Dead Mans Dawning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RhSnCVaeNAPublished by: John Boocock, Jonathan Beeley, and Adam Swannick
Friday, 14 May 2010
Monday, 3 May 2010
Media Evaluation.
1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of media products?
In our film, we aimed to show a Thriller genre of film with supernatural elements. We brought this across in the scenes leading up to Hayden finding Gianni by showing POV shots of someone following Hayden in the forest.
This is similar to the opening of the film the sixth sense in which little is shown of what is happening or of the intruder in the main protagonists house until the reveal, much like our movie.
Also drawing parallels with this film, our movie also involves a confrontation between the two characters as Gianni confronts Hayden in the forest with a sword and talking about a character who the audience learns is dead. The scene ends violently with Gianni attacking Hayden and promptly killing him. This sets up the scene for the rest of the film. Again similar to the Sixth Sense in which we drew many ideas from as source material. The intruder confronts the psychologist in his house and again talking about a past event that he is angry and upset about and the confrontation ends in the character played by Bruce Willis being killed violently as a result of the confrontation.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social groups used in this film are very limited due to their being only two actors on-screen and both of which are young males. The two men portrayed in the film are on different standing points throughout the opening. Hayden defies the stereotypes by being a passive type of man, not looking for a fight whereas Gianni conforms to the dominant association with males by being overbearing and violent towards Hayden, ending in Hayden's death. The idea for the rest of the film is to show the transformation of the two characters until these roles have been reversed almost entirely and make Hayden the dominant one.
This appeals to the people who see the film as the audience is primarily male focused and they should be able to connect to the two men on the screen. While this is indeed possible with female actors, the audience would not connect with them as strongly because they do not see the similarities between themselves and the characters and it is well known that people like familiarity in a film.
Again back to the Sixth Sense, though this takes a twist on the social groups. Once again, the two people mainly involved in the confrontation (aside from the protagonist's wife) are male, though the dominant one is Bruce Willis and the intruder is scared and angry at the same time.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that this type of film would be a medium budget product due to not needing a lot of special effects, CGI and would not be aiming at a high budget distributor because of this. An ideal company to use for the product would be Elstree Studios because of their medium budget and residence in the UK. While out film is similar to products like The Sixth Sense, it would be better suited to having a smaller distribution company so that if it is not a huge hit in the box office then we would not have to worry about making back the millions we have spent in production for a simple storyline that we have.
It would be released in cinemas and on DVD to gain maximum profit from the film. It would not be shown in all cinemas but mostly in the multiplexes and the main cities to draw in as many people as it possibly could. If it were to be shown in smaller cinemas, it wouldn't get the amount of revenue able to keep the film from making a loss. The DVD sales are to boost the sales of those who missed it in the cinema or those who saw it in the cinema, enjoyed it and want to watch it again.
There are few opportunities for franchising for this movie in several ways,such as toys and merchandise. However, there are some ways that you can market this film. Movie posters and memorabilia such as wax models of the actors and collectables. Other than that, there couldn't be much of a market because of the 18+ content that would be within this film.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for this media product would be people aged between 18 and 35 years old, primarily male but available for both genders to watch and be entertained easily. This age group is chosen because these are the people statistically most interested in the thriller and supernatural genres.
Once again I must reference the Sixth Sense, as the film appealed mainly to males and they were a large quanitity of the viewing figures.
Our film would most likely be an 18 rating due to the amount of gore, violence and language that would be shown in the rest of the film. As this is a sample of the opening, not much of that content is shown in the film and would be saved for later.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/5. How did you attract/address your audience?
Since our intended audience is males aged between 18 and 35 years old, we decided to make the film that was not intended to be scary, but to thrill the audience, hence why it is being shot as a thriller. These scenes are realised with the use of not showing the antagonist in the opening until the last possible moment and showing shots from behind the protagonist implied to the viewers that someone was watching the character from behind, building suspense and tension to find out who it is or if there is anyone there at all.
Also is the off-screen death of Hayden. We see the sword plunge into him and it fades to black. This was done by covering the lens with a black coat quickly after the sword was plunged down and looked very effective. It showed what had happened without spelling it out for the reader.
6. What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing the product?
Now that the film product is finished, I have learnt much on how to use both a HD camera as well as different tripod techniques to make filming look much smoother and less dragging to watch (eg. cutting down travelling scenes with nothing happening in).
A strength of using HD cameras is that it gives a much higher quality of film to watch, edit and enjoy. The downsides to it are that it is difficult to lear how to use properly. Secondly, it uses up a lot of space very quickly on the recording equipment so tyhe shots must be shot only if they are intended to be used in the film. Alternative shots must be kept to a minimum due to the limited film space we had to work with.
Manyt problems we faced was firstly finding a proper location. Some time was lost trying to find the perfect place to film. Secondly was the weather. The film's weather must be sunny and dry to film outdoors with the expensive equipment and due to it being shot in the spring, there were few days that let us film outside. We resolved these issues by taking the equipment out in our own time to shoot and managed to finish it in one day in the space of 4-5 hours of filming.
Although we used no new equipment aside from the previously mentioned HD camera. However, we managed to edit on new programs such as LiveType and Final Cut Pro. This was a more detailed editing software and we were able to learn how to use this programming to make our film look more professionally manufactured.
Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel that I have learnt how to better shoot a film and organise the shots leading up to filming on location. I believe that going from a small classroom to an outdoor setting was a big step up and helped me to better understand setting mood and pacing into a film rather than showing events happening on-screen.
Secondly, I have learnt how to better edit a film in advance. I know now how to smoothly make shots progress into the next without awkward jump cuts and now know how to enhance audience immersion through use of music, theme and certain types of shot used.
The types of shot we use in the film has improved too. Our film has uses of eyeline matches, match on action and multiple uses of point of view shots. All of these have improved considerably from the preliminary task when it was very restricting to put all of these shots into the scene without making them feel out of place for the viewer.
The equipment use is much more confortable and less clunky and confusing as was first thought. I can now manouver a camera effectively and produce certain believable shots to use on screen. However, the place where I have learned the most is editing. I can put music tracks into the film, how to use the editing software to the best of my ability, use the different tools to get desired effects for the film and turn a bunch of shots into a short opening that has a mood and feel to it.
In our film, we aimed to show a Thriller genre of film with supernatural elements. We brought this across in the scenes leading up to Hayden finding Gianni by showing POV shots of someone following Hayden in the forest.
This is similar to the opening of the film the sixth sense in which little is shown of what is happening or of the intruder in the main protagonists house until the reveal, much like our movie.
Also drawing parallels with this film, our movie also involves a confrontation between the two characters as Gianni confronts Hayden in the forest with a sword and talking about a character who the audience learns is dead. The scene ends violently with Gianni attacking Hayden and promptly killing him. This sets up the scene for the rest of the film. Again similar to the Sixth Sense in which we drew many ideas from as source material. The intruder confronts the psychologist in his house and again talking about a past event that he is angry and upset about and the confrontation ends in the character played by Bruce Willis being killed violently as a result of the confrontation.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social groups used in this film are very limited due to their being only two actors on-screen and both of which are young males. The two men portrayed in the film are on different standing points throughout the opening. Hayden defies the stereotypes by being a passive type of man, not looking for a fight whereas Gianni conforms to the dominant association with males by being overbearing and violent towards Hayden, ending in Hayden's death. The idea for the rest of the film is to show the transformation of the two characters until these roles have been reversed almost entirely and make Hayden the dominant one.
This appeals to the people who see the film as the audience is primarily male focused and they should be able to connect to the two men on the screen. While this is indeed possible with female actors, the audience would not connect with them as strongly because they do not see the similarities between themselves and the characters and it is well known that people like familiarity in a film.
Again back to the Sixth Sense, though this takes a twist on the social groups. Once again, the two people mainly involved in the confrontation (aside from the protagonist's wife) are male, though the dominant one is Bruce Willis and the intruder is scared and angry at the same time.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that this type of film would be a medium budget product due to not needing a lot of special effects, CGI and would not be aiming at a high budget distributor because of this. An ideal company to use for the product would be Elstree Studios because of their medium budget and residence in the UK. While out film is similar to products like The Sixth Sense, it would be better suited to having a smaller distribution company so that if it is not a huge hit in the box office then we would not have to worry about making back the millions we have spent in production for a simple storyline that we have.
It would be released in cinemas and on DVD to gain maximum profit from the film. It would not be shown in all cinemas but mostly in the multiplexes and the main cities to draw in as many people as it possibly could. If it were to be shown in smaller cinemas, it wouldn't get the amount of revenue able to keep the film from making a loss. The DVD sales are to boost the sales of those who missed it in the cinema or those who saw it in the cinema, enjoyed it and want to watch it again.
There are few opportunities for franchising for this movie in several ways,such as toys and merchandise. However, there are some ways that you can market this film. Movie posters and memorabilia such as wax models of the actors and collectables. Other than that, there couldn't be much of a market because of the 18+ content that would be within this film.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for this media product would be people aged between 18 and 35 years old, primarily male but available for both genders to watch and be entertained easily. This age group is chosen because these are the people statistically most interested in the thriller and supernatural genres.
Once again I must reference the Sixth Sense, as the film appealed mainly to males and they were a large quanitity of the viewing figures.
Our film would most likely be an 18 rating due to the amount of gore, violence and language that would be shown in the rest of the film. As this is a sample of the opening, not much of that content is shown in the film and would be saved for later.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/5. How did you attract/address your audience?
Since our intended audience is males aged between 18 and 35 years old, we decided to make the film that was not intended to be scary, but to thrill the audience, hence why it is being shot as a thriller. These scenes are realised with the use of not showing the antagonist in the opening until the last possible moment and showing shots from behind the protagonist implied to the viewers that someone was watching the character from behind, building suspense and tension to find out who it is or if there is anyone there at all.
Also is the off-screen death of Hayden. We see the sword plunge into him and it fades to black. This was done by covering the lens with a black coat quickly after the sword was plunged down and looked very effective. It showed what had happened without spelling it out for the reader.
6. What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing the product?
Now that the film product is finished, I have learnt much on how to use both a HD camera as well as different tripod techniques to make filming look much smoother and less dragging to watch (eg. cutting down travelling scenes with nothing happening in).
A strength of using HD cameras is that it gives a much higher quality of film to watch, edit and enjoy. The downsides to it are that it is difficult to lear how to use properly. Secondly, it uses up a lot of space very quickly on the recording equipment so tyhe shots must be shot only if they are intended to be used in the film. Alternative shots must be kept to a minimum due to the limited film space we had to work with.
Manyt problems we faced was firstly finding a proper location. Some time was lost trying to find the perfect place to film. Secondly was the weather. The film's weather must be sunny and dry to film outdoors with the expensive equipment and due to it being shot in the spring, there were few days that let us film outside. We resolved these issues by taking the equipment out in our own time to shoot and managed to finish it in one day in the space of 4-5 hours of filming.
Although we used no new equipment aside from the previously mentioned HD camera. However, we managed to edit on new programs such as LiveType and Final Cut Pro. This was a more detailed editing software and we were able to learn how to use this programming to make our film look more professionally manufactured.
Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel that I have learnt how to better shoot a film and organise the shots leading up to filming on location. I believe that going from a small classroom to an outdoor setting was a big step up and helped me to better understand setting mood and pacing into a film rather than showing events happening on-screen.
Secondly, I have learnt how to better edit a film in advance. I know now how to smoothly make shots progress into the next without awkward jump cuts and now know how to enhance audience immersion through use of music, theme and certain types of shot used.
The types of shot we use in the film has improved too. Our film has uses of eyeline matches, match on action and multiple uses of point of view shots. All of these have improved considerably from the preliminary task when it was very restricting to put all of these shots into the scene without making them feel out of place for the viewer.
The equipment use is much more confortable and less clunky and confusing as was first thought. I can now manouver a camera effectively and produce certain believable shots to use on screen. However, the place where I have learned the most is editing. I can put music tracks into the film, how to use the editing software to the best of my ability, use the different tools to get desired effects for the film and turn a bunch of shots into a short opening that has a mood and feel to it.
Media Film Evaluation
My film incorporates the thriller genre with the inclusion of my character Gianni Aquazi, a mentally disturbed killer whose only goals are to kill Hayden to avenge his fallen comrade. He displays his disturbed side by showing no emotion towards his former comrade and killing him showing no mercy, ignoring Hayden’s pleas. He then walks away, throwing the sword quite casually as if nothing had just happened. This shows the genres of the film. I believe our film develops the genre by introducing a story line that can be developed within realism into many other genres e.g. it could quite easily be changed to have an alien or supernatural element to explain his mental instability which was present even before his time in the SAS. There is no influence from other films in our film; it was put from head to paper. We showed the Thriller genre of the film in the scenes where Gianni slowly stalks Hayden through the forest undergrowth silently.
There is gender specific stereotypical representation in the film is the violence displayed by Gianni towards Hayden when he pushes him down and stabs him with his sword. However it is clear even with no gender difference that Gianni is the dominant character in all aspects throughout the film. There is no age class representation as they are both around the same age, and they are both the same race and ethnicity. This links into the target audience of males 18+ as it incorporates violence which is associated to males and the 18+ audience.
I don’t believe this could be something produced in a major Hollywood studio, I believe it would be produced with around a medium budget as it does not require any big professional CGI scenes or special effects, and I don’t believe it would require a big distributor. A sensible and realistic company to use would be Elstree studios as it is in the UK and does not distribute Hollywood blockbuster films. I think it would be a TV movie as a majority of films with a drama genre or subgenre tend to be very popular on television, this way I believe it would garner more attention and popularity without being made to look obsolete compared to Hollywood blockbuster releases. I think it could offer merchandising opportunities but limited ones, for example a more die hard fan could want a replica of Gianni’s sword to frame on his wall.
I would consider the age of our target audience to be 18+ as that is what the certification is, however younger ages accompanied by adults would probably find this film appealing so they could be included. The gender of the target audience would be males, as there is violence in the film which is predominantly associated with males. I think the classification criteria ‘contains violence not suitable for viewers under 18 ‘ would be appropriate as it contains for the killing blow on Hayden a blow to the neck, which according to our film certification research is not permitted to films under the 18 certificate e.g. “We initially planned for our film to be a 15, but after researching film certification and allowed contents we found a shot planned to be a pivotal point in the production to be restricted, this shot was a killing blow to the neck with a sword. Although we would not be physically showing the blow, it would be implied by a motion and a change of shot.” http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
We attracted our audience of males 18+ with our violent scene and thriller specific stalking scenes, to thrill and enthrall the audience. This is implied by not showing the second character Gianni until close to the end and only showing POV handheld camera shots to show where he is and what he is seeing, putting them in the perspective and witnessing his actions.
There is a particular point in the film which may appeal to the audience, the scene where Gianni draws his sword and shouts ‘Don’t say his name!’ This is quite a shock factor as before this scene the dialogue is calm and mediocre, this scene marks a change in intensity of actions and dialogue.
From constructing the product I have learnt a great deal about technology, for example I have learnt how to use a HD camera, the Sony HDV 1000, I’ve learnt how to use a tripod properly and to full effect, and I’ve learnt how to use editing software, like final cut and live type, which are all specifically designed for media production.
I learnt to edit and cut frames, add music and titles and add transitions and effects to a production using final cut.
I’ve also learnt how to successfully shoot various shots e.g. panning, tracking and location shots in conjunction with the tripod; I have also successfully anchored the camera on my shoulder and shot hand held shots in my stalking scenes. Also in these scenes I took full advantage of the microphone, I detached it from the mechanism which held it to the camera and placed it close to my mouth as I shot the hand held camera shots to capture my heavy breathing with more accuracy, it also made the sound clearer and more authentic. The filming process went quite smooth technology wise, the only real problems were the unevenness of the ground we filmed on which made some shots a little wonky and not being able to look where I was going due to the heaviness of the camera when attempting the hand held cam shots. The Sony HDV 1000 was new to us when we initially used it as we previously used smaller cameras with less image quality; it greatly enhanced our film in terms of image quality.
The Sony HDV 1000
The planning stage went quite smoothly as straight away I had an idea for a film which we put into the works almost immediately, elaborating and expanding the idea. We knew which method of expanding our idea suited our group from our preliminary task, we brain stormed for suitable additions to it. We researched our chosen genre and planned out actions and scenes which incorporated both the idea and the genre, which we also did with the preliminary task although we knew we didn’t need to specify genre. This greatly helped speed up the process of the second task as we pretty much knew what we were doing. I have found that in doing this project my knowledge and usage of shot types has increased, e.g. the match on action shots we used, in the preliminary task we used one to open a door, whereas in the film we used one when Gianni pushes over Hayden before he kills him.
Overall I feel that this project has been a great experience, fun to make and greatly increased my confidence in media production. I also feel my confidence with using the equipment has greatly increased as before AS media I had only ever used a phone camera and video camera, and I had also only ever used Windows Movie Maker to make a video game trailer which featured no actual filmed footage just images.
I feel that the end product has successfully fulfilled its task of being the first 2 minutes of a film, I believe it leaves a lot to be seen which may interest a viewer in seeing the rest and it suits its genre well.
There is gender specific stereotypical representation in the film is the violence displayed by Gianni towards Hayden when he pushes him down and stabs him with his sword. However it is clear even with no gender difference that Gianni is the dominant character in all aspects throughout the film. There is no age class representation as they are both around the same age, and they are both the same race and ethnicity. This links into the target audience of males 18+ as it incorporates violence which is associated to males and the 18+ audience.
I don’t believe this could be something produced in a major Hollywood studio, I believe it would be produced with around a medium budget as it does not require any big professional CGI scenes or special effects, and I don’t believe it would require a big distributor. A sensible and realistic company to use would be Elstree studios as it is in the UK and does not distribute Hollywood blockbuster films. I think it would be a TV movie as a majority of films with a drama genre or subgenre tend to be very popular on television, this way I believe it would garner more attention and popularity without being made to look obsolete compared to Hollywood blockbuster releases. I think it could offer merchandising opportunities but limited ones, for example a more die hard fan could want a replica of Gianni’s sword to frame on his wall.
I would consider the age of our target audience to be 18+ as that is what the certification is, however younger ages accompanied by adults would probably find this film appealing so they could be included. The gender of the target audience would be males, as there is violence in the film which is predominantly associated with males. I think the classification criteria ‘contains violence not suitable for viewers under 18 ‘ would be appropriate as it contains for the killing blow on Hayden a blow to the neck, which according to our film certification research is not permitted to films under the 18 certificate e.g. “We initially planned for our film to be a 15, but after researching film certification and allowed contents we found a shot planned to be a pivotal point in the production to be restricted, this shot was a killing blow to the neck with a sword. Although we would not be physically showing the blow, it would be implied by a motion and a change of shot.” http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
We attracted our audience of males 18+ with our violent scene and thriller specific stalking scenes, to thrill and enthrall the audience. This is implied by not showing the second character Gianni until close to the end and only showing POV handheld camera shots to show where he is and what he is seeing, putting them in the perspective and witnessing his actions.
There is a particular point in the film which may appeal to the audience, the scene where Gianni draws his sword and shouts ‘Don’t say his name!’ This is quite a shock factor as before this scene the dialogue is calm and mediocre, this scene marks a change in intensity of actions and dialogue.
From constructing the product I have learnt a great deal about technology, for example I have learnt how to use a HD camera, the Sony HDV 1000, I’ve learnt how to use a tripod properly and to full effect, and I’ve learnt how to use editing software, like final cut and live type, which are all specifically designed for media production.
I learnt to edit and cut frames, add music and titles and add transitions and effects to a production using final cut.
I’ve also learnt how to successfully shoot various shots e.g. panning, tracking and location shots in conjunction with the tripod; I have also successfully anchored the camera on my shoulder and shot hand held shots in my stalking scenes. Also in these scenes I took full advantage of the microphone, I detached it from the mechanism which held it to the camera and placed it close to my mouth as I shot the hand held camera shots to capture my heavy breathing with more accuracy, it also made the sound clearer and more authentic. The filming process went quite smooth technology wise, the only real problems were the unevenness of the ground we filmed on which made some shots a little wonky and not being able to look where I was going due to the heaviness of the camera when attempting the hand held cam shots. The Sony HDV 1000 was new to us when we initially used it as we previously used smaller cameras with less image quality; it greatly enhanced our film in terms of image quality.
The Sony HDV 1000
The planning stage went quite smoothly as straight away I had an idea for a film which we put into the works almost immediately, elaborating and expanding the idea. We knew which method of expanding our idea suited our group from our preliminary task, we brain stormed for suitable additions to it. We researched our chosen genre and planned out actions and scenes which incorporated both the idea and the genre, which we also did with the preliminary task although we knew we didn’t need to specify genre. This greatly helped speed up the process of the second task as we pretty much knew what we were doing. I have found that in doing this project my knowledge and usage of shot types has increased, e.g. the match on action shots we used, in the preliminary task we used one to open a door, whereas in the film we used one when Gianni pushes over Hayden before he kills him.
Overall I feel that this project has been a great experience, fun to make and greatly increased my confidence in media production. I also feel my confidence with using the equipment has greatly increased as before AS media I had only ever used a phone camera and video camera, and I had also only ever used Windows Movie Maker to make a video game trailer which featured no actual filmed footage just images.
I feel that the end product has successfully fulfilled its task of being the first 2 minutes of a film, I believe it leaves a lot to be seen which may interest a viewer in seeing the rest and it suits its genre well.
Friday, 30 April 2010
Film Script
Opening scene - The scene is a forest on the very outskirts of town. It is closed in inside and Hayden, the main character, makes his way towards it silently. As he enters, he calls out to an unseen person.
Hayden: Gianni! Gianni!
He looks into the distance, camera cuts to nothing.
Hayden: (muttering) What the hell? Gianni!
Hayden sighs. Enter Gianni in the background out of focus.
Hayden: Where's he gone?
Gianni brought into focus. He turns to face him.
Gianni: Hello Hayden.
Hayden makes his way towards his old friend, they take each other in.
Hayden: What did you bring me out here for then?
Gianni doesn't reply, but smiles at Hayden.
Hayden: Listen man, I'm sorry I didn't come to the funeral, I know how close you were with Ma-
Gianni: (drawing the sword) DON'T SAY HIS NAME!
Hayden: Gianni....nobody needs to get hurt...I haven't done anything wrong.
Gianni laughs, still inching towards Hayden. Hayden also tries to back away from he sword but Gianni follows.
Gianni: Haven't you?
Hayden: No...why? What have I done wrong?
Gianni: If it wasn't for you and your stupid mission, he'd still be alive!
Gianni pushes Hayden with a force that knocks him off of his feet. He struggles to getup again but Gianni is stood over him.
Hayden: Gianni...don't do something that you'll regret!
Gianni: I have no regrets!
He lunges forwards, stabbing Hayden. Hayden groans and the camera goes black for several seconds.
Hayden: Gianni! Gianni!
He looks into the distance, camera cuts to nothing.
Hayden: (muttering) What the hell? Gianni!
Hayden sighs. Enter Gianni in the background out of focus.
Hayden: Where's he gone?
Gianni brought into focus. He turns to face him.
Gianni: Hello Hayden.
Hayden makes his way towards his old friend, they take each other in.
Hayden: What did you bring me out here for then?
Gianni doesn't reply, but smiles at Hayden.
Hayden: Listen man, I'm sorry I didn't come to the funeral, I know how close you were with Ma-
Gianni: (drawing the sword) DON'T SAY HIS NAME!
Hayden: Gianni....nobody needs to get hurt...I haven't done anything wrong.
Gianni laughs, still inching towards Hayden. Hayden also tries to back away from he sword but Gianni follows.
Gianni: Haven't you?
Hayden: No...why? What have I done wrong?
Gianni: If it wasn't for you and your stupid mission, he'd still be alive!
Gianni pushes Hayden with a force that knocks him off of his feet. He struggles to getup again but Gianni is stood over him.
Hayden: Gianni...don't do something that you'll regret!
Gianni: I have no regrets!
He lunges forwards, stabbing Hayden. Hayden groans and the camera goes black for several seconds.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Questionnaire Results.
1) 15-19 : 8
20-29 : 2
30+ : 0
2) Male : 6
Female : 4
3) Yes : 8
No : 2
4) Yes : 6
No : 4
5) 1-5 : 8
6-10 : 2
11+ : 0
6) Vampire : 2
Ghost : 3
Werewolf : 1
Zombie : 4
Other : 0
7) Yes : 4
No : 4
Maybe : 2
8) Yes : 8
No : 2
9) Yes : 6
No : 4
10) Forest : 4
Mansion : 1
Urban : 3
Castle : 2
20-29 : 2
30+ : 0
2) Male : 6
Female : 4
3) Yes : 8
No : 2
4) Yes : 6
No : 4
5) 1-5 : 8
6-10 : 2
11+ : 0
6) Vampire : 2
Ghost : 3
Werewolf : 1
Zombie : 4
Other : 0
7) Yes : 4
No : 4
Maybe : 2
8) Yes : 8
No : 2
9) Yes : 6
No : 4
10) Forest : 4
Mansion : 1
Urban : 3
Castle : 2
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Shot List for the Final Production
This is the shot list in chronological order after the film has been edited together.
Exterior - Forest Floor - Daytime.
SHOT 1: Opening scene, establishing ELS shot of forest and path. Hayden seen in foreground. No dialogue.
SHOT 2: Passing of time cut to show passing of time. Hayden moved further along the path. No dialogue.
SHOT 3: L shot of Hayden entering forest.
SHOT 4: POV shot of figure following Hayden into forest.
SHOT 5: Eye-line match shots. M shot of Hayden looking off camera.
Exterior - Inside Forest - Daytime
SHOT 6: Cut to what Hayden was looking at, ML shot of tree and foliage.
SHOT 7: Cut to Hayden's reaction to seeing this. M shot again.
SHOT 8: ML shot behind Hayden.
SHOT 9: L shot. Hayden in foreground. Pull shot to show background with Gianni in focus.
SHOT 10: CU of Gianni, turns to the side.
SHOT 11: Establishing LS of Hayden and Gianni.
SHOT 12: MCU of Hayden. Dialogue.
SHOT 13: CU of Gianni's face.
SHOT 14: Second MCU of Hayden.
SHOT 15: M shot of Gianni, drawing sword.
SHOT 16: M shot, PAN right as Hayden backs away and Gianni advances.
SHOT 17: ML shot, Gianni pushes Hayden.
SHOT 18: MOA M shot as Hayden falls.
SHOT 19: MCU of Gianni, camera tilted up at him.
SHOT 20: M of Hayden on floor, camera tilted down.
SHOT 21: MCU of Gianni, stabs at Hayden. Fade to black.
SHOT 22: Fade back in, L of Gianni walking away down the path. Camera pans right to the forest.
SHOT 23: M of Hayden's hand moving and gripping, fade to white background.
Exterior - Forest Floor - Daytime.
SHOT 1: Opening scene, establishing ELS shot of forest and path. Hayden seen in foreground. No dialogue.
SHOT 2: Passing of time cut to show passing of time. Hayden moved further along the path. No dialogue.
SHOT 3: L shot of Hayden entering forest.
SHOT 4: POV shot of figure following Hayden into forest.
SHOT 5: Eye-line match shots. M shot of Hayden looking off camera.
Exterior - Inside Forest - Daytime
SHOT 6: Cut to what Hayden was looking at, ML shot of tree and foliage.
SHOT 7: Cut to Hayden's reaction to seeing this. M shot again.
SHOT 8: ML shot behind Hayden.
SHOT 9: L shot. Hayden in foreground. Pull shot to show background with Gianni in focus.
SHOT 10: CU of Gianni, turns to the side.
SHOT 11: Establishing LS of Hayden and Gianni.
SHOT 12: MCU of Hayden. Dialogue.
SHOT 13: CU of Gianni's face.
SHOT 14: Second MCU of Hayden.
SHOT 15: M shot of Gianni, drawing sword.
SHOT 16: M shot, PAN right as Hayden backs away and Gianni advances.
SHOT 17: ML shot, Gianni pushes Hayden.
SHOT 18: MOA M shot as Hayden falls.
SHOT 19: MCU of Gianni, camera tilted up at him.
SHOT 20: M of Hayden on floor, camera tilted down.
SHOT 21: MCU of Gianni, stabs at Hayden. Fade to black.
SHOT 22: Fade back in, L of Gianni walking away down the path. Camera pans right to the forest.
SHOT 23: M of Hayden's hand moving and gripping, fade to white background.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Special Effects needed
For the shoot, we are going to be using the effects of a smoke bomb. This is not a real bomb, but a chemical reaction with simple household objects to make a desired effect of smoke in the area.
I will be making a total of three to four of these smoke bombs in case will we be needing additional effects.
Here is the link for instructions on how to make a smoke bomb:
If the video doesn't work, here is the list of ingredients and simple instructions I will be following.
A pan
Aluminum foil
Scoop of Baking soda
200g Sugar
300g Potassium Nitrate (fertiliser stores)
Matches
Stove
Mixing sticks
Red Dye
A cup
A fuse, firework or string preferable.
Method:
1. Light the stove and place the pan over it.
2. Add three parts potassium to two parts sugar and add baking soda because we want it to rise. We will also add dye to make the smoke colored.
3. Mix the sugar until it liquifies into a caramel
4. Take out the mixture and place it onto the aluminum foil
5. Wrap it up tightly and put the foil in a cup, placing sticks into the mixture to allow it to aerate. Wait until it is cooled. Place the fuse into the mixture at this point.
6. When cooled, wrap tightly and ignite when ready with the fuse.
The smoke bomb should be complete
The hazards of this could be any athsmatic crew and actors inhaling the smoke and having an attack but luckily, most of the crew are not and the ones who are have safety measures in place to counter the effects of the smoke bomb.
Herre is the link for this - http://www.metacafe.com/watch/517953/mnkjbniul/
I will be making a total of three to four of these smoke bombs in case will we be needing additional effects.
Here is the link for instructions on how to make a smoke bomb:
If the video doesn't work, here is the list of ingredients and simple instructions I will be following.
A pan
Aluminum foil
Scoop of Baking soda
200g Sugar
300g Potassium Nitrate (fertiliser stores)
Matches
Stove
Mixing sticks
Red Dye
A cup
A fuse, firework or string preferable.
Method:
1. Light the stove and place the pan over it.
2. Add three parts potassium to two parts sugar and add baking soda because we want it to rise. We will also add dye to make the smoke colored.
3. Mix the sugar until it liquifies into a caramel
4. Take out the mixture and place it onto the aluminum foil
5. Wrap it up tightly and put the foil in a cup, placing sticks into the mixture to allow it to aerate. Wait until it is cooled. Place the fuse into the mixture at this point.
6. When cooled, wrap tightly and ignite when ready with the fuse.
The smoke bomb should be complete
The hazards of this could be any athsmatic crew and actors inhaling the smoke and having an attack but luckily, most of the crew are not and the ones who are have safety measures in place to counter the effects of the smoke bomb.
Herre is the link for this - http://www.metacafe.com/watch/517953/mnkjbniul/
Friday, 12 March 2010
Prop Pictures
The prop below is the only prop we have used in the entire 2 minutes of film, it is the sword Gianni used to kill Hayden.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Gianni Aquazi - Based on Genesis Rhapsodos
I have loosely based my character Gianni on a character from the game final fantasy 7 crisis core, Genesis Rhapsodos. He is a character who is never interupted when speaking and is never lost for words, thus i have made my characters dialogue more poetical and fast flowing based on Genesis's constant quotes from what originated as a book of poems and was then adapted into a play called 'LOVELESS'. - http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/LOVELESS
I feel that this gives the character a mysterious edge and gives him more power in language over Hayden Astley, which is important as Gianni should be the character with the majority of power and dominance over all aspects in this 2 minute production.
Genesis Rhapsodos - http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/e/e1/Cc-genesis-rhapsodos.jpg
I feel that this gives the character a mysterious edge and gives him more power in language over Hayden Astley, which is important as Gianni should be the character with the majority of power and dominance over all aspects in this 2 minute production.
Genesis Rhapsodos - http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/e/e1/Cc-genesis-rhapsodos.jpg
Friday, 26 February 2010
Gianni Aquazi - Jonathan Beeley
Taken and appeared in by - Jonathan Beeley, Adam Swannick, John Boocock
Hayden Astley - John Boocock
Taken and appeared in by - John Boocock, Jonathan Beeley and Adam Swannick
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
The Ankou
On this blog, we've been talking a lot about the Ankou but information has been a little vague on where this character came from. But no more! Here is the research I've done into this servant of Death and how his character functions and works.
The Ankou originates from the Celtic folklore of Brittany. He or she is an omen of Death and his official title is the 'King of the Dead'. He or she is the traditionally the last person within the parish to die during the year. They then take up the role as the Ankou and every parish in Brittany had their own Ankou.
This being would then travel to the houses of those about to die, accompanied by two ghostly figures and a cart, and knock on the door with a sound that can sometimes be heard by the living. They take the souls of the recently departed and loads them onto the cart before leaving for the next house.
There is an old story regarding the Ankou where three brothers come across the Ankou disguised as an old man upon his cart down a dark road one day and break it. The oldest two brothers scorn him and leave where as the third brother stays behind to help him repair the cart.
The next day, the ones who had scorned the Ankou had both died most horribly but the third brother, who had stayed to help, only had his hair turned white as a reminder of who the figure was.
The Ankou originates from the Celtic folklore of Brittany. He or she is an omen of Death and his official title is the 'King of the Dead'. He or she is the traditionally the last person within the parish to die during the year. They then take up the role as the Ankou and every parish in Brittany had their own Ankou.
This being would then travel to the houses of those about to die, accompanied by two ghostly figures and a cart, and knock on the door with a sound that can sometimes be heard by the living. They take the souls of the recently departed and loads them onto the cart before leaving for the next house.
There is an old story regarding the Ankou where three brothers come across the Ankou disguised as an old man upon his cart down a dark road one day and break it. The oldest two brothers scorn him and leave where as the third brother stays behind to help him repair the cart.
The next day, the ones who had scorned the Ankou had both died most horribly but the third brother, who had stayed to help, only had his hair turned white as a reminder of who the figure was.
25 word pitch
When former SAS squad member Gianni Aquazi organizes to meet with Hayden Astley in the woods, the atmosphere turns sharper than the sword Gianni holds . . .
Ankou Resemblance to similar individuals
This first link is to a character known as the Slender Man. Slender Man is much like the Ankou in that people hardly ever come into contact with him (or it) but when they do, it usually ends in death. However, the information on Slender Man that I can gather is extremely vague and sparse which is also a similarity to the Ankou. The similarity ends there though as Slender Man is not a servant for Death and acts of its own accord.
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs47/f/2009/210/7/8/Slender_Man_by_Gaara_Monster.jpg
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs47/f/2009/210/7/8/Slender_Man_by_Gaara_Monster.jpg
Treatment (Full)
Treatment: Supernatural Action Film Treatment
Programme: Dead Mans Dawning (working title)
Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes
Audience: Psychological horror/drama Fan’s, mostly teens and older 15 – 34 more appealing to male gender because of gore, violence, mild swearing etc.
Resume: Hayden Astley, is a 24-Year-old English Ex SAS pizza guy whose old SAS friends/colleagues have turned on him, they’ve decided he shall no longer live. This leads to a massive change in Hayden, turning him into the servant of Death himself. He pursues his killer and the people who planned his apparent death across the country, picking them off one by one, until only Gianni, his killer is left to find. However Hayden is unaware that Gianni has acquired something to rival his supernatural undead talents, and killing his killer will take more effort than initially thought.... As Hayden hunts for his killer after realizing something is different about him now, he perceives there is more at hand than first met the eye about Gianni, and perhaps he is more of a threat to not only Hayden, but himself...
Suggested Elements:
1. USP – Voice over all the way through giving in-depth thoughts of characters and flashbacks
2. Use of special effects to signify when a scene is a flash back
3. Supernatural themes
4. Stalk and slash movie
Film Days – 21 Day’s. Extension available and foreseeable depending on success rate
Budget Estimate - £5,000,000 – More may be available due to on-going negotiations with possible investor’s.
Programme: Dead Mans Dawning (working title)
Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes
Audience: Psychological horror/drama Fan’s, mostly teens and older 15 – 34 more appealing to male gender because of gore, violence, mild swearing etc.
Resume: Hayden Astley, is a 24-Year-old English Ex SAS pizza guy whose old SAS friends/colleagues have turned on him, they’ve decided he shall no longer live. This leads to a massive change in Hayden, turning him into the servant of Death himself. He pursues his killer and the people who planned his apparent death across the country, picking them off one by one, until only Gianni, his killer is left to find. However Hayden is unaware that Gianni has acquired something to rival his supernatural undead talents, and killing his killer will take more effort than initially thought.... As Hayden hunts for his killer after realizing something is different about him now, he perceives there is more at hand than first met the eye about Gianni, and perhaps he is more of a threat to not only Hayden, but himself...
Suggested Elements:
1. USP – Voice over all the way through giving in-depth thoughts of characters and flashbacks
2. Use of special effects to signify when a scene is a flash back
3. Supernatural themes
4. Stalk and slash movie
Film Days – 21 Day’s. Extension available and foreseeable depending on success rate
Budget Estimate - £5,000,000 – More may be available due to on-going negotiations with possible investor’s.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Images of 'The Ankou' from different sources...
this is from the source - http://images.elfwood.com/art/m/i/miny/ankou.jpg
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Questionnaire
1) How old are you?
15-19 [] 20-29 [] 30+ []
2) Your Gender.
Male [] Female []
3) Do you like horror films?
Yes [] No []
4) Do you like supernatural films?
Yes [] No []
1-5 [] 6-10 [] 11+ []
Vampires [] Ghosts [] Lycanthropes []
............................................................................................
7) Do you like lots of gore in a horror film?
Yes [] No [] Maybe []
8) Do you like horror films that build up suspense?
Yes [] No []
Yes [] No []
............................................................................................
Example of an Amateur Action Film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdxDNS5Vc-A
This is an example of another amateur action film short conducted by others for us to use an an example of sorts. The music is distinct from ours as s the style but the moves in some of the scenes can be integrated into our own piece.
This is an example of another amateur action film short conducted by others for us to use an an example of sorts. The music is distinct from ours as s the style but the moves in some of the scenes can be integrated into our own piece.
The Film Genres and Sub Genre
The main film genre is an action film, established as being full of chases, fight scenes and battles across many different possible locales and optionally containing disasters and obstacles in the environment for the heroes and protagonists to overcome n order to defeat the villain. They are constantly full of high energy, containing races, rescues, martial arts (which will not be present in this film) and spectacular rhythm. The camerawork will have fast cuts through the action to keep the pace of the film but will contain many reposes to place exposition.
The Sub Genre of the film is supernatural. Supernatural films involve beings that are unexplainable by science, do not appear in pop culture fantasy and are closely related to the dead and the consequences of dying in a certain way. People surviving death is common (as is the case of Astley/The Ankou) and may contain ghosts, gods, apparitions and many other things that can be classed as extraordinary phenomena. This can be played in many ways, from horror, comedy and romance but in the case of this film, it will be played for action and partly horror.
The Sub Genre of the film is supernatural. Supernatural films involve beings that are unexplainable by science, do not appear in pop culture fantasy and are closely related to the dead and the consequences of dying in a certain way. People surviving death is common (as is the case of Astley/The Ankou) and may contain ghosts, gods, apparitions and many other things that can be classed as extraordinary phenomena. This can be played in many ways, from horror, comedy and romance but in the case of this film, it will be played for action and partly horror.
Film Certification
We initially planned for our film to be a 15, but after researching film certification and allowed contents we found a shot planned to be a pivotal point in the production to be restricted, this shot was a killing blow to the neck with a sword. Although we would not be physicall showing the blow, it would be implyed by a a motion and a change of shot. Researching this information means our production will now be an 18 certificated film. The exact line read's -
Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).
The link for the research is - http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/592478/
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Character reference research
Name research for the name of what Hayden becomes 'The Ankou', a personification of death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankou
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankou
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Character Profiles - By all contributors
One of the key things that people find memorable about movies aside from the plot, settings and special effects are the characters. A badly written or badly acted character can ruin a blockbuster movie and ruin a perfectly good plot.
Here I am going to post a little background story for each of the characters within this scene to help you feel closer to the events that happen to each character in our two minute production and leave you wanting to watch the rest of this film.
1. Hayden Astley.
Hayden is a retired member of the SAS, leaving after a botched mission in which he left a member of his emotionally tied squadron for dead. Now working as a less than honorable and far from exciting job as a pizza delivery boy, he is set up by none other than his old SAS surviving squad mates, out to get revenge for their fallen comrade; the killer being Gianni Aquazi, his former best friend and famed for his mental instability which makes him a super weapon of violence He is mercilessly with a sword by Gianni and shortly dies afterwards.
However, this is not the end for Astley. He rises not long after Gianni leaves,transformed into something beyond death: the Ankou; a being of mythology that is said to be the servant of Death itself. He however keeps his human body to avoid drawing the interest of the living. He is given the task by a voice in his head to 'deal with the ones who killed him'. If he does deal with them, he will be reborn but if he fails, he will serve the voice for all eternity as the Ankou. Armed with the blood-stained sword that killed him, Hayden sets out to accomplish his task. The only doubt in his mind is if the voice in his head is one he can trust...
2. Gianni Aquazi
Gianni was a member of Hayden's squad for several years and over many missions together, they became good friends and comrades. However, when one of his friend is killed, the whole squadron See's this as Haydens fault. After that mission Hayden 'retires', and the squadron disbands, and all keep contact with each other apart from they're disgraced leader. Gianni and the squadron bears an unshakable grudge against his commanding officer. After being voted to do so by his other comrades, Gianni sets up and murders his friend.
However, he finds after his deed that Hayden is not dead. Gianni finds he is up against something entirely new, something beyond the livings knowledge. As Hayden continues to chase him and the others across the country in search of freedom and revenge, the grip on his sanity begins to slip ever further and upon realizing Gianni is something beyond living, he seeks salvage and help from beyond sanity's barriers...
Here I am going to post a little background story for each of the characters within this scene to help you feel closer to the events that happen to each character in our two minute production and leave you wanting to watch the rest of this film.
1. Hayden Astley.
Hayden is a retired member of the SAS, leaving after a botched mission in which he left a member of his emotionally tied squadron for dead. Now working as a less than honorable and far from exciting job as a pizza delivery boy, he is set up by none other than his old SAS surviving squad mates, out to get revenge for their fallen comrade; the killer being Gianni Aquazi, his former best friend and famed for his mental instability which makes him a super weapon of violence He is mercilessly with a sword by Gianni and shortly dies afterwards.
However, this is not the end for Astley. He rises not long after Gianni leaves,transformed into something beyond death: the Ankou; a being of mythology that is said to be the servant of Death itself. He however keeps his human body to avoid drawing the interest of the living. He is given the task by a voice in his head to 'deal with the ones who killed him'. If he does deal with them, he will be reborn but if he fails, he will serve the voice for all eternity as the Ankou. Armed with the blood-stained sword that killed him, Hayden sets out to accomplish his task. The only doubt in his mind is if the voice in his head is one he can trust...
2. Gianni Aquazi
Gianni was a member of Hayden's squad for several years and over many missions together, they became good friends and comrades. However, when one of his friend is killed, the whole squadron See's this as Haydens fault. After that mission Hayden 'retires', and the squadron disbands, and all keep contact with each other apart from they're disgraced leader. Gianni and the squadron bears an unshakable grudge against his commanding officer. After being voted to do so by his other comrades, Gianni sets up and murders his friend.
However, he finds after his deed that Hayden is not dead. Gianni finds he is up against something entirely new, something beyond the livings knowledge. As Hayden continues to chase him and the others across the country in search of freedom and revenge, the grip on his sanity begins to slip ever further and upon realizing Gianni is something beyond living, he seeks salvage and help from beyond sanity's barriers...
New Production Treatment (2 minutes version)
Treatment: Supernatural Action Film Treatment
Programme: Dead Mans Dawning (working title)
Duration: 2 minutes
Audience: Psychological horror/drama Fan’s, mostly teens and older 15 – 34 more appealing to male gender because of gore, violence, mild swearing etc.
Resume: Hayden Astley, is a 24-Year-old English Ex SAS pizza guy whose old SAS friends/colleagues have turned on him, they’ve decided he shall no longer live. The reason why unfolds throughout the film. One friend who has been mentally unstable all his life and was recruited for his lack of emotion to his victims, Gianni Aquazi, has been singled out as his closest of the 4, and the most capable of ending his life. He draws Hayden into an old forest to commit the 4 friends wishes… As Gianni draws his sword to Hayden’s throat to thrust the final blow, he recounts his life and why he thinks this fatal end has come about, and as the cold blooded deranged Gianni bears down on him, Hayden’s begs for his life and for his old friend to show remorse, he thrusts down and drives the blade into his neck. In his subconscious mind, as his body starts to shut down from lack of blood, a voice fills his mind speaking off dark intentions, a wager for Hayden to become re-born and take revenge on his friend, a call Hayden answers….
Suggested Elements:
1. USP – Voiceover all the way through giving in-depth thoughts of characters and flashbacks
2. Use of special effects to signify when a scene is a flash back
3. Supernatural themes
4. Stalk and slash movie
Film Days – 21 Day’s. Extension available and foreseeable depending on success rate
Budget Estimate - £5,000,000 – More may be available due to on-going negotiations with possible investor’s.
Programme: Dead Mans Dawning (working title)
Duration: 2 minutes
Audience: Psychological horror/drama Fan’s, mostly teens and older 15 – 34 more appealing to male gender because of gore, violence, mild swearing etc.
Resume: Hayden Astley, is a 24-Year-old English Ex SAS pizza guy whose old SAS friends/colleagues have turned on him, they’ve decided he shall no longer live. The reason why unfolds throughout the film. One friend who has been mentally unstable all his life and was recruited for his lack of emotion to his victims, Gianni Aquazi, has been singled out as his closest of the 4, and the most capable of ending his life. He draws Hayden into an old forest to commit the 4 friends wishes… As Gianni draws his sword to Hayden’s throat to thrust the final blow, he recounts his life and why he thinks this fatal end has come about, and as the cold blooded deranged Gianni bears down on him, Hayden’s begs for his life and for his old friend to show remorse, he thrusts down and drives the blade into his neck. In his subconscious mind, as his body starts to shut down from lack of blood, a voice fills his mind speaking off dark intentions, a wager for Hayden to become re-born and take revenge on his friend, a call Hayden answers….
Suggested Elements:
1. USP – Voiceover all the way through giving in-depth thoughts of characters and flashbacks
2. Use of special effects to signify when a scene is a flash back
3. Supernatural themes
4. Stalk and slash movie
Film Days – 21 Day’s. Extension available and foreseeable depending on success rate
Budget Estimate - £5,000,000 – More may be available due to on-going negotiations with possible investor’s.
Update
Hey! Just to inform you, we've changed our idea ever so slightly from our first post! Its now going to be the story of a 24-Year-old Scottish Ex SAS pizza guy who goes by the name of Hayden Astley... more information soon!
Friday, 29 January 2010
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Friday, 22 January 2010
Hey!
Hey, welcome to the heist productions! We are currently planning work on a new film as work on our debut production 'The Heist' is ready and being prepared to be screened. Our new film will be action genre, looking into the death of an age old warrior who has re-awoken to tell us his story.Stay Tuned!
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