Filming problems we may face

As we have now practically finished all of the indoor filmimg with a consistent results. However our next scenes are going to be filmed outside in a park. This may be a problem due to the British weather. If we are not able to finish our scene in the park in a day it may be hard to have the effect of continuity as one day it may have just stopped raining making it look as a dull atmosphere and the next day sunny which wouldn't match when put together. To advoid things like this happening we must work fast so that we have the effect of continuity.

Another problem we may face is that the camera battery running out quickly. When we were filming inside we had a chord which we could plug in so we could still use the camera even without charge. Outside in the park we won't have the option of usinng a chord therefore we should come prepared with an extra battery or the battery having an extremley good charge and to work fast as a group.

Thriller openings: Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko Thriller Opening

Camera angles/shots:

The first camera angle that we see in the opening of Donnie Darko is a close up, this shot doesn't focus very long on the object. The object which the close up focuses on is a tree however it then slowly zooms out moving into the next shot where the whole scene is then viewed by the audience.

The next camera angle used is a long shot, during this shot we see the scenery, I believe through this shot being used at the start showing the sunset as well as nature is that they are trying to emphasise how beautiful it is where they are. This long shot moves on from just viewing the scenery to the road/pathway where the audience then sees this man just lying there who looks unconscious, this makes the viewer’s wonder what’s happened as at a distance it makes them curious of the situation. We see this long shot progressing, it keeps zooming into the man lying down in the middle of nowhere on the road/pathway. Even though they shot is being zoomed in its still a long shot but as they begin to zoom in they start to move away from the scenery factor and then we see the man wake up which is where the next shot then begins.

The third shot we see used is an over the shoulder shot. At this point of the opening we see that the man is confused of where he currently is at this very moment. For an extremely short period of time we see from his perspective that he is stunned by how beautiful the location is of where he is at. Then in a circular motion it moves into the next shot.

The next shot that we see used is the medium which is where we see him sitting there just sitting there staring at what’s right in front of him which is the mountains, bushes, tree and just the beauty of nature then again it goes into a long shot emphasising the beauty of nature. They then use another over the shoulder shot again i believe that they are trying show how he sees the beauty of what’s right in front of him, they're trying to show his appreciation for nature. It then goes into a medium shot where we then see the man smiling as well as laughing and then moves out of the shot. Once he moves out of the shot it turns into a long shot where we then again see nature’s beauty.

Then we see a medium shot for maybe a second and then moves very quickly moves into a long shot we see him cycling on the road/pathway with a smile on his face it looks as if he's admiring the location of where he is. They then move into a point of view shot where we see from his perspective, we see the trees and the path in front of his it then moves back into a long shot where we see he has exited the scenery and into town. there is a constant switch between long shots and point of view shots at this point from when we see him riding his bike to his point of view where we see people walking on the pavement.

Transition/editing:

The transitions are shown right from the very beginning when they introduce the titles they all fade in this give a subtle affect to the beginning of the film.

The next transition is just a slow movement of them slowly moving the camera towards the left which constantly keeps moving until we start to the strange man on the floor in the middle of nowhere on the pathway/road. The movement through the scenery I believe that they are trying to emphasise how beautiful it is, how consistent the scenery is, its just everywhere you look you see the same beauty.

The next transition it where we see them zooming in onto the man. This transition makes the audience curious of why the man is just lying there, what happened to him, it makes the audience question what is going on.

Then there's this transition which I believe maybe be a dissolve/fade transition as when they show the title of the film 'Donnie Darko' it fades in to this ray of sunshine then all we see is white then fades out and we see the man on his bike riding away, This transition showed excitement making the next part even more exciting to know what it is.

Finally we see a cutaway transition used towards the end this transition is used many times towards the end. At this point this transition is used to show different perspectives of he man. It shows what he is seeing all directions and showing everything in its best light.

Sound:

The piece began in silence which was quite mysterious as it is silent. The silence makes the audience curious of what this will consist of. The silence creates an effect of suspense, the silence aspects is used quite a few times throughout this piece.

The first piece of sound we hear is the slight sound of wind this is when we see the scenery for the first time. This is a natural sound as they are outside just viewing the nature and it may have been created however the scene which we see it in makes it looks peaceful. It makes everything seem for realistic with small effects like these.

The next sound which we hear in this opening is the sounds of the birds which adds a sense of realism to the piece. As the sound of the birds in  a calm environment such as the scenery. The sound of the birds make it seem so beautiful and just a wonderful place.


Codes and Conventions:

The first convention that we see several times throughout this opening is the scenery. This convention makes the audience focus on just how beautiful the location is. The location will distract the audience from everything which is going on.

Another convention that we see when the opening starts is the strange man lying down in the middle of the road/pathway. This is a good convention as it makes the audience wonder what's happened to him. This makes the audience question things, makes them curious of the situation, this is a sign of a good convention.

The third convention which i saw through outs this opening was the bike in front of the man. At this point we saw the man which was supposed to be the main focus however we saw a glimpse of the bike, this made the audience curious of why the bike is there, and again they question the object.

The final convention which i saw in this opening was the 'Halloween carnival sign' the period of time we see this for isn't very long however it’s the first time we see it. This also makes us wonder if that’s the reason he came into the town because there's something there that he wants or just a carnival which he really enjoys. This is the sign of a good convention as it makes the audience question what’s happening and for a bit it’s a bigger focus than it should be.

 

Day two of filming

On our second day of filming we knew the concequence of not working fast so we knew we had to be productive, again we had the apropriate equipment and all of the cast with the correct costumes as the first day so it looks as if everything was filmed on the same day. Again we experimented with the shots to see which would be the most effective.

From the first day we had learned that it starts to get dark outside quickly meaning that we needed to work faster than we did previously. As now we understood the concequence of not being extremley productive we worked much more faster. This resulted in us finishing our first scene which now means that we can begin to edit the first scene which will put us a head so when it comes to the deadline we won't be stressing about editing all of out scenes.

From the first day we had faced a problem with the lighting however now that we understood without the correct amount of lighting our piece won't have the same finish. Due to out understanding this concequence we used many different objects to increase the light so we used as many lamps we could get our hands on however when it came to using the lamps when we wanted to light on something in particular we held them where we wanted for the best affects, this was also the case with torches on our phones. We also used the Television screen to increase the lighting of the room. However we did decide not use candles as it wouldn't be creating the mood were looking for because for candles to produce the light we wanted the would need to be in the scene but would portray the wrong message.

From increasing the lighting from the first day it had resulted in our piece having a more proffesional finish when we watched back our takes. As we had a more productive day the end product which had come out was pleasing to our group as when we realised working fast and increasing the lighting makes a massive impact on our piece.

Day one of filming

On our first day of filming we were getting used the evironment where we were filming we also started to think about which shots we were going to use for each part. To create these shots we had to do various takes of the same scene to see which angle the shot looked the best from. We had the appropriate equipment which consisted of a HD video camera as well as a tripod so everything would be steady when watched back. All of our cast were also prepared with their costumes and knowing their lines.

However on our first day of filming we had faced a problem which was due to the season. At this time of year it starts to get darker quicker which means we would have to work faster as our film is set mainly during daylight. Therefore if the audience were to see a dark background outside in the first scene and broad daylight in the next it wouldn't make any sense to the audience.

From this we had learned that due to the time of year which we are in at the moment will mean that we will have to work fast or the day will not be very productive as we won't be able to film as much as we wanted to, if it was summer we would have more time as there is a longer period of daylight.

Another problem which we had realised once watching the takes back was there wasn't enough lighting resulting in the the takes look dark and not as professional as it could look if the lighting was better. By the time we had realised that the lighting wasn't very good it had gotten quite dark outside meaning that we had to wait until the next day until we could film again.

Due to the problem we had next time we thought that we could use other objects around to increase the lighting this could consist of lamps, candles, phones or even the television screen. This would result in our piece having a more professional look when finished as everything will look more clear when watched back.

Sound

Sound research

 

The type of music that the film should include must be suspenseful and create a bit of tension throughout most of it. It should symbolize the mystery of whether Sara is cheating on Marcus or not and it must range in dynamics so that it can emphasize the different scenes and how tense each bit is. Some examples of the sort of music to be played in the background are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLjUqacIbIU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWaNW-aYhVY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4RHh1I9QSo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpaQwE9SD3Y

We also need some sad music for the bit where Sara dies as it should provoke an upset emotion from the audience. This must be calm and slow so that it allows the audience to reflect on what has happened and it makes them empathize for Marcus as he would have just lost his wife. Some examples are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTrrc6Ni5eM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Am4cHMBKM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUZeSYsU0Uk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js2W5UDpQOs

Cast List

Arthur Banks (Played by Mansour Aetekal)

Age:30

Arthur banks is a man in his middle age who is young and entrepreneurial. He is a male who fits the illustration of someone who is very straight forward and demanding. He is very stern when addressing certain problems that concern him. As a character from the upper class, he is portrayed as the protagonist in the film even though his physical size isn’t very big. We intended to make him look like a dominant character however we couldn’t get a 30-year-old person to star in our thriller therefore we had to use a group member.

Mansour Aetekal

Age:16

It is clearly obvious that a 16-year-old would not pass of as a 30-year-old therefore Mansour had to do lots of different things in order to convince the audience of his character. Firstly, Arthur Banks is described as a rich and powerful character, as a result Mansour had to act very upper class, this would include an upright posture, a mature and professional walk, his suit would also have to be perfect as this would illustrate his seriousness about every situation. As a serious character, Mansour would also have to be less fidgety with his body, this means he should not unnecessarily play or get distracted by anything as this would then contradict his ability to be stern and harsh. Mansours hair would have to be combed to the side, this is because messy hair would portray a sense of irresponsibility and is also unhygienic. His shoes would have to be black along with his suit, both colours of different clothing will portray a good sense of understanding and coordination as the colours match with each other successfully. As an older character, for Mansour to effectively act as a 30-year-old, he would need to be very mature and severe. This means he should act accordingly with the script, no smiling or grinning as this can be mistaken for a sign of weakness or kindness, two factors that of which Arthur does not grasp within his personality. Mansour would be able to carry out this specific character effectively by using and considering these techniques.  

Marcus Smith (Played by Michael Ekanem)

Age:24

Marcus Smith is a Black British character who is the main protagonist. This particular character is seen to be at the centre of everything in our thriller piece as the rest of the thriller film is based on his retribution. Marcus is very happily married character until there is a sudden unbalance within the films equilibrium which is the death of his pregnant wife. We intended Marcus to look like a 24-year-old as by this age he would have normally been finished with university however he seems to be a character who wanted to start a family very early on in life as 24 years old isn’t the ideal age for men to have children. For this particular character we had used another group member as we couldn’t reach a 24-year-old character to play this role.

Michael Ekanem

Age:17

Michael would have to consider many particular characteristics and personas in order to carry out his character as a married 24-year-old, Firstly, this character would be easier to portray using Michael as the age difference is only 8 years. Another advantage that we had is that Michael is taller than 6 foot therefore he would pass off as a fully grown adult in reference to 24-year-old Marcus Smith. Although Michael looks older and matches Marcuse’s age he would also need to portray his age through his mentality. Michael would also need to act mature as an adult, this could include having more controlled characteristics, for example, when walking he would walk straight forward instead of skipping in between like a child as this would go against the conventions of his character. Another example, could also be his personality. He should act seriously in all situation’s instead of laughing pointlessly like a toddler, this would truly portray and bring out the realism in his character. It is also intended that he dress normally, this means not being too classy and not being too scruffy. Casual clothes will show that he is a normal everyday adult, Marcus is a married man, therefore he must illustrate a certain sense of responsibility. By showing this he could always be aware of his surroundings, this could mean checking the proximity of his body to show his excellent reactions and awareness while walking. Marcus will also need to show his wife some physical affection as this would portray his husband like character who is loving and caring towards his wife, this could simply go from a hug to an arm around the shoulder. Overall, for Michael to truly show his character he will need to consider these key factors that will shape his character as Marcus Smith.

Sara Smith (Played by Jade Matthews)

Age: 22

Sara Smith is a young white British female adult who is married to her husband Marcus Smith. Sara is a secretive character and the reason for this is that she has been doing business with Arthur Banks. She is also an innocent but desperate women as she is unable to pay Arthurs loan back but is also newly pregnant. Sara goes by the normal convention of having a female victim as she is the one who is murdered in cold blood. Sara is played by our 3^rd group member as we couldn’t find a 22-year-old character.

Jade Matthews

Age:16 

In order for Jade to successfully portray her character correctly she would need to take in some considerations. Firstly, as a married 22-year-old, Jade would have to show a lot of love towards her partner Marcus, by doing this should would hug him and use specific lines of dialogue that would illustrate care and affection, for example, “I love you Marcus” which is included in the script on purpose. The outcome of this would be an accurate representation of a young married women. Jade would also need to show psychologically that she is capable of maintaining a mature and healthy relationship, by portraying this to viewers Jade could act like a calm and down to earth person, by doing this she could lower her tone of voice to show a sense of serenity, this would also emphasis that she is pregnant so therefore it is important for her to act sensibly. Jade would also need to dress casually to portray the adult age of her character, if she were to dress inappropriately she would not seem to be a mature adult which contradicts her character as a whole. To act like a normal adult Jade should show Sara to be a weak character as she is the victim, to this Jade could scream a lot during her murder as this would portray isolation to a certain extent as she is dependent on someone else to help her. Overall, all characters have to take in important considerations in order to fully portray each characters true identity.