Animatic

Screenplay

404 from MissMoore866

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Film Poster Research

404 Trailer

11th October 2013 - Creating the trailer

In today's lesson, I set to work on making the teaser trailer for our film pitch. This was somewhat difficult, due to the ever-changing nature of our film idea. Luckily, the trailer gets across something that was a general theme in all of our ideas; someone gets hooked to their computer, for whatever reason, and suddenly it becomes infected, in this case with a virus. As this is just the initial teaser trailer, I used the iMovie sounds collection for the soundtrack, also adding in various spikes during the fast paced montage at the end. 

I also discussed a new film idea, one where a computer virus goes out of control, and is able to think for itself. The virus then begins to take over the person at the computer, taking control of their life. This would be an extended metaphor for a person's addiction to the internet, and how that addiction can, and often does, take over their life. I think this is a great idea, as it would allow our film to have some real meaning, rather than just a conventional thriller without anything to say. I have a few ideas as to how we could show the protagonist's life crumbling, from physical appearance, to maybe seeing things in the corner of the room, thus conveying his paranoia.

Overall, I think the lesson was a productive one, and I am now fully aware of the necessity to pick an idea and stick with it.

Narrative Research

Three Act Structure

This is a common structure for films, that divides the narrative structure into 3 acts.

The first is the setup. This is where we are introduced to the protagonist, antagonist, setting, and the mood/tone is set for the rest of the film. This usually makes up 1/4 of the film.

The second is the confrontation. Generally, this is where we are introduced to the problem that the protagonist faces. Often the protagonist will attempt to solve the problem and will fail, leading to further complications. This usually makes up about 1/2 of the film.

The third and final act is the resolution. This is where the problem is solved, after a climactic battle if sorts, either mentally or physically. Generally, this is the happy ending part, where the protagonist is victorious. However, sometimes, there is no resolution, and the ending is somewhat of a cliffhanger.

An example of a recent film that loosely follows this three act structure would be Drive. At the beginning  of the film, we are introduced to "the driver" (he is never named). Through one continuous shot during the intro, we learn a lot about him. From the annotated map of the road system, we learn that he is meticulous in planning the escape, and that he has every option covered. From his conversation on the phone, we learn that he is always in control, even though he is just a getaway driver. Finally, from the baseball game on his television, we learn in about 5 minutes that he has already planned the escape, and knows its outcome.


During the main bulk of the film, the driver (Spoilers) falls in love with his neighbour, and must protect her family from mob bosses, and the men after her husband. He deals with the men after her husband, yet the problem of the mob bosses soon arises.

At the end (Even more spoilers), the driver defeats the mob bosses, yet is left wounded. The film ends with the driver driving off into the night, bleeding out, the audience unsure about his fate. There is a lack of resolution for two reasons:

1. He is bleeding, so we do not know whether he will die (though the director did say in an interview that he lives)

2. He cannot see the woman he loves so as to protect her from the men that will surely be after him after killing the mob bosses.

Nonlinear Narratives 

Films often play out in a chronologic order, but not always. Sometimes, a film will use a nonlinear narrative, which is where the narrative doesn't show events in the order that they happened. An example of this would be Into the Wild. The film cross cuts back and forth between Christopher McCandless' journey to the Alaskan wilderness, and his time spent there.

The film begins with Chris walking into the wild, as superimposed text reveals insight into the story. He is writing letters to a friend throughout the film, and this is part of a letter we see him write later on. Directly after this scene, the film cuts to an earlier point in time, with Chris' sister narrating. This allows us to get the backstory, which is really just as important as when Chris enters the wilderness. It is about his journey into the unknown, not just physical places, but ways of living and thinking.




With our film, we are looking at doing a nonlinear narrative, and want to make use of flash forwards, to keep the audience engaged. This is often the case with Thrillers, as the audience are then left guessing how a certain event comes about (through the use of flash forwards), or are given more insight into the background of an event/character (through the use of flash backs), which helps to drive the narrative. Many of the films we looked at use flashbacks and not flash forwards, and so in this way, we are looking to break Thriller conventions, and to produce something unique.

Chapter 7 Exit Interview - Character and Plot

Vimeo Short Films Research

During my time on Vimeo, I discovered a number of vastly different short films, from sic-fi to horror. One film that I really enjoyed was Cross; a film about an American soldier, lost in the woods, who happens upon a shack with a wounded Nazi inside. The thing that struck me during the intro was the film's lack of dialogue, instead using visual prompts such as letters and photos to set up the story. Inspired by this, using the Mise-en-scene to further the narrative in our film would allow us to pack a lot of back story and plot without having to explain through dialouge, which takes up precious screen time. Of course, one of the flaws of this is the availability of good props and costumes. The films on Vimeo, whilst amateur, still have a budget of sorts, something we don't have.


Cross from Oliver B. Milne on Vimeo.


Looking into the genres that we could do for our film, the choice is particuarly difficult. A Sci-Fi film would require a lot of props and costumes to make it believable and original. It would also require good editing skills and software to produce CGI effects. The same goes for an Action film. To make the action good, we would need a high budget. Something tells me that being chased by teenagers shooting guns, with the sound effects being about as believable as if they were shouting "pew pew", just wouldn't cut it. Thriller leaves a lot of room for the film, as there is not a necessity of a lot of action, just as long as the film is intriguing and tense. Comedy would be difficult to do, as we would need to know our audience and tailor the jokes/satire to them. There is always the tried and tested route of Horror, yet I think this puts too much emphasis on scaring the audience, which would be difficult in 5 minutes.

Overall, I think Thriller is the most open option for us. As long as we have a strong narrative, that makes sense and is actually intriguing, I think we could produce a good film.

After Thought Review

When I was watching After Thought, I was impressed with the quality of the film in terms of the editing, and post-production effects. The use of the almost negative colours to separate the imagined from reality was something that I liked. I also was impressed with the lack of continuity errors, which are often common when filming multiple scenes portraying the same event.

Then the film ended, and I realised I had no idea what the narrative was actually about. As far as I could tell, a man had been beaten up, and for some reason every time he saw his reflection, he began to wonder the ways in which he wouldn't take a fist to the face. Granted this allowed for some interesting editing, and a stylish final product, but it just lacked any substance, and we were left wondering who, what, where and why? That's too many unanswered w's for my liking.

The soundtrack was a large redeeming factor in the film. An original score, it superbly picked up pace when needed, with quick beats accompanying the action, and then dropping down to a slow piano melody during the contemplation scenes. This gave the film a professional feel to it, and I was impressed that it wasn't someone else's work.

Overall, the technical aspects of the film were brilliantly done. The camerawork, editing and soundtrack were huge highlights. Where After Thought falls down is the plot. There just didn't really seem to be a plot the audience could follow. It is understandable that 5 minutes isn't a huge amount of time for a full narrative to play out, but still, it could have been better.