Final Major Project - Unit 13.
- Stanley Lewis
- Apr 21, 2017
- 54 min read
Initial Ideas:
My very first idea was about profiling, i would have a character sit on the side of the road and then i would have different types of people walk by and have the main character think up a back story for them just judging by their look. This idea i felt was pretty good and was one that would give me a lot of directions i could take it. I could have made it a relevant social commentary video about profiling and how there is a blurry line between it and racism or i could make it a personal story about how we spend to much time in other peoples lives and not enough in our own.
This idea was dropped because i felt it closely resembled my first final major project to much to the point where i felt that i would just be making the same film differently. Also, the amount of actors i would need exceeds the amount i have at my disposal.
My second idea: is based on a scene i saw in a film call "v for vendetta" where the main character is put in a prison cell and over the corse of her stay she starts to get notes through the hole in her wall from the prisoner next door. As these notes keep coming through she gets to know this person next door so well and on such deep level with out seeing her or every hearing her voice. this is the type of relationship i want to recreate in a different situation then the prison setting that the original film takes place in. But after i had read this news story about a man living in the woods for 27 years i feel i have a good idea on the horizon, because part of the story was about the man stealing food and when he stole to much people started leaving notes outside their houses trying to have conversations with the man, and that was that i had my setting and idea. so i started making my story board as i worked out the story, i didn't know it but this was a bad idea.
Reflection
The normal way to story board an idea would be to set out your final idea and script and then take key points from the script and then turn them into story board panels. But stupidly created my story boards as i was working out my story and this meant that every time i made a new panel that moment in the film was solidified and could not be changed because otherwise my time and work would have been wasted. then later on will planing out the story i went through it and found that it was really boring. The last thing i want is for the film to be boring and i could not do much about it because the film hangs on the writing of the notes, but the notes were just boring and really did not say anything or do anything impactful, which is partly to do with my inexperience when it comes to writing good dialogue.
So after all that i finally divided to scrap the idea. it was a good idea i felt but one that deserved more care and attention then i have time to give.
My third idea: and the idea i will be going through with is about a man who has multiple personality disorder and does not know it. As the film progresses his other personality would get more aggressive and do more extreme things that the main personality would have to deal and take care of. this idea means i get to use dialogue which is something I've never really gone all out with. It also means taking a darker root in terms of acting and tone.
Film overview:
A man called Joe lives his life on his own for the most part doing what he can to live a normal life. But when his land lord comes knocking for overdo rent Joe feels the pressure set in. So he goes looking for jobs all over town, but with no success anywhere. On his way back home he spots two shady looking men make some sort of exchange one of them gets handed a large amount of money. Joe spots it and feeling desperate he follows that man. As Joe gets closer and closer to the man the more fear he feels until he stops and decides against it he turns around and walks back when suddenly he makes
a strange jump in time with large gap in his memory.
He checks the time and finds out that it's the next day completely stunned he goes down stairs to see the land lord. He finds out that his rent has been paid in full, the land lord asks where he got the money. Joe tells him he got a job at Tesco's in another part of town. The land lord recognises the place and tells Joe that his friend works there as a manger, he asks joe if he met him. Joe tells him nervously yes telling the land lord that he was a very nice man (he lied). The land lord tells him that his friend is a piece of work. Joe leaves the building confused, walking up to his van he opens notices a smell coming from the boot
He opens it to find a dead body. The body is that of the man Joe followed the previous day. Joe runs back inside terrified and throws up in the toilet.
He sits down on his bed and turns to see a note on his bed side table. It tells him to bury the body at an address, it also tells him to look in his draw, he does and finds a large sum of money. The note also warns him that if he calls the police it will do nothing but get him thrown in jail for murder. Joe thinks for a moment panicking as he does and then deicides to tell the police even if it means risking going to prison. He picks up his phone but before he can type anything he has another jump in time and finds himself in his van. He freaks out and gets out of the van, but he has another jump back into the car but this time there is a posted note on the steering wheel that says drive. He begins to drive to the location. He arrives and drags the body into the junk yard and digs a hole. He dumps the body in the hole. He buries the body and sits down. He has another jump in time and sees a note that tells him to get home and hide that money.
Joe panics and runs to his van. He drives it down to his house but as he gets closer he sees blue and red lights flashing near his house. the police had arrived.
The next scene picks up with joe in a room with another man dressed in a suit and glasses, the man is a psychiatrist and was sent to do a review on joe's mental condition. They have a talk until the man is trick into getting too close to joe and is then promptly killed. Joe's second personality shows himself and says that he will kill the land lord for telling the police about the money Joe's second personality stole, while joe's main personality screens at him from a mirror. Joe walks out the door leaving a dead body in his wake yet again.
Plan B:
If something absolutely horrendous happens and the film has to be cancelled for some such reason then i'm going to need a plan B, a safety net so that i have something to present at the end of the term.
-Actors: If my actors don't show up for what ever reason then i will first try to reschedule and if that does not work then ill just recast, using the students in the drama department of STC.
-Equipment: If any of my equipment breaks or just stops working for what ever reason then i will be ether using backups like back up battery, back up lens's but if something like my camera fails me then i will be using STC equipment instead. But i will also be booking the zoom recorder, boom mic and extra battery days in advance of filming.
-The whole thing: if the whole film comes crashing down in flames then i also have a back up for that as well, i would create an animation, the film would be an animation about a chewed up and spat out peace of gum and his little adventure throw the streets trying to find someone after being abandoned. He then finds more spat out gum under a chair and they form a community. This would be a good idea because it does not need actors, meaning i would not have to worry about scheduling. All it needs its me and a camera so the likelihood of my equipment failing is much lower then it would be if i had lots more equipment.
Traget audience:
Primary audience: male - 20 - 30 years old
Due to the nature of my film dealing with psychological issues, this would stereotypically engage a more mature audience.
My target audience would typically watch genres such as psychological thrillers and horror films this may include films such as switch and psycho.
To draw the attention and gain acknowledgement from my audience i would put adverts on youtube and on the sides of buses. The adverts on youtube would also play inform of videos that would be considered for an older audience.
Secondary audience: male - 30 - 40 years old
The film has an all male cast, which would stereotypically appeal more to men then women as there are no women in the film for women audience to aline them selfs with. My secondary audience would watch films like silence of the lambs and psycho as they are cult classics that a much older audience would enjoy. To get my secondary audiences attention i would put trailers for my film in front of films that where 15+ or 18+ because older audiences would be there to see them.
Primary research:
Genre: The film is a psychological thriller. The film focuses on a man with a metal condition making the film fit into the psychological genre. But the film also follows how some one deals with being black mailed into burying a dead body making it fit into the thriller genre.
Target audience: Primary target audience 18 - 28, men and women. Secondary audience 30 - 40 year old men and women who have dealt with mental health disorders in their life. This film may not appeal to a younger audience as it deals with issues that they may not be able to connect with. Thats not even mention the film deals with murder, a subject that i feel to dark for those under 16.
Target audience interviews:
These interviews will help me to better understand what my target audience want to see in a psychological thriller.
It will also help me understand what makes them scared and how i could then implement those suggestions into my film.
Things my audience want to see in my FMP based on the interviews:
Jump scares - quote: "jump scares, scare me"
Something that does not rely on gore to scare its audience - quote: "not a lot of gore in it which is the scary thing, because the films are still really intense and intimidating"
Keeping the realism of the real world in so far as the idea that people don't always find it very believable that someone has a mental condition and the idea that some people might fake their conditions - quote: "i think a lot of people have mental conditions these days, whether they do or not is another thing
Reflection of my unit 8 and how I can improve this FMP.
Something i wanted to do to really show some improvement in my new FMP was to re watch my last FMP and see what i feel i could have done better.
What i think could have been better in my last FMP and what i could do better this time:
The sound quality in my last film was not great and i think that its because i was not using a sound recorder and mic when filming last time. This time i will bring my own boom mic and a zoom sound recorder to get the best sound quality possible.
This is not really a failing on the last FMP i did, but its something i feel is important in this new one. Dialogue was something i completely avoided in my last film and in this new one its going to take centre stage and i feel in this film it would be very stupid not to use dialogue in this film otherwise this film will not seem as real as i want it to, unlike the last film i did which was supposed to be surreal.
Feed back that i have gotten from other students and teachers in my class have lead me to think that some things in my last film needed more prep before filming them. For example, the the fight scene had a day of prep time and then one day of filming and it shows, The fight looks good. But something that did't look good on camera was omelette that my actor cooked. The omelette was clearly burnt and not cooked well and because of that, the audience then breaks away and think to them selfs "why is he smiling about that" but if we had done that scene once before filming we would have made all the mistakes in that try and would have fixed them by the time we actually filmed it for real. In my second idea for this FMP i thought to create a story about someone having a conversation with someone who's identity remained a mystery. I think this idea could be well interrogated into my new film by making the second personality use notes to communicate with his main personality it would add a layer of mystery to the story wile still fitting the situation my main character is in.
Secondary research:
Split was a film i watch mainly because it deals with a man with split personality syndrome
and i wanted to see a professional actor take on the that role and see if i could maybe get some tips and tricks. Now the first thing i noticed in this film about the character with split personality syndrome is that when every he changed personalty he would change not only his characteristics but also his body language changes. From standing straight and composed for one personality and then hunched over with no control of his hands like a child. One other thing i feel was important to the performance in split but something i want to avoid was that every time the personality would change so would the accent or tone of voice. Now this works for split because it makes it easier to tell who is currently controlling his body but in my film i want to make my character very difficult to read so that the audience is new really sure who is in control of the body. This adds a layer of tension where the audience is thinking "who is he right now". Now the films story has nothing to really offer me in terms of inspiration, because the whole third act is becomes something that i don't my film to even resemble, but the first two acts of the film are pretty interesting because all the different personalities feel like they exist for a reason and are working towards a purpose. That was something that i really feel should be a part of my characters second personality, because it adds motivation if he is doing this for a reason, and creates justification for him even being in the film.
Lord of The Rings Gollum Inspiration:
Gollum is one of the most famous characters in fiction for a reason. Made great by Andy
Serkis's portrayal of the character Gollum has become one of the first things someone would
think about the second you say multiple personality disorder. Gollum's characteristics when talking to his second personality make for some of the best dialogue in in all of lord of the rings. Now i don't want to take any characteristics from him but i want to take some moments from his story manly his battle against his evil personality and how he try's to better himself. But in the end the evil personality takes control and leads him down the wrong path. I like it because its a tragic story that does not end well for Gollum, and i want my audience to feel the same way for my character as his second personality drags him down a dark path.in the Gollum's story he gets given a second chance by Frodo who tries to bring him out of the darkness and give him some purpose and happiness and it works for a short wile Gollum is kind and helpful, disgusting but helpful but at the end of the film the second personality takes back control and then goes back down to where he started. In scene 5 the mental health officer rick talks to both Richard and his second personality and when he talks to Richard he tries to give him some comfort and help and tries bringing him back out of this horrible shock that he just went through, but just like Gollum i want the second personalities to take over and bring him back down to the darkness. I like this idea because it mirrors Gollum's story well to the point that i would get the same emotional response from my audience.
I Daniel Blake cv scene break down and inspiration:
I Daniel Blake has a scene where the main character goes looking for work and i think that if i draw some inspiration from this scene i might be able to make my job hunting scene work really well if i borrow from a film that did it rather well i can make my scene work on a higher level of quality.
In this scene we get a lot of long shots, now long shots are usually used to create a sense of loneliness and in this scene Daniel is basically on his own trying to find someone to take him in but they won't and it creates a real sense of loneliness and also a little bit of abandonment.
One other thing about this that i feel could be useful is that when dan talks to these people they are very nice and polite. i think to differentiate my scene from this one I'm going to make everyone that talks to my character a impatient bunch of people who don't care to hear what he has to say. i think this will work within the story i want to create because after this scene there is a scene where the main character goes and tries to mug someone out of desperation and because of the previous scene of job hunting the main character will feel pushed into a corner and give the audience a reason to believe that he might mug someone. i think the time of day they shot this was intentional because the grey sky and colours really enhance the depression of this scene and if i get the chance i think ill try and find a day when the colours really aline with the tone of the scene.
The Departed - Leonardo Dicaprio and Jack Nicholson conversation inspiration:
Overview:
This scene is a massive inspiration to me for any type of conversation that builds tension from the perfect composure of shots to the lighting and the performances from the actors them selfs. this is what i want to take inspiration from for scene 5 where the character of Rick (the mental health officer) and Richards Second personality will have there interrogation. because i want to build tension in scene 5 i knew immediately that the scene that would be perfect take take inspiration from is this one. a scene that masterfully builds up tension between its to characters with unexpected props like the gun Jack pulls out, to complete panic Dicaprio's character is in with every word he mutters to Jack.
Framing and shot types:
The farming of this scene is very confined and claustrophobic i think this is done to make it feel like Dicaprio's character is trapped with no visible way of getting out of this situation, i like this because in my scene my main character is literally in jail so filming him with a tight frame would be appropriate and would add a layer of depth to the scene. but the tight farming of the scene could be seen another way because in this scene from the departed the two characters in question are having a private and some what secret conversation, so the tight frame could be giving of a sense of secrecy and privacy. this type of farming could very easily translate into my scene as my characters are also have a private conversation.
Sound:
When watching these you start to notice the fact that the two main characters are whispering to each other and this makes us the audience feel like we are listening to something important and secret. but it could also make you feel like your listening to something you shouldn't creating a sense of fear and panic, things like this don't really translate well to my scene very well because the conversation my characters are have, wile private its not secret so making the audience feel like their eavesdropping is unnecessary and out of place in the context of the scene.
Music:
The music in this scene is there, but its there not to add tension or emotion to the scene because the actors are doing that already. the music is there to fill a gap in the audiences mind so they don't feel like something is missing thats why the music goes unheard through out most of the scene. if i were to translate that to my film well i don't think i would because i think allocated music to the background is a waste of good music and makes me feel like it shouldn't be there in the first place. so if i add music to scene 5 then it will be heard or i just won't use it at all.
Costumes:
The costumes in this scene do a lot to establish who each of the characters are and how they rank in power in the scene, for example jack Nicholson's character is wearing a colourful shirt and blazer, this lets the audience know that this conversation killing and guns is all just casual talk to him to the point that he dresses casual for it, compared to Dicaprio who is wearing a hoody and black t-shirt, wile he sweats himself to death making him look like an unprepared child compared to the well dressed Jack. it does a lot to establish a sense of power between the two characters showing that Jack is the one in power and not Dicaprio. in my scene i could use this trick to great effect by having Rick the mental health officer could be wearing a formal suit compared to Richard who could be wearing dirt cover cloths after burying a body, this would create a great difference in power and status in the scene making the suit look powerful and intelligent and the dirty shirt look poor and low.
Props:
The only prop of note in this scene is the gun which is used to amazing effect. as Dicaorio gives his little threats we the audience feel he is in power and in control of the situation but then we suddenly hear a thud on the ground breaking his speech and in turn breaking the audiences focus on Dicaprio because all we want to know is what Jack just dropped on the floor and then when he pulls out a gun the power in the scene shifts back to jack who has Dicaprio at gun point. this is incredible use of a prop to create tension and and shift power in a scene. to translate that into my scene will be tricky but i have an idea of how to do it. because rick has all the evidence in his file, if Richard try to say something against Rick, Rick would have evidence to counter argue what ever Richard tries.
Psycho inspiration:
Overview:
Psycho is probably the first horror film to deal with schizophrenia in such a way and was one of the most influential and game changing films in all of cinema history and not just in horror. this film was an incredible mystery to watch today but when it came out in the 1960s i can only imagine the shock and terror of watching a film like this when it had never been done before in that era of cinema.
Framing and shot types:
the shots in this film are very... lets say focused they don't stray away from whats important to the film and story and after watching it i see that there are many good and even great shots, but there film sometimes feels a little flat not all the time because there truly are some great shots like the eye through the peeping hole and the car rolling up to the creepy house, there are great shots but most of the film seems a little flat.
If i was going to take any inspiration from the shots in this film it would be from the shots focused on psycho him self as he always film from a low angle creating this sense of scale and its very threatening as it makes him look dominant in the scenes where he talks to Janet Leigh's character Marion Crane. capturing that sense of dominance i think will be key to the character of Richards second personality
Sound: the sound is key to the suspense of this film the music perfectly matches the fear and stress of marion crane is going through all through out her car journey. the music keeps spiking every time the film wants you to think she's been caught but then fades as the distress begins to fade as well. but we the real distress comes as she is killed the music goes absolutely crazy, with every stab the music spikes then dies down until it spikes again
Story board:
Script:
Shot list:
Pre-production and Planning
Location report:
Location 1 - 81 Helix Road:
This location will be where we shoot scenes 1, 2 and 3. taking up the majority of the films run time so i had to pick carefully before deciding on it but i did eventually and heres why, the house is mine, and that helps for so many reasons. one i don't need to move in any equipment because it is already there, it has a verity of rooms that work as good small sets.
and my actors don't live far from it so if push comes to shove i wont need to worry about something like reshoots because they live just up the road. now in the first scene in this film the main character is sat in a messy room and because the room is mine i can get it messy without worrying about breaking anyone else's property.
Location 2 - The Garden
this location will be where we shoot scene 4. this is where one of the pivotal scenes in the film takes place, the burial scene. when picking this location i had to find somewhere outside where i could film in privet and had to find a place where i could drive my mums van into. without a problem. so the garden is the perfect place for this scene covering all the bases, its privet and we know the owner of the land so its okay for use to be on the property two it has a massive gate that i can drive the van it to so that i can light the scene. i also has dirt ground so that i can dig a hole to bury the dead body in in.
Location 3 - South Thames College TV Studio
this location will be where we shoot scene 5. when choosing this location i had to take into account the fact that i would be shooting in this place for many hours and i needed quite and dark and a large room and because i'm a student i was able to book out a very large room at night. and because it was at night i would be able to work with out being disturbed by anyone else in the building because no one would be in the building. the room is completely dark at night which is perfect for the atmosphere i want to create for this scene. plus the large open room gives me lots of opportunity to make different shot types.
Location - risk assessment:
location 1 - 81 helix road
- risk - likeliness - safety measure - in event
risks:
- fire hazard - low - fire alarm - leave the building and call 999
- falling down stairs - low - have a spotter - call 999
- power cut - medium - have back up lights - postpone filming
Location 2 - the garden
- risk - likeliness - safety measure - in event
risks:
- fire hazard - low - don't have anything flammable on set - leave and call 999
- nails sticking out of wood - low - put all nails away from shooting zone - call 999
- equipment failure - medium - have back ups - replace with back ups or work out a new shot
- sun goes down - medium - have a time schedule - find another date to film on
- getting to hot or to cold - medium - have blankets and cool drinks on hand - stop filming until they heat up or cool down
Location 3 - tv studio
- risk - likeliness - safety measure - in event
risks:
- fire hazard - low - fire alarm - leave and call 999
- equipment failure - low - backups - replace or film at a later date
- tripping on cables - low - collect them and organise wires - see how serious it is and then apply appropriate bandages or call 999
- burning your self on hot lights - low - keep them at a distance - run burn under cold water
Character profiles:
Character name: Richard Fines
Age: 21
Gender: male
Clothing: normal blank T shirts, plane trousers and a jacket.
clothing after the black out: white t-shirt and black trousers.
number of scenes they appear in: scene1-6
character synopsis: Richard is the main character and the vocal point of the story. as a
person Richard is lazy and an all around normal person. he does not dress interesting and he feels like he should be an extra and belongs in the background. he is unemployed and earns no money to pay rent. Ian, Richards room mate begins to get tired of this and tells Richard his getting kicked out if he does not get a job. Richard becomes very desperate and considers mugging someone but after he tries and gives up we find out that he is just a desperate person in a tough situation who is not going to go down a dark road just for money, this makes him a more sympathetic person and character.
Character name: Ian right
Age: 22
Gender: male
Clothing: normal blank T shirt, plane trousers
number of scenes they appear in: scene 1, scene 3, scene 6
character synopsis: Ian is Richards room mate but not a friend. Ian spends most of the
movie having ago at Richard for being lazy and not having a job. Ian is the instigator of Richards desperation, when he tells Richard he's going to kick him out. Ian ends up finding out about what Richards second personality has gotten up to and alerts the police about it. Ian is a normal hard working person and through his eyes all he sees Richard as is trouble and not as a person who needs serious help.
Character name: lewis Willmore (mental health officer)
Age: 28
Gender: male
Clothing: formal suit with glasses
number of scenes they appear in: scene 5
character synopsis: rick is sent in to talk to Richard after he has been caught and brought to
the police station. lewis starts out very professional and acts caring and helpful but as the scene goes on and the second personality comes out to talk, lewis becomes more curios and sort of lets his interest get the better of him and the interrogation becomes more of a personal interest of his and wants to see how far he can push Richards second personality. by the end of the talk lewis interest in Richards second personality gets him killed.
Character name: Richards second personality (has no name)
Age: unknown
Gender: male
Clothing: what ever Richard is wearing at the time
number of scenes they appear in: scene 5 and scene 6
character synopsis: Richards second personality is never seen until scene 5 and 6 because through out the film he manipulates Richards life without Richard being aware that he even exists. but when he does show up he is rude, easily board and not interested in anything other than keeping Richard and himself safe. he does not care if he hurts or kills people to keep Richard safe, as long as Richard is okay he wont come out to do anything but if Richard is in trouble then he will come out to protect him or do the things Richard is to afraid to do.
Character name: drug dealer (is never named)
Age: unknown
Gender: male
Clothing: black trousers, black shirt with a large fur jacket and white shoes.
number of scenes they appear in: scene 2, scene 3, scene 4
character synopsis: this person remains a dead body for most of the film. but he starts out as a drug dealer who Richard ( the main character) tries to chase down and mug for all the money he has on him but when Richard backs down, the drug dealer he walks off and is then found as a dead body in the boot of Richards van in the next scene. after Richard shuts the boot door on him, he shows up one more time in the next scene when Richard buries him in a abandoned junk yard, where he is dragged out of the van and dropped into a pit that Richard then covers with dirt.
Character name: junky (is never named)
Age: unknown
Gender: male
Clothing: black trousers, black shirt with a black hat.
number of scenes they appear in: scene 2
character synopsis: this character comes in to the film in scene 2 after Richard goes job hunting he sits down on a wall, then turns to notice the junky pacing back and forth nervously. he is then joined by another character the drug dealer and they both make an exchange of money and drugs and once the junky gets a bag from the drug dealer he walks out of shot and never shows back up in the film.
Character name: employer 1 and 2 (is never named)
Age: 30-40
Gender: male
Clothing: industrial clothing. hard hats yellow
jacket and dirty clothing.
number of scenes they appear in: scene 2
character synopsis: Richard goes job hunting
and these to men tell him no and to go away after
Richard approaches them for work.
Prop list:
Fake money:
The fake money here will appear in scene 2, scene 3 and scene 5. in scene 2 the money shows up during the moment where Richard watches two men make an exchange of money and drugs. the money comes out for a moment but then gets thrown in a bag.
in scene 3 the money pops up again and when Richard finds it in his draw after he gets told to look for it by a note he was reading prier. and lastly it shows up in scene 5 when the mental health officer rick pulls it out of a file when he goes throw all the things Richard is being accused of.
Bag of drugs:
The bag of drugs shows up ones for an exchange between the drug dealer and the junky in scene 2 it is never seen again in the film. it was made by scrunching up paper and crudely stuffing it in a paper envelope then rolling it up.
Three cans of beer:
The three cans of beer show up only once in the film in scene 1. wile Richard and Ian are
talking Ian points to three cans of beer accusing Richard of drinking them.
Blood stained money:
The blood stained money shows up in scene 3 and 5, it is found by Richard and he panics then throws it back where he found it. it then shows up again during scene 5 when rick shows it to Richard when he interrogates him. when i made the blood stained money i played around with the different deigns.
Blood stained money research:
When i did the first one i wanted it to be covered in lots blood with it being very unclear as to how the person held the money. it worked pretty well but i felt it was to much when i finished it when i did the second one i tried covering my finger tips in red food covering and then drag them across the paper to see the effect. it was a great effect and was exactly what i was looking for. but when it dyed it looked to fake. i tried to get the same effect but tried to go about getting it differently so i doped my finger tips in red food colouring and the played them on the paper i then held up the paper and held it so the red would naturally drip down and the effect was perfect, because it looked natural.
The note:
The note shows up in scene 3 and 5. the note shows up in scene 3 as a message to Richard from his second personality. Richard finds it on his bed side table and reads it, it informs him about the dead guy in the boot of his car and it also tells him to hide the money somewhere safer before warning him not to tell anyone about any of what the note spoke about. this sends Richard into a panic for the th rest of the film. it shows up in scene 5 when Rick pulls it out of his file.
Note research:
When i created the note i went through 4 different deign choses for the hand writing of the note. when i first started i created this kind of scribble writing, as if to say the this person had very shaky hands, and when i finished i realised that is not what Richards second personality is like so i scrapped it and moved on.
when i tried a second time i used very small and refined hand writing and then i realised that might be be hard to read for the audience and unclear as to what the note wanted so i scraped that.
I tried a third time and made the hand writing large and clear but this still seemed off as to what the character of Richards second personality would write because i realised that Richards second personality never went to school and was never taught to write so i scrapped that and did it over.
When i did it the fourth time i put myself in the shoes of some one who has never written a word in there life. so i wrote it over and over on the page with very low grade hand writing again and again and again until the paper was covered in writing. and then i wrote a very big word on the top of all my scribbles in very rough handwriting and well... it works it really fits the character who wrote the note and also looks pretty scary to Richard and the audience it works on different levels of character development for Richards second personality and as a a story point to scare both the audience and Richard.
Lewis WIllmores file (pictures and other props inside the file):
Lewis file shows up only once in the film in scene 5. rick has pictures of different things in related to Richard, like the money , the knife, the dead body and the site where Richard buried the body. the file might have things added to it as preproduction continues but i will update this if that happens.
The police lights:
The police lights are being made of two torches and a wheal. both torches will be placed on
either side of the wheal and covered in a red and blue jell. i will then spin the wheal to simulate police lights.
Shovel:
The shovel will appear one in scene 4 . it will be used by Richard to dig a hole to bury the dead body in.
Sound and music:
Sound:
In my last final major project i did not use a boom mic or a zoom recorder all i used was the cameras built in mic and added in some foley sound effects to fill in the gaps in post. but for this FMP i will be using a boom mic and a zoom recorder to capture my dialogue heave scenes but when it comes to shooting outside i will not be using the mic or recorder as i do not have any one to help me operate that and the camera, so i will just be recording foley sounds after shooting my scenes. when i shoot my dialogue scenes i will mount my camera on a tripod and have it stationed in one position over the corse of filming so that i don't need to worry about it over the course of the shoot.
Examples of sound i will be recording after the shoot:
Breathing and grunts: i will record these because they can be used to convey emotion without talking so if there comes a moment in the film where the audience cant understand what is happening then i can use these to try and make it more clear.
Foot steps: this should be obviously but if you don't hear foot steps then an audience is automatically going to notice and then break away from he film.
Background sound effects: the background sound effects will depends on the location we shoot at. if we are inside we will get muffled sounds from the outside world if we are out side we will get clear sounds from the outside world. but if i want a more stylized scene like the dead body getting buried scene then i will cut the background sound effects because i want the music and my main characters sounds and movements to be the main attraction to the audience.
Small details: if i were to name all the small details i will have to create in foley then i would die of old age. but the small details that my cameras mic wont pic up on will be the scrunching up of paper of the sound you make when you sit down its all got to be recorded and implemented for the film to feel whole and not unfinished like something is missing.
Music:
The music i have is taken from youtube and is perfectly fine to use in my film as they are none copyrighted. the three main tracks i have are used 5 times in the film namely the job hunting scene, the attempted mugging scene, the dead body scene, the burial scene and the interrogation scene.
Track names:
Torture
panic music - background instrumental
tension sound effect
penumbra chase theme
suspenseful background music
Panic music: this music will be used on the attempted mugging scene, where the main character tries to mug what looks like a drug dealer for the money he has on him after having no luck looking for a job. the music has a great build up ending on a very sudden jump scare sound that creates this sense of realised tension. this music works well in the scene because it keeps hinting at a jump scare sound effect but does not actually do one until the very end and that i feel keeps the audience guessing as to when the main character is going to make his move.
Torture: this music is going to be used in the second scene when the main character Richard goes job hunting but comes up short. the music gives of a suffering type of
feeling, like everything is not working with many problems, it works well because it will blend with what we are seeing on screen, as Richard the main character is failing and it feels like the world just likes it that way, and that is reflected in the music.
Penumbra chase music: this music will play in scene 4 when Richard realises he has to drive back and stop Ian from finding the blood stained money. this music is intense and urgent and that is what Richard is feeling when this plays at the end of Scene 4. the audience should feel that urgency with him as we wonder if he is going to get back in time.
Suspenseful background music: this music plays over the second half of scene 3 as Richard discovers more and more about what happened the night previous. i like this music because it fits the tone of a mystery and that is exactly what this scene is supposed to make you feel like, a mystery being unraveled.
Poster:
Poster survey results:
Reaction to feedback:
When should the film be released: fall
I'm not entirely sure why fall was the most popular pick for the release of my film, i would have picked winter as it is a very dark film and one that has a very depressing tone and i think i just associate winter with those emotions out of all the rest. but fall is a month about all the green in the trees fading away and fall dead leaves, so yeah i guess it works but i still think winter is the better month to release it.
-Where would you expect to see this poster: outside a cinema and on the side of a bus
These two tide answers make a lot of sense seeing as they are the places that are most commonly used to advertise movies, the cinema of corse would be a great place to advertise my movie seeing as it is the place it would be showing. the side of a bus is also an amazing place to put a post as it is literally mobile and can get the word out to all around London unlike a stationary poster that can only draw the attention of those who pass it in that one location. the poster on the bus is also very big and that makes it easier to catch your eye.
-What should the poster focus on: the main character
Focusing on the main character is a good idea because the rest of the cast are really there just to create situations for my main character to react to. so they have impact on the story but the film never stops to give them any backstory or development. so focusing on the main character was a good idea.
What should the tagline be: how do you stop what you are
This tagline is a good choice as it incapsulates what the film is about in a few words and is pretty scary with context from the film, but i don't think i will be using this because its to dark. now i am aware that the film it self is dark but there are a few moments of levity and comedy sells, its a massive part of why the marvel movies make money and sell there movies tickets. the tagline "one's named Richard the other's just a dick is comedic and light hearted, and like i just said comedy sells, and it sells well.
what should the colours of the poster be: blue, black, grey and white
now the colours of the poster are very important but when i saw that this was the answer to the question. i suddenly thought those colours don't express what the story is about. so i thought if Im going to make the colours anything Im going to add in some red, the red expresses blood and death and there is blood and death in this film. but i thought that i cant just have red so i took the advice of the people who did my questioner and add white black and grey to the poster as they are all dark and depressing colours because they feel lifeless like the film.
What should my film be called: the mind of Richard fines
Now this is a good title and it gives you hints about the story but when i read it out to people, a lot of them easily picked up on the fact that there was something wrong with him. that is not a good thing, i want the story to be very secretive until you see the end and everything gets explained. so i decided to give the film the name paranoia. the name correlates to the story as the main character goes through many moments of paranoia and at the same time it does not spoil the story for anyone who hasn't seen the film yet.
Poster evaluation:
I like this poster because it does not give away any spoilers but is also informative about the tone of the film.
the red title and tagline stand out very well as they are red to differentiate them from the white text all over the poster.
but the poster does not have a reales date but there is a website link but that makes it more effort to find the reales date and a lot of people would just prefer to have the reales date right away.
The poster does say who made it but the writing is so small i don't think people will see it but then again my name is not going to get people in seats.
the logo in the bottom corner stands out well but also blends in. the white colour make it stick out but the black makes it blend in.
Over all the poster is a little unclear in terms of reales dates but it does fill you in on the tone and the feeling of the film through its colours without spoiling anything and in our day and age where posters and trailers are giving massive plot details before the film is even out i think a poster like this is a good thing.
Weekly reflection:
Week 1:
This week i did not film anything but i did prepare for filming by getting my props made, my actors prepped and ready and writing up my shot list so that i did not miss any shots on the day of filming. when writing up my shot list i went up to the location that we would be filming at and then plan my shots from there writing notes on my phone to see what shots should be captured which shots physically cant be captured, it helps to be on location when writing these notes because it means i'm not going of my imagination and can plan my shots more thoroughly and accurately giving me a more accurate and more detailed shot list.
Audio reflections week 1
Week 2:
This week on Saturday me and my actors pierre, Jago and Raphael shot the second scene of the film. it was a short shoot as it only took 2 hours. we shot at the top of helix road. the scene was scene 2, in this scene the main character goes job hunting and when he comes up with nothing he feels desperate and tries to mug someone. the scene ends with the main character backing out of the whole situation and hides away from the drug dealer. this at first felt like a scene i would be able to create very easily with no effort but as i soon realised making two men walking into an interesting and tense scene was no walk in the park. when we shot the first part of the scene it was perfectly fine all shots where still so it did not require all that much prep or rehearsal but when it came to the next part of the scene it got much harder. the walking chase scene was something i did not know how to film and was something id never done before, so my inexperience was part of the reason we had to do reshoots on the second part of the scene. the reason for the reshoots was partly because i did not know how to film it and two when we filmed moving shots the camera was to shaky to use any of the footage we filmed. when i decided to do reshoots i thought about what i felt was wrong with what i filmed and then try the exact opposite, so all the still shots i did were then going to be replaced with moving shots t give the scene some semblance of speed and not what it felt like before which was just boring. the next problem i came across was the fact that my moving shots where to unstable and shaky. so what i did was i used the same wheelchair i used in my last FMP to act as a dolly to make the shots as stable as possible, and it worked. the shots are smooth and the motion gives the scene more than it had when we first filmed it with still shots. this scene was one of the hardest things i've ever had to film and not because it was complex but because i had to make walking in a strait line interesting on some level, and that is what i hope to have accomplished when i show of this film.
Audio reflection week 2
Week 3:
This week i filmed two more scenes with my actor Pierre and my DP Lorcan the two scenes we filmed were scene 1 and scene 6. scene one is where Ian and Richard have the first interaction with dialogue in the film so it was important for me to nail this scene otherwise i i might not have the self confidence to keep directing dialogue in this film, so its good that the scene turned out great. when filming this scene i set up the camera on one side of the corridor we were filming in and shot all of Pierre's dialogue and then when we filmed all his lines we took the camera to the other side of the corridor and filmed all of my my shots. by doing this we minimised the time we spent setting up different shots, giving us more time to film and less time moving around. a comment problem we came across was the sound of planes flighting overhead, it kept happening and we had to stop filming every now and then because the mic was picking all the background sound so we had to let the plane pass and stop filming when they did. when filming we had to set up the mic on a tripod of sorts because we did not have another crew member to carry a boom pole, this had its advantages and disadvantages. for one because we were in a confined space it was tricky to place the mic close enough to the target but not so close that we could see it on the camera. when i plane out this day of filming i had expected to get three scenes done but we only did 2 this is because the props we needed had gone missing and the time my actor had left to stay was dwindling so i decided to move the shooting date of scene 3 to the 13th of may where we would have more time to film and it would give me a chance to find the missing props and if not find them, make new ones. on the same day we shot scene 6, a very short scene where in which the character of Ian watches the news to see that Richard has escaped from the police station, and then goes down stairs to see some one at the door after hearing a door bell go off. he goes to see who it is and we see that it Richard's second personality smiling freakishly.
this scene was very easy to shoot because it had little dialogue and little of anything else. it was easy to shoot aside from one shot that took my DP a wile to perfect because he had to pan and pull focus wile at the same time worrying about sound. its shots like that where i wish i had a focus puller on set because filming like that on your own kills time that could be spent else where and can frustrate your camera man into failing even more. in the editing sweet i found it easy to sync up audio with the video because we used a clapper board on set, and when i compared it to the raw audio from the camera i realised how god awful it was in comparison to the audio from the boom mic, and it made me wonder why i never went and bought one for my other projects. it was and invaluable peace of kit that i plan to use frequently on the rest of the film.
Audio reflection week 3
Week 4:
This week i filmed two more scenes, scene 3 where the main character Richard finds a dead body in his car and is for the first time is contacted by his second personality, we also shot scene 4 where Richard buries the dead body in a junk yard and is then caught by the police. scene 3 was easy enough to film as it takes place mostly indoors so sound and framing where easy to get right. but there was one problem we came across and that was lighting, the lighting in the corridor we shot in was making the actors look extremely red and when we tried to fix it we quickly realised that we could not see our actors as clearly any more, so we got over it and planned to fix it in post. if i was going to film this scene again i would buy new lighting equipment to control the lighting in that scene, as to not depend on natural light coming from the environment i'm in. when the scene took us outside briefly we used a new peace of equipment that i had never used before, a stabiliser. this peace of equipment is one of the most useful things to have on a set with lots of moving parts, because it creates smooth silky shots with little to no effort and it help use to create 4 shots where the person in question was walking from his house to his car, then from the drivers seat to the boot of the car and then from the boot of the car to the front door of the house. these shots are extremely smooth and help to not distract you from whats happening on screen, unlike if we didn't use it and got lots of jitter and camera shake. when we got back inside to film the rest of the scene, something happened that i'm going to have to get used to if i want to be in the filmmaking industry and that is running out of time. when we tried finishing the scene we ran low on time and i had to decide on wether we do the rest of scene 3 or move on to filming scene 4, and because i wanted to get as much done as possible i choice to film scene 4. as i would soon find out that was choice was the wrong one, scene 4 was set in the garden in the dark with only the vans headlights to light the scene and in my head i thought that would be enough but i was wrong on set my camera could not capture low light properly and i soon realised as we were filming that this was pointless. so i stopped and told everyone to head home. i now know that i should have just stayed stayed and finished scene 3 while i still had my crew and the audio recorder to use. this is just one of the those situations where you hope its going to go your way but without planning enough it just will not go your way. i dicided after a few test that i would film it again in midday but i will use an effect called "day to night" on its own the effect is not very good but after playing with the exposure in final cut pro i've found that it can be very effective.
Audio reflection week 4
Week 5:
This week i reshot scene 4 in the day time and well it works the scene came out really well and the sun was blazing that day so instead of a night shoot that makes the scene look scary and creepy the scene has this sense of effort, like my main character is putting in a lot of effort and is sweating and panting. the scene feels way more tiering. what we did i this scene was pierre would drive up in his van and the scene would commence but pierre could not drive so i had to be smart about it, so what i did was i had my camera placed very low and then i would have my mum drive the car into shot and then my camera would rice up and then as i was doing that my mum and pierre would switch places. the effect worked and i looked like pierre was driving. at the end of the day we filmed the night shot where Pierre's character wakes up at night and then rushes home to do something.
F.M.P FEEDBACK:
F.M.P:
EVALUATION:
Scene 1 evaluation:
Cinematography:
The cinematography in this scene is pretty basic for the most part, because the scene mainly consists of two people just standing there talking so instead of getting fancy with it i just did a shot revers shot for the scene. this basic type of filming was good for us on the day because i was against the clock because my DP Lorcan Moullier had given me a day of his time so i wanted to get as much of my characters scenes done so that we could move on filming with out Lorcans help so shot revers shot worked well because it was not time consuming and and was clear and precise for what i wanted. but when the scene was not focused of the dialog between my character Ian and Pierre's character Richard, the shots i made were very focused on what was important like how at the beginning of the scene the camera is making sure to show you how messy and disgusting Richards room is and how badly he lives his life. this is very important because i am establishing my main character in the fist few seconds so that the audience gets a sense of who he is before the story actually begins.
Lighting:
The lighting in this scene comes from a window placed directly above where me and Pierre were giving dialog this natural flat light gave of a feeling of low energy and thats what Richard is feeling at that moment, i could have turned the light in the corridor on and bathed the scene in orange but that colour clashes with whats happening on screen. other then that there was no other planed lighting the scene was just lit with house lights.
Sound:
The sound in this scene is good for the dialog but other than that the sound is a bit unbalanced in terms of levels. the moment the dialog ends between the two characters the sound becomes unbalanced and inconsistent, this is a fault of mine because when i did the sound for this scene i only recorded the dialog with the zoom recorder and just used the sound from my camera to record sound. this was because i didn't think it would be worth the time or effort, i was wrong.
Acting:
The acting in this scene is all around pretty great, Pierre deliveries his dialog with very low energy like he has just woken up which in context with the scene that really works well. my acting is good but when i watch it back i wish i sounded angrier, i sound angry but not enough i think to make it effective for the audience but over all pretty good.
Props:
There was only really one prop in this scene and it was the cans of beer. they work very well to help characterise Richard as a potential drunk, but they also worked to edge us into the mystery of the film.
Editing:
The editing in this scene is very quickly cut and has a nice pace to it at no point do i think it drags and the mixture of sounds work to the edits advantage. there is not much to say about the editing hear i basically put the clips in the right order and then cut them down nothing very special. there is one effect i can talk about and that is the masking text at the beginning. this effect was done because i felt it made the film seem more professional than just putting a title over a black screen, it works well but i'm not sure if the white colour fits the tone of the movie, maybe it should have been red like on the poster.
Scene 2 evaluation:
Cinematography:
The camera work for the opening of this scene where Richard goes job hunting works very well. i decided to do long shots to distance the audience from Richard making him seem very alone and isolated from people, i did this so that the camera work mirrors what is happening on screen as Richard keeps getting pushed away by employers and how he feels alone, Im very proud of what this moment turned out to be in terms of cinematography. the next part of the scene was the moment where Richard sees a deal going down and chases the guy with the money to try and mug him. this scene turned out fine its not what i had hoped but when your tasked to make to people walking and interesting and tense scene you know stuff might not go your way. but when i approached filming this scene i started out by using long shots of this deal going down to get Richards perspective and then when Richard focuses in on them then we get closer shots of this deal going down. i felt it was important that we get Richards perspective on the situation as the audience needed to feel what he was feeling, this way the audience would understand why Richard did what he did. the next part was the hard part the walking chase . when filming this i decided i wanted a build up, so we would cut to Richards feet every now and then and every time we see his feet we would see the feet moving faster and faster until the last time we cut to his feet and he runs out of frame implying that he was going to attack, then we would zoom into the back of the person being attacked and then he turns around and we see a wide shot of an empty road. this was the plan and it payed of for the most part. what i was disappointed with was the fact that the shots got boring and that is the last thing i want to do to my audience. but at the end Richard rubs his face and then slaps himself and then wakes up in the next scene, when i filmed this shot i wanted to slowly zoom into Richard, drawing the audience in as to what he was going to do. over all this scene worked well but not amazing.
Lighting:
The lighting was natural, so i had no control but the lighting suited the scene. the grey clouds over head gave the scene this ominous feeling like rain was about to hit or something worse, mirroring the scene we were filming, so it worked o
Sound:
I did not use a zoom recorder for this stupidly so that sound is pretty bad so in the edit i decided to drown it out with the music i had chosen for the scene. but i did record foley sound effects to match the scenes background witch was just the sound of an empty street. the sound effect i used to transition into the next scene was taken from my last film but that is because it works so well here as well.
Acting:
The acting in this scene was really well done Pierre had to get across what was happening in his head all through facial expressions, so when he sees the two men he starts out interested and then when they make the deal you can see the happiness as he sees the money but then the fear as he contemplates doing what he's thinking about doing. its really good stuff and then when he gives up on mugging the guy you can see the fear that he is feeling and the pressure, so overall great.
Props:
The props in this scene work well except for on shot where the drug dealer scrolls through the money and you can see that its one sided print and the other side is just paper. but other than that shot the prop of the drugs work because you can clearly see its something not legal, so yeah the props it the scene did there job except for that one shot.
Editing:
The editing in this scene works seamlessly with the music the music. especially the first half, the music and the cuts match up to make a well flowing scene. the music editing at the very end of the scene does not work as well but it still fits the scene. basically at the end of the little chase i had to cut the music a little shot so it would fit the scene and that meant cutting the music and then overlapping it to make it shorter and during that overlap the music fells a little bit like its lagging. but over all pretty good.
Scene 3 evaluation:
Cinematography: the cinematography is pretty good because through out the scene i focused mainly on close ups for this because there were a lot of small things that the audience needed to know about, like the fist shot of the scene, the money in the draw, the note that Richard was reading and even the dead body he finds in the back of his car. the close ups are very important to the clarity of this scene because without them the audience would not know what was going on. in the fist part of this scene Richard wakes up and looks around to see he is back in his room. in this moment the camera is very wide giving us the audience a perspective of where he is making the audience feel what Richards feeling. the shots the focus in on a close up of his watch now this immediately tells the audience that it is a new day and that it is morning. telling the audience what is going on through visuals is very important in this film as there is not a large amount of dialog. the next part of the scene shows us Richard lying to Ian about finding a job and this scene is my least favoUrite of the film as it moves to quickly and does not take breaks to let the audience think about what is happening also the shot revers shot in this gets old pretty quickly but like i said the moment moves very quickly so its not that noticeable. the next moment is where Richard finds the dead body and runs back inside, this turned out great because of a peace of gear we had called a stabiliser which allowed us to get smooth shots like when Richard closes the boot and slowly goes back inside the stabiliser allowed us to get wobbly shots that were also smooth. this moment works really well because of the camera work being so disorienting. the next part of the scene is where Richard finds the money. now this part was almost all close ups because i wanted the audience to focus on Pierre's acting because that was how i was going to make the audience sympathies with him and feel sorry for him so that the events that transpire next feel more impactful. when filming the moment where he gets transported outside i shot the door handle being opened and then cut to an extreme close up on Pierre's face where we cant see the background so that the audience does not know where he is then cut to him turning around to see that he is outside. this creates and element of surprise in the scene making this little jump a shocking moment.
Lighting:
The lighting for this scene isn't great but its not distractingly bad. the moment when Ian and Richard talk is lit very poorly and is probable the worst moment in the film in terms of lighting. the corridor lighting from above real is distracting but the scene does not last that long so its not that distracting. when outside i could not control the sun so i get what i was dealt buy the wether that day it turns out that it was a good transition into the next scene because that scene was shot outside and the weather stayed surprisingly consistant. when we filmed in my room the orange light shining down on my actor was not intentional but the shading and lighting makes it look very dark and hidden and that works with what was happening on screen. but over all fine.
Sound:
The sound in this scene works surprisingly well because i had learnt my lesson about recording everything with a mic and not using my camera for sound. this payed of as the sound is more balanced and consistent and it meant i did not have to block out the sound with music and i could have more quite moments even thow there are still a lot of moments covered in music. speaking of music the last track works really well because when story beats happen the music makes a beat and this makes them blend way more making them fell like one and not two things working against each other.
Acting: the acting in this scene is good but i don't think it reached the hight's of the rest of the scenes but it is still good. because me an pierre had to break up the shooting of this scene a lot the acting feels a bit inconsistent at times but other than that the acting is pretty good but not as good as anything before or after.
Props:
The props in this scene consist of the fake blood, the money and the note. the note worked really well because you can easily tell that Richard did not right that because the hand writing is awful implying to the audience that he did not write it and the it is written makes it feel like it was written in a hurry and it feels very urgent because of it, but if i had to make a complaint, it would be that it does not stand out and feels very flat in the shots it appears in. the next prop is the blood stained money now it is good but i feel it was to bloody and looked to staged to be real, so yeah i liked it but could have made it less bloody for realism.
Editing:
The editing in this scene is pretty great but there are just one or two things that i don't think work, for one the conversation is cut so quickly that i don't think the audience has a chance to think about what is happening, but that might just be me, in fact in my feedback people said that the film drags a little but i don't think they were talking about this scene. the other problem this scene has is the end transition to the next scene, its just a simple fade out, i had planed to have a clip where Ian looks down at Richard as he drives off from his window, this would have left the scene of better but i did not manage my time well enough.
Scene 4 evaluation:
Cinematography:
This scene is my favoUrite scene in terms of cinematography because i had to mess around with forced perspective a lot and that was fun and very rewarding. the fist shot i want to bring up that took a few tries to get but was worth it, i had to make it look like Pierre was driving the van into the location but he cant drive so what i did was i put my camera on my jib and put it at a low angle then had my mum drive in and then when she stopped i would rase my camera up and as i did that mum and Pierre would switch places and it would look like Pierre had driven in. the effect worked really well and i use the same trick latter on in the scene when Richard drives home. the next most important shot was the shot of the dug up hole. now i was not allowed to dig an actual hole so what i did was i got a large amount of dirt and dumped it in front of where i wanted the hole to be and only shot it so that the dirt pile was in shot but not the hole making it look like i had dug a hole but i didn't. also when film this scene i made sure to make first shot when Richard buries the body a shot where he walks into a very large light almost implying that the old Richard is dead and new one has been born. the last part of the scene is where Richard wakes up at night and drives home to find that the police are there. in this moment i had to make the shots focused on Richard because the audience again needed to see the panic on his face. so when he drives up and finds that there is a police car all we see is Pierres face and the reaction. also when filming the bit where the van drives around the streets i had to make the camera low to enthuses the speed of the car. because the lower the camera the faster objects look when moving.
Lighting:
The lighting was all natural except for on shot where Richard comes home only to be bathed in the lights of a police car, this effect worked incredibly well considering i made the lights out of two torches and red and blue jells. the effect works very well to imply something to the audience instead of just showing it to them.
Sound:
The sound it very basic and is very overshadowed by the music in the scene but i think that is a good thing because the sound of birds tweeting in the trees is not what you expect to hear when burying someone. but i did something at the end of the scene to the sound that woks really well, i added a underwater effect to the sound of the car at the very end, this effect makes the moment feel like Richard cant even hear it and it is being drowned out by the panic he is feeling.
Acting:
The acting is very good because i not only feel the pain and fear Richard is in but i get a sense of the shock he is in. at times Richard just walks around expressionless and that works well in the context of the scene. and especially in the last moments of the scene.
Props:
The shovel and the fake police head lights are the only props that show up in this scene. theres not much to say about the shovel, its a shovel. but the police lights they work amazingly for the cheep price i was able to get for them.
Editing:
The editing in this scene is really slow but that is by design the scene is all about breaking down the character of Richard and the slow burn of it is a big part of that. in my feedback people said the film lingers on Pierre a bit to long at parts so i cut them down in this scene just a little to get rid of some fat. the last part of this scene where Richard wakes up i made the music kick in when it cuts to the reveal that it is night i did this because this would be the moment that people would be surprised so i wanted the music to kick in when they felt the shock so that it has a greater effect on them.
Scene 5 evaluation:
Cinematography:
Scene 5 has very boring cinematography just boring cinematography most of the scene is just shot revers shot and well theres not much to say about that except for something that i thought would give the camera work some complexity, and that was switching of sides when the main character Richard switches personality. so when Richard is Richard we see him from his left side and then when we change to the second personality we see him from his right side but then when he seemingly changes back into Richard we see him straight on because the camera is not sure if he is Richard of his second personality, but when the second personality comes out to kill Lewis Willmore which side are we looking at him from, the right side.
Lighting:
The lighting in this scene is coming a Pierre from on side so that half his face is shrouded in darkness implying that he is half evil half not, it worked well and also worked to beautifully light the scene . so the lighting had story context but it also worked to look good.
Sound:
The sound in this scene is the best in the film because it is almost perfectly balanced. there isn't much to say about it its perfect.
Acting:
The acting in this scene is the best in the film Lorcan pulls of calm and collected very well as the mental health officer and Pierre kills it as both the traumatised Richard and the unbalanced second personality. i especially love the moment where Pierre switches from his second personality to Richard the way he goes from angry death stair to crying and terrified in a moment. over all amazing not a single part where reconsider, it was all great.
Props:
The only two props in this scene are the file and the hand cuffs. the file is barely in it and just serves to allow lewis to pull out evidence and props that we have seen before, but the hand cuff are another story because Pierre wanted to leave them on so that he could get into character more. i really think they helped to not only add to the realism of the scene but to the acting of it as well.
Editing: The editing in this is very basic only a few sound effects that kick in at key points in the scene. like when Richard switches into his second personality the sound effect I've been using the whole film kicks in to indicate to the audience that he has switched, and lastly when Richard looks up at Lewis's tie the music kicks in the let the audience know that something has bad is about to happen.
Scene 6 evaluation:
Cinematography:
the cinematography in this scene is nothing special but there is one shot at the end where the camera pulls focus to reveal Richards scary smile. that shot says a lot in one moment it tells the audience that it is Richard and the smile tells us that what ever he is going to do next is not good.
Lighting:
The lighting is natural so i did not have a choice in the matter. but the light does its job.
Sound:
A little unbalanced like I've said before but not to a massive extent. its there but its not distracting
Acting:
The acting again is perfectly fine nothing i haven't said already, but i will say i do enjoy the fact that the audience knows something bad is about to happen and the Ian is oblivious, it adds tension until the end.
Props:
There are no props in this scene.
Editing:
Nothing special again but i made sure to make the end credits music bleed into the film to make the switch to credits more fluid. it works well and is a good end it to film as it is not to dark but the audience has enough information to get what is going to happen to Ian even if they don't see it happen.
Bibliography:
Presentation:
Below are a range of different competitions that I could possibly enter.
For this competition I would have to take a 90 second snippet of my film and make it appropriate for the intended audience.
website link: https://www.depict.org/competition/
In this competition i can just submit my film as it is now with no adulterations required.
website link: http://shortfilms.org.uk/lsff2018/submissions
The following festivals either specialise in films made by young filmmakers. Following the link bellow is a range of festivals that i will potentially enter.
website link: http://www.bfi.org.uk/education-research/bfi-film-academy-scheme/film-festivals-young-filmmakers
I will be presenting my film to my target audience at the Milkwood cinema that can be rented out for public use.
My film youtube link: https://youtu.be/uHA1ukVcQJo
The reason i put it on Youtube is because it reach far and wide to both my target audience and secondary audiences. On Youtube has over 5 billion videos are watched every single day. This is the most accessible place for audiences to find my film, youtube also allows for comments and that could be a way for me to get feed back from audiences.
TV studio South Thames presentation:
I presented my film to my peers and tutor to gain audience feedback on my final version of the film. Overall the presentation went well as my target audience thought that it was a success.
"Engaging, I loved the part where the camera follows the main character into the van"
Emma
"Lovely use of shots, great film"
Charlie
"I can't wait to see what you are going to make next. I really like your direction"
Harrison
"interesting and confusing in a good way"
noah
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