When introduced to the main task brief the group and i had already had an idea of what type of film we wanted to create. The assignment was to create the titles and the opening scene to a film that had to last a maximum of two minutes . After the trouble with the extras we had experianced with our preliminary task , we decided that we wanted to create a film with a minimal amount of actors, furthermore we also knew that we wanted to create a film within a different genre to comedy, so that we could explore and express our creative ideas using the conventions of another genre , such as horror or thriller. Furthermore we knew we wanted to work a lot faster in this task , this meant immeadiatley coming up with ideas and deciding on a final one.
Although we had a rough idea of the type of film we wanted , we had to sit down and discuss our ideas in more detail and depth. We came up with four main ideas:
1) ‘When trolleys go bad’: This film would have been about trolleys that turn violent and attack local citizens. We thought this idea would bring in the genre of horror however there would be a comical aspect to this, furthermore we would not have to use many actors. However although there we some good points to make this film , it would have required us to talk to a supermarket to gain permission to use their trolleys. As a result we decided against this idea as it was illogical and difficult to take to seriously.
2) ‘Drugs Situation’ : This idea would have involved a party where a lot of drug taking occurs , due to this someone has overdosed and unfortunetley dies. As suspiscion around the nature of his death arises and police investigation follows , where all is not as it seems.
We also dismissed this idea as it would have required an ambulance , a house setting and ultimately lots of extras, which as i have said previously we did not want to use.
3) ‘Mind Games‘: This idea would have involved the opening scene taking place in a dark room with a mentally ill person who is having crazed fits , we would have then used a jump cut to take us to an ordinary day. We thought this idea would be an interesting concept and allow us to take advantage by using lots of enigma code.
4) ‘I.M’: This name would stand for instant messenger as well as instant murder. This idea involves the serious idea of online predators. We decided that we would pan upwards to look through the window of a girl and her friend giggling over the attractive male that they are speaking to online to give the idea that she is being watch. We would then use a jump cut to move into the girls room , where we would see the instant messaging conversation taking place with the words ‘ would you like to meet up?’ on the screen. We would then flash forward in time where the girl is being chased through the dark streets of her town. We would then flash back to her chatting on the computer, as the conversation progresses. We believed that this would show the audience what might happen, and also leave them slightly confused therefore using enigma code
Between ‘I.M’ and ‘Mind Games’ we had a tough decision with what to choose as they both seemed like interesting concepts to explore, as we had the oppourtunity to confuse the audience and create a gripping film. After some disscussion we decided to choose ‘I.M’ as we had a more in depth idea of the story line , the camera angles, and the titles we wanted to use. Furthermore we would be addressing and everyday situation that internet users could probably relate to. For this type of movie we suggested that our target audience should be 15+ this is becuase would contain violence , murder and strong language , considering the horrer/ thriller type of genre. We also thought that it would be more interesting to those of a higher age as they would understand the concept of the film. Also we decided on the 15+ target audience based the the guidelines given by the BBFC for 15+ films, as we thought , if we were to continue making the film there would be violence and strong language.
‘15′ – Suitable only for 15 years and over
No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema.
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language . But the strongest terms will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
Violence
Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.
Imitable techniques
Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.
(http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/c_15.php)
Furthermore we released other thrillers like ‘The departed’ and ‘The sentinal’ are also rated 15 as they contain Violence and swearing.
The departed , another 15 rated film
Once coming up with our idea we also had to decide on our smart targets , which are:
The SMART targets we came up with were as follows;
S- come up with ideas and develop these ideas further
M- The goal will be achieved when we have come up with all our ideas
A-This is when everyone has agreed upon an idea
R- It is realistic because we will easliy be able to come up with ideas that conform to the brief
T-These ideas will be created in the initial weeks of the task.
S-Research our idea and the opening titles of film
M-This will be when we had looked at opening scenes and titles of films , and also researched the topic of online predators.
A- This will be achieved when everyone has looked up these topics , and put evidence of research into their blogs.
R-This is needed in order to fulfill the assignment brief
T-This will only take one day
S- Create a Presentation to show to the class
M- The goal will be achieved when the presentation has been created
A-When our peers have given us feedback on the ideas we have come up with and the one we have chosen.
R-Its an achievable task
T- We estimate that it should take one lesson to create the presentation and one lesson to show it to the class
S- Create a story board, Script and find actors
M- The goal will be achieved when the script has been written, the story board as been drawn , and actors have been recruited.
A-When everyone in the group has come to a unanomous decision on the scenes chosen and actors picked.
R-Its an achievable task
T- We estimate that it should take one week to complete this.
S-Start and finish the filming process
M-This will be achieved when we have finish filming all the scenes we need.
A-This will be when all group members are happy with what has been filmed
R-This is needed in order to fulfill the assignment brief
T-We estimate that it may take three to four weeks to film
S-Edit the film
M-This will be achieved when the film has been produced
A-This will be when the group is happy with the scene selections and edits that have ben made.
R-When we get the desired outcome
T-We estimate that this will take three weeks
After deciding on one solid idea we had to carry out some research into what the opening scenes and titles of a film look like. To do this we went on to Youtube and looked at the opening scene of ‘Memento’. This was one of the only opening scene’s we found , as those of more interesting films were more difficult to find.
Print screen of production company
Print screen of directors name
Print Screen of the opening scene and the title of the film
When looking at the opening scene of ‘Memento’ i realised that in the titles we would have to include the names of a production company , the directors name , actors name as well as the title of our film which in our case would be ‘I.M’. The opening sequence also sets the scene for the rest of the movie and acts as an intirguing starter for the audience , with a good use of Enigma Code.
In the scene we found that they used music to introduce the film in order to create an atmosphere and an intirguing scenario within the audiences mind, the picture developing with this music creates engima code and then the film seems to play backwards as the man puts the undeveloped polloroid back into his pocket and then a shot of blood trickling backwards up a wall.
To build on our research further we looked at more youtube videos on the topic online predators, which is the main topic of our film. This was in order to find out how exactly they formed a relationship with the child and what type of conversation the use to persuade them into meeting. We wanted to know what type of camera angles they used to portray this type of secret and sinister theme. We saw that the predator was lacking in identiy and usually filmed from the side to create an air of mystery, furthermore the victim was a sterotypical female who is portrayed as young and naive . We also did this so that we could learn what type of conversation and behaviour we would need to construct and portray in our film.
This is the video we used to look at the portrayal of online predators
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5YayaMeiN-A
After finishing this research we knew that we could go on to create a presentation of all the ideas that we had come up with , although we had already decided on what idea we wanted to choose , we still thought it would be a good idea to get feedback from our peers and see what they thought about our ideas , and most importantly the idea we had chosen. This way we could also explain our main reasons for choosing the type of genre we wanted to explore , as well as our reasons for having minimal extras and so on.
Here is the presentation we created:
After this we knew that we could go on to develop our idea in terms of creating a storyboard writing a script, and creating our characters , thinking about names , appearance and outfit colours.
