The plot synopsis for my opening is a teenage boy leaving his house on his skateboard and skateboarding to go and meet some friends. On his way to meet his friends the teenager comes across a car parked in the middle of the road and as he goes up to the car a hooded figure comes up behind him and stabs him.
If I were to make it into a whole film it would take the form of a crime thriller with quite a dark feel to it. It would be about trying to find the murderer and why he committed the crime.
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Friday, 11 December 2015
My Idea So Far
My idea so far is simply a teenager leaving his house and going to meet some friends on his skateboard at night. On his way to meet them he comes across a smashed up car parked in the middle of the street, he stops and walks over to the car. As he looks in the window a hooded figure comes up behind him and in the reflection of the car window you see the teenager get stabbed. The film title then comes up se3tting up the rest of the film to be an investigation as to why the boy was killed, who killed him and why was the car there; was it set up or was it meant for someone else?
I would like to work in a pair for my idea so as to share the work load and to have a range of skills whilst making the opening however I will work on my own if needs be as I already have quite a clear idea of what I want to achieve and people may not share this with me.
My film will be a drama/crime/thriller genre and will have quite a dark feel to it. This is because these types of films are ones that really appealed to me and its something I believe I can achieve to a good standard.
I plan for my film to follow a traditional narrative, starting at the beginning withy a start, middle and end. This is because I feel for my idea it would fit better for it to be in this narrative structure.
I will only use two characters in my opening; the teenager and the murderer (whose face won't be seen). This is because the teenage will be stabbed in the opening therefore I think that if I focus almost the whole of the opening on him it could get people to feel for him and get a feeling that he could be an important character and then when he gets killed it will not only be a bit of a shock and a thrill but it will draw the audience in to want to watch the rest of the film. Before any other character has even been introduced this character has died meaning the audience will feel like they deserve and really want to know why and by who. Also because I have limited access to actors it will easier to just cast two characters.
I plan to use only a couple of locations. The teenagers house which he leaves and then some very dark lit, rough, deserted streets.
I definitely don't want to do a comedy style film because I believe it will be too hard to do. it would be very difficult to make it genuinely funny and therefore I don't think it would end up looking very good.
I do not want to use dialogue because I don't think you need dialogue in an opening scene3 and because I wont be able to use proper actors any dialogue could end up making the film look very amateurish and poorly acted. Furthermore I believe having no dialogue helps to build up tension and create some mystery about what is going on.
I do plan to use a soundtrack or music in my opening to help create tension and build up suspense. I don't yet know what music I will use but I plan to use something quite dark and sinister.
I won't be breaking the fourth wall in my opening because the character who will be in it doesn't need to connect with the audience. Also fourth wall breaks are more commonly used in comedy's and documentary style films and my opening wont follow either of these styles.
No narration will be used for my opening this is because I don't need the story to explained or introduced over what's happening, I plan to try and use a bit of mystery to draw people in and narration would go against that.
I plan to use a wide range of camera shots and angles, mainly whilst the teenage character is skateboarding through the streets.
I would like to work in a pair for my idea so as to share the work load and to have a range of skills whilst making the opening however I will work on my own if needs be as I already have quite a clear idea of what I want to achieve and people may not share this with me.
My film will be a drama/crime/thriller genre and will have quite a dark feel to it. This is because these types of films are ones that really appealed to me and its something I believe I can achieve to a good standard.
I plan for my film to follow a traditional narrative, starting at the beginning withy a start, middle and end. This is because I feel for my idea it would fit better for it to be in this narrative structure.
I will only use two characters in my opening; the teenager and the murderer (whose face won't be seen). This is because the teenage will be stabbed in the opening therefore I think that if I focus almost the whole of the opening on him it could get people to feel for him and get a feeling that he could be an important character and then when he gets killed it will not only be a bit of a shock and a thrill but it will draw the audience in to want to watch the rest of the film. Before any other character has even been introduced this character has died meaning the audience will feel like they deserve and really want to know why and by who. Also because I have limited access to actors it will easier to just cast two characters.
I plan to use only a couple of locations. The teenagers house which he leaves and then some very dark lit, rough, deserted streets.
I definitely don't want to do a comedy style film because I believe it will be too hard to do. it would be very difficult to make it genuinely funny and therefore I don't think it would end up looking very good.
I do not want to use dialogue because I don't think you need dialogue in an opening scene3 and because I wont be able to use proper actors any dialogue could end up making the film look very amateurish and poorly acted. Furthermore I believe having no dialogue helps to build up tension and create some mystery about what is going on.
I do plan to use a soundtrack or music in my opening to help create tension and build up suspense. I don't yet know what music I will use but I plan to use something quite dark and sinister.
I won't be breaking the fourth wall in my opening because the character who will be in it doesn't need to connect with the audience. Also fourth wall breaks are more commonly used in comedy's and documentary style films and my opening wont follow either of these styles.
No narration will be used for my opening this is because I don't need the story to explained or introduced over what's happening, I plan to try and use a bit of mystery to draw people in and narration would go against that.
I plan to use a wide range of camera shots and angles, mainly whilst the teenage character is skateboarding through the streets.
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Target Audience
The target audience is the particular group that the film is aimed at and meant to appeal to. Films can be aimed at a certain age group, gender, culture or religion.
Target Audience for Certain Genres:
Comedy:
Comedy's can be aimed at a variety of different audiences; some are aimed at younger children, for example night at the museum, where as some are aimed at adults such as Borat. However most comedy films are aimed at teenagers and slightly over, around 15-25 year olds. This is because many comedy films use a very outrageous and often very rude way of being funny that appeals to this age group. Most comedy's are too rude for younger children and too stupid or rude for older people.
Horror:
Horror films are classically aimed at 15-25 year olds, this is because this is the age in which people are growing up and want to experience new things that give them a scare or a thrill. Also younger people ten to enjoy the adrenaline and thrill created by a horror movie a lot more than older people. Horrors can sometimes be aimed more at mafuck fffsles because usually males are more drawn in and more entertained by the high levels of violence that horror films can contain.
Action:
Typically action films are aimed at males from 15 years old and upwards. Once again the violence and thrill of an action film is targeted more at males. Action films are usually quite fast paced and often contain fast cars, guns and sexy women which is all mean to appeal to males.
Drama:
Dramas are often aimed at people 20 years and older. This is because often a drama will look in depth at a very serious topic such as racism, politics and drug or alcohol abuse, complex, serious and sometimes quiet dark topics such as these appeal more to the older generation because it is a topic they most likely have more experience and understanding of. Also dramas usually have quite a slow pace to them which doesn't appeal much to younger viewers who want a bit more of a thrill.
Romance:
Romantic films are normally aimed at females between the ages of 18 and 35. This is because generally females are more concerned and interested about the topic of love. Also women of that age range are typically the ones who will be looking for love in real life and potentially be more interested in watching things about it so that they can still connect with some sort of romance. Typically romantic films have a lead female actress that most of the target audience can relate to in terms of looking for love.
My Target Audience For my 'Idea so Far':
So far my idea will follow the route of a drama but also with a bit of thrill to it so as to hopefully appeal to my target audience of older teenagers and young adults. Although that isn't the typical target audience of a traditional drama film I have seen many drama films that appeal to my age and slightly older through the use of themes within the film that are interests of mine through the use of a portrayal of youth culture. I am going to try and do a similar thing to reach my target audience, I will show themes of youth culture that appeal to young adults and older teenagers such as things like skateboarding, smoking and music. I am also going to try to add a bit of a thrill to my opening to try and draw in people whomay be looking for something with a bit more of a thrill than a typical drama.
Target Audience for Certain Genres:
Comedy:
Comedy's can be aimed at a variety of different audiences; some are aimed at younger children, for example night at the museum, where as some are aimed at adults such as Borat. However most comedy films are aimed at teenagers and slightly over, around 15-25 year olds. This is because many comedy films use a very outrageous and often very rude way of being funny that appeals to this age group. Most comedy's are too rude for younger children and too stupid or rude for older people.
Horror:
Horror films are classically aimed at 15-25 year olds, this is because this is the age in which people are growing up and want to experience new things that give them a scare or a thrill. Also younger people ten to enjoy the adrenaline and thrill created by a horror movie a lot more than older people. Horrors can sometimes be aimed more at mafuck fffsles because usually males are more drawn in and more entertained by the high levels of violence that horror films can contain.
Action:
Typically action films are aimed at males from 15 years old and upwards. Once again the violence and thrill of an action film is targeted more at males. Action films are usually quite fast paced and often contain fast cars, guns and sexy women which is all mean to appeal to males.
Drama:
Dramas are often aimed at people 20 years and older. This is because often a drama will look in depth at a very serious topic such as racism, politics and drug or alcohol abuse, complex, serious and sometimes quiet dark topics such as these appeal more to the older generation because it is a topic they most likely have more experience and understanding of. Also dramas usually have quite a slow pace to them which doesn't appeal much to younger viewers who want a bit more of a thrill.
Romance:
Romantic films are normally aimed at females between the ages of 18 and 35. This is because generally females are more concerned and interested about the topic of love. Also women of that age range are typically the ones who will be looking for love in real life and potentially be more interested in watching things about it so that they can still connect with some sort of romance. Typically romantic films have a lead female actress that most of the target audience can relate to in terms of looking for love.
My Target Audience For my 'Idea so Far':
So far my idea will follow the route of a drama but also with a bit of thrill to it so as to hopefully appeal to my target audience of older teenagers and young adults. Although that isn't the typical target audience of a traditional drama film I have seen many drama films that appeal to my age and slightly older through the use of themes within the film that are interests of mine through the use of a portrayal of youth culture. I am going to try and do a similar thing to reach my target audience, I will show themes of youth culture that appeal to young adults and older teenagers such as things like skateboarding, smoking and music. I am also going to try to add a bit of a thrill to my opening to try and draw in people whomay be looking for something with a bit more of a thrill than a typical drama.
Narrative
The narrative is the plot of a film and the order of which the events in the film occur. A traditional narrative follows the order of start middle end where as a disrupted narrative contains flashbacks or may start at the end.
Conventions of narratives in the following genres:
Romance:
In a romance film it normally starts at the start because it normally wouldn't be as effective if the film started in the middle. However, it could start with a flashback, which would then be more effective for the type of film
Comedy:
The Narrative could start anywhere it could be in the middle like, The hangover, this would be effective. However film likes this can start at the beginning because they are known to start at the beginning not a flashback because it's more likely to start not at the beginning in a drama or an action.
Horror:
A horror film could start anywhere, it could start a few years before so then it could have the titles 5 years later and then the same horror events occur. It could start in the middle showing what will happen to the victims in the film. It could also start with a flashback or a flash-forward for example, Final Destination starts with a flash-forward showing what will happen.
Action:
An action film is most likely starts at the beginning but it could start in a different part to show the action that might unfold later in the film, this happens in films like James Bond. Also, it could start with showing the hero tied up and being caught then having titles saying 12 hours earlier.
Drama:
A drama film is most likely to start anywhere but the beginning because dramas can be very mysterious and it would be more effective to start as a flashback or flash-forward. Subtitles coming up saying 7 years earlier or later would be effective for this type of film. However some can be more effective to start at the beginning.
Narrative Theory:
Propp:
Vladimir Propp said that characters had a narrative function; they provide structure for the text. He also identified 8 key character roles; the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father.
Todorov:
Todorov stated that most films and story lines follow the same pattern or path. He identified 5 steps in this pattern.
Conventions of narratives in the following genres:
Romance:
In a romance film it normally starts at the start because it normally wouldn't be as effective if the film started in the middle. However, it could start with a flashback, which would then be more effective for the type of film
Comedy:
The Narrative could start anywhere it could be in the middle like, The hangover, this would be effective. However film likes this can start at the beginning because they are known to start at the beginning not a flashback because it's more likely to start not at the beginning in a drama or an action.
Horror:
A horror film could start anywhere, it could start a few years before so then it could have the titles 5 years later and then the same horror events occur. It could start in the middle showing what will happen to the victims in the film. It could also start with a flashback or a flash-forward for example, Final Destination starts with a flash-forward showing what will happen.
Action:
An action film is most likely starts at the beginning but it could start in a different part to show the action that might unfold later in the film, this happens in films like James Bond. Also, it could start with showing the hero tied up and being caught then having titles saying 12 hours earlier.
Drama:
A drama film is most likely to start anywhere but the beginning because dramas can be very mysterious and it would be more effective to start as a flashback or flash-forward. Subtitles coming up saying 7 years earlier or later would be effective for this type of film. However some can be more effective to start at the beginning.
Narrative Theory:
Propp:
Vladimir Propp said that characters had a narrative function; they provide structure for the text. He also identified 8 key character roles; the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father.
Todorov:
Todorov stated that most films and story lines follow the same pattern or path. He identified 5 steps in this pattern.
Barthes:
Roland Barthes said that texts can be open or closed. He said that every text or narrative can be unravelled to see the deeper meaning behind it. He also stated that every narrative has a range of meanings and can be viewed in multiple ways. Barthes narrowed down the action of a text into 5 codes which are woven into any narrative.
Levi-Strauss:
Levi-Strauss said that conflict in a narrative is based around binary opposites and that the binary opposites are the central climax of a narrative structure. Some examples of these binary opposites are:
- Good vs evil
- Boy vs girl
- Peace vs war
- Young vs old
- Strong vs weak
- Democracy vs dictatorship
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Tuesday, 1 December 2015
Breaking the Fourth Wall
Breaking the fourth wall is when an actor addresses the audience or speaks at the camera as if they are speaking through the camera to the viewer. it more commonly used in theatre and is quite rare in film, when it is used its mainly in comedy. It can be used to connect with and communicate directly with the viewer or to help tell a story through someone's words like a documentary, for example in the Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo Dicaprio often speaks to the audience to talk about his life and the events occurring.
Examples of Breaking the Fourth Wall:
Ferris Bueller's Day off:
Matthew Broderick's character Ferris Bueller talks to the audience throughout the film like they're one of his friends. From the start its made obvious that the rule of audience movie divide is ignored in this film, this strengthens the effect of Ferris being a rebellious teenager trying to bunk of school for a day and break the rules without his parents knowing.
The Wolf of Wall Street:
Leonardo Dicaprio breaks the fourth wall multiple times in The Wolf of Wall Street. He does this to help tell the tale of crooked, party and drug obsessed business man Jordan Belfort. This is used to give the effect of the film being like a documentary with Dicaprio stopping at multiple times to give the audience his feelings on an event that has just occurred in the film.
Breaking the fourth wall isn't a technique I would be considering in my opening scene because I've planned mine to be a thriller style film and even though you can use the fourth wall break in this genre its better suited to comedy films. Also with what I have planned for my opening there isn't anything that I need to straight up communicate to the audience. Also breaking the fourth wall can sometimes be used to help the audience understand what's happening, it can be used to tell the story like in the Wolf of Wall Street however in my opening I am going to leave some mystery as to what has happened to try and pull the audience in and make them want to watch the film further to find out what is going on. All these reasons are why I wont be breaking the fourth wall in my opening scene coursework, I do still think its a very effective technique within film just maybe not suited for my purposes.
Examples of Breaking the Fourth Wall:
Ferris Bueller's Day off:
Matthew Broderick's character Ferris Bueller talks to the audience throughout the film like they're one of his friends. From the start its made obvious that the rule of audience movie divide is ignored in this film, this strengthens the effect of Ferris being a rebellious teenager trying to bunk of school for a day and break the rules without his parents knowing.
The Wolf of Wall Street:
Leonardo Dicaprio breaks the fourth wall multiple times in The Wolf of Wall Street. He does this to help tell the tale of crooked, party and drug obsessed business man Jordan Belfort. This is used to give the effect of the film being like a documentary with Dicaprio stopping at multiple times to give the audience his feelings on an event that has just occurred in the film.
Breaking the fourth wall isn't a technique I would be considering in my opening scene because I've planned mine to be a thriller style film and even though you can use the fourth wall break in this genre its better suited to comedy films. Also with what I have planned for my opening there isn't anything that I need to straight up communicate to the audience. Also breaking the fourth wall can sometimes be used to help the audience understand what's happening, it can be used to tell the story like in the Wolf of Wall Street however in my opening I am going to leave some mystery as to what has happened to try and pull the audience in and make them want to watch the film further to find out what is going on. All these reasons are why I wont be breaking the fourth wall in my opening scene coursework, I do still think its a very effective technique within film just maybe not suited for my purposes.
Character Profiling
Chris Steel
British
Drug Dealer
Single
How do they speak?
Short, street like words. Would appear to most as
being uneducated through his vocabulary. Swear a lot in their every day
language and has a low very deep voice. Would be classed as illiterate. Has a
tendency to spit whilst he talks. Has a strong Geordie accent.
What are they like as a person?
Although seen as moody by society as a whole because
of his dark lifestyle and mannerisms he is quite happy and content with his
life and enjoys whatever he does. Quite loud and jokey. Doesn’t care much for
anything like politics. Always on or selling drugs. Quite insensitive and sees
life as a joke.
What do they like and dislike?
Strong hate for politicians and the police. Loves
drugs, alcohol and his friends who he spends the majority of his time with.
Listens to rap music and hip hop. Live of fast food and kebabs. Has a love for
tattoos and art. Follows football and supports Newcastle.
What about their past?
Comes from a deprived background. Lost his dad at 8
and has been going of the rails a bit ever since. Hasn’t spoken about his dad’s
death since it happened.
What Does the Character Do?
Earns the majority of his money from drug dealing and
gets quite a lot of money from it. Loves his job because he loves doing drugs
and basically just gets to spend every day hanging around on the streets with
his mates. Not respected because he’s a drug deal and a lot of people look down
on him for that but he has a lot of loyal customers and close friends he deals
with. In his spare time he likes to skateboard and watch football.
Where do They Live?
Lives in a small flat in hackney. Only lived there for
a year and a bit, he moved there because of better business. It’s quite a rough
neighbourhood but he likes it. The flat is relatively messy with clothes,
bottles and drugs spread out over the whole flat. Walls are covered in posters,
graffiti and art.
Who do They Know?
Important people in his life:
·
Friends
·
Mum
·
Grandparents
·
His pet Husky
He has no children and no wife or relationship.
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