Film Ideas

Kidnapping: 

Actors: Richards sister, stepmom and dad

Location: Richards house/clapham 

Props: phone (for the phone call) , mail (distraction) , baby toys , a car

Starts: Vicki (stepmom) and daughter playing, she maybe gets a call and goes outside to get better connection/or she goes outside to pick up mail (there needs to be a reason she leaves)

Middle: door left slightly open, man comes (Richard's dad plays the man) and hears baby crying or sees her playing or she crawls out by herself and the man picks her up and takes her. 

End: scene could cut and show maybe the man running away with the kid or in a car going away,

scene could cut again and show the mum searching for the baby

Pros: no other film students have done this before, could be such a success if done properly 

Cons: baby has to act, might not respond well, time has to suit round the babies schedule, if it never works well than we will only have a bit to come up with a new idea

Hitman: 

Actors: someones dad/brother (hitman/man who ordered the hit man) , the person who is meant to be killed, the person who is the wrong guy (sarahs brother)

Location: anywhere/house

Props: a gun/knife , phone , a car? , id , gloves

Starts: hitman gets a text to kill a target that is explained to be Jonathan and is told the house. see him prepare the gun/knife/gloves?

Middle: idea 1 : breaks into a house (picks the lock?) kills the guy who is maybe standing in the kitchen or sees him and is about to call police or something then he gets shot. hitman goes over to him and check his pulse and his id and finds out he's the wrong target

Idea 2: breaks into a house (door already open), searches the house and finds the correct target dead on the floor. he checks his pulse and finds his id

End: idea 1: searches through his stuff finding out he's apart of the government agency. he either runs out the house and calls someone (the guy who hired him) to pick him up and explains he's now on the run or the scene cuts and shows him packing his bags and needing to run

Idea 2: begins to search the house as to why he already been killed. maybe tries to call the guy who hired him but it goes dead straight away. could have a zoom in of someone else coming into the room and shutting and locking the door behind. then shows the hitman spin round and get rlly shocked or both pull out guns and there a gun shot heard

Pros: exciting, very gripping, ends on a cliffhanger

Cons: it has been done before, could be confusing, might need to explain why he needs to be killed, could be too long, a lot of people are needed

Break in:

Actors: two girls (flatmates) , guy who breaks in 

Location: someones house 

Props: popcorn

Starts: with two girls getting ready for a movie night, they r on the sofa deciding a movie, making popcorn

Middle: man is watching them/neighbours/in their garden, one of the girls feels like they r being watched, shows the guys hand coming through the window and unlocking the door, door opens and the girls dont hear

End: the girl goes to make more popcorn and he's standing right behind her

Pros: cliffhanger at the end, realistic 

Cons: could be too short and not very gripping

Famous stalker:

Actors: a women (My mum) a man (someones dad/brother)

Location: hammersmith/brook green

Props: phone, camera, 

Starts: an advert on the tv (create a fake advert and upload it on a private youtube account than play it on the tv) and have the advert show the women on it making it clear she's famous. have her look on her phone and show she has loads of followers on insta, have her on the phone saying she wants to go to westfield but needs security or hates how fans r gunna surround her

Middle: have her walk around brook green / walking the dog ? and a man is constantly following her, shows his texts saying he has eyes on the target etc, have the women pretty covered and maybe someone comes up asking for an autograph and a selfie. maybe the mans phone shows him taking photos of the selfie happening in front of him 

End: loads of photos of her gets sent to the women from the man, she is about to go in her house but stops and looks at the photos and freaks out, all of a sudden a bag is put over her head and she's dragged away, the scene ends with the dog left on the door step

Pros: no one has done it before, quite creepy and a thriller 

Cons: might be too long/complicated, hard to portray she's famous, 

Stolen dog:

Actors: dog (we all have one), the owner, random lady and the stealer

Location: park

Props: -

Starts: someones walking their dog, maybe its a dog group/dog walker, make comments about how one dog wont come back, and a man is being rlly weird in a park 

Middle: someone realises the dog is gone, asks around and a lady says she saw someone with the dog further up the park, she beings to panic 

End: shows the man with the dog and running away. 

Pros: no ones ever done that before, quite simple, easy to do 

Cons: bit too simple, not massively thrilling 

Drug deal:

Actors: two girls, drug dealer 

Location: someone house/park

Props: drugs, phone

Starts: two girls getting ready for a party, texts a drug dealer for cocain or something. one girl is a bit scared to do it, they r doing their makeup etc, gets a text saying that he's at the location (the park) 

Middle: they start to go over to the guy and find out they only have 10£ and know its not enough, they say how they just have to beg and use charm etc. the guy meets up with them and they explain they only have ten pounds, guy says thats fine (girls r suprised) girls go off to their party rlly happy that it was cheap. drug dealer texts someone saying “she only gave me 10£”, then he gets a reply saying “you know what you gotta do now”, the girls get a text on her phone saying “party has changed, call me for the new location.” 

End: the girls get off the bus and one is on the phone and u can only hear back ground noise (person on the phone just mouths). they turn up at the new door and they r so excited but they comment about how they cant hear any music. then the door opens and its the drug dealer and maybe a man stands behind them making it impossible for them to run away. 

Pros: gripping, good cliffhanger, 

Cons: may not be a big thriller, could be too long

Analysis of former student's thriller openings

Snatched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxqmS7Y11vk&feature=youtu.be

The thriller started off with a wide shot of the father entering a room with tense non diegetic sound playing over. The camera follows him as he walks towards a present on his desk. He reads the note that is above the present and seems confused. An over the shoulder shot shows the father, daughter and maid having a conversation. They discuss that there are people who are not their friends, making the audience question why people are hostile towards them. 

He receives a phone call from a man with an altered voice, which creates a tense atmosphere. The camera cuts to a man looking out the window who is on the phone to the father and is explaining that he is the one who sent the present to him. The man on the other end of the phone says "If you do not comply, I'll trigger the device, and if you move or call the police, I will blow you up." This makes the audience wonder what is in the present, and why is the father in this situation. 

The father goes into shock and slowly stands up. However, as he does this, the camera cuts to a shot of the man looking out the window telling him to sit down. A close up of the fathers face shows he's very worried and confused to how the man on the other end of the line can see him. The father orders the maid to take sofia (the daughter) to the “safe place” which causes tension as it is clear the family are in danger. 

The mood becomes quite serious as the daughter and maid leave the house. I really liked how the camera was placed on the floor and it shows the door opening, their shoes leaving and the door closing which then lets you can see the father in the background. A close up of the fathers face shows he is very stressed as he holds his head in his hands. 

The scene cuts to sofia being dragged by her hand into the car by the maid and begins to bang the windows from inside the car, showing she's very distressed. It shows the text between the maid and the man in the window showing that they're actually working together, which has created a huge twist. The text says "one down one to go” whilst she hugs sofia. The scene ends and the audience is left on a cliffhanger and wonders what happens next. I think the students had done this film very well and really thought it through. 

American Beauty Analysis

The scene starts with raining that can be heard from inside. The first part of dialogue is said by the women, with the words "what's wrong". The camera is at a birds-eye-view that zooms in on the two characters, Angela and Lester.

An over the shoulder shot shows Angela crying and asking Lester if she is beautiful. The two characters share a hug and she says sorry whilst sopping into his shoulder. This creates quite a melancholic atmosphere whilst the camera turns onto the man and slowly zooms into his face whilst the rain can be heard again in the background.

A quick transistion is made into the inside of a car and focuses on the rain falling on the window. The camera slowly zooms in and focuses on a red door that is infront of the car.

The scene then transitions into the house and there is dialogue between the characters. Shot reverse shot is taking place to show each character speaking. 

Non digetic sound plays over the conversation for a short amount of time as it then slowly fades back into the rain outside the house which leaves a eerie atmosphere. 

As Angela leaves, Lester is seen speaking to himself, whilst the camera follows him around the kitchen. Non digetic sound is played softly. He then picks up a picture of his family and then sits down and admires the frame. A mid shot shows him smiling and speaking to the frame and himself. He is unaware that a gun is now pointing directly behind his head. The scene slowly fades along with the music. This then creates a cliff hanger, leaving the audience/watchers to question what happens next.

                                          

Scene Analyses ~ Half Term Work

Technical Code - Camera angles
                          - How is the equipment used to tell the story
                          - Music, to represent mood, such as a slow song could show a character feeling sad                      
Verbal Code - Everything to do with language, either written or spoken
                     - For example: Slang
Symbolic Code - Beneath the surface on what we see
                          - A characters action shows how the character is feeling
                          - For example: laughing will show happiness
Structure - Beginning, Middle and End
Character - People involved such as a main character (lead role)
Narrative Conflict - Challenges that characters need to solve to achieve their goals

Shawshank Redemption Clip

This clip is at the end of the movie where we hear one of the main characters, Red, do a voice over, along with non diegetic sound. At the beginning of the clip we have a close-up of an engraving in the wall done by Red which says "so was Red" which is written next to "Brooke was here" which we see earlier on in the film and is very emotional. The Narrative Conflict is that Red is travelling to reunite with his friend. It ends with a zoom out of them reuniting at a boat which evolves to a large view of the beautiful beach that they are on.

                                         

The Sting Clip

This scene is called The Game of Jacks. It has two men playing poker. The camera does a close up of each player's cards. One man is very confident with his cards as he has a very good set. Whereas the other man is a little more sheepish and keeps his cards close to his chest. However, behind him is a third man who makes eye contact frequently with the confident man and seems to be helping him. The pair keep raising the money until it reaches fifteen grand! The confident man proudly turns over his cards with a smug smile on his face. However, the other man goes silent and pulls out different cards to what he had before, meaning he had cheated, and was able to win. Both the man behind him and the confident man look in shock as the camera does a close up on their faces. 

                                               

Lady In The Water Clip

The clip starts with a man walking into an upsetting scenario and bends down next to a woman who appears to be dead. The camera pans down with him as he kneels and then does a reverse angle so we can now see his face, as well as the dead woman. There is then a close-up of the woman's wounds which the man gently and slowly places his hands over. The other characters in the background lean forward and present some comfort to the man by placing their hands on him, accompanied with a small wide angled shot. Slow music gives a sad and depressing atmosphere while there is a close-up of the man crying, whilst giving a very emotional speech. 

                                            

Superman Returns Clip

The clip starts with a long shot of a ship. The camera is very shaky and unstable, which resembles the mayhem that's taking place inside the ship. There is close-ups of each characters faces, each looking terrified. At parts there's sound of the ship creaking and then there's silence, which builds up tension. Fast music is played when they are attempting to escape the ship, making it more dramatic and intriguing. There's hardly any speech until, the main character and hero, Superman arrives. 

The Dark Knight Clip

The beginning of the clip is very dark, with no music, but further into the scene the lights come on and the same sound is played over and over again, slowly getting louder as the scene intensifies. The Joker seems very calm when The Dark Knight is attacking him, he even seems to find it amusing as he laughs when he is pinned up against the wall. When they are having a discussion at the table, there's a close-up on the Joker's face when he speaks. When the Dark Knight speaks, the camera does an over the shoulder shot to show The Dark Knight speaking to The Joker. 

Mise-En-Scene

Mies-En-Scene looks at how things are arranged in films or theatrical performance. It looks at costumes, set design, lighting, camera angles, the surroundings etc.


Costumes: They give off information about the character. Depending on the style of film, it can give a sense of time that it is set in, such as this still, taken from the film The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt. The extravagant dress shows a lot of power and wealth but definitely would only be worn in Queen Victoria's era. The hairstyle also goes with the costume and the time period, as in the modern day era, the current queen would not be looking and dressing like Queen Victoria did.

Props: A prop, short for property, is an object used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production. A prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct from the actors, scenery, costumes, and electrical equipment. In the animated film Tangled, the main character, Rapunzel has a frying pan as her prop, which she uses to protect herself. It is not in every scene but comes up regularly at the start of the film.

                                    

Balanced Composition: The main focus (normally a main character or an important object) will be placed in the middle of the frame to draw all the attention to the main propose. 

                                 

Unbalanced Composition: When there is no main focus. There seems to always be a lot going on in the scene/image which can be confusing. It can be used to symbolise a persons mood. If there is a scene with a lot a people either rushing around or talking at a table, it could show the person is either erratic or thinkingly clearly and calmly. 

                                   

Setting: Can be shot in a film studio which is easy to access, will be free to use whenever they want and can be created to look however they want. It can also be shot on locations wherever. Doing this will make it harder as the free space will be hard to get and to import all the props, costumes, lighting etc. However, doing shooting on location will make it look very believable and realistic and will give the film a better look overall so could potentially be worth the difficulty. 

Lighting: Can show mood by having a blue tint in the lighting would represent sadness, a red tint would symbolise angry or love. Can show time of day, by having a character get out of bed to make a late night snack would have dim lighting in the background to show it is early in the morning and the sun is coming up. Could also show the time of year by having someone outside at 6 p.m but is very dark could suggest its winter. It can also create a sense of eeriness to a film by having the frame relatively dark with only one or two people in focus.

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of meaning and making of signs. It is also the study of sign process (semiosis) and meaningful communication. To understand the sign and its image. Most signs have a meaning which we need to understand or that we already know as it is an everyday sign. 

Iconic signs: 

There is no second meaning to these signs. We see these signs often and understand the meaning of them. For example, the sign in the middle means first aid. The meaning is mostly obvious.

Indexical Signs:

Indexical signs doesn't always resemble what they are trying to show. There is no photo or words to tell us that these belong to an animal but we are able to tell just by the sign. It is a subtle meaning that has the ability to show us what they signify. 

Dior Perfume Advert (Denotations and Connotations)

Advert Analysis: 

The advert is surrounded by gold which is symbolised as power and richness. There is a lady standing on the far right holding herself in a strong stance with fine jewels around her neck. She has blonde hair that matches the yellow colour/theme which is surrounded around her as she walks down a gold corridor. The women takes up most of the right hand side of the photo which implies she is the main focus especially as herself and the bottle are the only things that are not blurred. The bottle is gold with letters in bold, white writing which draws attention to the image. It gives people the thought that wearing this perfume you will become as elegant and rich as the lady in the advert which is stereotypically what most women want. 

Denotations:

Denotations are the literal image so it is exactly how you see it. A picture of a rose would mean the Denotation is a flower. 

For the advert the Denotations are: gold, a women, Jewellery.

Connotations:

Connotations is the hidden, deeper meaning. A picture of a rose would mean the Connotation is love.

For the advert the Connotations: 

Gold - Symbolises riches and power 

Women - To look as beautiful as her once you have the perfume 

Jewellery - Gives a higher status, potential sentimental value