Preliminary Task 1- PLAN

   PLAN

Preliminary task 1

Brainstorm

Filming Day operations

•           Equipment final check- Addison Saxby

•           Audio Operator- Gilmark Manyere

•           Lighting/ Flecky- Ella Ironside (me)

•           Camera Operator- Addison Saxby

•           Location shot setup- Gilmark Manyere

•           Director / Time keeper- Ella Ironside (me)

•           Actors- Addison Saxby 

Overall plan /Plot

Villain walks down a brightly lit hallway, followed by bodyguards. Villain stops outside a double set of doors, with one bodyguard on either side. Villain slowly opens door revealing a dark room with a captive bound to a pole. Villain rips duct tape off of captive’s mouth with a painful ‘rip’, and proceeds to interrogate captive. Captive replies in ignorance. Villain exits room in silhouette signalling for his bodyguards to enter (to kill captive). Scene ends with shot of captive desperately trying to break free.

Updated Version: 

Villain drives up on a motorbike, hops off and walks up to a closed garage door. Villain bangs on door and it opens up manually from his' body guards who positioned inside the garage. Villain walks down a crowded hallway in silhouette. Scene changes to a dark, red lit, room with a captive bound to pole. The villain crouches down, and threatens captive, interrogating him. Captive responds. Villain signals for bodyguards to enter, exiting the scene. Bodyguards unbind captive and vigorously walk away with captive struggling in their arms.

Story Board

Talent - 

• Theo Payn - Body Guard 1
• Nick Farrow - Body Guard 2 
• Oscar Ironside - Victim 
• Josh Cambell - Mafia 

Back-up Talent-

• Theo payn - Mafia (replace for Josh Cambell)
• Levi Wijohn - Body Guard 1 (replace for Theo Payn) 
• Hunter Look - Body Guard 2 - (replace for Nick Farrow)
• Ethan Sharneck - Victim (replace for Oscar Ironside) 

Call Sheet for Set-Up

• 1:50 - Enter Media Studies Lab 
• 2:00 - Use Equipment Sheet to Check for all equipment
• 2:10 - Arrive in Double Classroom
• 2:20 - Set up Lighting 
• 2:30 - Set-up Camera and tripod
• 2:40 - Make sure sound kits are ready to go
• 2:50 - Prop and costume Check
• 3:00 - Script Run through and Story Board Check
• 3:10 - Run Through First Few Shots and check all Lighting and sound is ready to go
• 3:20 - Test the silhouette shot with lighting
• 3:30 - Set-Up All Props for All scenes
• 3:40 - Actors Arrive, Get them all their props
• 3:50 - First scene (use story board)
• 4:30 - Wrap up Filming 

Locations

• Double Classroom (1st Option) 
• Function Room (2nd Option)
• Media Studies Lab (3rd Option)

We had hoped to film inside and ajar to the multi-purpose room. However, due to the unwanted diegetic music that would be over heard from the dance room next door, as well as the chatter and visual disturbance of parents along the adjacent hallway, we decided to shift our location to a garage and car park.

                                                     Shot list

Costumes and props

I was first to jump up at the opportunity to organise costumes! I love the importance it has as part of mise-en-scene to create verisimilitude. In our skit, we have four characters that need costumes:

- Business man (villain).

•           I picture this character in a full black suit, (shirt, suit jacket, dress pants/jeans) and black dress shoes, to signify his status and power in the film. The black also indicates the characters malicious motives. This high class, villain is a key stereotype and suggests the evil that monetary power is often associated with.This high end character also challenges the idea that crimes committed by the wealthy, are overlooked and accepted because of their power and ability to pay their way out of criminal, or socially unaccepted situations.  This This role is played by Theo Payn. I can source a suit jacket, and he will most likely be wearing dress shoes and jeans. This is the look I have planned:

- Body guards (villain associates/assistances)

•       These two characters are basically mirrors of each other. They move at the same time, in the same direction. They have no speaking role in the film, but are used to emphasise the power of the villain (the business man). I envision them fully decked in tight black casual clothes, the casual look states to the audience that they are of lower status than the villain who holds superiority in the film. The black uniform will show their  lack of individuality under the villains peremptory rule. it will also show their association with evil. The tightness of their clothes will parallel to the tight reign of power that the villain has. These characters challenge the idea of those communities/ countries in society who have been forced to follow leaders every command without challenging concepts, and regulations and who have no freedom of speech. It will also evoke the audience to question the responsibility of people associated with 'evil deeds' or socially unacceptable practices, who themselves aren't committing injustice but who follow the lead of those who do. I will ask the talents if they have their own black top and to bring it in. The black shoes and pants will be  easily sourced, as part of the senior high boy’s school uniform (black dress pants and shoes). This is the sort of idea I image:

- Captive (tied to a pole).

•       The captive is a character who has been denied all pride and dignity. I imagine the captive dressed in tatters, to mirror the state of his inner turmoil (due to his captivity).  I thought we would leave him bare chested, maybe even add some dirt and red whip marks/ scratches using tomato sause/lipstick. For the pants I will source denim mid length shorts. The captive will be wearing bare feet. This stereotypical helpless character challenges gender roles, here the girl is the 'damsel in distress'. This character represents those who are 'bound up' with obstacles they could not prevent, whose circumstances bind their personal happiness. or perhaps those who have been treated with prejudiced against superior class, and who have experienced social injustices.The iconography of the red scratch marks represents the hardships suffered by these unfairly treated citizens. I imagine him to look somewhat like this:

Other props:

- Dirt ( Ill bring in)- Iconography, symbolising the hardships of lower class citizens 

- Red lipstick (Ill bring in) -Iconography, symbolising the pains inflicted on the lower class from the higher, more privilege classes.    

Equipment list

•            Camera

•           Camera bag

•           Camera stand

•           Batteries + Battery charger

•           Duct tape

•           Chair

•           Flecky

•           Lights (X3)

•           Lighting stands

•           Red cellophane

•           Rope

•           White shirt ripped

•           Denim shorts

•           Black fitted shirt (X2)

•           Black suit jacket

Conventions

-Antagonist wears cloths of a dull/ dark colour pallet

Ø This renders to the audience a notion that the antagonist has skew and dismal motives.  The smart, business suit in our case, will also hint that the antagonist holds power and status in this film.

-Low key lighting

Ø This gives the scene an element of suspense. If the audience’s view is party hindered by the dark of the surroundings, the audience: 1- can’t attain much visual context about the scene and 2- they will feel a scene of unease or uncertainty, which subsequently leads to suspense.

Ø Our scene starts off in a well-lit hallway and progresses into a dark room with dim, red light. The equilibrium of light in the beginning of the scene is therefore broken as the dark room is entered. I’m hoping the change in lighting will also instil suspense. 

-Low angled shots

Ø In shot four (viewed on storyboard), we are shooting at a low angle looking up at the antagonist. This shows the audience who holds power and domination in the scene.

Ø To contrast these low angled shots, we are planning to shoot a high angled shot of the protagonist struggling to break out of captive at the end of the scene. Being ‘looked down upon’ emphasises the issue that the protagonist has no control over his situation.

-Contrast of shot duration

Ø A slow tracking shot initiates our scene. This placid camera movement directly contrasts the quick shot that follows, (an extreme close up of hand gripping door). Then again a slow mid shot, (antagonist opening door) followed by a quick shot (revealing protagonist who is bond). These contrasting shots give a jerky stop start motion, which again adds unease and suspense.

-Heightened diegetic sound

Ø I would like to include the sound the door creaking. The heightened noise of the door will in turn elevate the dramatic effect on the audience. It also involves us in the story and creates verisimilitude.

-Slow eerie music

Ø I would like to add eerie music as the protagonist walks down the hallway starting the scene. Uneasy music has the power to play with the audiences emotions and put them on edge.   

-Close/ extreme close ups

Ø Reveal the emotions of the protagonist, helping the audience to feel for and sympathise with him. This makes it even more disconcerting when the protagonist is in danger, or in our case, struggling to break free before the bodyguards come in to eliminate him.

-Hand held camera

Ø During the time at the end of our film, the camera is hand held at a high angle pointing down at our captive protagonist as he is trying to break free. This ‘wobbly’, unsteady camera angle mirrors the unease and distress of the protagonist.

- Red hue lighting

Ø We are planning to a use a red hue on our lighting when filming in the dark auditorium. The purpose of this is to emphasis the danger our protagonist is in.

                             Principals of continuity

-180o rule

 Ø  In our film we have incorporated he 180o rule. First off as the antagonist walks on the camera tracks him from left to right. As the camera tracks down the hallway with the protagonist, we will make sure it does not rotate more than 180o. The camera angle then jumps to a still shot of the protagonist in the middle of the frame, the 180o rule is not broken even though the position of the camera has moved.

 Ø Again, when the camera focusses on the antagonist for the first time, we catch a quick glimpse of him from the side, then again from the front. This 90o turn of camera direction does not break the 180o rue, yet it does give the audience a purposeful sense of disorientation.

-Match on action

Ø  The first shot of the protagonist walking down the hallway, is then followed by a still shot of him with his bodyguards on either side, outside a set of double doors. This is the first match on action. We don’t experience the bodyguards splitting and positioning themselves on either side of the protagonist, yet the audience can still grasp want has happened.

Ø The second time we see a match on action is when the protagonist is slowly opening the door. Later the protagonist appears in the dark room. The audience should register that the protagonist had walked into the room after he opened the door, without actually having to watch him walk into the room.

Ø Another time, we see a shot of the antagonist followed by a shot of the protagonist storming of the room in silhouette. Even though the audience doesn’t see the protagonist turn around to exit, we can fill in the gaps pretty easily.

-Shot reverse shot

Ø There are two main moments of shot reverse shot in our scene. Firstly, we receive a close up of the captive/antagonist followed by an over the shoulder shot of the protagonist ripping the duct tape off the antagonist. The focus has quickly changed between the antagonist to protagonist (shot reverse shot).

Ø Again, we see a shot reverse shot reverse shot of the captive, responding to the protagonist’s unruly investigation. This focus changes between characters, depending on who’s talking.

                                  PLAN FOR SHORT FILM 1

Talent - 

• Theo Payn - Body Guard 1
• Nick Farrow - Body Guard 2 
• Oscar Ironside - Victim 
• Josh Cambell - Mafia 

Back-up Talent-

• Theo payn - Mafia (replace for Josh Cambell)
• Levi Wijohn - Body Guard 1 (replace for Theo Payn) 
• Hunter Look - Body Guard 2 - (replace for Nick Farrow)
• Ethan Sharneck - Victim (replace for Oscar Ironside) 

Call Sheet for Set-Up

• 1:50 - Enter Media Studies Lab 
• 2:00 - Use Equipment Sheet to Check for all equipment
• 2:10 - Arrive in Double Classroom
• 2:20 - Set up Lighting 
• 2:30 - Set-up Camera and tripod
• 2:40 - Make sure sound kits are ready to go
• 2:50 - Prop and costume Check
• 3:00 - Script Run through and Story Board Check
• 3:10 - Run Through First Few Shots and check all Lighting and sound is ready to go
• 3:20 - Test the silhouette shot with lighting
• 3:30 - Set-Up All Props for All scenes
• 3:40 - Actors Arrive, Get them all their props
• 3:50 - First scene (use story board)
• 4:30 - Wrap up Filming 

Locations

• Double Classroom (1st Option) 
• Function Room (2nd Option)
• Media Studies Lab (3rd Option)

Basic Idea For Film

• The basic idea for our short film, is an interrogation scene between a high profile mafia (Theo Payn) and a victim (Oscar Ironside). The pair exchange a few lines about where something is. When the victim tells the Mafia that he doesn't know where said thing is, the Mafia order his two bodyguards (Zach Parratt and Nick. Farrow) to take the victim away. 

Conventions

• Lighting - was a big convention that we used, we had two lights that we set up for the film. One was used for a silhouette shot, and the other was used for the interrogation scene and we put a red fade on the light to add a dangerous theme. 
• Camera Shots - We used a lot of close ups and wide shots to add suspense and set the scene very well. When doing a silhouette shot we had to make sure that we didn't show any other part of the set, because we were using a very small space. If we showed any area that we were going to used in a later scene it would give away that we were using a small space.
• Audio - we didn't use a lot of audio in this film, mainly due to not having lots of dialogue. We will be adding lots of the audio in post. E.g footsteps, door opening etc.
• Mis En Scene -  In our Film we used a workshop to set a scene that had a warehouse/stockroom feel. This worked very well and we were able to make the room feel very dangerous.

Preliminary Task 1 Planning

Basic Plot:

our original ideas
inputting conventions that would suit our style

An evil boss type of character would walk into a room and interrogate a victim then he'd walk out the room and have his henchmen deal with the said victim. We planned on following as many thriller conventions as we could. such as darkly lit rooms, weapons(guns, knives, etc) 

Characters 

Boss(no bow tie)

Henchmen

we were going for a classical villainous look for the boss and his henchmen. Wearing dark colors which suggest danger and mystery, a common convention of the thriller genre. The boss is going to wear a black suit with a white shirt and black pants and shoes, a high-class man. His henchmen will wear just a black shirt and pants to match the theme and to clearly distinguish them from the boss especially in dim lighting.

The Victim is to be shirtless wearing just pants and to be tied around a pole the aim is to make him look weak and helpless. the aim was to make him of a lower class than the boss character. Ella was in charge of organizing costumes. 



Location
Our first location was to be an empty room with a pole in the center for the victim to be tied up on. the room worked well for us as it had flexible lighting so we could make it as dim or as bright as we liked. Our plan was to have the room dimly lit so that we could convey a sense of mystery, however, the room had a lot of foot traffic outside meaning it would interfere with the sound. 
Addison was in Charge of finding a Location and soon found a workshop that had a similar feel of an abandoned underground warehouse which works well for our thriller as it fits a common convention of an isolated place giving the viewer the feeling of being alone and there being no one to help.

an unconventional door.
  still meets the brief and suits the conventions well as it is dark.

rundown and messy.
undesirable conditions.

 Script

this was our original script with our original location. The stage directions had to be edited to fit our new location. However, the actual dialogue didn't need changing. the dialogue was only supposed to be two lines and so we decided to keep the actual topic of conversation vague to add mystery, a fairly common convention of thrillers. It hides the true intentions of either character and somewhat forces the viewer to make their own judgments.  

updated script for the new location

lighting plan

this was the original lighting plan for our original location but we changed our location and so our lighting plan is going to change as well. We have to fit the lights down a long passageway without obstructing the actors walking.

Equipment Required
\\- Camera
\\-Tripod
\\-Lighting Gear
\\-flecky
\\-Sound Gear
\\-Boom Pole

Principles of Continuity
~match on action
~Shot reverse shot
~180o rule

\\~Match on Action
is a film technique where the editor cuts from one shot to another and the second shot matches or continues the first shot.in our film, match-on-action will occur when the villain bangs on the garage door then it cuts to the door opening form the inside. Also when the villain signals the henchmen it cuts to the henchmen walking towards the victim.

\\~Shot Reverse Shot 
Refers to when a character looks at another character(or object) then it cuts to the other character or object looking towards the first character. or our film this will occur during the dialogue between the villain and the victim, with one shot showing the villain squat next to the victim and talk to him and the next shot showing the victim tied up responding.

\\~180o Rule
a basic guideline of keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary axis between two characters, the first character is always frame right of the second character. This allows the viewer to visually connect with what's happening in the background of the scene and not have to worry about changing scenery in the background. this rule will be followed in our film as in the conversation scene we intend to stay to one side of the axis.