Shooting

After shooting, we had the rule of thirds discussion with Mr Andrews, where we realised that lots our footage has been shot in the wrong way. We will have to reshoot this after test block.

Changing Story

Arfter one lesson of filming, we have decided to go in a different direction to what we were originally doing. The original idea was to have a girl in a test, and as she daydreams, she is provided of the answers. We have, however, decided to change our story to a girl on her way to a test. All footage we have can be used with this new idea, and we only have a few lessons to go of filming before we are at the editing stage.

Prop List

Scene One:

Stationery

Test paper

Timer clock

Test style desks

Chairs

Scene Two:

Coins

Table

Chairs

Scene Three:

Same as scene one (no timer clock)

Scene Four:

To be completed

Scene Five:

Same as scene one and three

Scene Six:

Playing cards

Sleeping bags

Background items

Scene Seven:

Same as scene one, three and five

Location list

Scene 1:

· Classroom (Rosemary Hughes room)

Scene 2:

· Dark room (History rooms)

Scene 3:

· Classroom (Rosemary Hughes room)

Scene 4:

· Park (Junior School)

Scene 5:

· Classroom (Rosemary Hughes room)

Scene 6:

· Assembly hall (On stage)

Scene 7:

· Classroom (Rosemary Hughes room)

Group Selection

For the next task, I am in a group with Emily and Alicia. We have decided to use Alicia's script, titled 'The Wondering Mind'. I am happy with this group because we are all going to be able to work together and co-operate. Other the next lessons, we are aiming to organise our shot lists, production schedule, prop list and location list. I think this task is going to be interesting because I have never created a film before and am interested to see how everything turns out. We have decided that Emily will be our actress and Alicia our director, while I film. Emily and I are going to go over the treatment and storyboards in the next couple of days as well. We are going to change it and add our personal touches so the film was written by al of us, not just Alicia.

Horror Film History Overview

Horror is an ancient art form. We have tried to terrify each other with tales which trigger the less logical parts of our imaginations for as long as we've told stories. From the ballads of the ancient world to modern urban myths, audiences willingly offer themselves up to sadistic storytellers to be scared witless, and they are happy to pay for the privilege. Theories abound as to why this is so; do we derive basic thrills from triggering the rush of adrenalin which fear brings, or do horror stories serve a wider moral purpose, reinforcing the rules and taboos of our society and showing the macabre fate of those who transgress?

Horror movies have long served both purposes. They deliver thrills by the hearseload, as well as telling us stories of the dark, forbidden side of life (and death) - cautionary tales for grown ups. They also provide a revealing mirror image of the anxieties of their time. Nosferatu (1922) is not simply a tale of vampirism, but offers heart-rending images of a town beleaguered by premature and random deaths, echoes of the Great War and the Great Flu Epidemic fatalities. At the other end of the century Blade (1998) is not just a tale of vampirism either, but reflects a fear of the powerful yet irresponsible elements in society, echoes down the corridor indeed of the seemingly impunitive behaviour of those at the top.

Exert From 'Horror Film: Why We Like to Watch, http://www.horrorfilmhistory.com/

Reflection and Evaluation - Storyboard/Treatment

My latest creative media assignment involved developing a storyline and creating a genre film treatment and storyboard from this.

One of the things which took me quite a while was the actual creation of my storyline. I couldn't decide what type of film to make, although I did know that I wanted either a comedy or a horror film. Originally, I was going to make a rewrite of the fairy tale snow white. I created a draft of the storyline, but I decided that I didn't want to continue with the story. I decided instead that I wanted to create a horror film and then build the suspense to a climax, where it turns out that the 'scary' thing or the protagonist is not scary at all. I also had difficulty when creating my storyboards because I am not very good at drawing and the end result consisted of basic stick figures.

My final film was about a girl who arrives at school one day and finds it abandoned. She doesn't understand why no one was at school, and after being increasingly worried at scared, it turns out that the entire school was just waiting to throw a surprise party for her. The aim with this film, is to build up suspense, and keep building the suspense up until the resolution, when everything anticlimaxes.

Planning and research helped me with the assignment because I had a better understanding of what was necessary. I researched the horror genre and looked at the different elements which make the genre unique. I created a genre recipe about the horror genre. In class, we also looked at different storyboards and discussed what was needed to have effective storyboards. We did the same with treatments, analyzing the different aspects and what we had to do.

I planned out my treatment in dot points before I started, to try and give myself an idea of what to do before I actually started. We also looked at lots of different things in class, different bits a pieces, such as synopsis' and short clips of these. I attempted (Not very well) to use perspective when drawing my storyboards. I had never done this before, however, and the result was not as desired.

One of the class pieces we looked at was a synopsis from the film 'The Prestige'. We then discussed this as a class, watching the relevant snippet of the film and comparing the ideas and the differences from the treatment and our interpretation, to how it actually looked. The storyboard template I used for the assignment was the standard one provided for all students on blackboard. It was a good template, and allowed me to effectively show what I wanted and include all the relevant pieces of information.

During the unit, surprisingly, I have improved upon my limited drawing ability. I now have an idea about how to draw in perspective, whch I didn't know anything about before. Prior to this task, I had no idea how to do a storyboard or treatment. I knowknow how to do both of these things. I know how to set them out and how to write about each section and each shot. This will be very useful for the rest of my creative media schooling, as well as any other film industry I might do.



I am satisfied with my finished product, although there are some areas that I know could use improvement. I managed my time quite effectively, more so with the treatment than the storyboards. I finished by treatments very early, and I was over confidet and left my storyboarding a little late. Having said this, I didn't leave the task to the night before and finished it on time. If I did this task over again, I would like to work on the layout of my storyboards. The storyboards were not overly neat (limited drawing ability) but I thik I could have improved the set out a bit and taken more time on each individual drawing. If I did the entire task over, I would spend more time planning and reserarchng to make sure that I knew exactly what I was doing before I actually started.

Final Idea

The final idea for my film is to have a girl who is abandoned at school. I will attach a copy of the finished treatment, but the basic idea of the film is to have a girl abandoned at school and set the scene as a horror film. It will then be changed into an ending that is unexpected, a completely reasonable ending that explains the scary things that have been happening.

Ingredient List

I have decided to create a mock-horror film:
Protagonist:

• Suspicious character
• Unknown protagonist
• Werewolves, zombies, mutants, mental patients, vampires

Antagonist

• Vulnerable character which changes

Settings:

• Mansion
• church
• graveyard
• Abandoned warehouse

Themes:

• Scary music
• suspense building

Idea Planning

• Girl goes to school, she is the only one there and doesn't know why. She searches and searches, but can't find anyone everywhere. Turns out that the school has been taken hostage. (horror, thriller)
• Girl goes to school, similar plot as above, but twist shows that there is a completely reasonable explanation, at school on a public holiday or surprise party for her. (?)
  
• Girl and boy meet and fall in love. Have a summer romance, but he dies. Film is based around her reaction to the tragedy and how she copes. (drama)
• Character dies, film focuses on the reaction of friends and family. Best friend, enemy, boyfriend, mother, father and sister all react differently to her death (drama)
• Girl changes school, and leaves her old life behind. She is popular at her new school, then something happens and her past is brought into the present. (drama)
• Boy and girl 'battle of the sexes' style charade. Play tricks on each other, end up falling for each other (romantic comedy)
  

Description From Story Board

The antagonist, Jack, and protagonist, John, are standing near a balcony is a large mansion. Jack is cornered in the balcony while John moves closer. Cuts to a close up of John's sinister expression. Jack makes a break for it, cuts to shots of the to characters running through different locations. At the beginning of the scene, dramatic music is playing and when the chase occurs, the music changes to car chase music.

___

____ is a smart scholarship student. The over confident, self absorbed head master of the school is sure that he is the smartest. One day the principal asks his magical diploma if he is the smartest, and the diploma says not for long, because Snow White is becoming smarter everyday. The principal is enraged and changes Snow White to all the lowest classes, where she doesn’t learn anything. Eventually all of the teachers work out what is happening and rise up, seizing control of the school and putting Snow Whit back in her original classes.

Moulin Rouge

Mise En Scene
The elements of mise-en scene have been successfully utilized to create a changing sense of style through the movie. The lighting is the main element used. The blue, dark lighting used at the beginning shows how the depressing state that Christian is in. When he flashes back to the happy times spent at the moulin rouge, the lighting is bright and it reflects back on his happy times. The amin prop is the type writer are the importance of the typewriter is shown in the close up shot.

Common Elements Used in Genre Films:

Action Films:

• Violence
• Car chase
• Ruggered hero
• Romantic interest
• Unlikely Companionship's

Adventure Films:

• Unlikely Companionship's
• Unlikely Adventure

Comedy Films

Love interest

Outrageous plot lines

Likeable characters

Bizarre situations

Drama Films

Dramatic plots

Very dramatic reactions

Overexaggeration

Epic Historical Films

Historical value

Historical recognition

Recognisable characters

Relatable characters to teh time period is set in

Horror Films
DISCUSSED IN MORE DETAIL

Musical Dance Films

Singing (catchy tunes)

Dancing (catchy moves)

Fun Plotline

Mise-En-Scene Storyboarding Activity

For the mise-en-scene story boarding activity, I worked with Claudia, Maise and Paris. The storyboard idea we had was of a girl who came to school and as all by herself. We took photos of Maise, who was all alone and sitting in different locations until the last shot, where she found Claudia and they became friends. Unfortunately, we no longer have the power point presentation and images of this. However, the excersise was a good excersise to complete and both presenting our work and looking at the work of the rest of the class was a good experience and will help me with my story boarding next term.

Term One Evaluation/Reflection

Term one creative media was spent studying film, in particular considering the elements of film. Analysing Mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and editing was a main area of examination and looking at how the elements collaborate to create a film.

I experienced very few problems throughout the term and feel like I worked well. At the beginning of the term, when the new ideas and vocabulary were introduced it took me a while to fully understand what they meant but once I had familiarized myself with these concepts I understood them and now feel comfortable using these terms.

The different exercises we completed in class and the work we did prepared me for the assessment task, the analysis and comparison of two films. The class work, such as the aviator analysis and star wars comparison, where good practices for the actual assessment task.

I have learnt a lot through this unit and I am now able to easily identify the different elements of film and evaluate accordingly. I haven't really learnt any tricks throughout the process, but I have gained the skills and am now able to analyze a film and pick up on important details that I wouldn't be able to do if asked to do before this unit of work.

To achieve the finished product essay, I went through 3 distinct stages. The first stage was when I decided what genre and films to write about and decided what elements I was going to focus on. The second stage was the watching of the scenes and I wrote about 3 pages, analyzing everything possible. The third and final stage was changing this into an essay. This was probably the stage I would easiest because I had already done most of the work at this point and didn't have to think to much, just write.

My time management was the only problem throughout this process. Although I completed everything on time, I sent the wrong draft to Mr Andrews which meant that I was put behind everyone else in the marking of drafts, giving me limited time to correct my draft. However, I feel I overcame that problem and it wasn't a big issue.

Planning and research helped me to understand the films and the comparison between them. I also researched the directors and other information, such as actors and the other productions they have been in.

Looking back at essay, I am very happy with the work. I think the essay that i handed in was well structured and of a good quality. I feel that not only does it show that I can analyze film, but that I can understand it and was completed to the best of my ability.

I wouldn't changed anything major about my essay, but I would of liked to have more time to proof read and edit my work so that no little things effect my mark. Overall, I am happy with my essay and if I got he task to do all over again, I would stick to the same structure and do the same things as I think I have produced a piece of work that successfully represents my understanding of cinematic elements and film in general.

Protagonists and Antagonists

1. Star Wars: Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader
2. Disturbia: Kale/Robert Turner
3. Harry Potter: Harry Potter/Lord Voldermort
4. Romeo and Juliet: Romeo/Lord Capulet
5. Batman: Batman/Joker
6. Spiderman: Spiderman/Green goblin
7. Alice in Wonderland: Alice/Red Queen
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow/Davy Jones
9. Superman: Superman
10. Twilight: Cullens/Vultari
11. Shrek: Shrek/Prince Charming

The 17 Stages of Monomyth

Monomyth: Also referred to as the 'Hero's Journey', the monomyth is the basic pattern which is found in many narrative and elements can be found in almost all. Although some stages change, the basic structure usually remains the same, or at least has distinct similarities.

"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of wonder, where forces are encounter and decisive victory is won"

The 17 stages:
1. Call to adventure:
The hero starts off in a mundane situation of normality from which some information is recieved that acts as a call to head off into the unknown.

2. Refusal of the call:
Often when the call is given, the future hero refuses to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her current circumstances.

3. Supernatural Aid:
Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known. More often than not, this supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid them later.

4. The Crossing of the First Threshold
This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known.

5. Belly of the Whale
The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. By entering this stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis.

6.The Road of Trials
The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.

7. The Meeting With the Goddess
This is the point when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely.

8. Woman as Temptress
This step is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.

9. Atonement with the Father
In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving in to this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power.

10. Apotheosis
When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return.

11. The Ultimate Boon
The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the holy grail.

12. Refusal of the Return
Having found bliss and enlightenment in the other world, the hero may not want to return to the ordinary world to bestow the boon onto his fellow man.

13. The Magic Flight
Sometimes the hero must escape with the boon, if it is something that the gods have been jealously guarding. It can be just as adventurous and dangerous returning from the journey as it was to go on it.

14. Rescue from Without
Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, oftentimes he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience.

15. The Crossing of the Return Threshold
The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. This is usually extremely difficult.

16. Master of Two Worlds
This step is usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.

17. Freedom to Live
Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live. This is sometimes referred to as living in the moment, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past.

Burn After Reading - Scene Analysis

fter reading is a comedy by the Cohen brothers. The premises of the story is that two gym employees undercover what they think is top secret information and they then try to blackmail the C.I.A into giving them money to pay for plastic surgery. The scene i have chosen to analyze is the scene when the gym employees are first introduced. Linda and Chad are working at the gym and Linda is checking her internet dating websites to see if she has had any responses. There are bright lights and lots of friendly, chattering background noises. There are many different pieces of gym equipment in the background that are being used by different customers at the gym. The scene is very light hearted and the shots vary from being close ups to mid-long shots. The shot is just straight for most of the time as they are sitting in front of the computer and the camera is not moving, and there is only one high shot in the entire scene.

Elements of Film

Mise-en-scene

• Combination of all visual elements within a frame/consider:
• Setting
• Lighting
• Acting style
• Costume and props

Cinematography

• The art of capturing images on film and video/ consider:
• Exposure
• Perspective
• Camera position
• Focus

Creatively use framing to:

• Limit and control what the audience sees in each shot
• Withhold information
• Create balance in each shot

The Aviator- Mise-en-scene

The film ‘Aviator’ is a historical biography about the life of Howard Robard Hughes who broke the air speed record. Although it is a historical biography, from watching the clip, one can gather that there is a sense of action and adventure, which are possible sub-genres for the film. The film is set in 1963 in the daytime, so the light, acting style and props are suited to that era.

The lighting in the film is very bright. During shots f the plane being in the air, there are sections where the lights are overly bright, almost washing out the shot and giving the impression that the plane is very high and the sun is almost blinding. The scene is cheerful; it is about breaking a world record and doing something positive. The sun is bright in the sky and all of the characters are happy because of this.

The way that the characters speak and act is relevant to the set time so it appears a little dated. Leonardo Di Caprio, who portrays Hughes in the film, is convincing in his role. All of the actors seem to be excited at the prospect of breaking the record, as the people would be in real life. They are all believable. There are not a great deal of props in the scene. Most of the scene is shot in the air, watching Howard Hughes fly the plane. Because they are not that important, the props in the plane are not shown in the frames often, only when them being shown is crucial to know what is happening.

The film makers effectively used mise-en-scene to make the film look interesting. After watching this scene, I am interested in watching the rest of the film.

Comparing Star Wars Trailers

After watching The Star Wars trailers for a Star Wars one and episode three, the differences in the two trailer styles are quite evident. As they were made almost 20 years apart, the differences are primarily because of the changes in styles used and the technology available.
The music used in between the different scenes shown in episode one was not very excited and was very quite. The music played in Episode three trailer was much more exciting. It gave the sensation that there was constant action occurring in the film.
In the first version, the voice over’s were by a voice not actually in a movie and was very dry voice walking about the film. In Episode three, the voices used to tell the story were voices from the film. It make the trailer much more interesting because the voices wer4e full of emotion and feeling, unlike the boring voice in the first.
Both films tried to give the impression that the movie was a fast, action paced film but episode three did a much more successful job of conveying this message. The first didn’t look all that exciting because there were constant interruptions of the scenes to cut to a blank, black screen saying star wars with only a voice. The second was a constant sequence of interesting and suspenseful scenes which did a much better job when.
It is a little hard to equally compare the two films because they were created at such different times. Episode one may have been the best technology available at the time and contained amazing technology, but watching the film in the 21st century, comparing it to one of the most successful uses of technology since, it just looks old. They both attempt the same thing, but the style of the second is much more interesting because of the changes in technology and how movies are portrayed in trailers twenty years later.
The impact that the trailer for episode three had on me was much more powerful. After watching both and given the option without watching the films, I would choose the second option because I think it looks so much more interesting and looks more like something that I would enjoy.

Film Recipe

Ingredients:

Characters: 7 teens murderer police VIctimsfamily Weird/spoky kids Hero Traitor Klutz	Weapon/device: Poison Shard of lollipop Knives Saw Axe Guns Crow bar Gas Fist
Setting/Location: Rain Night Deserted bulding Graveyard Church Dark Alley Castle	Enemies: Monster Escaped mental patient Circus freak Mutants Vampires Psycho Technology Zombies Ghosts

Method:

Take one man who has never been very good at anything and make him begin to think that there is a ghost haunting him Make him meet a young beautiful woman who confesses to have been haunted by a ghost. Have the man not believe her, but the woman is adamant about what has been happening to her. The young woman’s father disappears and is found some days later in a graveyard, having been murdered, but nothing science can explain. The man is convinced and the two begin to investigate. The two main characters suspect something to do with the supernatural, so they travel to the ‘murder scene’ graveyard at midnight to solve the mystery. They are confronted by a mutant and escape with their lives. They discover the entire case is linked to a billionaire, but when they travel to his mansion they find it abandoned with no sign of life what so ever. They break in and find that something is wrong. After searching the house they are about to leave, but are attacked by hundreds of mutants. The man defeats the mutant, saves the beautiful women and they fall in love and live happily ever after.

Horror Genre

The point of a horror film is to create a feeling in a viewer of shock, fear and terror. The typical plots of a horror film include the themes of death, mental illness, isolation and the supernatural such as vampires, werewolves and the un-dead. Horror films are often violent, filled with gore that makes viewers want to turn away, but this is not always the case. The typical elements of a horror film are suspenseful moments, shocking things happening or threatening to happen. Horror film is quite hard to analyse in the way that because the idea is to not be able to predict the plot and to be full of suspense, Because of this you can often not know what is going to happen and many films in the same genre take different turns.

The ending of horror films using involve death or sadness. When a horror film does have a happy ending it is often clouded by the unhappiness of the film and the unsettling feeling that things won’t remain so happy for long.

Defintions

A shot is a continuous piece of filming without interuption from the time the camera is turned on to when it is turned off

An edit is a break in the film where one shot begins and the nest begins.

A scene is a collection of shots, arranged through editing into a specific order.

Framing is the art of deciding what images the audience will see within the frame of the

cinema screen and how those images are arranged. Framing limits and controls what the audience sees in each shot.

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema.

Mise-en-scene is an expression used in theatre and film to describe the design aspects of a production. It has been called film criticism's grand undefined term because the term has many different meanings. The French term literally means ‘putting on stage’. When it is applied to the cinema, it refers to everything that appears before the camera and the arrangement of actors, props, lighting, sets and costumes. Mise-en-scene also includes the positioning and movement of actors on a set. For some, it refers to all elements of visual style—that is, both elements on the set and aspects of the camera. For others, it takes on mystical meanings related to the emotional tone of a film. The term has come to represent a style of conveying the information of a scene primarily through a single shot—often accompanied by camera movement

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing images, sound, video, or film through processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications. It is part of the post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots, connecting the resulting sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. A film editor must creatively work with the layers of images, story, dialogue, music, pacing, as well as the actors' performances to effectively redirect and even rewrite the film to craft a cohesive whole. Editors usually play a dynamic role in the making of a film.

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film.

In a narrative, such as a novel or a film, Matifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the piece’s major themes. The narrative motif is the vehicle by means of which the narrative theme is conveyed. The motif can be an idea, an object, a place or a statement.