Audience Feedback

We showed our finished opening to an audience, which consisted of our media class.

One of the points we were praised for was having a good mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sound, this allowed us to entice the audience. We were very good at building up of suspense in narrative, this particularly was helped by our 'red herring'. Iconography successfully set the location of our film. We included a variety of different shots which presented the narrative from different angles and perspectives, this helped to keep the interest. We made sure to edit our film appropriately so that the continuity is preserved and audience was very clued into what was happening. We kept to the rules and conventions of filming such as 180º Degree Rule.

Overall, the audience was quite pleased with our work, so was our teacher. We've also managed to get some good comments on YouTube where we put our work.

Cut To Black

And our project in it's completed form. Misomania Productions presents... Cut To Black.

Shooting Calendar

This is our shooting calendar, we'll be hoping to go out on these dates to the locations shown.

Shooting Schedule

Shot #	Type	Duration (Seconds)	Location	Mise-en-scene
1	Pan, Establishing Shot	4 to 8	Newcastle	Eerie music, Natural lighting.
2	Long shot	3 to 6	Crimdon Dene	Eerie String Music, Natural lighting, Running
3	Dolly, Medium	3 to 5	Crimdon Dene	Eerie music, Natural lighting, Running, Panic, Dark clothing.
4	Dolly, Medium	3 to 5	Crimdon Dene	Eerie music, Natural lighting, Running, Panic, Scared facial expression.
5	Pull Focus	4 to 6	Crimdon Dene	Eerie music becoming tense, Natural lighting, Running, Panic, chase.
6	First person	3	Crimdon Dene	Eerie music, Natural lighting, Running, Panic, Panting.
7	First Person	3 to 5	Crimdon Dene	Eerie music, Natural lighting, Running, Panic, Grunting.
8	Medium Shot	4	Crimdon Dene	Eerie music, Natural lighting, Running, Panic, Impact, Desperation.
9	First Person	3	Crimdon Dene	Eerie music Climaxes, Natural lighting, Running, Panic, Screaming.
10	Long Shot	6	Crimdon Dene	Ambience, calm, director talking, relief, acting.
11	Medium Shot	4	Crimdon Dene	Ambience, calm, director talking, acting.
12	Close Up	4	Crimdon Dene	Screaming, ambience, dark clothing.
14	Medium Shot	4	Crimdon Dene	Ambience, calm, director talking, acting, walking away.
15	Medium Shot, Dolly	12	Crimdon Dene	Ambience, road, dialogue, casual clothing, friendly characters.
16	Close Up	5	Crimdon Dene	Ambience, road, dialogue, casual clothing, goodbye.
17	Long Shot, Canted Angle, Dolly	5	Ashleigh's Street	Eerie music, casual clothing, stalking, concern.
18	Low angle, canted angle, Dolly.	12	Ashleigh's Street	Eerie music, casual clothing, stalking, concern, building tension.
19	Medium Shot	4	Ashleigh's House	Eerie music, casual clothing, stalking, concern, building tension, Steps.
20	Match on Action	2	Ashleigh's House	Eerie music, casual clothing, stalking, concern, building tension, door handle.
21	Pan	4	Ashleigh's House	Eerie music, casual clothing, stalking, concern, building tension, door handle.
22	Low Angle, Close up	3	Ashleigh's House	Fear, striking down, violence, surreal, dark clothing, knife, panic, screaming.
23	Close up	3	Ashleigh's House	Fear, relief, unkown, silence.
24	Medium Shot	2	Ashleigh's House	Relief, panting, unknown.
25	Medium, Over the shoulder	4	College Media Rooms	Uncertainty, relax, dialogue, casual clothing, high key lighting.
26	Tracking	3	College Media Rooms	Uncertainty, relax, casual clothing, high key lighting.
27	Medium, Over the shoulder	8	College Media Rooms	Uncertainty, relax, dialogue, casual clothing, high key lighting.
28	Pull Focus	8	College Media Rooms	Fear, panic, high pitched music, high key lighting.
29	Extreme close up	3	College Media Rooms	Low key lighting, panic, fear.

Locations

Westbank Road, Newcastle - This location has a large high-rise building which we are going to take advantage of for the opening shot, we will do a sweeping pan of the Newcastle landscape which will display iconography allowing the viewer a sense of location. This sets the scene along with the foresty location to the south that shows the viewer where the action is taking place.

Crimdon Dene - We're going to film the shots which include the fictional students filming at this location. The forest surroundings will make for a very realistic thriller film which we can incorporate into the mystery of our psychological drama.

Oxford Road (House near) - This will be the home of one of our characters. The character will be given a sense of security by the mise-en-scene of the familiar surroundings. The house is very typical in its layout and decoration which helps to give a realistic feel to the viewer who can then relate to being there.

College - While it has been suggested we don't film near college due to it looking unprofessional, it's required for our plot. We plan to use one of the media rooms whereby the characters can be seen editing the film, which then leads to the final thrilling shot of our opening.

Props & Equipment

Props required:
Camcorder - The characters will be seen using this to produce their film.
Tripod - Same with this.

Bags - Their equipment will be stored in these towards the end of the shoot.

Knife - The weapon which is used both in the fictional film and as part of the psychological effect.
Computer - The characters are seen editing their footage.

Television - One of the characters is watching TV at her house.
TV Remote - The character turns the TV on and starts to watch.

Equipment used:

Camcorder

Tripod

Mini DV Tape

Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer

The titles started by revealing the company logo; 20th Century Fox. Next, is Marvel’s logo, which is revealed through comic book pages. Out of the logo is revealed a planet, with a slow, vertical, downwards pan, showing it’s destruction. The planet turns black, and cracks and implodes, with pieces of it drifting out into space. As it explodes, a silver streak flies away from the destruction, with a pan revealing the title 20th Century Fox, then; in association with Constantine Film & Marvel Studios. Then, a 1942 Pictures / Bernd Eichinger production, followed by a whip pan revealing the Fantastic Four logo, and below it Rise Of The Silver Surfer. A bright light fills the screen, and a new part of the galaxy is revealed. There is a left to right pan, which shows reveals a planet. There is then a zoom, which focuses on the planet, which is rotating clockwise. The camera passes the planet, which reveals the silver streak, which flies towards the camera, and past It. The camera follows it with a quick, whip pan, and the silver streak enters Earth’s atmosphere. A subtitle reads Suruga Bay, Japan, and some fishermen are on their boat. One of the men notices the streak, as it flies overhead, and rocks the boat. One of them falls overboard. The rest of the men pick themselves up of the floor, and look overboard to see the bay frozen. The location changes to Giza, Egypt and the streak passes, causing it to snow. In Los Angeles, California, America, the streak causes a black-out. 

Next, we cut to the Fantastic Four in an airport, and Ioan Gruffudd’s name appears, as he plays Mr Fantastic, the leader of the team. Then, Jessica Alba, the actress who plays his fiancé, Invisible Woman. They are watching a news report on their fourth marriage attempt. Mr Fantastic is reading a newspaper article on himself, asking whether he’s a scientist or celebrity. Chris Evans’ name appears, who plays Human Torch, followed by Michael Chiklis, who plays The Thing. They are signing autographs and flirting, respectively. Then, Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington, Andre Braugher and Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. Then, Doug Jones & Beau Garrett, Brian Posehn, Zach Grenier & Kenneth Welsh. 

It then has casting for America, Christian Kaplan, and Canadian casting Coreen Mayrs & Heike Brandstatter. Then, costume designer Mary Vogt. This is followed by music by John Ottman. Special make-up effects Mike Elizalde is next, preceding co-producers Ross Fanger and Lee Clearly. Succeeding these is editors William Hoy and Peter S Elliot. Production designer Kirk M Petruccelli is followed by director of photography Larry Blanford. Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe and Michael Barnathan are next, being executive producers, afterwards come producers Bernd Eichinger, Avi Arad, Ralph Winter. Next is based on the Marvel comic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Story by John Turman and Mark Frost, screenplay by Don Payne and Mark Frost come pen ultimately before director Tim Story. 

From the introduction, the audience learns that strange occurrences have been happening all over the planet, which are affecting weather patterns and causing electrical problems. We also learn that Reed Richards & Suzan Storm are trying for the fourth time to get married. Also, the team have various sponsors and endorsers, which means that they have more money for Reed to work on his inventions. His laboratory is more high-tech than the previous instalment, and they have their logo on the roof of the Baxter Building. At the same time, some people think that Reed is more of a celebrity, due to the newspaper article. 

Throughout the title sequence, there is a combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Dialogue is used for character interaction. Foley sounds are used to recreate the sounds of the silver streak zooming across the globe, as well as engine sounds. Music is used to enhance the mood of the scenes, and for adding additional drama and interest.

Research - The Running Man

The film starts off with rolling titles on screen, telling the viewer what time period it is and what state the world is in which includes mentioning the fictional game show ‘The Running Man.’ At a low angle then it shows a helicopter flying over. Lots of close up shots are used showing the navigation of the helicopter and cuts to soldiers inside readying their guns showing that they are preparing to use them. An extreme close up is then shown of the main character Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger). He is told to move in the check out with co-ordinates. The scene shows the full helicopter with all the men inside then flies off screen. An extreme close up on the helicopter monitor is shown of lots of people gathered in one place in a food riot. An extreme close up of Ben’s face is shown when he is told to ’eliminate anything moving’ and he is disgusted with the order showing he is different to the others in the helicopter.

 

He refuses the order and says “I will not fire at helpless human beings” which shows that he is a good man and shows that the way he is treated is unfair and untrue throughout the rest of the film. The scene cuts to the soldiers in the back who look at each other in disbelieve. Another extreme close up is shown of Ben’s face. Another extreme close up is shown of the man next to Ben who is told to detain Richards and follow the orders. A close up of Ben’s fist hitting his face is shown, showing that he is strong. The two men grab Ben and pull him into the back of the helicopter, which is shown in a side angle. He then continues to hit three men in the face and each hit is shown by an extreme close up. Ben then slips and has his upper torso hanging out of the helicopter. A shot of the ground below is shown to see from how high up Ben is hanging, then cuts back to Ben in a medium close up who is hanging upside down out of the helicopter. It cuts back to show the two soldiers who were sitting in the back who pull Ben back in. An extreme close up is shown of Ben’s face when he is pulled back in. We then see a point of view shot of what Ben can see of one of the men standing above him. He says ’See you in hell’ and hits Ben in the head with a gun. The impact of the gun hit’s the screen and the screen goes back and starts up another area.

 

Lots of different shots of men working in a prison are shown and different title is shown in each scene. The first is to tell the viewer where the new area shown is which says ’Wilshire Detention Zone 18 months later.’ We see Ben again, he has grown facial face and has got really tanned showing the effect of staying in the detention zone for a year and 6 months since the first scene in the helicopter.

Initial Ideas

This is a spider diagram of the initial ideas we have had for our project. Also we have included some points that we will have to consider for further planning. This diagram will help us decide what parts we want to use when we come to make our final plan.

BBFC – British Board of Film Classification (Target Audiences)

The BBFC is the organisation that rates films. Films are often produced to meet a target audience. The ratings for these films are Uc (Universal Preschool), U (Univeral), PG (Parental Guidence), 12/12A (Persons 12 or older), 15 (Persons aged 15 or over), 18 (Persons aged 18 or over) or R18 (Persons ages 18 or older, restricted release due to graphic, often sexual, content). These ratings are usually given based on certain criteria such as theme, language (often how vulgar it is), sex, violence, horror and drugs.

Uc/U – The universal ratings are given to family friendly films, which implies little violence, sex, drugs or any other theme, which could be considered unsettling for younger audiences. Uc is applied to films, which are considered suitable for preschool children.

PG – Parental guidance is a rating given to films which contains scenes that may be upsetting to small children. There must only be implied innuendo and a small amount of natural non-sexual nudity. Horror should not be intense or prolonged. The film must not glamorise or show any techniques, which children may attempt to copy that could be dangerous.

12A/12 – Strong language is allowed but must be infrequent. Violence may be shown but not dwell on pain or injuries. Nudity is allowed in a sexual context if it is brief. Imitable techniques must not be glamorised by being shown harmless (Such as combat).

15 – Drug use can be shown but cannot promote the misuse of drugs. Strong language is acceptable so long as it is used in correct the context. Sex may be portrayed so long as it does not go into great detail. Nudity is allowed in an educational manner or briefly in a sexual manner.

18 – The 18 rating does not have any limits on suitable content. An 18 film can be any type of genre. An 18 film may show violence and sex so long as it can be justified.

Research - The Italian Job

The opening to this film starts with an establishing shot of the Alps which is part of the iconography, it begins with a tracking shot which moves from a low angle to a high angle showing a piece of road and a red sports car driving down, this hints that the driver is quite wealthy. We are shown more tracking shots of the car interlaced with first person views inside with the man driving. There are also several shots onboard the car and close ups inside the car of the driver.

The titles appear from the driver’s perspective starting with the production company’s name followed by the names of two important actors in the film (Michael Cain and Noel Coward). The names are shown in red which could represent a sense of danger, it also highlights the names as the positions are in plain white. The names are then followed by the large movie title ‘The Italian Job’. The actors and then the production assistants are then credited before the final title, which credits the director (Peter Collinson).

At this point a calm soundtrack of music plays over the sound of the car and instils a sense of tranquillity for the viewer. This effect is used in contrast to the latter part of the scene when the music fades to the sound of the car entering a tunnel and crashing into a bulldozer waiting on the other side.

The organised state of the gangsters on the other side of the tunnel represents a large ruthless organisation as the wreck is then pushed in flames down a hill into a small river. We’re shown a clip of the gang leaders standing on the deceased driver’s glasses which emphasises superiority and that the driver has been wiped out. It shows fear for the mafia leaders standing over the wreck in smart dark suits.

The sound we hear is diegetic as we can hear the sound of the car engine. The music we hear is non-diegetic, as the actors on screen can’t hear it. A loud wheel screeching sound is heard showing panic in the driver as he breaks to try and avoid the bulldozer followed by a loud rumbling crash sound as the driver failed to break in time. As the car is totalled and rolled down the side of the hill, a dramatic music begins to play over the low angle view of the mafia, which again helps build a sense of superiority. The mafia then sarcastically throw a wreath down in memory of the deceased man.