Progress Report

After doing the initial research, I have come up with a few ideas for the plot, camerawork and editing of my production. The ideas that I have got have all been thought of with our textual analysis in thought, as they helped us come up with these ideas.

Our initial idea for the plot of our production is something that would work with an action/horror hybrid as the genre, so we are aiming to produce a horror film opening, but with some aspects of action in there. The plot idea we have is to start off with the protagonist tied to a chair, which is in a dark room, with only a light on him. We wanted the light to either be a spotlight or light from a television screen, as part of the opening is the protagonist being forced to watch a news report that talks about the murderer, which would give the audience an insight to the back story of the film. The protagonist is then going to manage to slowly move backwards to a counter in the corner of the room, with various torture instruments on it. The protagonist will then pick up a knife and cut slowly cut himself free and escape from the antagonist.

When we make the production, we will need things like knives, scissors and other sharp objects that would make the counter look like it has a realistic torture set on it. As this would be a health and safety risk, we would make sure we handle everything with care, and that we make sure that we do not include them in any other shots then one that looks at the table, all other shots will be done with some sort of model that looks like a knife or scissors. Other props we will need is an old wooden chair and an old TV. We want these props to make the room look older and less clean. The TV that we use should also be old so it doesn't look like the antagonist would have the newest technology in a torture room. We would also use fake blood around the place too so that the torture room looks like it has been used before the protagonist. Another shot we would like to do is a shot of the antagonist pouring gasoline into the room, to burn the protagonist to death. The way we are going to do this is with a gasoline can, but instead of petrol we will pour water, with a little bit of apple juice in it to give it a slightly yellow hint, like petrol.

Some of the shots we want to do will be easy to pull off with the sort of technology we have access to. We will mostly keep the camera fixed to one point, but it can pan and tilt for different shots. Our establishing shot will be a shot along the floor, looking at the protagonist in the chair, looking lifeless, as the camera slowly moves into the room. We can also use a GoPro to get any POV shots if we would want any. POV shots are good to use as they show what the character can see. We also want to do an over the shoulder shot of the protagonist looking at the TV as it plays the news report. The camera that I will use for the rest of the footage will either be a camcorder or a camera.

For our production, we do not want to make it like a normal and generic horror film, with monsters and other things, with a weak and vulnerable female in it, and the action genre conventions help us slip away from that, as it allows us to have a stronger and more defensive protagonist that will not easily be killed

This iteration of the progress report was written by Tom Chambers:
Click here to go to his blog

Questionnaire Results



The questionnaire was first published on the 02/12/15, with the link being shared soon after via a class e-mail.

The direct link to the questionnaire is embedded below if you have any further input:

Click Here to View Survey

 

Thank you :)

In the mean time, the results thus far have been collated and are represented below

 

 

 

 

 

The Dark Knight Textual Analysis (Owen Phillips)

Intro:

The Dark Knight is an action motion picture and the second film in the Christopher Nolan Trilogy, which was released in 2008. It starred Christian Bale, as Batman and the late Heath Ledger, as The Joker. The Dark Knight is considered one of the best Action Adventure movies of all time and that is why I have chosen to analyse the first scene. I think it will be good to look at because it gives our group ideas for our Horror/Action Hybrid regarding the Action aspect.

Genre:

The Action genre convention is stereotypical and tends to follow a similar structure. They tend to involve a hero(s) who has to overcome multiple challenges, struggling against all odds, which may are life threatening for the ‘hero’ in order to defeat a villain; with an ending that concludes in victory for the ‘hero’. This hero in The Dark Knight is Batman as he battles to defeat The Joker.

The Adventure genre involves an adventure, well done, in which the protagonist goes on a journey which often involves them risking their lives. In The Dark Knight this is Batman because he risks his life for the sake of others even though he is expected to get out of these situations.

So the Action Adventure Hybrid genre works very well for a film of this sort as it features a main protagonist trying to defeat evil.

Uses and Gratifications Theory:

The ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory’ can be applied to this film and it is fairly obvious because of the genre of Action Adventure, which primarily focuses on fictional stories. The audience will use this kind of film for entertainment purposes and also as an escape from their lives.

Film Opening Analysis:

It starts off with an establishing shot of the Gotham skyline and draws attention to a glass building which is zoomed in on. As the building gets closer, the window smashes, meaning a diegetic sound has been implemented. This causes a change in camera shot, which changes to an over the shoulder shot of someone wearing a mask, holding a weapon and dressed in black. This leads the audience to think that something bad is about to happen, which can be established from the ‘villain’ in all black as well as the weapon as these are typical of the action genre. So it is very stereotypical so far. The over the shoulder shot then tilts down as the two ‘villains’ make their way across the building on a wire, to communicate the height they are at. The shot then cuts to an aerial shot, to again emphasize the height they are at and to make it look more dramatic. This is all happening while the non-diegetic music in the background which is typical of a film in the action genre when something dramatic is going on.

The camera then changes to a figure in a suit, holding his mask by his side and a sports bag in the other. This gives the impression that he’s fairly relaxed and not bothered if his identity gets found out. The background music that has been added is non-diegetic sound and is fairly quiet at this moment. It then switches to three guys masked in a car talking about how the Joker is in charge of what is about to happen. The audience can then figure out that the Joker is going to make an appearance at some point in what seems to be an attempted robbery. This becomes clear when they go into a bank and take hostages. Then switches outside to the guys that were in the first part of the scene and one of them shoots the other so he can have his share. Indicates to the audience that they are greedy and driven by money, which is often associated with people who commit robberies. The rest of the crew kill each other leaving one who turns out to be the Joker. He drives the bus out of the bank and the camera shot changes from a close up of the bus which pans out into a long shot of the Joker amongst school buses.

In this scene there is a single plot because their objective is the same, to rob the bank, with a parallel plot which involve the guys on the roof, and The Joker. These come together at the end when the guy in the safe crosses paths with The Joker, who gets shot for his troubles. Leaving all the money to The Joker. The plot of this scene is linear because everything runs in chronological order. This helps to tell a story because if it was full of flashbacks then it wouldn’t make any sense.

It is difficult to apply Propp’s theory to this scene because there are no protagonists displayed in the opening scene. However the Joker can be seen as the antagonist because he’s just robbed a bank. The money could be considered the princess because that is what The Joker gets as a reward so pulling off this heist.

This textual analysis was written by Owen Phillips:

http://owenpblog.blogspot.com

I Am Number Four Textual Analysis (Tom Chambers)

The film ‘I Am Number Four’ starts off with idents of Touchstone Pictures and DreamWorks that fade in and show in the title sequence.

The establishing shot of the film starts off with an extreme long shot of Earth, non-diegetic music is building up in the background with drums and strings. The camera then starts to zoom into Earth and then follows it round to then zoom in on Central Africa. The camera then rushes over the forest and the non-diegetic sounds build up with a bigger tempo and brings a sense of panic in, making the person watching think that the camera may be a POV shot of someone or something. As the camera is rushing over the forest, the diegetic sounds of monkeys, birds and various other species of jungle animals are heard as the camera flies over. Smoke is seen coming through to canopy of the rainforest, showing where wooden huts are, as they are being lit up by a glow from the fires. The camera then flies down under the canopy and then comes almost to a halt at the front of one wooden hut, keeping it in a long shot for a brief seconds before slowly moving towards the door handle and the lock below it. The non-diegetic music is building up a tempo like something is about to jump through the door and grab the people inside the building. The camera then starts to go through the lock in the door and into the house, the music suddenly stops and fades out as the camera stops for a brief second and starts to pan around the little wooden hut, showing the viewer the contents. Inside of the relatively messy hut are two men, both are asleep in makeshift beds made from the jungle.

There is a cut to a close up on the lock of the door and the piece of wood that keeps the door in place so it doesn’t open, the piece of wood starts to move and makes a quiet diegetic sound as it scratches at the other bits of wood that makes the door and the wall. The camera then cuts to a long shot of a futuristic dagger, and the non-diegetic music starts to build up again, but only with slow, high pitched strings. The long shot of the dagger slowly zooms out to a medium long shot of one of the men as he picks up the dagger and starts to walk slowly and cautiously towards the rickety door, the camera tracks him as he does this. There is another cut to a close up on the side of the man’s face as he looks out the gaps of the door. The camera cuts to a long shot of the man as he acknowledges that there is nothing there and nods to the other man to say it is okay and lowers the futuristic dagger. As he does this, the diegetic sound of wood snapping and collapsing is heard as a jet black wing crashes through the wall and pulls the man through the wall, the music suddenly build up with drums and strings to tell the viewer that the man is in danger, the camera then cuts to an extreme long shot of a window in the hut as he dove through the window.

This textual analysis was written by Tom Chambers:
http://tomchambersmediablog.blogspot.com

Research Application

Directing and Story writing

I feel that, in this case, applying some of Quentin Tarantino's methods would be beneficiary, as his style allows the audience to engage with the characters while maintaining a non linear storyline in order to keep them attentive as there is no wasted run time, only necessary character building and the occasional well choreographed fight scene. This has inspired us to make our horror/action short confrom to less of the cliched techniques of horror in general, instead. 

Applying techniques created and inspired by highly rated directors can allow our short production to be of a less generic.

Analysis of horror conventions

Analysis of Horror conventions 

(Work in progress)

Our interpretation of what to expect when we watch a horror film has very much been defined by the conventions that are present in a vast majority of both horror books and horror films. From the very first examples we have, horror texts have conformed to these conventions, which has thus lead to those conventions being seen as cliché and should often be avoided as they will decrease the potential engagement with the audience as they will have “seen it all before".

Textual analysis of Saw II (Saw 2)

Saw II opens with a conventional scene for the Saw franchise as we see an almost submissive shot of an unidentified man tied to a chair with a device fitted to his neck. The shot pans up to give a full view of said man as he struggles to break free from his bindings, all the while there is a rising tension in the soundtrack as non-diegtic sounds build up. This build up immediately drags the audience in as we know to expect a gory torture scene, but we know not of the method in which he will be tortured so a tension as we, the audience, imagine the horrifying contraptions capabilities.

An overhead pan brings an emphasis of the mans imprisonment as he struggles against his bindings in a desperate manner. He manages to rise to his feet and attempts to compose his balance with a large weight around his neck, as he does so a diegetic wire snapping sound can be heard as the device is triggered. An over the shoulder shot is used to draw attention to a small CRT TV located on the opposite side of the room, from which the diegetic sound of a deep and distorted voice can be heard as the screen itself heats up and forms the image The shot quickly cuts to a close up view of his face as to give the audience a sense of the bewilderment that the man is feeling.

The voice is one that is despite a generic nature, due to distortion and low pitch, can be immediately recognised as the main antagonist of such a horror film as even new audiences can identify with this convention of a voice being of an inhuman nature. As the antagonist speaks to the man it is edited in a manner that gives the maximum amount of information as the shot switches between the horrified face of the protagonist and the screen which is displaying information that will define the actions of the character. The information on the TV is presented in the same way as the antagonist, distorted and grainy as the outdated TV would likely present it in this manner. The key information that the protagonist needs to focus on abruptly flashes up, dislcosing the information that the protagonist needs in order to have a chance of survival. The face of the puppet that represents the form of the 
antagonist fills most of the frame space on the screen, which can emphasise a position of power by forcing the protagonist to see only the antagonist.

After the location of the key is disclosed it is down to the protagonist to forcibly cut his own eye out in order to save his own life. A diegetic timer begins ticking down as to force the protagonist to make a decision rather than deliberate his options. As he raises the scalpel it cuts to an extreme close up so we get to see every millimetre of movement the scalpel 
makes towards his eye. However before a perferation is made he angrily throws the scalpel to the ground and the shot cuts to mid range to show the protagonist desperately clutching at the device in an attempt to create any kind of leverage with which to remove it. During this frantic panic an extreme close up constantly ticking timer is overlayed in order to further create tension as the audience know that the countdown is rapidly progressing.

Thoughts on naming our characters (if necessary)

Potential main protagonist name list:

• Ryan Morgan
• Howard Turner
• Louis Cook
• Arthur Taylor
• Jeremy Reed
• Martin Sanders
• Walter Rivera
• Thomas Wood
• Jeffrey Simmons
• Eric Campbell

*names taken from a random name generator available for free use online, names were selected from a total of 100 potentials.

Potential main antagonist name list

Genre Research: Horror

Horror Genre Research on Saw II

 

Textual analysis of Saw II Saw 2 (Saw II) is a horror film that falls into the torture porn sub-genre. Conventionally a scene begins with an anonymous person that the audience identifies as the protagonist, waking up in a strange place with a device fitted to them or a trap set up around them. A disfigured puppet man appears on a TV and identifies the person and what they have done to be worthy of the treatment he is giving. They are then told how to avoid the trap or device being set off, however it usually involves the protagonist having to harm the part of the body that they used to commit their “crime”. This is a convention that the Saw series created very early on, as with the audience having an expectation of what to expect, minimal development of the scene’s background is needed. This lead saw to become the revolutionary contender in the sub-genre of torture porn horror films. Propp’s character theory can be applied in a roundabout way as there is usually a single protagonist attempting to combat the plan of the villain. However it is presented in slanted way as the character is given the means in which to defeat him, it just depends on how powerful their own will to survive is in order to perform the necessary deed. Todarov’s theory can also be loosely applied as from the audiences’ perspective, the protagonist is immediately thrown into the state of conflict with no prior equilibrium being shown. As soon as the character has been given the necessary information they begin the attempt to repair. The resolution is if they should escape the predicament. The ideology is portrayed through the Jigsaw (the puppet), as he is playing god by deciding that he is of authority to discern whether someone should live or die. There is also the idea that the Jigsaw is “good” and that is simply cleansing “evil”. However for the viewers this ideology is turned on its head as we empathise with the protagonist and want them to succeed in their endeavour to escape, as opposed to being punished for whatever “crime” they have committed. The audience that the film is aimed at would most likely be males who are between 18 and 30 years old. The lower number is defined by the age certificate of the film itself it recommends that viewers should be at least 18. The film is designed to create discussion amongst its audience as during the scene, we empathise with the protagonist in their predicament and are lead to ask ourselves what we would do in the same situation. The audience is compelled to do this because there is no way to relate to the villain, he is presented as a puppet with disproportionate features and a low distorted voice.

My response to the media brief

Response to the brief

The brief me and my group have decided to go for is the short clip that defines the opening to a film. The genre in which we wish to place our opening will be a hybrid of both action films and horror films so obviously is important for us to clearly understand the conventions that define each of these two genres before we try to combine them in our media text.

The range of ages we are aiming to entertain is between 12 and 18 years old, as we are going to be using most conventions of action films and an entry level range of horror film conventions. This is because we want the film opening to be appropriate for the very bottom of the age range we are targeting, meaning that we will not be using any kind of gore as we have seen in horror films such as the Saw series. However we are hoping to incorporate the tense and atmospheric aspect of the horror film genre.

Normal conventions for the action film genre would be the protagonist performing a variety of stunts that defy the laws of physics but create a visually stunning spectacle. Another would be having some kind of plot goal such as a damsel in distress or some kind of catastrophic event that needs to be prevented.

Normal conventions for a film of the horror genre would include; blood, gore, some kind of overhanging threat that the protagonist/s need to attempt to escape from or destroy.

Convergence between these two genres would mean that we can have a film opening that incorporates typical horror aspects such as tension while maintaining an action based narrative as it would not be just limited to the protagonist being in danger throughout.

Prezi Update