Blocking- First look into my film location

These initial images were very helpful for my understanding of what I can physically create, rather than what i have decided to create in my own head. Unfortunately, the room is much more cluttered than i had hoped, and although a lot of it can be moved, things like the benches on either side would need blocking out with black curtains as they are fixed into the walls, although this is a solution, the quality of my film would lack authenticity due to the room that is supposedly 'a unescapable cage' being lined with curtains. In conclusion i feel that although this room is still an option, i think i should carry on my search to try and find a more authentic space for my short film.

Shot list

Older character- person 1

Younger character- person 2

    ·      Slow zoom out from extreme close up of P1

    ·      Longshot of P2 being dragged down a corridor- fad in and out of darkness

    ·      Close up of P2 laying on floor

    ·      Longshot of P2 walking down a one way dark path

    ·      Over shoulder of P2 approaching door, pausing and then opening it

    ·      mid longshot of P2 slipping into room and closing door behind her.

    ·      Over shoulder shot from P2 POV of P1 sitting in chair

    ·      Pan round from over shoulder to front on shot of P1

    ·      Gradual zoom into P1 in chair, staring past the camera (at the window)

    ·      Static (white noise)

    ·      First top down shot of room

    ·      Back to close up of P1’s eyes not moving from the fixation of the window- slight muttering of    speech

    ·      Arc shot from P1 round to P2 now moving to middle of room, P2 looking scared/ intimidated

   ·      Mastershot of room- now with P2 in center of room, pausing, then leaning closely into P1, blocking her eyeline

    ·      Close up two shot of the characters, P1’s eyes still not moving from the gaze at the window (looking through P2)

    ·      Second aerial shot of room

   ·      POV shot of P2 backing away from P1, then a hand held shot of her turning (arc round to window)

    ·      Arc slows as it reaches covered window

    ·      Third aerial shot of room (P2 in middle of room starring at window)

    ·      Low angle zoom into window

    ·      Turns back to over shoulder shot of P2 trying to talk to P1

    ·      Forth aerial shot of P2 turning and walking to window

    ·      Shot from behind curtain of P2 opening the curtains.

    ·      Close up- P2 shock (we don’t know whats she has seen yet)

    ·      Pan up from hand held filming- P2 pov

    ·      Pan back down

    ·      Pause frame

    ·      Hand held whip pan to P1

    ·      Pause frame

    ·      Fifth aerial shot of P2 moving towards P1

    ·      Zoom into extreme close up of P1

    ·      Blackout

    ·      (hand held) Longshot of empty chair

    ·      whip pan upwards

    ·      whip pan back down- P1 in shot close up

    ·      handheld POV of P2 being pushed backwards towards window

*montage begins*

falling into obis/ P2 close ups/ darkness/ the chair at low angle/ darkness/ extreme close up of P1/ darkness/ P1 aging and giving up hope/ darkness/ P2 in the chair/ zoom out (through and out of window of P1 now P2) staring into window, same as first shot.

CAMERA WORKSHOP

Photography-

•        Use shot list and storyboard to aid my filming but must not restrict myself to it.
•        Shoot in a way which will be easy to edit, for example leaving space at the start and end of each shot.
•        Shoot each scene with a standard set up, a master shot and two other angled shots eg. Over shoulder
•       Blocking will allow me to gain some prior knowledge of how the filming will turn out, thus I can decide if I feel it will be a good choice for me to use that location.
•        Shoot each shot three times, this will give me a variety of choices when it comes to editing allowing me to use only the best quality acting and camera work I have.

Positioning and Movement-

•        Zoom and angled shots, create tension and pressure
•        Pan and Tilt shots
•        Tight and wide shots, intimate shots or shots which offer a broader sense of the situation
•        High and low angles create either dominant or venerable shots
•        Establishing shots- inform the audience of the story’s surroundings
•        Tripod allows for steadier and smoother shots
•        Hand held shots create a feeling of being in the characters shoes
•        Pull focus, same shot but changing the main subject

Framing-

•        Looking/ walking room
•        Headroom
•        Wide or narrow looks of surroundings
•        Rule of thirds- creating a 3 by 3 grid which aids to structure shots in a way which is pleasing to the eye.

Lighting-

•        No flat light, often occurs when filming outside in over cast weather
•        Contrast- low key and high key lighting creating depth and obscuring the characters emotions from the audience.
•        Continuity- shots must flow from one to another, filming must be done within a period of time that will not stick out or be evident in the final product.

storyboard- draft 2

After completing my first story board i realised that some parts were missing, some were in the wrong order and some ideas simply wouldn't or couldn't work with the limits of school productions. Thus i decided to move on and start to edit, add and subtract certain parts of my short film with a focus around a realistic but also artistic approach to the production.

storyboard- draft 1

Initial Ideas

Double page spread analysis 3

This is noticeably a very unconventional double page spread, primarily due to the fact that it does not have an structured blocks of text however, as cliche as it maybe, sometimes an image can speak a thousand words. For example, the image of the left side of this double page spread is an emotive, deep, and very atmospheric picture, this tone is created through the use of an exaggerated perspective due to the full body shot and the very hazy weather, we can however see that this man is within prison walls, this is conveyed due to the barbed walls, and barred windows, that are just about visible along the far right side of the picture. All this creates a clouded image of a man almost as lost within his environment as we are to what this image is truly telling us, i suppose that is the message to this piece really, a lost man, in what we can only assume is prison but not behind the bars himself, perhaps visiting a loved one, investigating a situation between cell mates, we do not know but we do however understand much more about the man through the image than we would from a block of text.
The right side to this double page spread however is slightly more conventional than its counterpart. The script format with blacked out words creates the same tone as the image does, but the offers some sort of clarity as to what this film article will be about. We now realise this is a piece about a 'Cold War Drama' and thus we understand the reason for Mr Hanks attire and the use of the blacked out passages.
This double page spread is far from conventional, however that maybe the reason for this layout, it is incredibly striking compared to the other, more conventional articles within the magazine and for that i think that it achieves its purpose to attract an audience very well.

Double page spread analysis 2

As you can see, this double page spread uses the rule of thirds, with the image taking up two third of the space, and the text taking up the far right third, this creates a naturally pleasing layout to us making the reader drawn to the text and thus more interested in reading the article. The layout of the text section is not very conventional there is a large amount of dead, white space. This slightly jars the fluidity of the page, how ever if the page was filled with imagery or text I feel like the page would become to busy, thus it is understandable that the editor would choose to put nothing at all in that space as opposed to something purely as a filler.
The colour scheme for this page is both conventional of the magazine by using the primary colours of red and blue, but is also fairly subtle, mainly due to the main image on this double page spread being so grey in saturation, the only colours shown in the image is the slight blue haze of the background and the red tones seen with the bullet being fired and the face behind it but again both these colours are seen with the colour scheme of the text.
This page is part of a larger article about the locations in which the James Bond movie 'Spectre' was filmed, the headline and plug to this double page spread acts as an insight as to what parts of the film where shot in this location. 'Shadow Play' refers to the dark and secretive actions 007 must ohear to as he undertakes the tasks only 'the world's greatest secret agent' could complete.

Double page spread analysis 1

This double page spread uses a house style very well, by setting the 'IN CINEMA' headline off to the left of the page and using definitive black lines to separate the it from the review itself we are forced to not only naturally be drawn to the image, and the spectacular cinematography shown, but we are also aware just by the layout that this is the section of the magazine that as always set apart for new blockbuster reviews.
If we consider the rule of thirds on this page, the image covers the top two thirds of the page, with the writing being pushed into the bottom third, this is due to the fact that above everything else, this is something that needs to be sold visually, as it is not a piece of music, or a product to be used, this is a film.
The colour scheme used for this double page spread is both consistent and appropriate for Empires house style, it uses a white background, black writing and light blue pull quotes, the then grey hints like the 'IN' of the headline, or the drop capitals make a comfortable, soft colour palette that would accompany film still with ease.
The headline itself uses a very interesting and original style of typography, by using the angled shapes it give the text it a 3D effect that jumps out of the page, thus attracting the readers and drawing them toward the beautiful still shown in the article.

poster analysis 3- FRIDAY THE 13TH

Colours
This poster cleverly uses basic and primary colours, the sky being a blue tint, the fog surrounding the figure is a brownish yellow, and the writing at the bottom being either red or white. Doing this makes the image become very pleasing to the eye and something that would draw an audience to read what the poster is about.

Key image
The image of what we assume to be the antagonist of this film is a low angled full body shot, this creates suspense and tension due to the feeling that this character is overpowering us, it makes the audience feel dominated by the figures presence. It is noticeable that the character is wearing a mask to seal his identity, this is conventional of the thriller genre, as it creates a sense of the unknowing, which is key to the thriller genre of film and is often what makes a film like this successful.

Background
Behind the villain we can see a small glimmer of light, this could be a representation of hope, as though there's a chance that the protagonists, who ever they maybe, do have a chance of making it through the situation without dying.

Realism
This poster airs upon the boundaries of the real, but due to the eary, clouded environment we see this antagonist standing within it does feel as though it could be somewhere far from our own world.

Text colour and Font
The uses of the white text with the name and release date in red makes the most important information apparent to the viewer instantly, this means that if they are interested in the image of or the style of film, they do not need to stop and look to find what it is called, it is made apparent to them through the use of font and text colour.

Target Audience
This film is rated 18, thus the target audience is older people who enjoy thrillers, the poster also uses the plug 'from the producers of texas chainsaw massacre' this would then attract fans of this film as we would assume that the style of filming and editing would be similar.

poster analysis 2- The Cabin In The Woods

Key image

The main image is very strange and is not very conventional to it genre, it does, however, reference to the film’s plot very well. The background silhouette images of the woods are in comparison quite conventional, as woods such as the one seen in this film have connotations to the unknown and the danger that would lie within. The lighting for the image is not dramatic, nor is it dark, it is quite even across the image, which emphasizes the images complexity and the numerous buildings we can see within the structure.

The Tag Line

The tagline for this poster reads ‘you think you know the story’ suggesting that you when you see advertisement for this film you will believe it to be just another horror story consisting of some people going to a cabin in the woods and being killed one by one. However as this tag line suggests this film's storyline is much more complex and in depth than this, making this film more original and interesting to the audience.

Text colour and Font

The film name is simple and clear, it becomes instantaneously obvious to the audience what the basic plot of the film is. The fact that the words ‘cabin’ and ‘woods’ have been put in larger text size makes them stand out thus would allow the audience to understand at a glimpse the general nature of this film. The font is simple and bold, this is quite conventional of a horror film poster due to the posters image generally being the feature that aims to catch the viewer's eye.

Target Audience

This film is rated as a 15, so the target audience will be people of ages 15+, mainly teenagers and young adults. There will also be a target audience for those who often watch and enjoy horror films.

Layout

The layout is quite conventional of a poster as starting from the top there’s the image, the film name, tagline, the reference to the director/production company, and the credits at the bottom. Most posters are often set out in this order or a very similar order. The position of the release date in the credits is also very typical of posters.