Filming Shots From 30/11/13

These are various shots from filming today. We filmed all the shots from the title sequence so they we finally have some shots to start editing with.

On the above shots Saul (Kyle) is setting up a shot so that I could film him, from behind, performing the opening sequence.

Shooting Schedule for the 30/11/13

We plan to film the first shots for our film tomorrow. We would like to start film in chronological order because that way it will be easier to know what we have and haven't filmed. Tomorrow we will need to film various shots of Kyle basically living in a park.

We will be filming in a park in Barnsley near the police station.

We will need for filming:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Kyle's costume
• Kyle's bag
• A packet of crisps
• Some spare coins
• Plastic bag

Kyle's Costume Decision: Update

Kyle

 

On the initial costume decision I decided that Kyle would look best in hard wearing safety boots but after some thinking we decided as a group that it would be best if Kyle was to wear dirty looking trainers. These are old Levi trainers that look disgusting. I think they will match Kyle's persona better than the safety boots because these do look like trainers that someone would give up, give away or throw in the rubbish and this is why Kyle, a tramps, would look better in.

 

Getting Kyle Ready 28/11/13

Getting Ready

Here we are getting Saul ready to act as Kyle. We applied dark eye shadow to his face to create a dirty looking effect. We also decided it was best if we messed up his hair so it looked unruly and unsettling.

Title Sequence Research Mindmap

Questionnaire Results

Click here to view Questionnaire results

Setting Inspiration - American Psycho

Setting Inspiration - American Psycho

Another setting from a film comes from the horror American Psycho. Although this is a horror film, a setting used still creates the same effect that we would like to create with the Employer. The film itself is based on the concept of having someone who is on the outside quite ordinary, even being rich and in a high state of power, is still desperately seeking pleasure from killing others. This is similar to the concept of the Employer in our film. After he is beaten and put into a coma by Kyle, he makes himself powerful and rich, enough to get over his beating. He seems and looks like a perfectly ordinary person but can only fulfill himself by having revenge on Kyle and killing him.

Because of the similarities, I decided we should consider the office environment in which the main character Patrick Bateman lives his seemingly ordinary life as a Wall Street banker.

As shown in the image to the left, he has a seemingly normal office. We can see that he is in a state of power because the office is quite large. Other aspects that show his power and the large windows and the sofa located to the side of his desk.
This implies that even though this is a place of work, he has that much power that he can almost mix business and pleasure.

His desk is also quite clear, which is something that we definitely need to include in our confrontation scene. The desk isn't too cluttered to show that he is under pressure with any deadlines and isn't swamped with work. There are enough objects on his desk that indicates power such as the small pile of papers and the telephone on his desk.
Although there are a lack of objects that show a personal connection to the work place, this could be an element that we could manipulate in regards to our plot. It shows that although they are powerful, they have deeper concerns elsewhere much like our antagonist's revenge plot and Patrick Bateman's addiction to murdering women.
Even though when studied on a deeper level the environment shows emotion detachment, there are things that wouldn't lead you to think there was anything out of the ordinary about Bateman's character. These are things such as the pictures on the wall to create a calming environment which could subtly say something positive about Bateman's personality. There are also a lack of personal belongings but not a lack of objects in general such as the window cill having various objects on them. This could be an indicator of Bateman's personality and not show him as completely bland or emotionless, like you would expect of a psychopath like he really is.
There are also a lot of ordinary colours used like navy, light blue, white and black. These aren't colours that are out of the ordinary which could indicate him being so ordinary, but then his red tie does stand out as an indictor to death or even warning.

The subtle elements are the things that make this setting so effective and influential to the plot. The things I have seen during this research are things that I believe we need to consider when finding and creating the right setting to represent our final scene.

Setting Inspiration - Being John Malcovich

Setting Inspiration - Being John Malcovich

Another film with a setting similar to one we are wanting is the psychological drama Being John Malcovich.

An important setting in this film is the office setting. Again this setting is largely open and even has a waiting area, but we are still considering elements of office environments to create inspiration for things such as props.

Of course there are things about this setting that I think we should be completely dismissing such as the flower pot. This is a prop that has largely emotionally sensitive connotations and wouldn't be something completely obvious to find in the environment that we are wanting to create for the Employer. I feel that this is perhaps something too feminine for our antagonist and could show him in a less powerful way. There are also a lot of props on the desk that could indicate being in a lesser state of power. These are things like, again, the papers. I feel these could be a large indicator of being in a lesser state of power so these will not be included for our setting.
Something else that should be ignored are, again, the windows. The windows let in too much light and create the idea that there is always a way out. This isn't the concept of the scene we are wanting to make so I believe that we need an environment without windows to make Kyle, and the audience, feel confined.
The phone is also a good idea to have on a desk as it could indicate that this is a character who will be widely needed and needs a direct way of being contacted. Again, this shows that this character may have a lot of connections and puts them in a higher state of power and dominance in comparison to Kyle.
Another positive aspect of this setting is the fact that the roof is so small. This could represent the claustrophobic setting and could impact an audience in the confined way that we are wanting to in our film. Obviously we couldn't construct this kind of setting ourselves due to lack of resources and time but I believe that a way of creating this confined and escapeless setting could come from us simply finding an environment without any source of natural light. 

Setting Inspiration - Shutter Island

Setting Inspiration - Shutter Island

 After considering the office setting from The Usual Suspects, I moved onto another psychological thriller, Shutter Island. 
This setting is a lot more fitted to our idea of our office scene as it is more confined. We wanted the space to be extremely personal to the Employer and a space that could represent him as a person.

The desk is more of what we wanted as it doesn't have the numerous amounts of papers like in The Usual Suspects. Ben Kinglsey's character looks in control with a less cluttered desk. This is something that I believe we should consider as it would make the Employer seem powerful and needed to have things like papers and folders on his desk, but too many may look as though he is swamped and in a lesser position of power.

The colour scheme in this environment is something we would also something to consider when finding a location suitable for this scene. The colours are mainly on the duller side. But when particular attention is paid, certain colours stand out and create imagery. for example, the top left image shows quite dull ordinary colours apart from the yellow accessories on his person. This could be an advantageous idea for us as the final result of the conversation scene at the end of the film isn't expected and the colour imagery could be a useful hint. This idea is something I have noticed in poster research so this could also be useful to do in that scene. The colour red could be used in some way as it is a symbol of danger or even blood and could be used as a foreboding technique.
 

On the other hand, the windows still give too much light into the room. It is more confined than the office from The Usual Suspects, but I feel that the windows still make the office seem a lot too open. I feel that this would give too much freedom to Kyle and we would like to create the idea that he has no where to run.

Even though his monologue will be a clear representation of his dominance, we would still like physical attributions to show this, particularly the physical environment.

Setting Inspiration - Usual Suspects

Setting Inspiration

We have many locations in our film. When deciding the locations, we looked at many other similar media texts to ours in order to create some inspiration for the settings in our film.

The confrontation scene we decided should take place in an office type setting. This was decided as we believe that it could be relatable for our audience and imply the feeling of similarity. On the other hand, we want to use this feeling of relatability to our advantage by making the environment a place involving danger and murder.

Looking at office setting in films that related to ours, we found the police office in the interrogation scene of the film The Usual Suspects. Although, in relation to the reason for the setting, the setting would be relatively different to what we will have, it give a lot of hints, especially to shots.

 

The desk is layed out with plenty of props that indicate a busy business man. The props such as the phone, indicate that they are important and are always contacted by other people. The high amount of papers and files on the desk are iconology that also imply that the desk belongs to a person who is related to business.

Although, the windows that surround the office is something that we would like to avoid because we think that although it shows the rest of the office environments, we would like the office location to be enclosed and closed off. We want this element because it means that the two characters are away from everything. It shows the contrast between the last environment in which they were together in the fight scene.

The difference in environments will show the contrast between the natural vulnerable side to the Employer that he once was and then after he was beaten he gained this power and re-created himself in a materialistic environment.

 

Although, there are a few too many props laid out on the desk in this scene so although we are taking inspiration from this setting we are considering not using as many. This is because we would like to illustrate that the Employer is in control. Having too many sheets of papers and such on his desk may indicate that he is overwhelmed with things to do. Because the revenge plot is so thought out, we would like to show that this is the Employer's main aim and is focused on this particular 'task'.

Prop Update: Lamp

Prop Update

Originally, the lamp that we decided to use for the confrontation scene was this lamp: (see left)


We decided on this lamp because we felt that it looked like a typical object to find in an office setting. As we were wanting the lamp to represent the idea of a religious godly object that 'provides light' on the situation, the colour white was ideal.

We encountered some problems when it actually came to filming the scenes we wanted, the light was actually too bright for the scene. The lamp being so large domineered the shot and although the lamp is extremely important it isn't the focal point of the shot, the conversation is.


We then decided to look for a lamp that wasn't so domineering and found a more fitting prop.
This is the lamp we have now decided to use:

We decided on this lamp as it is also made especially to clip on to the side of desks. This is an effective attribution of the lamp as it then looks like a typical object to be found in an office setting that we are trying to achieve in the Employer's environment. 
Instead of the blaring bright light that the other lamp gave to the scene, this lamp now emits a softer but still powerful light. The scene is now darker and more atmospheric in regards to the eerie atmosphere that we are wanting to create in this last scene.
So overall we feel like this lamp is the better choice to the scene. 

Narrative Inspiration - The Usual Suspects

Narrative Inspiration - The Usual Suspects

Props

Research into Similar Short Film

Similar Short Film

 

Closed Doors

'Not all doors are meant to opened'

 

 

 

 

 In this short, the elements of mirroring, flashbacks and insinuation are used. All of these are elements that we would like to involve in our film.
The still to the left are stills from the short. These are shots that involve all 3 elements. The character in the top clip closing the door is shown in a flashback is mirrored by the character in the bottom clip closing the door in the protagonist's face.

 
 
 
 

It is effective as it presents an unsteady mentality. It shows that the grip between the past and the present according to the protagonist is fragmented and they are having some kind of internal conflict. The editing in all of the flashback is quick paced, yet not too quick to the point where it is unclear to an audience what it actually happening, this becoming confusing.







The close ups that are used in the film on the protagonist are something we are extremely interested in. Because the close ups are so close to the face, all of the facial features are scene which leads to the true emotion of the character being shown. To have these close ups were particularly effective because, as an audience member, you would be able to connect to the character because of the close proximity there is between you. This will be effective especially regarding a character that is mentally unstable in a psychological thriller as you can then be enveloped in the character and their struggle and therefore create a deeper link in the storyline.

Confrontation Scene Inspiration

Final Scene: Confrontation

We didn't want The Client's character to be the typical bad guy. By this we mean that we didn't want him to be intimidating in the most obvious way as we felt that this would be a lot more effective towards the genre as the fear comes from e less obvious element.

We took some inspiration from the BBC TV series 'Sherlock' which is a modern adaption of the stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The character we took inspiration from is the antagonist and Sherlock's nemesis Jim Moriarty.

Andrew Scott even won a British Television Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his interpretation of Moriarty in Sherlock.

Andrew's adaption of Moriarty is the mixture of terrifying and average that we want to incorporate into The Client's character. The fear Moriarty creates comes from how calm he is whilst threatening people and even bringing humour into the scenes when you know you shouldn't be laughing. The fact that he takes his crime so lightly is disturbing and an element we would like to include in our film for the character of The Client.

This is the final scene from the last episode of the first series of Sherlock. As you can see, as certain times Moriarty shows no fear at Sherlock. Even when Sherlock holds a gun to his face he even says provocative things to him such as him being 'a tiny bit disappointed' if he shot him and earlier in the scene when he says that he's not here to kill him because that would be too 'obvious' and 'boring'.
The fact that Moriarty can go from unbelieably angry to laughing within the space of a sentence is terrifying and certainly something that we would like to bring into the character of The Client. This is because for a psychological thriller the fear of the antagonist should come from a less obvious place and should become intimidating in a less obvious way.
The character of Moriarty is feared plainly through his comedic view of death and his crimes and his lack of empathy or emotional involvement in his crimes.

Analysis of a Title Sequence - To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird

I decided to analyse the title sequence from the film 'To Kill A Mockingbird' due to it being known for its brilliant title sequence.

The first thing the audience will see is this screen which shows the company who has distributed the film. It shows the audience that companies support this film.

This is the first footage the audience will see. It shows two hands reaching to go into a box. This could signify that during the film there is a goal to reach for and this title sequence is foreboding it. The film is in black and white due to it being filmed in 1962.

This footage shows what is in the box. It shows dolls, crayons and trinkets which are all children's objects. It tells the audience that the film will feature children and involve the life's of children. As toys are the first thing we see it can be assumed that children are to be a huge involvement in this film.

The title of the film is show first in crayon, which again suggests that children are a huge part to play in the narrative of this film. The title is then shown in text. The text isn't clear which suggests that there is a secrecy to the film that the audience will later discover. 

The stopwatch could signify the passing of time in the title sequence or it could show how time is an important part of the film. 

The title sequence allows the audience to know, if they don't already, that the film is based upon a book.

The child like drawing of this bird is telling the audience that in some way, birds may be involved in the film. This may also be in reference to the title of the film 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.

Research into Title Sequence's

Title Sequence's

Pulp Fiction
The first title sequence I decided to look at is the title sequence from Pulp Fiction:

This is not a title sequence I'd like to take inspiration from due to it not being very self explanatory. The clip doesn't allow the audience to get any indication what is due to happen in the film other than there is to be violence.

The Silence of the Lambs

This title sequence has footage, which is an aspect i prefer, of moths and bugs and just general outside. This indicates to the audience that moths are to be a major part of the film. I would like to create a title sequence that indicates what is to come in film and an insight into the characters and what their lives consist of.

Psycho

This is not a title sequence I'd like for our film The Employer. I feel it doesn't give the audience any signs of what the coming film is about. I personally feel that a title sequence should give clues and information about the characters involved in a film and this is a title sequence that doesn't do that. I do feel that this type of title sequence can be great if the film is to be a mysterious one because it doesn't allow the audience to know about the film. Due to this, I feel that our title sequence should have footage of Kyle.

Film Poster Design - 1 Rough

Film Poster Design


I have never used Photoshop before so first of all I decided to physically draw out an idea that I had for a poster for our film and then I would be able to build from there.

Although,it is rough, this is the initial idea that I had for our poster. I had the idea of having 2 men shown without barely any facial features, especially not eyes. I decided not to show the eyes as I feel like eyes would give away too much about a character and I would like to keep the audience guessing to the characters, especially when I would be involving the gun. I want the 2 men in suits and shaking hands. This is to make the scene seem completely normal and professional, which relates back to the title of the film. This idea sets up the film to be professional and formal, yet involving the gun turns this idea on its head. I chose the idea of hiding the gun behind the back of one of the men because this would indicate secrets, secrecy and deceit. These are clear themes through out the film.

I would like for the background of the poster to be blurred or even darkened to the point where you cannot see anything. I would like to do this as it isn't the focal point of the poster and I would like even the rest of the poster to be in black and white apart from the gun. I took this idea from the poster for the film Identity (see right)  in which most of the poster is in monochrome and the blood is the only thing with colour. It effectively shifted focus onto the blood which presents a dangerous tone and would be certainly effective in our poster too.  

I feel as though this overall idea would be effective for our film as it is a mysterious idea that also seems like something that an audience might see everyday. To involve this element of an ordinary scene with a dark extraordinary twist is certainly a thrilling element and would successfully cause the audience to question the ordinary situations they have been in, relate to the film in some way and anticipate what is to come.

Research into Title Sequences - Now You See Me

Research into Title Sequences

This is the opening sequence for Now You See Me. This film isn't quite in the same sub-genre as our film but is still a psychological action thriller. 
The quality of title sequence that we enjoy from this film is that the title sequence is used to establish the characters in the film. This is what we are planning to do with the character of Kyle, but without giving too much away. 


This character shown to the left is in a crowded environment outdoors. It established the character as maybe a street magician especially because of the props of the card deck and the dark clothing which are quite iconic and stereotypical of a street magician as it gives the idea of mystery which adds to the character and effectively establishes them which would prepare an audience member for the rest of the film.

 The shot on the right shown the second character. This man is a lot more different to the first but still equally mysterious. In this estblishing scene there are a lot of close up shots to show that the character could be less of a show magician like the first and is actually a hypnotist. The hat and again the dark clothing again adds another air of mystery to the character which aids the overall idea of the character.



The next character on the left is in a rural environment which maybe shows that he could blend in with everyone else which creates a mysterious tone. This is backed up by again the dark clothing. The prop he is holding is a spoon which we can guess due to the other characters that he may be attempting another stereotypical magic trick of bending the spoon 'with his mind'.

The next character is the only main female character that is shown in the title sequence. The fact that she is shown last says that the fact that she is a female needs particular emphasis. She is wearing a showgirl costume and the propers show us that she is shackled. The setting shows stage lights and also an audience behind her. This suggest that she is maybe doing a stereotypical escape trick. The fact that she is on stage shows that she is maybe the most successful of all of the characters.

To establish the characters in a breakdown and in the title sequence says that you need to focus a lot on these characters and their story. We like this element and would like to include it in our film as we feel that a lot of the focus needs to be on Kyle and his story and how he came to be in position that he is in now.
To have this in the title sequence saves a lot of time, which will be particularly helpful in our film as we have to create an entire story that needs to be understood with characters and a understandable plot line in 5 minutes.

Research into Relevant Film Poster Design

Relevant Film Poster Design

To create some inspiration for our poster we looked at posters that fall in the same genre as ours to see how the film can be displayed and what elements make the poster effective and relevant to the genre and the film itself.
In general a majority of the posters that were advertising thriller films, in particular psychological thrillers, the focal point of the posters were the faces of characters in the film. I feel that this is because psychological thrillers tend to delve into human behaviour and the human mind in general. The effect of having a persons face on the poster can make the audience wonder why this character has such focus and adds an element of mystery. It also makes the film seem some what relatable as we know then there is focus of human behaviour and doesn't make the film too unrealistic and almost believable and disturbing.
Alongside the faces there tends to be some kind of hint to say what else the film will involve. Sometimes the graphology of the poster can also indicate the tone of the film which can be used effectively paired with the images used to involve and entice an audience member to the film.

Here are a few examples:

Research into Relevant Poster Design - Premonition



Research into Relevant Poster Design: Premonition

 

Another poster that I chose to analyse is the 20067 psychological thriller, Premonition. I chose to analyse this poster because, much like Identity, the film itself is extremely thrilling and is something to consider looking at in regards to shots when creating the correct atmosphere for a thriller film. The film particularly creates a tense atmosphere that we could like to create in our film so after watching the film I decided to look into the poster.

 

 

 

In conclusion, I believe that the film is definitely effective and creates the correct atmosphere for its genre. The features that the most effective are the image that is subtley and almost subconsciously created in the centre of the poster. This, again much like the hand print in the Identity poster, is a factor that I believe to be a strong feature when creating a successful poster for a psychological thriller and therefore I am considering using this idea in my poster design.

Research Into Relevant Film Poster Design - Identity

Relevant Film Poster Design - Identity

 

I decided to research the poster of the 2003 psychological thriller 'Identity'. The film itself holds a lot of qualities that we would like to use in our film such as mystery and subtle suggestion. These are qualities that we would like to use as they quite clearly are extremely essential in creating a psychological thriller as they particularly imply to the 'psychological' side of the genre.

 

 

Elements of the poster that I find particularly effective are the subtly of the silhouettes almost disguises as fingers and the face hidden in the hand. These subtleties are clever and leave an audience to figure out how each part of the poster is relevant to the film and also the genre. The colours used are simple and effective and carefully indicate the tone of the film and imply to an audience the severity of elements such as danger and a warning.

Overall I believe that the poster for Identity is a great basis as to what we would like to sculpt our film on and has given great ideas as to how to start our poster design.

 

Location Shots - Street Corner

Location Shots - Street Corner

For the title sequence, we decided that we wanted a scene in which Kyle was sat on the floor, begging for change. We thought that showing Kyle at an extremely vulnerable point would show the lows that he has had to go through, how degrading it is being in his position and shows his lack of power.

The cream and beige colours in the location are also extremely natural. We wanted all the locations to tie together so we made sure the locations shown in the title sequence were all linked via colour. This again could further represent Kyle having the bare essentials, thus proving his vulnerable character.

We wanted to have Kyle look almost closed into a corner in this scene, which is why we used this location. The brick walls surround the corner and we feel would be appropriate in showing Kyle as isolated and vulnerable. 

Also, to have Kyle backed into a corner may represent his lack of power and could also represent that there is no turning back for him.

By using this in the title sequence would forebode his future death, by showing that this is the path that he has carved for himself after beating the Employer. He is now isolated and has no other escape, shown by the walls barricading him in. The only other escape is forwarding but that leads onto a road, which can be seen as a way out or also a dangerous place. This could represent that by trusting the Employer, Kyle is seeing him as a way out of his vulnerable state by receiving money from him, but in actual fact he is dangerous and trusting him is a bad decision.

Research into Film Poster Design

Film Posters

The first poster I have decided to look into is the Pulp Fiction poster. Pulp Fiction was released in 1994 so as it was released 9 years ago it won't be as modern as we would like. The poster features Uma Thurman who plays Mia Wallace in the film and she looks to be laid in a relaxed manner. The writing at the top of the poster 'winner best picture 1994 Cannes film festival'. This is put on the poster so that people know that this film has won awards and for it to have won awards means it has to be good. It grans the public's attention. The title is in large yellow writing and this stands out and underneath the fantastic title is 'a Quentin Tarantino film'. Anyone who already knows of Tarantino will know that he is a brilliant director and love the film. Quentin Tarantino will already have a large fan base so this will help bring that audience in too. There is a price on the poster '10c' which creates a magazine looking effect to the poster. Next to Uma Thurman is a list of the all-star cast. The cast is usually on the poster when they are good enough to be on there and because there is 12 people on this all-star list it suggests that this film is big and has big actors. The poster has all the right components for it to be a successful film poster.

The next poster I would like to look into is The Godfather. The poster features The Godfather holding a cat which is an iconic moment from the film so audience's will be able to connect the two. The poster is very basic and doesn't have much colour on it.This shows the film is going to be dark and sinister; that it won't have a nice storyline. The rose on his suit is red and red is colour that has both positive and negative connotations. It's negative connotations are that it is the same colour as fire and blood. The red rose has negative connotations because of the black and grey monochrome image. Film posters tend to have the small print at the bottom and this usually includes actors and sctresses names and company names. It basically just brings all the information together. This is something we will have to include on our film poster.

Scarface is a poster that i'd look to look at because I believe we could probably take inspiration from. I like this poster because it is very basic. It has only three main colours. Al Pacino is featured on the front and he look cold because of the black and white colour scheme. He is also holding a gun and that suggests that this film is a thriller film with violence included in it. Again, like Pulp Fiction, a list of actors is included so that the audience know who is featuring in it. This poster also includes a month for when the film is to be released 'Coming in December to a theater near you'. We can't do this for our film as of yet because we haven't decided where it would be released but we could definately include a month for it to be released. I can see Scarface being The Client very well in this poster format.

Research into Title Sequences - Shutter Island

Research into Title Sequences

This is the title sequence for the psychological thriller 'Shutter Island'. I chose this title sequence to look into as it has the narrative to it that we would like to have in our film.

The narrative of the title sequence is mixed up, yet quite revealing at the same time. The fact that there are certain iconic props used in certain clips in the title sequence mean that it suggests things to the audience about the film and create assumptions about the film that prepare an audience for what is to come in the film.

The shot to the left shows a lot of qualities that set the film in the genre of a psychological thriller. The metal gates, and particularly the focus on the gates with the lack of lighting on the rest of this particular room, present the tone of isolation and entrapment much like Kyle will be experiencing. Also the rain in the shot uses the feature of pathetic fallacy as the rain creates a dreary, lifeless feeling to the film already.


 The fact that the shot to the right is the first proper shot we get of an actual human quality makes the film seem a lot more realistic as the shots prior to this make the sequence surreal in a more pessimistic way as they seem like a nightmare sequence. 
The fact that the shots now seem more realistic is even more thrilling as making something seem more real is just about 'making a nightmare, a reality'.

A gun is used as a prop in this shot. This creates a dangerous tone to the title sequence which is particularly thrilling to an audience member. Although, the fact that the gun is under someones foot can be taken in 2 ways. Either the one thing that someone could be used as protection has been taken by someone else so their way of protection has been taken so they're helpless. The other way is that someone could have been threatening a protagonist with a gun and they have subsided the gun from the threat.