we are blinded slightly by the lights that are behind her, making her seem more like a silhouette than herself. The camera pushes in as she moves towards it, and we end up with an over the shoulder shot from in front of her - the robots are in the background and we hear the voice telling her to behave herself in the future. In a way, I kind of felt sad for her, because she didn't die... But she now has to have a long life of serving people and following orders - she can't do what she wants to do in life. She turns back and replies with a "Thanks", she smiles and then turns back to continue her journey. The music is still present throughout - keeping the emotions on the surface. There is a very nice shot, in which she has joined a line of robots that look exactly like her. This shot is from the right side of her face and looks down the line of robots - showing her future, showing that she is to be sold as one of them... Even though she is different. She is finally sealed in plastic and there is a close up of her and we see the emotions left in her eyes: Happiness? Worry? Finally, there is a long shot showing us the line of robots being moved along to be sold - the camera zooms in a little to keep our focus on them as they disappear. The man exclaims "My God!" as this shot fades out and the demo ends - we feel his shock towards what has happened, after all: a robot developed human emotions and thought for itself - that is a little scary. The music concludes with a lower note and fades away with the picture.
9. A different, yet still very emotional piece of music begins to play as the credits roll. Well... I say roll... But they actually are 'wiped' onto the screen the same way as the opening credits were. A very stylistic way of having the credits onscreen, and it is in keeping with the sci-fi genre that the demo is part of.
Note: Kara was a seven minute tech demo that was released by Quantic Dream at the 2012 Game Developers Conference. This was after their last game Heavy Rain (2010) had 'wowed' gamers with its next generation graphics engine - creating a game that looked close to real life footage. This demo was simply to show their next game engine that was bigger and better than the one used on Heavy Rain. It IS NOT part of any game in development, however it created hype for their next release - due to the amazing graphics. This is essentially a really long trailer for their next graphics engine.
1. The demo starts off quite slowly. Our ears are filled with the sounds of machinery, while lights 'wipe' the titles onto the screen. The background to this is an extremely blurred out image of some sort of automated assembly line. This intrigues us and we are a little impressed with the imagination of how the titles are placed onscreen. The font is of a 'sci-fi' nature, with parts of letters missing and each letter having a perfected finish (no blurring, no pixelation, no ink spots, etc.).
2. The first real shot we see of the demo is a close up of a woman's head - this is being moved somewhere and we are following it. It is then placed on a body, as mechanical arms then set to work adding bits and pieces to it to create a person. The continues noises of the machinery from around the room keep us believing in the film and it suspends our disbelief. There is a medium close up and we hear a voice that asks "Can you hear me?" to this, the person being created ('Kara') replies with a "Yes".
3. There are a number of different shots that show the process of Kara being created, while dialogue is being performed. These consist of many extreme close ups of parts of her head and arms, as well as some medium close ups and the occasional long shot. We find out that Kara is a robot designed to help humans with everyday tasks and the voice is checking everything has been assembled correctly for her to be sold. Everything is really detailed and we get a good look at almost everything on, in and around Kara. The white room and machinery helps remind us that it is set in the future, due to the fact that everything is extremely clean... Not to mention the robots... There is an extremely nice shot that follows Kara's arms from beside her body, up to in front of her face, and then out in front of her (towards the camera); this shot firmly keeps out attention on her arms and not much else in the frame.
4. Kara has finished being made and the voice tells her to "take a few steps" - she tentatively walks forward a little, exploring her new body. Slow, emotional stringed instruments are played at this point in the soundtrack - this helps us realise how amazing this is for her because she is walking for the first time ever. She does a twirl and the camera follows her with a medium shot, while her skin starts to form on her body. The voice tells her that she is going to be sold and she realises that she is a piece of merchandise; the emotional music makes us feel extremely sorry for her because she is about to be sold as a slave, even though she has a personality (even if she is only a "computer with arms and legs").
5. There are close ups of Kara as she says "I thought..." and the voice gets confused as she isn't meant to 'think' at all. She then explains that she thought that she was alive and during this section of the demo, the music has a lower pitch, but it equally as emotional (if not, even more so). For the final line "I thought I was a live", there is an extreme close up that moves from Kara's lips, to her eyes - this captures the emotion conveyed through her eyes (any actor will tell you that your eyes convey much more emotion than pretty much any other part of the body).
6. After this, everything changes... The voice says that Kara's behaviour is non-standard and she needs to be disassembled. The music becomes a little faster, louder and more emotional - bringing in different elements from each instrument. There is also much faster camera movement as it contains many close ups of Kara and the robotic arms, as they quickly try to take her apart. Meanwhile, Kara is making a plea for her life, but the voice is having none of it and is continuing with the disassemble. There is a very poignant moment when the camera moves around to her head for a moment and she exclaims "I've only just been born, you can't kill me yet!". The music gets louder and louder and comes to an all time high (almost drowning out Kara's pleas), when she screams "I'm scared!". This is when everything freezes - the robots, Kara, the music... Just the sounds from the beginning machinery in the background are left. The music starts again and it starts as one single, high pitched note to help keep us feeling sad for longer than usual. Kara says "I want to live" and the music starts to build a little, for the aftermath of the attempted disassemble. There is a big close up on her face as she looks into the camera and says "I'm begging you" - this is extremely emotional, as it seems as if she is actually talking to the audience... Almost breaking the forth wall, so the emotion comes flooding towards us.
7. We hear the sounds of the man typing on the keyboard and the robots start putting Kara back together. There is a close up of her as they place her skull back and we can see a tear rolling down her cheek - another poignant moment in the demo (she has been in such a state that she has started crying). The music remains as prominent as ever, as the robots finish off putting her back together - among other camera angles, there is a push in on Kara (from a long shot) while the robots put her together (Kara is in the centre of the frame, while the robots are putting her together around the edge of the frame). We can easily see the lines made from her tears - keeping the emotion as the main focal point of the demo. The re-assemble is complete and the music slows down a little. There is a close up of her face as she smiles at the camera, we feel the same as her - relieved (which is reflected in the slowed music). The man tells her to join the others and she looks camera left we don't see where she is going just yet, but we know she is safe.
8. There is a long shot as Kara steps onto a conveyor belt - we are blinded slightly by the lights that are behind her, making her seem more like a silhouette than herself. The camera pushes in as she moves towards it, and we end up with an over the shoulder shot from in front of her - the robots are in the background and we hear the voice telling her to behave herself in the future. In a way, I kind of felt sad for her, because she didn't die... But she now has to have a long life of serving people and following orders - she can't do what she wants to do in life. She turns back and replies with a "Thanks", she smiles and then turns back to continue her journey. The music is still present throughout - keeping the emotions on the surface. There is a very nice shot, in which she has joined a line of robots that look exactly like her. This shot is from the right side of her face and looks down the line of robots - showing her future, showing that she is to be sold as one of them... Even though she is different. She is finally sealed in plastic and there is a close up of her and we see the emotions left in her eyes: Happiness? Worry? Finally, there is a long shot showing us the line of robots being moved along to be sold - the camera zooms in a little to keep our focus on them as they disappear. The man exclaims "My God!" as this shot fades out and the demo ends - we feel his shock towards what has happened, after all: a robot developed human emotions and thought for itself - that is a little scary. The music concludes with a lower note and fades away with the picture.
9. A different, yet still very emotional piece of music begins to play as the credits roll. Well... I say roll... But they actually are 'wiped' onto the screen the same way as the opening credits were. A very stylistic way of having the credits onscreen, and it is in keeping with the sci-fi genre that the demo is part of.
Research - 9 Frame Analysis - Children of Men (2006)
Children of Men (2006)
1. The film begins and there is a black screen with just the sound of news broadcasters being played on the soundtrack. This gives us an idea of the world that the film is set in - extremely chaotic. During this, the opening titles appear - they are very basic and simply flash up white for a few seconds on a black background. This keeps the film very simple and therefore quite realistic - the more 'fancy Hollywood effects' that there are, the more that the film seems like a work of fiction. The final broadcaster explains that the youngest person in the world has died - this is of course very strange as there are newly born children everyday...
2. The next shot starts and it is very long - we see the sad faces of the people in a crowd, this crowd is crammed into a small shop at the side of a busy street. They are all staring at something off-camera (we assume it's the news broadcast). All of these people look like they are working class and no-one in particular 'sticks out' - this is due to the bland colours of the clothes they are wearing and the slightly dirty look of the shop (everything is quite dull and grey). A man enters the shop and pushes his way to the front - our attention is drawn to him simply because he is the only person moving in the scene (I love the film-maker as i believe it take talent to make someone stick out in a sea of people that are essentially the same as them). The news broadcast continues and we find out that the youngest person on the planet was stabbed because he "spat in the face of a fan who asked for an autograph".
3. There is then a cut to a point of view shot from the man who came into the shop - we see a television in the corner with the news broadcast being shown to the group. We see that the youngest person on the planet was born in 2009 and died in 2027, meaning that there hasn't been a child born for 18 years - this creates many enigmas... The biggest being "how has this happened?" A musical score begins to play - a number of violins playing a sad tune; this helps set the mood and we feel sad for the people living in this fictional universe - it must be quite depressing living in a world with no future. The people on the news broadcast are also wearing similar costumes to the people in the shop - showing us that the film is actually set in 2027.
4. We return to the shot of the shop full of people, where the man picks up the coffee he ordered and leaves. Now we remain watching this shot for the rest of the opening. The man pushes through the crowd and out into the street - all the sounds reflect what it would be like to be there, the rustling of coats, the muffled car engines from the outside, etc. We even hear the sobs of one or two people being so upset at the news they are crying.
5. Text appears onscreen telling us the exact date - this is very basic and doesn't even fade in. It is simply white text that snaps up onscreen, like the previous titles have done - this keeps the film feeling very realistic and at times a little shocking (due to the fact that we are so used to titles fading in, or other effects being used, that the stark appearance of the titles make us jump a little - this keeps us on edge). All the sounds of the outside world come flooding in through our speakers - car horns, bikes, engines, people, etc. The outside street seems extremely crowded and there seems to be a lot of air pollution coming from the vehicles outside - have people given up trying to 'save the planet'? The time and place is "London, 16th November 2027" and this depiction of the future looks very grim, but realistic. This is due to all of the drab colours used for costumes and many other pieces of mise-en-scene; and the fact that many adverts and modes of transport are more futuristic than now (notice how the advert on the side of the bus moves as if it is on a monitor and the massive holographic televisions mounted on some walls).
6. Throughout this whole scene, the camera is handheld and so we never 'settle into' any camera shot. What I mean by that is that what we see is always changing slightly because of the shaking of the camera. This means that we are quite unsettled throughout the scene due to the lack of formal structure in the shots - informal and loose framing is used throughout the scene. The man we've followed out of the shop stops by an electricity box on the footpath to pour some sugar in his coffee - by this time, the musical score has faded away. The camera gets closer to him and eventually circles around him to face the way he has just come; this is within the hustle and bustle of the busy street. We really feel immersed in the film at this point - we have taken on the role of someone in the street with him... We are simply watching what is happening... We ARE one with that busy street.
7. As the camera finished circling around him, there is an explosion from the coffee shop he was just in. As this happens, a high pitched tone is heard and the man dives camera right. The camera follows him as if we too have dived away from the explosion - keeping us feeling like we are actually on the street with everyone. The high pitched tone is almost overpowering and other than that noise, we can only hear the cries from a woman in pain. Everyone else in the scene dives to the floor too - we are all in shock.
8. The shot then moves away from the man and moves down the street. The camera is handheld and the cameraman is obviously running because the shot jolts around a lot... This also helps keep us routed on the pathway, as we still feel part of what is happening, even though something life threatening has just happened. There is a lot of smoke, we can't see much, and the high pitched noise is still trying to take over the film. Suddenly we see the shadow of a woman in the smoke - her hair and clothes have been ruined from the explosion, and she seems to be holding her left arm in her right hand... But we don't get time to get a good look because...
9. There is a sharp cut to the title screen. The high pitched noise continues, but nothing else - just the basic white title of the film on a black background. This scene is extremely shocking because we get so immersed in the scene and the character we are following, then suddenly something amazingly terrifying happens that jolts the senses. The sharp cut at the end just finishes off the scene with another shocking way of showing the title.
1. The film begins and there is a black screen with just the sound of news broadcasters being played on the soundtrack. This gives us an idea of the world that the film is set in - extremely chaotic. During this, the opening titles appear - they are very basic and simply flash up white for a few seconds on a black background. This keeps the film very simple and therefore quite realistic - the more 'fancy Hollywood effects' that there are, the more that the film seems like a work of fiction. The final broadcaster explains that the youngest person in the world has died - this is of course very strange as there are newly born children everyday...
2. The next shot starts and it is very long - we see the sad faces of the people in a crowd, this crowd is crammed into a small shop at the side of a busy street. They are all staring at something off-camera (we assume it's the news broadcast). All of these people look like they are working class and no-one in particular 'sticks out' - this is due to the bland colours of the clothes they are wearing and the slightly dirty look of the shop (everything is quite dull and grey). A man enters the shop and pushes his way to the front - our attention is drawn to him simply because he is the only person moving in the scene (I love the film-maker as i believe it take talent to make someone stick out in a sea of people that are essentially the same as them). The news broadcast continues and we find out that the youngest person on the planet was stabbed because he "spat in the face of a fan who asked for an autograph".
3. There is then a cut to a point of view shot from the man who came into the shop - we see a television in the corner with the news broadcast being shown to the group. We see that the youngest person on the planet was born in 2009 and died in 2027, meaning that there hasn't been a child born for 18 years - this creates many enigmas... The biggest being "how has this happened?" A musical score begins to play - a number of violins playing a sad tune; this helps set the mood and we feel sad for the people living in this fictional universe - it must be quite depressing living in a world with no future. The people on the news broadcast are also wearing similar costumes to the people in the shop - showing us that the film is actually set in 2027.
4. We return to the shot of the shop full of people, where the man picks up the coffee he ordered and leaves. Now we remain watching this shot for the rest of the opening. The man pushes through the crowd and out into the street - all the sounds reflect what it would be like to be there, the rustling of coats, the muffled car engines from the outside, etc. We even hear the sobs of one or two people being so upset at the news they are crying.
5. Text appears onscreen telling us the exact date - this is very basic and doesn't even fade in. It is simply white text that snaps up onscreen, like the previous titles have done - this keeps the film feeling very realistic and at times a little shocking (due to the fact that we are so used to titles fading in, or other effects being used, that the stark appearance of the titles make us jump a little - this keeps us on edge). All the sounds of the outside world come flooding in through our speakers - car horns, bikes, engines, people, etc. The outside street seems extremely crowded and there seems to be a lot of air pollution coming from the vehicles outside - have people given up trying to 'save the planet'? The time and place is "London, 16th November 2027" and this depiction of the future looks very grim, but realistic. This is due to all of the drab colours used for costumes and many other pieces of mise-en-scene; and the fact that many adverts and modes of transport are more futuristic than now (notice how the advert on the side of the bus moves as if it is on a monitor and the massive holographic televisions mounted on some walls).
6. Throughout this whole scene, the camera is handheld and so we never 'settle into' any camera shot. What I mean by that is that what we see is always changing slightly because of the shaking of the camera. This means that we are quite unsettled throughout the scene due to the lack of formal structure in the shots - informal and loose framing is used throughout the scene. The man we've followed out of the shop stops by an electricity box on the footpath to pour some sugar in his coffee - by this time, the musical score has faded away. The camera gets closer to him and eventually circles around him to face the way he has just come; this is within the hustle and bustle of the busy street. We really feel immersed in the film at this point - we have taken on the role of someone in the street with him... We are simply watching what is happening... We ARE one with that busy street.
7. As the camera finished circling around him, there is an explosion from the coffee shop he was just in. As this happens, a high pitched tone is heard and the man dives camera right. The camera follows him as if we too have dived away from the explosion - keeping us feeling like we are actually on the street with everyone. The high pitched tone is almost overpowering and other than that noise, we can only hear the cries from a woman in pain. Everyone else in the scene dives to the floor too - we are all in shock.
8. The shot then moves away from the man and moves down the street. The camera is handheld and the cameraman is obviously running because the shot jolts around a lot... This also helps keep us routed on the pathway, as we still feel part of what is happening, even though something life threatening has just happened. There is a lot of smoke, we can't see much, and the high pitched noise is still trying to take over the film. Suddenly we see the shadow of a woman in the smoke - her hair and clothes have been ruined from the explosion, and she seems to be holding her left arm in her right hand... But we don't get time to get a good look because...
9. There is a sharp cut to the title screen. The high pitched noise continues, but nothing else - just the basic white title of the film on a black background. This scene is extremely shocking because we get so immersed in the scene and the character we are following, then suddenly something amazingly terrifying happens that jolts the senses. The sharp cut at the end just finishes off the scene with another shocking way of showing the title.
Friday, 15 November 2013
Research - 9 Frame Analysis - The Last of Us (2013)
The Last of Us (2013)
http://youtu.be/ecpQ_WUqKUM?t=12m20s
What's Happened Before?
The player has completed a tutorial level, playing as Sarah, the main character's daughter. During these 'scenes' we see their how close relationship is and how happy they are together... But quite quickly there is a turn in the story and they are being chased by very sick people (they seem to be similar to what zombies are like in other forms of media - but what they really are isn't clear yet). There is then a car accident and the two characters - along with Sarah's uncle Tommy - have to continue on foot. At this point, the playable character switches to Joel - Sarah's father (and the main character in the game). Joel picks up his daughter and is lead by Tommy through the streets of their nearest town. As Tommy fights off some of the sick people, Joel and Sarah go on... This is where my focus scene really begins.
Of course, camerawork and editing isn't a massive part of gaming, due to the player controlling the camera movement a lot of the time - the exceptions to this are 'in-game cutscenes' (which is what I will be looking at in a moment), 'quick-time events' (which involve the player pressing the correct buttons to perform tasks), and 'Interactive Movies' (which are video games that feature highly cinematic sequences and the player simply presses buttons to advance the story [much like a quicktime event] a recent example of these would be the video game 'Heavy Rain' which was a film noir thriller, released in 2010).
However sound, mise-en-scene and almost everything else involved in other forms of media are crucial for video games - these keep the player entertained throughout the experience. Throughout this scene, there is a sense of a handheld camera being used, due to the frame shaking slightly. This keeps the uneasy feeling throughout the scene. When making the game, the developers most likely used motion capture software to film the scene - so the camera may well be handheld and shaking.
Example of Motion capture in this game (not the same scene): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TxJWy19xxk
Breakdown of Scene
1. Just before the cutscene starts, Joel and Sarah are running down a dirt track, closely followed by the sick people. They pass an upturned ambulance and more people crawl out from underneath to follow them. This makes us feel panic and terror as we feel as if we are in charge of these character's lives and if we get caught by the people, they will die. The graphics of the game are extremely realistic and the people are covered in blood and their clothes are ripped - similar to Joel and Sarah towards the end of the level. The people are also making horrid retching noises with their throats and there is a fast paced music soundtrack playing that adds to the feeling of panic. The lighting in the game is also key to creating this feeling in the player, as there are many instances where the light is situated behind the camera is meant to be, and so all you see of the people are their shadows sprinting after the characters. This is much scarier than actually just seeing the people for what they are, as humans fear the unknown - this way, we don't know how big or small the people are, or even how close they are to Joel and Sarah.
2. The cutscene starts and it begins with gunshots being fired and the people running after Joel and Sarah falling to the ground. This is done with a mid shot of Joel and Sarah as they run up an embankment and the people being shot in the background. This way, we cannot see the shooter, only the aftermath - will they shoot Joel and Sarah too? The music soundtrack stops as this scene begins and this snaps our attention back to the characters in the scene. Joel comforts Sarah as she is scared about what is happening, then he calls out to the shooter. There is a low angle shot, looking up the embankment, showing Joel's legs and the shooter in the distance - there is low-key lighting used extensively throughout this scene so we only see the essential parts and keep focused on the story (it is also a shock when higher key lighting is used, this can be good or bad for the characters).
3. The shooter shouts to Joel as he starts to move forward telling him to stop immediately - he sounds as if he is wearing a mask of sorts... Is the disease airborne based? Joel starts to explain that Sarah's leg may be broken from the crash, but the shooter stops him mid-sentence and forcefully shouts at him to not come any closer. This keeps the feeling of panic at the center of the scene, as the shooter is getting more and more agitated and could just as easily shoot Joel and Sarah, like he did to the people a few seconds ago.
4. There is a medium close up of Joel (and Sarah) as the shooter shines the light from his gun in their faces. This puts them right in the firing line and we fear for their lives. The shooter then talks to someone on a radio asking what he should do - we assume he is some kind of soldier as we now see his bulletproof vest and other gear that a soldier would normally carry. We then return to the medium close up of Joel and Sarah, as Sarah asks "Daddy, what about Uncle Tommy?". Joel explains that they will go back for him after getting her to safety. We do not hear what is said on the radio, but the soldier sounds sad as he replies "Sir, there's a little girl". This makes us fear for their safety as he may have just been told to do something that will cause harm - maybe shoot them? We see an over the shoulder shot looking at the soldier as he says "yes sir" into the radio. Joel tries to plead their case a little by saying they have "been through hell", but he stops as the soldier raises his weapon to aim at Joel.
5. The soldier open fires and a tracking shot follows Joel as he tumbles down the hill - we hear a grunt from him and a scream from Sarah. The lights from the shots are startlingly bright and jolts our senses a little - we are terrified that Joel or Sarah may be hurt. There is an over the shoulder shot as we 'follow' the soldier over to aim directly at Joel's face. Joel pleads for his life, but we hear a shot - however, this shot comes from the right of the soldier and it is in fact Tommy shooting the soldier in the head. Blood spatters out of the side of his head and he falls to the ground - very shocking at how realistic the violence is.
6. We hear a slight whimpering and Tommy looks up and exclaims "Oh, no." The camera tracks Joel as he quickly crawls over to Sarah, who is lying on her back with a blood patch on her stomach - she has been shot. This is where a soft music score begins to come in - slow violins play out a very sad tune. the camera tilts down to show her trying to cover the wound - Joel then takes her hands away and replaced them with his, telling her that he knows that it hurts, but everything will be alright. We are so scared that Sarah will die soon, but it looks like the most likely outcome - this realisation (along with the music) makes us feel extremely sad for her and Joel. The blood stained shirt and the talent of all the actors makes the injury seem all the more real.
7. Joel tries to pick her up and as he does this, the camera pans to the left so we see Tommy - frozen in shock and at a loss of what to do. The camera pans back and Sarah's whimpering silences. She has died. As she dies, a deeper sound in the music is heard - a slow guitar strum of a low sounding chord... This reinforces the fact that she has passed. Joel begins to grieve for her and pleading for her to come back.
8. Joel starts crying (and maybe we do a little too) and he pulls Sarah up to hug her. He sobs into her and rocks back and forth slightly as he is trying to cope with the loss of his only child. This is an extremely emotional part of the scene, as anyone who has lost a relative or someone close to them will relate to it and even if they haven't, they can still understand the devastating effect this will have on Joel's life.
9. There is a harsh cut to the title screen - keeping the game feeling realistic. If the title was to use a fancy 'Hollywood style' slide, the game would feel a little fake, and the player would not be drawn into the fictional world as easily. Therefore keeping the emotional attachments at the heart of the game - even though it is "just an action/adventure video game". The music score ends here, and the next piece of music begins to play as the scene moves onto a montage of bacteria spreading across the screen and news feeds informing us of what happens in the months/years to follow.
http://youtu.be/ecpQ_WUqKUM?t=12m20s
What's Happened Before?
The player has completed a tutorial level, playing as Sarah, the main character's daughter. During these 'scenes' we see their how close relationship is and how happy they are together... But quite quickly there is a turn in the story and they are being chased by very sick people (they seem to be similar to what zombies are like in other forms of media - but what they really are isn't clear yet). There is then a car accident and the two characters - along with Sarah's uncle Tommy - have to continue on foot. At this point, the playable character switches to Joel - Sarah's father (and the main character in the game). Joel picks up his daughter and is lead by Tommy through the streets of their nearest town. As Tommy fights off some of the sick people, Joel and Sarah go on... This is where my focus scene really begins.
Of course, camerawork and editing isn't a massive part of gaming, due to the player controlling the camera movement a lot of the time - the exceptions to this are 'in-game cutscenes' (which is what I will be looking at in a moment), 'quick-time events' (which involve the player pressing the correct buttons to perform tasks), and 'Interactive Movies' (which are video games that feature highly cinematic sequences and the player simply presses buttons to advance the story [much like a quicktime event] a recent example of these would be the video game 'Heavy Rain' which was a film noir thriller, released in 2010).
However sound, mise-en-scene and almost everything else involved in other forms of media are crucial for video games - these keep the player entertained throughout the experience. Throughout this scene, there is a sense of a handheld camera being used, due to the frame shaking slightly. This keeps the uneasy feeling throughout the scene. When making the game, the developers most likely used motion capture software to film the scene - so the camera may well be handheld and shaking.
Example of Motion capture in this game (not the same scene): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TxJWy19xxk
Breakdown of Scene
1. Just before the cutscene starts, Joel and Sarah are running down a dirt track, closely followed by the sick people. They pass an upturned ambulance and more people crawl out from underneath to follow them. This makes us feel panic and terror as we feel as if we are in charge of these character's lives and if we get caught by the people, they will die. The graphics of the game are extremely realistic and the people are covered in blood and their clothes are ripped - similar to Joel and Sarah towards the end of the level. The people are also making horrid retching noises with their throats and there is a fast paced music soundtrack playing that adds to the feeling of panic. The lighting in the game is also key to creating this feeling in the player, as there are many instances where the light is situated behind the camera is meant to be, and so all you see of the people are their shadows sprinting after the characters. This is much scarier than actually just seeing the people for what they are, as humans fear the unknown - this way, we don't know how big or small the people are, or even how close they are to Joel and Sarah.
2. The cutscene starts and it begins with gunshots being fired and the people running after Joel and Sarah falling to the ground. This is done with a mid shot of Joel and Sarah as they run up an embankment and the people being shot in the background. This way, we cannot see the shooter, only the aftermath - will they shoot Joel and Sarah too? The music soundtrack stops as this scene begins and this snaps our attention back to the characters in the scene. Joel comforts Sarah as she is scared about what is happening, then he calls out to the shooter. There is a low angle shot, looking up the embankment, showing Joel's legs and the shooter in the distance - there is low-key lighting used extensively throughout this scene so we only see the essential parts and keep focused on the story (it is also a shock when higher key lighting is used, this can be good or bad for the characters).
3. The shooter shouts to Joel as he starts to move forward telling him to stop immediately - he sounds as if he is wearing a mask of sorts... Is the disease airborne based? Joel starts to explain that Sarah's leg may be broken from the crash, but the shooter stops him mid-sentence and forcefully shouts at him to not come any closer. This keeps the feeling of panic at the center of the scene, as the shooter is getting more and more agitated and could just as easily shoot Joel and Sarah, like he did to the people a few seconds ago.
4. There is a medium close up of Joel (and Sarah) as the shooter shines the light from his gun in their faces. This puts them right in the firing line and we fear for their lives. The shooter then talks to someone on a radio asking what he should do - we assume he is some kind of soldier as we now see his bulletproof vest and other gear that a soldier would normally carry. We then return to the medium close up of Joel and Sarah, as Sarah asks "Daddy, what about Uncle Tommy?". Joel explains that they will go back for him after getting her to safety. We do not hear what is said on the radio, but the soldier sounds sad as he replies "Sir, there's a little girl". This makes us fear for their safety as he may have just been told to do something that will cause harm - maybe shoot them? We see an over the shoulder shot looking at the soldier as he says "yes sir" into the radio. Joel tries to plead their case a little by saying they have "been through hell", but he stops as the soldier raises his weapon to aim at Joel.
5. The soldier open fires and a tracking shot follows Joel as he tumbles down the hill - we hear a grunt from him and a scream from Sarah. The lights from the shots are startlingly bright and jolts our senses a little - we are terrified that Joel or Sarah may be hurt. There is an over the shoulder shot as we 'follow' the soldier over to aim directly at Joel's face. Joel pleads for his life, but we hear a shot - however, this shot comes from the right of the soldier and it is in fact Tommy shooting the soldier in the head. Blood spatters out of the side of his head and he falls to the ground - very shocking at how realistic the violence is.
6. We hear a slight whimpering and Tommy looks up and exclaims "Oh, no." The camera tracks Joel as he quickly crawls over to Sarah, who is lying on her back with a blood patch on her stomach - she has been shot. This is where a soft music score begins to come in - slow violins play out a very sad tune. the camera tilts down to show her trying to cover the wound - Joel then takes her hands away and replaced them with his, telling her that he knows that it hurts, but everything will be alright. We are so scared that Sarah will die soon, but it looks like the most likely outcome - this realisation (along with the music) makes us feel extremely sad for her and Joel. The blood stained shirt and the talent of all the actors makes the injury seem all the more real.
7. Joel tries to pick her up and as he does this, the camera pans to the left so we see Tommy - frozen in shock and at a loss of what to do. The camera pans back and Sarah's whimpering silences. She has died. As she dies, a deeper sound in the music is heard - a slow guitar strum of a low sounding chord... This reinforces the fact that she has passed. Joel begins to grieve for her and pleading for her to come back.
8. Joel starts crying (and maybe we do a little too) and he pulls Sarah up to hug her. He sobs into her and rocks back and forth slightly as he is trying to cope with the loss of his only child. This is an extremely emotional part of the scene, as anyone who has lost a relative or someone close to them will relate to it and even if they haven't, they can still understand the devastating effect this will have on Joel's life.
9. There is a harsh cut to the title screen - keeping the game feeling realistic. If the title was to use a fancy 'Hollywood style' slide, the game would feel a little fake, and the player would not be drawn into the fictional world as easily. Therefore keeping the emotional attachments at the heart of the game - even though it is "just an action/adventure video game". The music score ends here, and the next piece of music begins to play as the scene moves onto a montage of bacteria spreading across the screen and news feeds informing us of what happens in the months/years to follow.
Friday, 8 November 2013
Early Ideas - Starting the Blog
When completing the AS Task, I always kept ideas for this task in the back of my mind. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted it to be bigger and better than the previous task. However, due to this frame of mind, I kept coming up with ideas that would not be possible on a small budget or I just felt that I would not be good at filming them in the end (meaning the idea would be good, but the actual project wouldn't).
After a little while I settled on the idea to create a short film about a mental disorder such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This would involve a lot of research on my part to get the different perspectives across in my film (a neurotypical person and a person with moderate/severe OCD). This would also allow me to create a film that would hopefully inform the audience of the disorder and have a lasting impact on them. I could go into the mind of the main character and use techniques such as a voiceover to give the audience an insight into what he/she is thinking and feeling and why it is different from a neurotypical person.
However, after getting to the end of my AS Task, I have 'gone off' this idea. This is due to it being another film in the 'drama' genre and all my films I have created so far have been in this genre; and it moving towards a more documentary style of filming, rather than fictional.
So I started to search for new ideas... The way that I did this was watch a wide range of my favourite films, TV shows and games; it was during watching the latest episode of the AMC series 'The Walking Dead: Season 4' that I came up with my new idea. I had recently re-watched 'The Dark Knight' (2008) and I love the scene in it, in which Harvey Dent awakens in a hospital and realises the love of his life, Rachel Dawes, has been killed by The Joker and the left side of his face has been burnt off. He cries out in distress and flails violently - however, there is silence in the soundtrack, only a single high pitched not is heard. This made me really concentrate on his physical performance, rather than what he was actually saying - this in turn made it far more emotional.
I had also played the first level of Naughty Dog's 'The Last Of Us' at my friends house. This included the opening credits. After the tutorial level, there is a cinematic cutscene, in which the main character's daughter is shot. As she dies, Joel (the father) whispers to her and cries, as this happens there is a sharp cut to a black background, with white writing containing the Game's title. I found this scene extremely emotional, not just due to the death of the girl I had previously played as, but due to the techniques used in the scene and the talented actors that were hired to play these characters.
After all that explanation... Lets get back to my idea.
I was watching the latest episode of 'The Walking Dead' and a very emotional scene occurred where Rick (the central character of the series) has to sacrifice some piglets the group had reared. This is because they are using the piglets as bait for some zombies, so they can fix part of the fencing surrounding their camp. I decided that for my film, I wanted to try and re-create the emotions that are present in all these pieces of media - in other words, I want at least one audience member to be close to tears!
Now for the story line - I wanted to use the idea of someone being bitten in a zombie apocalypse, and their friend having to kill them (it's bad enough having you're best friend die in front of you, even worse that you have to be the one to cause it). This idea came from the end to the opening of 'The Last Of Us' (the death of the girl) and the setting of 'The Walking Dead' (the zombies).
Finally, the format. My previous ideas had all been for short films. However, though this idea would work as a short film, I preferred the idea of making a teaser trailer for a possible feature length film.
You are probably thinking "But teaser trailers are just that - teasers... How is a full story going to help him here?" Well, many video games, TV series and films nowadays, create little storylines in the 'fictional universe' of their stories... But they are never actually included in the marketed product. This creates hype for the film and gives audiences an idea of what the film might be about - in essence, a teaser trailer.
Some examples of this are the 'webisodes' for The Walking Dead. Webisodes are small episodes that are released on the internet for fans to watch. The Walking Dead franchise has created many of these and they are all set in The Walking Dead's 'universe', but are not directly linked to the main story (apart from the slight links, such as a location or prop being the same). Another example is when Quantic Dream were developing their new graphics engine for the Playstation 3, they released a tech demo entitled 'Kara'. This was not linked to ANY game in development at that time (they were very clear on that matter), but it showed the engine's in-game capabilities and helped spread awareness of their next game 'BEYOND: Two Souls'. Again, this is in essence a teaser trailer, but has little/no relevance to the actual project being produced.
Using this basis, I want to create the short scene and film it, but it will be designed in the form of a teaser trailer. Meaning that if a major studio had produced something similar, it may be creating a new horror film based on the 'zombie survival' idea that so many films have done before. The 'teaser scene' could be included in the film, or could not. If I had the money, time and an ideas of making a feature length film of it, I would most likely only feature the location that my teaser was shot in as one of the places visited/featured in the full film - creating a link between the scene and the marketed product.
So, after all of that, what is my project?
Form: Teaser trailer.
Genre: Horror.
Working Title: In Seclusion, We Find Safety
Rough Storyline: Two people stumble into a room - one has been bitten by someone carrying a deadly virus that is destroying the world's population. The other person has to kill the 'infected' person.
Their relationship hasn't been decided yet. Boyfriend and girlfriend? Husband and wife? Best friends? Two like minded survivors?
Techniques that I want to use
(these will most likely change at some point)
After a little while I settled on the idea to create a short film about a mental disorder such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This would involve a lot of research on my part to get the different perspectives across in my film (a neurotypical person and a person with moderate/severe OCD). This would also allow me to create a film that would hopefully inform the audience of the disorder and have a lasting impact on them. I could go into the mind of the main character and use techniques such as a voiceover to give the audience an insight into what he/she is thinking and feeling and why it is different from a neurotypical person.
However, after getting to the end of my AS Task, I have 'gone off' this idea. This is due to it being another film in the 'drama' genre and all my films I have created so far have been in this genre; and it moving towards a more documentary style of filming, rather than fictional.
So I started to search for new ideas... The way that I did this was watch a wide range of my favourite films, TV shows and games; it was during watching the latest episode of the AMC series 'The Walking Dead: Season 4' that I came up with my new idea. I had recently re-watched 'The Dark Knight' (2008) and I love the scene in it, in which Harvey Dent awakens in a hospital and realises the love of his life, Rachel Dawes, has been killed by The Joker and the left side of his face has been burnt off. He cries out in distress and flails violently - however, there is silence in the soundtrack, only a single high pitched not is heard. This made me really concentrate on his physical performance, rather than what he was actually saying - this in turn made it far more emotional.
I had also played the first level of Naughty Dog's 'The Last Of Us' at my friends house. This included the opening credits. After the tutorial level, there is a cinematic cutscene, in which the main character's daughter is shot. As she dies, Joel (the father) whispers to her and cries, as this happens there is a sharp cut to a black background, with white writing containing the Game's title. I found this scene extremely emotional, not just due to the death of the girl I had previously played as, but due to the techniques used in the scene and the talented actors that were hired to play these characters.
After all that explanation... Lets get back to my idea.
I was watching the latest episode of 'The Walking Dead' and a very emotional scene occurred where Rick (the central character of the series) has to sacrifice some piglets the group had reared. This is because they are using the piglets as bait for some zombies, so they can fix part of the fencing surrounding their camp. I decided that for my film, I wanted to try and re-create the emotions that are present in all these pieces of media - in other words, I want at least one audience member to be close to tears!
Now for the story line - I wanted to use the idea of someone being bitten in a zombie apocalypse, and their friend having to kill them (it's bad enough having you're best friend die in front of you, even worse that you have to be the one to cause it). This idea came from the end to the opening of 'The Last Of Us' (the death of the girl) and the setting of 'The Walking Dead' (the zombies).
Finally, the format. My previous ideas had all been for short films. However, though this idea would work as a short film, I preferred the idea of making a teaser trailer for a possible feature length film.
You are probably thinking "But teaser trailers are just that - teasers... How is a full story going to help him here?" Well, many video games, TV series and films nowadays, create little storylines in the 'fictional universe' of their stories... But they are never actually included in the marketed product. This creates hype for the film and gives audiences an idea of what the film might be about - in essence, a teaser trailer.
Some examples of this are the 'webisodes' for The Walking Dead. Webisodes are small episodes that are released on the internet for fans to watch. The Walking Dead franchise has created many of these and they are all set in The Walking Dead's 'universe', but are not directly linked to the main story (apart from the slight links, such as a location or prop being the same). Another example is when Quantic Dream were developing their new graphics engine for the Playstation 3, they released a tech demo entitled 'Kara'. This was not linked to ANY game in development at that time (they were very clear on that matter), but it showed the engine's in-game capabilities and helped spread awareness of their next game 'BEYOND: Two Souls'. Again, this is in essence a teaser trailer, but has little/no relevance to the actual project being produced.
Using this basis, I want to create the short scene and film it, but it will be designed in the form of a teaser trailer. Meaning that if a major studio had produced something similar, it may be creating a new horror film based on the 'zombie survival' idea that so many films have done before. The 'teaser scene' could be included in the film, or could not. If I had the money, time and an ideas of making a feature length film of it, I would most likely only feature the location that my teaser was shot in as one of the places visited/featured in the full film - creating a link between the scene and the marketed product.
So, after all of that, what is my project?
Form: Teaser trailer.
Genre: Horror.
Working Title: In Seclusion, We Find Safety
Rough Storyline: Two people stumble into a room - one has been bitten by someone carrying a deadly virus that is destroying the world's population. The other person has to kill the 'infected' person.
Their relationship hasn't been decided yet. Boyfriend and girlfriend? Husband and wife? Best friends? Two like minded survivors?
Techniques that I want to use
(these will most likely change at some point)
- Sharp cut (when they die).
- Silence/single note (when they are about to die).
- Playing with lighting a lot - most people are scared of the dark.
- Good acting and costumes/make-up (make the scene believable).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)