Lastly...

MS KAZIMI IS MY FAVORITE TEACHER EVER!

Changes to the Storyboard

I made only a couple of changes to the storyboard that I submitted pre-production. They are: 1) The POV shot of the teacher viewing the students. Originally I was not going to have him stand up and walk over towards the desk in that cut, but I decided to do so so that the audience gets to see another view of the students, but still keeping them engaged. 2) The second change I made was the shot when the protagonist checks his phone. Originally I was planning to cut between the shots, but I thought it provided better variety by being one continuous shot.

Technology Standard

Operating a Video Camera: The operation of this I found ok as I had worked with such technology before. The basic running of the camera was relativley easy, and I believe that I was able to get some good effective shots, in particular the birds eye view of the student at the end. I was unhappy with the video quality of the film (shot it with a microwave) as it was not in HD adn the shots were pixelated becuase of it. However, I thought that I used the camera well when I used the zoom. This was especially apparent during the final shot, with Bronson's character coughing into his hand, highlighting that the disease has been passed. Composing Shots: I thought I composed my shots well. I used plenty of POV shots in an effort to engage the audience into the fear and horror shown by the characters. I also did this to show the symptoms of the disease, and how quickly it can strike. I also intertwined several shots of a clock. I did this in order to show the gradual progression of time. What it also shows is the small amount of time it takes for the disease to take effect, further enhancing the horror of the film. Almost all shots of the teacher are taken as a low angle shots, showing his power and authority. Recording or Using Sound Effects, Dialogue or Music: I used very little diegetic sound in my film. That was done specifically to highlight the beating heart and the ticking clock sound effect. I had also thought about recording sound for the school bell and ambient background noise, but decided it would be a more clear and easy-to-edit if I just used a sound effect for that. I had the heartbeat noise added because I thought it would show the symptoms as they worsen. The heartbeat does not sound natural, either. This adds to the effect of the horror because it is something out of the ordinary. Importing Images and Video Files: I found this to be a very stress-free process. I think that this is because I organised all the raw footage that I possessed into one folder filled with all the usable shots. Then, all I had to do was import them, which was trouble-free. (also helps that my laptop has an SD Card reader) Creating Music or Sound Effects: In this film all the sound effects I used were taken royalty-free off of websites (no credit was needed to be given for any website used). This was because the impression I had to leave with the audience was one of a normal classroom and school environment, with these providing perfect vehicle in which to do that. The only music of sorts in the film is at the end where there is the little girl singing. That is again because I wanted to give a horrifying experience to the audience, and the haunting audio of the small girl provides just that.

Production Evaluation

Overall I am happy with the production process. Several aspects of the production process mak me feel this way. One of these is the almost easy-to-use editing software that I used. I found that for a base-level understanding that I have gained for "Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5" made the editing process one easier, and I believed because of this it enhanced my film considerably. One exaple of this is during the trimming of my clips. Using the "T" shortcut I managed to easily trim the clips to the exact frame that I wanted. This was very efficeint and definately cut down on some time editing. In saying this I only feel I had a base knowledge of the program. Premiere Pro is a well renowned program used by people much more proficient in film-making than myself. This is because of the vast amounr of features present in the software. I feel that my film may have been better if I had learnt how to use more features available. One example of this is the "blur" effect I placed on 3 shots. For those shots, I wanted the blur to fluctuate in the level of blurriness, showing the character going in and out of consciousness. I would imagine that there is a way to do this, but I did not have the expertise to be able to do it. If I had perhaps spent more time reading about it I may have been able to find the way to do it, bettering my film. Another difficult part was the filming. I filmed in the same location on 2 separate days. Unfortunately the lighting was very different on the two days, which I did not notice at the time. This meant that I had to add a colour filter and adjust the brightness of the individual clips, taking more time. To change this I could have filmed on the same day, or, I could have taken more care and provsion when I fimed on the day. I could have reviewed the footage I shot previously in order to achieve the same lighting. This would have led to a more polished film. The audiences reaction to the film was pleasing as well. The class were slightly annoyed when I played the film out loud as they thoight that the bell at the begining of the film was a real one. This was pleasing becuase that meant that they recognised it as a school setting. Another reaction was that the fake blood was scary and realistic, which iis fantastic. It was so pleasing because of the idea of the film was to make the audience feel involved to heighten their reactions, which I believe it did.

Other Pre-Production tasks

4. As I only plan on having one main character in this opening (the guy who dies) I have only confirmed Michael Dunlop as a main actor. However, I have got the services of Matt Rhodes and Bronson McNaughton to fill my other 2 roles required.
5. As per sheet
6.Costume - Casual Mufti (supplied by actors)
Props - Folder (I provide)
- Pen (I provide)
- Paper (I provide)
- Fake Blood (already made using household ingredients, I will supply)
7. As per sheet

Treatment

There is a classroom about to begin. The teacher requests that the students get out there work. One student is shown to get out his folder and flick through it. This student coughs. Teacher continues to teach, remarks about the "use of the unknown monster in horror films to make it more scary". We see the protagonist drawing a monster on his notepad. He coughs louder this time, and more than once. A concerned friend next to him asks if he is ok, the protagonist responds with "Yeah yeah yeah, don't worry about me." Then we see the student grab his mobile phone out of his pocket, a text message reads "OMG cud this get ne more boring lol" . We then see him reply but all of a sudden grab his chest. We hear the faint noise of a heartbeat in the background. He coughs a couple of times, and he checks the palm of his hand, where there is a few drops of blood. We then see him look up at the board, but his vision becomes blurry. The sound of the heartbeat intensifies, becomes quicker. The coughing now becomes louder, violent. We then see his vision, which is completely blurry, almost blacking out. Then we see his face, blood dripping out of his mouth and nostrils. We then see him fall off his chair, landing face down. We hear a noise that sounds like someone flatlining. Then the opening credits come up, we see the title in amongst the black background.

Genre Concept Paragraph

The genre of the opening is Horror. It doesn't have a title yet, but it will most likely be one or two words, as are many films of the horror genre. I want to show the quickness and the brutality of the disease, and to do this I want to engage the audience and make them feel as though they are in the movie, by using such shots as POV shots, to show the effects (eg drowsiness shown by soft focus POV. The scene (breifly) is as follows:
1) Average person, nothing much happening.
2) He coughs, still innocuous.
3) Symptoms get worse, he starts uncontrollably coughing.
4) Coughs up blood.
5) Vision gets hazy.
6) Vomits blood and falls off chair.
7) Someone else coughs.
8) CREEEEEEEDITS.

2. Yarr

Explain

In the film "Frankenstein" the isolated setting of the castle is used to create a number of things. First, and perhaps the most important, it adds fear and a sense of ominousness to the film. This was very fitting to the horror genre, as the suspense and creepiness was built there. It was also used to scare the audience. This was the general reaction among the audience, with this film being referred to as the scariest for it's time. The setting is used for much of the film, including the scene in which Frankenstein creates the monster, and also it is where Fritz is killed.
In "Psycho", the isolated setting of the hotel is used. Although this is not immediately clear, because of Norman Bates' 'normal' persona. The uneasiness for the viewer is built slowly throughout the film, with Norman's interest in taxidermy perhaps setting off the first alarms. Because of the apparent normality behind the motel, it came as quite a shock to the audience that Marian Crane was killed. The idea of being isolated doesn't just apply to the setting of the motel. At the start of the film, Marian is isolated when she takes the money and is running away from the cop and her previous life. We also see this isolation during perhaps the most iconic momenst form the film, the shower scene. Marian is completely alone, void of all company, when Norman/Mother attacks and kills her with the knife.

Desk

Describe

In the movie, Frankenstein, most of the action in the movie is taken place in the Castle of Frankenstein, up on the hill. This isolated setting is exaggerated by the director by using shots such as long shots, showing the alone nature of the building. This, along with the darkness of the sky gives the viewer a very ominous feeling, as though something bad will happen. This is similar in the movie Psycho. In this movie the isolated setting of the motel, which is off the main road considerably and the characters even reference how far away it is from any other facility in their dialogue.This is done to show th isolation, and infer that if anything was to happen, that no-one would be around to do anything about it.

Transition + Length of takes

The use of fast cutting at the beginning of Mission Impossible 3 shows not only the panic, but the escalation in the tension and action in the scene. During the opening scene, we are shown close-ups of Davian and Hunt. As the scene intensifies (Davian's count gets closer to 10) we are shown these close-up shots, but this time the shots that are shown are now at a rapid-fire pace. The Director does this to heighten the tension and action in the scene. He also does this to show the panic in the scene. By showing  the shots for litereally a second at a time shows the viewer that there is a lot of action going on, so much so that it shows that there has been total chaos.

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Note: These four shots were taken during 4 seconds

Sound/Music

Sound are used in the opening scene to help the viewer feel as though they are in the scene. This adds tension and unease for the viewer, because the director tries to put the viewer in the same situation as the characters. The first sound effect we hear is the electric buzz, before we even get a shot of the characters.This is done because it puts the viewer straight into the action, making the emotions and experiences had by the characters are felt more by the audience. After that, we also hear the noise of the gun cocking. This adds to the foreshadowing of the scene, because the gun is so pronounced, one may presume that it will be used for a bad thing (which it is).

Lighting

Lighting is used in the opening of Mission Impossible 3 to further emphasise the uneasiness and ominousness of the scene, but to also set the time of the day. In the opening scene, the room is very dimly lit, with very little lights hanging overhead as it were.

This leads to a sense of uneasiness because it could either mean one of two things; a) where they are is to remain a secret, and without having bright lights arouses less suspicion or b) they are in such a run down place that there are hardly any lights above, leading to the thought that no-one would notice or care if something were to happen there.
As well as this, the lighting is used to show time of day. As you can see in the images below, the natural light is being shown through the windows, as well as reflecting upon the skin of the characters. These both show that this scene is set in the day time, because of the brightness of the light.

This picture shows the light reflected upon his neck.

This picture shows the light coming through the window.

Camera Angles

Camera angles in Mission Impossible 3 are used as examples of power. When the shot is showing Ethan Hunt, who is trying to convince Davian that he has no idea as to what the "Rabbit's Foot" is, the camera is looking down upon him, showing that he is the submissive one and is not in a position of power.

Whereas the other character, Owen Davian, is the agressor in this scene, demanding to know where "The Rabbit's foot" is. So the director sets the camera slightly lower, showing him to be taller and in more of a position of power.

This sets the viewer up to believe that the movie will mostly focus on Ethan Hunt and his struggle to gain the ascendency and take down Davian.



b) Genre/atmosphere

The director of the scene looks to create a suspenseful tone, making the viewer nervous/uneasy, as well as keeping them anticipated for what is about to come. The directer uses a series of quick cuts between Hunt and Davian to show the panic between the two. As the action intensifies (the count reaches 8) the music becomes louder and more pronounced, becoming ominous as to what is going to happen next.

The Movie (note, you only need to watch the first 4 minutes or so)

Mission Impossible 3

Mission Impossible 3 is the third movie of the "Mission Impossible" series. It centres around the protagonist Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) having to rescue on of his very own trainees from a sadistic weapons dealer. The opening scene begins as a black screen, then a sound of an electric volt is heard and the line of dialogue "we've put an explosive charge in your head". We then see a blonde man who insists to Hunt that he wants the "Rabbit's foot" and begins counting to ten, all whilst holding a gun to Hunt's wife's head. We then see the count reach "10" and a gunshot is heard, it cuts to Hunt screaming "Noooo" followed by a cut to the credits. This scene is the climax of the movie, even though it is at the start. The whole movie is a flashback and shows the events leading to Hunt and his wife in their dire predicament. This movie appeals to me to because of the action involved in it. This opening scene is ode to that, and draws the viewer in right form the outset.

Choice Of Movie

I have chosen my movie today (:D). I am going to do "Mission Impossible III". Wow. This is an extensive post.


Regards,
Zachary