Advanced portfolio - thomas brown

Firstly this is the comments made by A.Hampson on our blog, We are having problems with the comment field so he has been unable to leave comments.

'Tom
I still cannot post a comment on your blog word verification is greyed out.
Can you please change the template below is the comment I want to post. 
When you have made the changes can you post this comment

Will you two stop messing with the templates.
You need to get your animatic up here asap.
Also some research on Wasp and funding/promotion
and one other short film. I would like you to be more visual on this
 blog hyper links screen grabs etc. Have a look at the trailer for The
Road you might find it helpful. Can you get some photos of your location?
 and some initial audience feedback on your ideas'

Also, Our blog will be migrating to <---------> Please look their for future posts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5I1q4KhKNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyaNk2NrZwg

All posters are tagged in the Labels section, not the posters section, we have had some technical problems recently, thank you.

Location - Cellar
Characters - Two parents and two children - character names - Roger (39) is the Dad, Johanne (36) is the Mum, James (19) the son, and Lucy (6) the daughter.
Lighting - shadows, use of redheads, cut natural lighting, dark cellar.
Situation - 2012, calendar shot, shows its February 2012. The family is slowly running out of food. But they are extremely reluctant to venture through the cellar door because Roger left a few days ago and hasn't returned.
Potential film titles - Lock In, Kegs, Barricade.

The roles are as follows: -

Director - Tom/Michael
Lighting - Tom/Michael
Location Photography - Tom
Storyboarding - Tom/Michael
Costume - Tom/Michael/actors
Editing - Tom/Michael
Scripting - Tom/Michael

As we are in a small group, it is feasible that both of us have a hand in everything. Although some parts of the process need both of us anyway, the script or storyboarding, which would normally be allocated in a group of 4, can be done by both of us. Most of the roles will be shared.

The acting parts are proving difficult to fill. Fo the young girl, Tom's younger sister is ideal. For the part of James, who is 19 years old, any suitable student from Performing Arts or Drama. As for the mother, we may need to put up audition notices around college. This part will prove hardest to fill, as a college student would be unconvincing without correct make up or prosthetics, which we simply can't afford. We may have to manipulate the lighting to hide her appearance somewhat. A similar technique to Apocalypse Now, when Francis Ford Coppolla was filming Marlon Brando, he could no show Brando's weight gain, so he countered it by hiding him in the shadows.

As for costume, we will have to use regular clothes, a few weeks in a cellar won't reduce them to medieval peasnats, but we will have to taint the clothes. Hair must be unstyled and rough. Skin must be diry and unwashed. Lucys costume will consist of her regular clothes, but with an oversized jumper over the top. The cellar is a cold environment, and the candles provide little relief from the conditions. James will be wearing typical fare for a young man, jeans, check shirt, trainers, maybe shoes. He'll be wrapped up in a fleece or a jacket. Johanne will be wearing a fleece, skirt and trousers and thick walking shoes. The costumes themselves are nothing special to get hold of, however, the deliberate dirtying of them may mean we have to use old clothes.

Props wise, we will need candles, a chess board with all chess pieces, cans of soup and beans, a battery radio, and a can opener. The candles are for use because the electricity is out. The chess board is used for dramatic effect, and symbolic of their situation. The cans of soup and beans will show that they've been holed up for a while, and canned food keeps well, so that's why canned food is the only thing they are eating. The battery radio is for the closing radio message, and the can opener is for the cans. We may need a budget to attain some of these props, but we have yet to decide on a fair price.

The main focus of the script is on the disappearance of the Dad. The mum is trying to keep faith, whereas her son is being defeatist about it. The mother is called Johanne, the son, James, and the daughter, Lucy.

James: (head in hands) 4 days now. We have no idea what's out there -
Johanne: Please don't...(sighs) please don't start again.
J: He said he was just gonna see what was outside, then he was coming -
JH: Straight back! I heard just as well as you did James!
J: So where the hell is he then? He's not gonna endanger his own life for nothing, we both know -
JH: You don't know what happened to him! He could've found survivors, he could be coming back right now.
J: (he sweeps away the chess pieces from the board in anger - he sees Lucy and realises he has to be strong for his sister) Listen... Mum... I'm really sorry
A bit later.
J: Soup...or beans tonight, the agony of choice...(fumbles with cans)
JH: (stifles a laugh) Yeah... (smiles) open the soup, we had beans yesterday.
J: (picks up a can, starts to open it, the can opener doesn't work, he exhales deeply) This...doesn't (slumps and tries again) why is everything...(gets climacically louder) it just (throws can on the ground furiously)


Lucy provides a retrospective narrative. It is over the top of the argument, although both can be heard.

Lucy: For a lot of the time after Dad left, this thing happened a lot. Of course Dad never came back to us... I guess I didn't really understand at the time, the grief, the uncertainty, I was too young to realize the confusion. For me, my world was now a dingy cellar, not exactly the kind of fantasy you read about in books. I had no idea what was going on above the cellar door, a young childs imagination can run wild though. The idea of a sudden vacation to the cellar was a strange one, it had never settled right in my mind, but I never questioned it. I couldn't help my naivety; I was young, smart for my age, but the world was still a giant riddle my mind couldn't then comprehend. For weeks we sat in the cellar, our hideaway, our little slice of life. I never complained about the dust, cobwebs, arguments. They became their own rhythm, their own routine. Sure I missed my friends, good food, and a comfortabl bed, but I trusted my parents. Like they always said - they had my best interests at heart. My parents were my life - and if I knew where my Dad's footsteps ever went, I surely would have followed. Confinement can eat away at a person, and for my Dad, his makeshift prison was as close to hell on earth as he could get.

The last bit of the film is a radio broadcast, a staple of the disaster film.

Radio Message (looped): If you can hear this, you are not alone. Do not go outside (static) Armed forces are attempting rescue of survivors. I repeat, Armed forces are attempting Rescue of survivors, Sit tight. (static).

This is our intial script. We will tweak it later on and probably on set too, as actors can be good at changing certain words to add emphasis or more punchier emotion.

As of now, this blog will be merged with Michael Mcgroarty's blog, in order to complete our Advanced Portfolio.

• The film uses a mix of genres. It is mainly a thriller, but uses horror elements to heighten the thrills. When the main character is knocked out and kidnapped, the scene preceding this part is tense, as we see the person laying in the middle of the road. The tension builds as he exits the car, and is then knocked out. As the film is set at night, the darkness and absence of people makes the main characters plight even more desperate. There is a regular structure to the film, it opens introducing the main character, an electrician, on a late night call. However, he thinks it will burn itself out, and leaves. When the film ends, he is back where he started, next to the power cables. However, after his ordeal he has gasoline on him, and the sparks from the cables he didn't fix blow out and set him alight, although you don't actually see it. Through all his troubles, the audience is shocked by such a sudden and tragic ending.
• A good use of a horror convention is when the murderers kill the police with their hatchets. Rather than show the audience the brutal and bloody confrontation, we see the man's reaction in the trunk, and we hear the sounds of the men killing the policemen outside. In this way, the killings are made more disturbing, as the bloodiness is left to the imagination through the use of sounds. This is a good way to retain shock impact, without having to unelash funds on fake blood, limbs etc. It works much like a off-screen diegetic noise, in that it presents threat, but doesn't show it. Its equally and if not more effective than showing the audience everything.
• There is a good use of music during Joy Ride. It opens with a melodic piano, as the electrican assesses the power cables. It is soft, but not comforting. However, when he is eventually locked in the trunk, and trying to free his bonds, there is fast paced music. The mix of the spark from the disconnected tail-light, the gasoline spilling on him, and his urgent need to break free of his bonds creates a tense excitement, which the music does well to accompany and keep flowing. Likewise at the end, when he is rescued by police, the piano kicks in again, but this time is more relieved than anything.
• The twist at the end is very sudden and unexpected. The audience is expecting relief, but this is quickly shot down. The best thing about it is that it actually works. Its not a tist that is just stuck on the end to add an effect it didn't really need, It is so unexpected, yet because he dies by his own hand by not fixing the cables, there is irony, which is almost humorous.

• Lou-Lou Lives Here is an abstract drama. It centres round a young girl who turns out in the end to actually be a dog. It is clever, because the director has injected dog-like nuances in the girl's behaviour such as licking a wound on her knee and runs up to a dead rabbit, and is obviously interested in it.


• It is shot in black and white, and makes use of blurred imagery and strange transitions. For example when the van owner who may be the owner of the dog or a paedophile approaches Lou-Lou it cuts between a blurred image of his face and an ECU of the dog growling and barking, sometimes in slow motion. The black and white is not sharp, which lends it an eerie feel.


• The sound during the aforementioned sequence is quite bizarre. The mans' voice is slowed down, to mimic how a dog would hear it.


• The relationship between the dog and the young girl is quite mysterious, and is never fully explained. On the first time of watching, it was apparent during one of the end shots, where there is a transition between the dog and the young girl running, that the girl is the dog, and was the dog all along. However, this was very strange, and it took a second time of watching to fully comprehend the ending.
• There are a few shots in the film which are totally bizarre, such as the roadside scarecrow, being blown about by a savage wind. Although it is only a point of curiosity for the dog, the audience finds it a more foreboding figure. The use of lighting in that shot is particularly weird, with a high contrast lighting scheme. The man appears after the scarecrow is shown, so it could be a subtle hint at what is to come.


• The music during the opening is a melancholic piano. Although the piano is slow and saddening, there is a sinister undercurrent to it. The piano continues during the middle of the film, creating tension and threat when the man is shown in his van. The piano uses high notes, rather than atypical deep throbbing notes, which are normally used to create menace. The use of high notes gives a music box feel to it, which ties in with the depiction of a paedophile attracting a child.
• The strange nature of the film could be perceived as a turn off, but is curious because of its strangeness. The filming and feel of it is unorthodox, and the use of bizarre lighting and an even more bizarre story and main character makes it stand out in the mind. I could directly take inspiration from it, it is easy to make a completely outlandish film, but it might not necessarily say anything, just be a novelty. It is important to create some originality, rather than tie a load of cliches together to make something original, and in this way, Lou-Lou Lives Here is inspirational.
  

• Eight is a drama about a young boy who lives with his mum, and loves football. The film concentrates on the relationship between the boy and his dad, who is dead. By the end, the audience realise that the boys dad was at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. As the boy says, he was just watching, but as events turned out, hundreds of people were crushed to death.
  
• It is a poignant piece, that gradually unravels itself. The film is around 15 minutes long, and is shot in colour. It is predominantly a drama, and at times can be very moving, although there are times of humour in the film.
• The main character, a young boy, narrates in his head as well as out loud, particularly concerning his friend who believes his dad was a charlitan and so on. This is an interesting element, as in general, narration is confined to the characters mind, which can create irony or threat, but the use of outward narration makes the boy's plight all the more moving. It is an interesting element.
• The camera work is especially interesting. It is quite kinetic when just the young boy is in shot, running around with his oar or kicking his ball. In this way it matches the characters movements, almost a mirror. As the sombre mood sets in, the camera shots are more static, which again matches the mood.
• Eight is inspirational in different ways to other films. Its a simple tale, told through the eyes of a sympathetic character, the young boy, rather than that of multiple characters or an adult. In this way the narrative and narration are a lot more powerful, because the childs thoughts are unshaken by actually knowing this dad. In this way he can fantasise about him, for example hes an astronaut etc. The innocence likeability of the young boy make the moral centre of the film all the more devastating. In this way, the film is inspirational.
  

• The conversation is about a husband and wife arguing over a broken jar, and there consequent moods. The piece is strange in that for the most part, we don't hear any dialogue, the voices are jazz instruments, which are manipulated to give expression. For example when the wife initially queries the husband on the broken jar, the jazz is high and quick. The husbands voice is low and symphonic.
• As mentioned above, sound is the most notable thing about this film. As the piece develops, we realize that the sound is actually quite a complex tool. As the director has chosen to take out the words, for the piece to make any sense, the jazz must act like dialogue. In this sense it is is very original.
• Although the conversation is a drama, it could almost be a comedy, as the jazz noises can be humorous when coupled with the facial expressions and body language of the actors. There is no non-diegetic music because the addition of this would ruin the whole originality and flair of the film.
• In many ways, this film is inspiring. It is very original, and the use of sound is first rate. Although we will not use quite the same thing for our film, we can definitely aim for something stark and unusual, as this creates an interesting vibe to the piece. Rather than go for the bothced drug deal or chase through a forest, opting for a simpler idea, but one that is executed professionally, will create a much better film. Maybe taking more care making the sound a more accomplished feat, rather than concentrating solely on the necessity of good camera work, will make our film a more polished affair.

• Mixtape is a 2-minute film about a young boy who makes a mixtape for the girl next door. It is obvious the boy likes the girl, and the mixtape is a kind of gift or memento for her. It is chiefly a drama.
• The sound is used diegetically and non-diegetically. When he steps out his front door and walks next door, the blend of slow motion and seventies music is very Scorcese. Also, the song's lyrics sum up the feelings of the boy. The second half of the film, we see the girl and boy dancing to his mixtape. Here the sound switches to non-diegetic, as we see the vibrations rattle the picture on his wall. The song works well with the images of them dancing on their beds. The shot of the boy on the bed, with the camera rolling back works with the rhythm of the song.
• Although the main element of the film is the mixtape, the boy is obviously trying to woo orendear himself to the girl next door, for whom the audience can see he fancies. In this part, the film works well as a short romantic sotry, with the music bridging the gap between them, which is heartwarming.
• It is shot very crisply, and the shots are very well placed, especially the shot of the boy on his bed reading the magazine, and of him jumping on the bed. There are no bizarre angles or dramatic zoom ins. In this way, Mixtape is a very good little film. It's so simple it's easy to overlook just how good it is. It is inspiring in the sense it sets out to tell a story, and it does. No fancy shots or sharp dialogue, just a simple story, coupled with great music and very good camera work.

• This film is a surreal drama. The tone is set from the first shot. It is similar to Fight Club with the desaturated colours and clinical lighting. The photocopier and the office workers bloodshot eyes only heighten the comparison.
• The special effects, concerning the black hole are simple, yet effective. When he starts stealing vending machine food and money from the vault, the effects aren't mind blowing, but they work very well. In this way, it separates itself from the other films I've written about, as those have contained no such effects.
• There is no music whatsoever. By doing this, the director has created a new mood. As there is no music to play off the emotions of the character, we can focus wholely on the events themselves. It also adds to the fact that an office is a typically dull environment, so having an absence of music highlights the emptiness of the office.
• Another notable thing is there is no dialogue. The story is told through the actors face and actions. Initially he is surpirsed and shocked by the black hole, but when he finds new means for its use, we can see his greed set in, which is ultimately his downfall.
• The film works so well as a simple story with a complex element, the black hole. The notable absence of music and dialogue adds an eerie feel to the film, which complements the black hole itself. The camera work is snappy and the editing is very well done. It is also intelligent. When the guy initially puts his hand in the hole, it cuts to behind the copier, as if it is scared too. This use of camera work is witty and clever. In this way the film inspires me too, like all the other short films have, rather than have a feature length narrative and condense it, create a short narrative and execute it excellently.

• Mixtape is a social realist short which tells the story of a boy with an interest in the girl next door. It appears to be set in modern times, As the child references His dads old music

• Also, The boys room and clothes appear to be older than the girls.
• The theme is mainly love, as the child appears to be interested in the girl, Although their are also themes of musical taste ect As the children clearly share a bond for good music.
  
• This Is a comedy / social realist, Which isn't a common mix, and it depicts the funnier elements of real life
• the film Could easily be one scene from another film, And it tells a very short story, which laughs at what is, a huge moment in someones life, yet technically tiny.
• The sound can be heard through the walls, And the cross shot of the walls shows both people dancing. The opening uses a lot of the sounds of a tapeplayer emphasised.
  

1.

• Eight is the Story of a young boy whose father was among the crushed at the Hillsborough distaster. The young boy wishes to know more about his father, and fulfils his fathers dreams by watching and playing football, However his mother will not let him play football, as It hurts to much.
• The story also has a small narative, in which their are hints that Terry's dad abuses him, although this is a minor plotline, it obviously has had a strong effect on the character, However, due to the nature of the moment when it is mentioned, it is not neccassarily true, and could be one of the childrens lies.

• the film is a social realist drama, which deals with a very sensitive subject

1.

• the film is a an abstract thriller, Which depicts a little girl, Who is actually a dog. At the end the Dog/girl is approached by a Dog owner / pedophile, with a small toy, The dog attacks the man and runs home.
• Throughout the film their are references to the fact that the little girl is a dog, such as the licking of the wounds at the start, the running up to the rabit, and the heavy panting after running that is overheard.
• The opening builds suspense with the sound of the crows and dog barking, Then when you first see the lou lou lying in the grass, It is quite the shocking image, as it is not the location you expect to find a little girl.
• The film is shot in Black and white, This could be a reference to dogs poor eyesight and colour-blindness, the first person perspective is often blurred to empathise this.

• This film follows a very confusing narrative structure, Which can be seen in two different ways, One way, it is the story of a man trying to get his dog back after it has run away, although it could also be the story of lou lou on her journey home. It seems more evident that the former is true, although it could be that lou lou and the dog are one.
• the odd structure of the film lends to the films uniqueness, this can make the film hard to follow, and i had to watch it twice to understand.

• The shortest of the three films i have so far watched, Lou lou lives here seemed to tell the least amount of story, However it did ask the most questions.
• The opening was almost horror like, With the black and white crows and barking, And the shot of lou lou in the grass, this carried on for most of the film, However their was not an immediate threat, So it could not really be considered a horror.

• Sound was a very important part of the film, With most if not all of the sound being diagetic, And heard by the dog. These included the crows which added a lot of suspense at the beginning
• After the running scene, The sound of breathing was emphasised which made it sound like a dog panting. Just after when the man says lou lou, his voice is slightly distorted, and sounds more like a Sound than a Word, these could both be references to dogs, As dogs pant and since they dont know english, the sounds would sound foreign to them.

• the film could be a reference to the risk of letting children walk home alone, if this is the case it would make it one of the most serious films i have looked at.
  

The short film is a comedy focused on the music. The feel is very upbeat for most of it, With even the beginning which has no musical backing, Using emphasised sounds, to create a kind of music. This shows from the beginning that the film is going to be sound orientated. the film is about a elderly couple, Who seem to have lived in the same house ofr a while. the Mis en scene has several things typical of an elderly persons house, little figurines collected over the years, Show that this couple have a long past. before the music is playing, Their roles are seperated, and whilst she is working hard, He is relaxing and reading the paper. When he puts the music on she joins him, Which signifys that this music has some sort of importance to the duo. She wishes for him to dance, And tries to make advancements towards him, However he does not want to, he wants to read his paper. This obviously upsets her, and the music uses this. However the serious argument between them is made comical because of the use of the music.

The mixture between music and comedy is not one often used in film in modern times. The use of a classic jazz piece has changed this film a lot, as instead of music being applied to film, their is film being applied to music, This means that the plot of the film revolves around what the music allows them to do.

In comparison to other short films, This film is very short, And tells the story of a women that wants a pot fixed by her husband, The very short plot gives the film another way to be funny since the way the music has been made to simulate an arguement seems like avery serious matter, although it is really rather trivial.

1.For such a short film, their is a lot of information conveyed in the film. The film can be easily identified as a thriller, although their are horror references, such as the use of the small handaxes, these are very threatening, and give the film an edge that would not be seen with a more simple weapon such as a knife. Set at night, it is very specifically lit, so it only shows the information required by the audience. The film also follows a basic thriller structure, with a common horror twist at the end. The film's main character is a simple electrician, However this characters work is strongly focused throughout, With the tools in the back of the trunk while he is locked up, Knowing how to kick the lights out on the car, and the very end of the film. The ironic ending could even be seen as a hint of comedy, As if he'd done his job properly, None of this would have happened.

In the scene in the trunk of the car, Their is a very imposing segment with the police, As although very nearly free from the villians grasp, you then hear the deaths of the policemen, Nothing is shown, and this makes the scene very disturbing.

2. I enjoyed the mix of horror and thriller as it made the film less predictable, It made the horror element more realistic in turn, which in turn made for a more frightening experience. i also enjoyed how everything was well explained, It wasnt your typical horror / thriller, where Some teenagers feel like getting Inebriated in a shack. The main character was trying to provide a service, and he had to leave not because he was lazy, but because he did not want to make his date wait. Not much is explained about the date, the viewer is aware that she must be questioning his Disappearance, Could His capture had to do with his date with the women?

3. A short film is like a poem, their is less time to use, but more information to explain. I feel that the film succeeds at this, whilst telling the whole story, The films time-line feels correct, it doesn't feel rushed and the scenes don't run into each other. 'Although the North American definition generally refers to films between 20 and 40 minutes, the definition refers to much shorter films in Europe, Latin America and Australasia' (wikipedia) ' Although it is not known how long the character is in the Trunk of the boot, this does allow the short film to pass time effectively. This makes the film Feel less short, Than perhaps if the character was kept in the car, and the Characters interrogated, the film would of felt less long, as you could tell how much time had passed due to the conversation. The scene in the trunk was also stressful, and this made the whole film feel fuller.

4. As i mentioned previously, i thought the Hatchet sound effects were well used, Also in the trunk scene, the muffled sound applied to the voices and sounds of the car travelling over the bumps in the road added to the already claustrophobic sounds of the boot. Whilst driving the car he put the radio on, And this made the car journey more comfortable, and then when he ran into the man in the road you feel more shocked. The film begins with a sombre piano piece, which gives you a hint that something will go wrong, this earlier warning allows the film to establish the genre early.

5.The film forces you to side with the electrician as you feel pity for him, being unfortunate. However, their are themes suggesting that this might be his fault for putting other peoples lives at risk with the pylon. The story about the Hatchet wielding men is not explained, However you assume that they are criminals before the film, as they seem to be very organised.

Last year we made thrillers in groups of 4. Although the production had Some good points, it was very much overshadowed by faults that should of been easily avoided. We were unable to organise ourselves as a group, And people would not turn up to filming either for not knowing that filming is on, or just simply not turning up. This meant we had very limited Footage and had to scrape it together through editing, Although we managed to make some sense of the footage, We did have a lot of continuity errors. Due to the lack of filming, We also had a very short production, which made it difficult to show of our skills.

We also had trouble making the footage make sense, due to a very loose plot, and badly designed script, which meant the characters where barely introduced. the location we chose also wasnt very suitable, as we were unable to find the Back alley we were looking for, which would have made the film make slightly more sense, As it makes it seem like its set in a woodland area, which the film is not meant to be. We also spent a large amount of time filming and editing a short dialogue sequence, and didn't spend much time on the rest of the film, This poor share of filming time lead to a 1 minute film with a 10 second segment that was okay quality.

When we do a new production this year, I think we need to make sure the group works well together, As well as making sure we decide on a plot before we start working out how we are going to show it. We also need to make sure we stay on deadline, in order to get tasks completed on time, in order to not be rushing our work and keeping it to a goods standard.