Last min improvements.

I showed our opening to one our actors (kasim lone). He asked me 'why is there an imagine as the opening?'. Made me think.. lets take out that picture as its really misplaced. If we start with that hand moving it will be more dramtic and create more suspense because the viewer will question who's hand is that? and thats what we want from our viewers. anyways, i should fix this in the morning as our deadlines coming! 

Posted by Ishma

Collateral Poster

·         Dark colours used emphasises danger and death

·         The spot light on his face signifies his guilt and him being centre attention

·         His weapon represents death, disruption and security

·         The weapon also makes it clear that the film is about crime

·         The font is bold which stands out on the black background which catches the viewers’ attention

·         The character is on the left hand side of the frame which exemplifies that the audience can only see one side of his personality and his hiding the other

·         The splash on the right hand side gives the audience more information about the film which gets the viewers’ attention

·         The black background signifies that there is a lot more to the movie than what meets the eye. The fact that there is only one person on the cover shows that he is the protagonist in the film and that the movie is predominantly based around him.

·         He is looking at something rather than at the camera, tells the audience that he is watching something or someone who we cannot see and this will create suspicion within the audience and will make them want to find out more.         

Posted by Shazmaa

Textual Analysis- Collateral

When researching what type of genre our group should do, I suggested crime thriller to them which they all agreed to as it is an interesting genre to experiment with. During research, I came across a few films which influenced me in a way which gave me my own ideas. However, the film which I found that influenced me the most giving me plenty of ideas was, “Collateral”.

Collateral:

The opening shot starts off with a medium close-up (MCU) of the protagonist on the left hand side of the frame which allows the viewer to see his facial expressions and see where he is going. Similarly, in our film, we used MCU’s in the dialogue scene so that the audience can understand how the victim is feeling which is important as it gives a dramatic effect.

The opening shot also exemplifies who the protagonist is immediately. We know that because he stands out of the crowd with what he is wearing which catches the audiences’ attention. In our film however, we did not convey our protagonist like that as we do not have a crowd in the opening shot; but we had shown this by having him tied up to a chair to leave the audience thinking how he got himself in a situation like this.

The use of colour in the opening shot is predominantly black and grey which signifies the role of the character; evil and mysterious. The lighting on the other hand is mostly on him which symbolises that he is the centre of attention and as if he is about to do something as he looks guilty. Similarly, in our film, we had dark colours in the shot conveying that the victims’ life is black and white, and nothing in between. We had done the lighting so that there is a spotlight on the protagonist symbolising that he is guilty. Also, because it was dark in the room and there is light on him, this exemplifies his isolation, entrapment and no escape.

The opening shot has diegetic sound of people talking which sets the scene; however, it is overlapped by the protagonists’ footsteps. His footsteps signify him getting nearer and nearer to the situation and the fact that it gets louder and louder highlights his importance.

The next shot is a MCU of another man who is the complete opposite compared to the first character. This is clearly portrayed through what he is wearing. For example, he is wearing a casual shirt and coat which gives the audience the concept that he is working class, which is juxtaposed with the other character who is suited, conveying that he is a more upper business class, and powerful. Likewise, in our film, we have shown a contrast between the two characters to make it clear for the audience who is more powerful which is represented through their costume. For example, one of the characters is dressed smart and the other is dressed up casual.

The main thing that influenced me was the exchange. As a viewer, I felt eager to know what was in the brief case, so I decided that crime thriller would be the appropriate genre to choose as it allows the audience to become a part of the film, because along with the other characters in the movie, they are also trying to find a solution and answer.  

Posted by Shazmaa

Textual Analysis - Ishma - Collateral

Collateral was produced paramount in 2004. It is a crime thriller film starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie. It is about a cab driver who finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds during one night in LA. I think this film is very similar to ours. The storyline of this film is also similar to ours as it is about a man who is held hostage, as this is an award winning film; it gave us some kind of influence to do something similar. We were shown this opening sequence in a media lesson. In the opening, you see the two men; it reverses from one man to the other until they bump into each other. It is tense because of the shot –reverse-shot technique which we have also used and puts the viewer in suspense. In the beginning, there is emphasis on the steps. The man in the glasses is walking slower indicating that he is more laid back and in control of the situation. This builds suspense as the diegetic sound of the people in the background gets louder and louder. Another technique used here is that the camera focuses on the two main characters, blurring out the rest of the people this makes the viewer focus on the main characters and making it easier to follow the story. Both the protagonists are dressed smartly, with one of them wearing sunglasses. The use of the sunglasses makes the viewer wonder what he is hiding. His glasses represent his life and what is behind it that we do not yet know. The man in the glasses is also wearing a lighter colour, showing his higher status than the other man. We used this in our own film. We dressed one man in lighter a lighter colour to show he in control. As the two men are walking towards each other, mid-shots are used, as they men get closer, the shorts get closer into close-ups. The viewer feels tenser as they watch this. The exchange of the briefcases is quick and sudden which again adds dramatic impact. The dialogue shows that the man in glasses is control as he is the one asking the questions. After the edgy dialogue, the camera focuses on one man, on an extreme close up, implying that there is no going back. The use of non-diegetic sound builds up, putting the viewer on edge as to what is going to happen next.

 This is the DVD cover for the film. The colour scheme is dark and gloomy, which the viewer would automatically associate with something negative. The man is holding a gun which indicates that it is a crime or thriller. There is a taxi in the back which tells us that the man standing in front of it is a taxi driver. The expression on the man’s face on the right looks confused and worried. However, the man on the left is more in control of the situation. He is dressed more smartly which in status, puts him higher. He is holding a gun which puts in control and gives him authority. The image clearly does its job, it tells you about the film, but does not link it, and this makes the viewer want to see the film as they feel more intrigued. 

Textual Analysis - Ishma - Taken

Taken is a crime and action about a former spy who uses his skills to find his kidnapped daughter in Paris as she forced to join the slave trade. The story line to this film is quite different from ours; however, being the same genre, it uses skills which we would use in our film. The opening of taken starts with slow, high pitched, non-diegetic music. This immediately tells us that this is a scary film and something bad is going to happen. It starts with a flashback which is what we have planned for our film, though there is debate as to where to put the flashback, as it will be typical to have it like other movies. The flashback if of his daughter, along with the music, we assume that there is a link between the music and the girl, and this is that something is going to happen to her. It then cuts to the man waking up, which could indicate this is his dream. The lighting is dim which causes suspense and created a negative environment. The colours suggest that the mood is depressing and has connotations of bad things happening. When the man wakes up, it goes back to the negative music and zooms out to an extreme long shot making the audience aware that he is alone in the room. From this we can assume he lives on his own or has a lonely life. The man is dressed is ragged, lounge wear. This may reflect his life as a single man. When he turns the light on we understand that he was looking at a picture of a woman. We can assume this is the girl in the dream. We now know that she has something to do with the events going to take place. The light is positioned on top of the photo, which shows that the girls is a key character and also that it is her who the pain is going to inflicted on as the photo stands out from the rest of the room.

 

This is the DVD cover for Taken. When first looking at it, we notice two main things, the dark background and the word taken. The black background has negative connotations of mystery, death and evil. The word taken is in orange which catches your attention. This implies something is going to be taken away from the mysterious looking man. However orange usually has positive connotations. In this case is can represent the man’s strength and endurance to find his daughter or can also show distrust or deceit. The man we assume is the man finding his daughter. His head is down which can show he is upset or giving up. The gun in his hand can represent what he is capable of to achieve his goal. The last colour shown is grey which has a lack of colour. This can be linked to man and his lifestyle and how he is lacking something which in this case is his daughter as she has been taken from him and it can also represent his personality as being simple or boring. The writing itself gives a clear indication of what the film is about. Over all this poster shows the viewer what this film is actually about.

Textual Analysis - Ishma - Unthinkable

Unthinkable is a psychological thriller centered around a interrogator and an FBI agent who press a suspect terrorist into give in the location of three nuclear weapons set to detonate in the U.S. This is similar to our film, not only as it is a similar genre, but the man being interrogated is in trouble for his own fault. He got himself where he is and so is paying for his actions. The same thing happens in our film, as the man does not do what he told and ends up getting himself killed. The opening sequence of this film is silent whilst showing the titles. This builds suspense and the viewer feels more intrigued to know about what is to come. This is similar to our opening, as there is no sound during the titles. I think we have used this effectively in the same way as this film.  You can hear the diegetic sounds of the camera moving, putting the viewer at ease and making it more comfortable as you have more of an idea about what is going on, that his using a camera to film. It then cuts from the camera in a few positions, from a close up of his lower face, to the ceiling, and then back at his face. These jump cuts put the viewer one edge and wonder what this tape is about. The first thing you see is the man himself. The effect is an old fashioned sepia effect which gives a rustic and dramatic affect on the viewer when they see it. We have used this use of effects in our flashback. The flashback is black and white to indicate to the viewer that it is a different time period. The character is dark haired with dark eyes giving connotations of mystery and threat. The style of his hair is bushy and messy which indicates to the viewer that his rustic and messy style reflects his personality. He is wearing a shirt to try and look more serious as in his video he is trying to look threatening. However, his top buttons his undone with a scruffy collar indicating he is nervous and scared. He breathes heavily showing he is maybe fed up or scared. We can also get this idea as he clears his voice before he speaks showing he is nervous. The room is empty, reflecting his life having no meaning or missing something. It looks run down and not lived in to try and have an impact on the people who will view his video. He then starts talking and we understand what is going on and what he is trying to do. He retakes this a few times showing he may not know what he is trying to do or how to do it. This could imply that during the film this is what is going to happen to him; he will try to achieve something but will have trouble doing it. The expressions he makes and the way he talks shows the viewer how he is feeling and that he is having difficulty to achieve what he is doing. He then puts on a jacket to make himself feel more confident and then finally says his message. During this the camera zooms very slowly, building dramatic impact. By the end of this, we know what the film is about. Then the film cuts into the title with non diegetic music. The music is triumphant and dramatic. This represents his achievement for finally filming the message. The title is on a black background. The black shows connotations of death and danger. The writing is blue showing connotations of sadness which we assume is how he and other people will be filming later on in the film. The blue writing is also flickering, looking like water or a sea which could indicate the feeling of infinity which is what his thinks he can reach by doing what he has planned. 

The background of this poster is a bomb site within a city with flames and explosions which clearly indicates that the film has some sort of action and crime in it. The blue sky in the picture is above all of this and represents that in such a peaceful environment there is still bloodshed. But in the middle you see this man with blood on his shoulder and you question who this man is. The blood indicates he has some relation with murder or crime. One the side with no blood, you would associate with worry and threat and the side with blood you see safety from the helicopter which you automatically associate with being safe. This is irony, however, it could indicate that to be safe and in control you need to suffer. This can also imply that behind all the control and safely, there is also violence and killing. You would then question that maybe this man is the reason for this violence as the blood is on him and he is responsible, which in the film is true, as his threatens the terrorist so much that it causes grief to others even though that is not his intention. The writing is white but ‘think’ is highlighted in red which shows connotations of danger indicating that without thinking you can do harm.

Props and Lighting

Once we redone our storyboard and starting filming, we realised it would be better to shoot the victim instead of beating him. So we had to go and buy a toy gun. The grey area looks unrealistic; however it was covered by the hand so this didn’t matter. But the front of gun had an orange tip and so I coloured it in with a black marker pen. In the shot you can see the orange but it isn’t very faint so this wasn’t a big problem. However, it took up valuable filming time to go and find a toy gun at short notice.

We had a shortage of lighting because when booking equipment we all took one piece home each. However, one member of the group had forgoten to take the lights and its stand home and so we had an issue. The garage had a faint light which we used to just light up the room. This wasn’t enough so we hung a light above the victim’s head which you can see in some shots. However we shot on two days and on some of the shots we forgot to have the light on as we had to turn it off as it got too hot. This still wasn’t enough light so in the back of the garage on the other side we plugged this big light in. It was much brighter and so gave us what we were missing.

Another prop we used was the envelope which was exchanged. We just found a big bubble wrapped envelope in my house and folded it in half to make it look like there was something inside.

Posted by Ishma