Preliminary task

EVALUATION

The filming process was a learning one. Since I had no experience before it was an exciting and steep learning curve. When I first set out to make the film I really had no idea what I was in for and since I am a practical person I decided the best way was to go out and try it. The result can clearly be seen.

The piece was a dark fantasy film from the outset, this meant it had to include elements of horror as well as action, however, due to the limited timescale I was working with, I knew it would be hard to implement as much of each as I would want. Due to this I knew I would have to play around with the horror and thriller conventions.

The first element was darkness. The near total darkness that exists throughout the piece was intended to give the classic fear of the unknown and unseen which is common in monster horror films. The choice to not show the monster and mearly signal it's presence through sound was made because of a lack of tech capable of constructing the creature I desired. However, considering that the piece is an opening I feel it works well to hint at what is to come without explicitly showing it.

The other element taken was the use of the female as the surviving character. This plays upon the lone female and the vulnerability, but turns it on it's head by having her as the final survivor.

Foreshadowing was another important element and it used several times, the first is the advice Serridan gives to Meredith -hinting at a purpose later- the second was through Kane's speech which speaks of an individual who experienced the same as them, the same as Meredith will communicate to the other character's later in the film (past where this piece ends). The choice to cut Kane's speech off was done for thematic effect to the audience knew there was something to be warned about but not what.

The intended audience is in the 14-21 range aiming at a middle. The film should be aiming for a 12 rating and to this end bad language and actual blood was kept to a minimum. This effected the choice to have the character's die off screen in order to minimise violence. In order to attract this kind of audience we have made a diverse male cast and put a helping of violence in to boot. For the women we have a well dressed female character .

  The piece helps represent social groups which were present in antiquity. By having a multicultural cast it stops the traditional Caucasian view of history and allows for a more diverse view of history. It also represents different cultures and genders. Eastern and traditionally western cultures are shown: The witch hunter and the eastern ninja. It also showcases a female dressed in lavish clothing befitting of her station, which shows that women in such times did indeed have authority and power which is counter to the 'romantic' view of history.

To market this film I would go straight to videogame sites. It's that kind of fantasy loving audience who would be most likely to consume this product. I would then go with billboard advertising using the darkness of the film in order to make billboards which contrast the environment and draw attention.

It is likely a small independent studio would have enough of a budget to make the film and it would cater well to the fact that, this being a niche film, it is unlikely to have a wide release. It would also add to the feeling of the film as people would be more likely to support it and not view it with prejudice because of who made it.

From the project I learnt a great deal about film making, from digital editing to camera work and cinematography. I learnt how to utilise various night settings on the camera as well as what was appropriate lighting wise for a given scene, though this took much time and effort. I also learned alot about continutity as i was forced to shoot across multiple nights. That was the most difficult part of the process.

  From the amount of filming I did I also learned that it is better to shoot more rather than less because there were several instances such as with the long speech where the dialogue did not match so i was force to intercut various takes while cutting away to filler footage i had shot earlier.

  I also learned how to use multiple editing suits because the project got me interested in the whole process. From this i also learned about the rhythm of cutting and piecing things together so they flowed. From this knowledge i went back to do re-shoots to allow me to better help the flow. All in all the test edit was probably the most useful thing I did, because of the complex nature of what i was trying to put together it allowed me to get a visualisation of what was going to happen on screen and adjust my plans accordingly.

  On the cinematography side i learned how to compose shots like they were pictures so that each frame stood as an image on it's own. In this way I do believe that filming is an art, though it has a set of rules which, while i had to stick to them which was constraining in some ways, it is useful as a language to utilise to provoke responses.

All in all it was an enjoyable project. However, the way in which I was required to make this piece, target an audience and make what they want, begs a question: Does this method produce the best results? The answer remains to be seen.

Test edit

The one shot and steady cam

For the final shot I want a single take where every character except one disappears off screen and predetermined intervals. Much like how longer takes increase the wow factor in fight scenes and increase the immersion in dialogue scenes, this single take should add to the WOW factor of; Where are they all disappearing too??

However, using a hand held camera would simply not do because of the amount of sway. To this end I intend to build a steady cam for the camera using this design: http://littlegreatideas.com/stabilizer/diy/.

After a few weeks of searching around it proved impossible to find threaded pipe in any plumbing stores so I was forced to go to the manufacturers. Still I met with no success until I visited my last option, and lo and behold they had some. The man was nice enough to give it me for free because of the small quantity I wanted.

Paper work

FILM

SHADOWS IN DARKNESS

Shadows in darkness will be the title for the film. It will be a dark fantasy thriller/ horror (leaning more to thriller).

Characters

The purpose of the characters in the introduction are to die, all save one who must survive to spread word of the danger. In order to add a sense of forboding to the opening and hinting at what is to come in the movie I will have one character recount their encounter with an individual who told him of the artefact they are searching for.

Two character's out in danger is too few so I will include two more in order to increase the plausibility of the film and make the evil seem all the more powerful because of the ease it deals with the group.

Character 1: Meredith

Meredith is a rich noble who fled from her home to seek treasure, ironic that it will be the search for treasure that leads her back to her home after the opening of the film. Her purpose is to survive and speak of the encounter.

Character 2: Furious Kane

Furious will play the part of the wandering mage who recounts the story he has heard of the artefact they are searching for.

Character 3: Serridan

Serridan's role is that of the master, he is meant to demonstrate how even a hardened adventurer can be dispensed with ease.

Serridan's role means he should be the most well equipped.

Character 4: Altar

Altar is simply there to bulk out the cast and die at an appropriate time.

Altar is a religious and pious man but dresses simply, uncaring of wealth.

Addendum

Character 5: Vir

Vir's purpose is to speed the character's onwards to their death so as not to make the opening linger.

Vir is a ninja warrior and is garbed in black for that purpose.

Mise en scene

The setting will be an outdoor camp, it will be set at night and the darkness will be used to intesify the claustrophobia. The only sources of light will be fires and torches which should cast a redish light, since this is associated with Hell and burning it should do well to enhance the atmosphere.

Sound

A heavy amount of non diagetic sound will be used in conjunction with smart camera work to create a sense of tension and pace within the piece.

Camera work

A steady cam will be used, as well as a tripod and handheld work for some monster scenes.

Plot

We will open with the adventurers being watched. We will have a speech at the camp before the party departs and moves to their death.

Piece outline

PITCH

A dark fantasy film where in a group of adventurers risk everything, in the pursuit of a legendary artefact.

Details

The opening of the piece should set the tone for a dark fantasy thriller with elements of horror. It should introduce the danger that the character's will face later in the movie. To do this another group of character's will be required, one who's purpose is to die to prove the danger. This group will be the focus of the opening.

The piece should include suspense and relief with a climax at the end, the climax will be the death of the character's.

Characters

One character should survive in order to inform the main group of character’s in the movie of what is to come. I intend to play around with the conventions of horror by having the female character survive.

Mise en scene

Darkness should be a key theme here, which means it makes sense to either shoot in doors or outside at night. In doors would add claustrophobia.

Addendum: Due to the fact that to shoot in doors I need a period esque building I will be modifying my idea to work out doors because of a lack of success in finding an appropriate building to work in. Because of the change I will use the darkness to create a sense of claustrophobia.

Solomon Kane

After the questionnaire it seemed like a good idea to go and take a look at Solomon Kane to see what inspirations and knowledge I can draw from it, considering that it fits into the same niche I am aiming the current piece at.

Solomon Kane was produced on a mid range budget ($45 million) considering the scale of the piece and was written and directed by Michael J. Bassett who has directed more theatre than films. It met with a relatively low box office turnover, which may have been due to it's limited marketing budget and small release. Regardless of this though the film seems well constructed for what it does, albeit a bit distanced from the mainstream due to the authentic and unsimplified style.

The opening of the film acts as a set up for the events which follow in the rest of the film. They act as a story in and of themselves which sets the tone of the film as well as introducing plot elements which will re-emerge later. As such it works very well as an opening.

The visual style is dirty and authentic. There is a noticeable lack of flare compared to other big budget Hollywood epics such as 300 and it bares more resemblance to Lord of the rings in its visual style. The opening sequence is also mostly lit by torchlight or orange stage lights which give it a warm and almost hellish look, in keeping with the plot developments within. The rest of the visuals comprise what you would expect in dark fantasy. Dark colours, lots of leather rather than earthy cloths, bloodied and fit-for-purpose weaponry and lots of dirt.

The camera and editing work is nothing special, it does what it needs to do. The music highlights key moments such as Solomon fleeing the Devil's reaper (the monster sent from hell to collect Solomon's soul).

There are some nice visual elements in the opening and it acts as the beginning to the story, as you imagine it would. Other than that there is not a lot to say.

Addendum: There is some good central framing such as below:

As can be demonstrated by the following statistics, fantasy is a small but profitable niche of the movie industry. Horror always sells. In 2008-2009 it had double the profit for its percentage and in 2009-2010 it had a profit margin of five times its market share.

Large and big budget fantasy movies drive this craze and it also means that the competition is light, allowing for a lot of room more mid budget movies to enter the fray.

Follow up questions

  This the the follow up questionnaire I made to hone down my choices about the media.

Please fill out the following:

The following questionnaire concerns the development of a Fantasy action/horror film currently in pre-production. The aim of the questions is to gather audience opinion on what you wish to see in such a film and fulfil those desires.

Circle where appropriate, write on the dotted line when appropriate,

Gender	M / F
Age	…....../........../..................
Favourite film	…....................................
Favourite fantasy action horror film	…....................................

What gender do you feel the lead should be? Male Female

Would you like a single lead or an ensemble cast: ….....................................

In a typical 90 minute horror-action movie how long would you expect the opening to be?

1 min 3 mins 5 mins 10 mins

What are the key concepts in a film like this (circle al relevant)

Violence Gore Sex Nudity Relationships

Realism Humour Fear Weapons Monsters

RESULTS

The questionnaire was given to twenty people to fill in. In general

Male	Female
10	10

Age

Age	Number
Under 15	2
15-18	12
19-25	5
'25+	1

Favourite film

The mix turned up only two results of note. The first was the Dark knight with 5 and the second was Twilight with 4. None of the people taking the questionnaire listed a fantasy action-horror as their favourite film

Favourite fantasy action-horror film

There were only two films notable in this category. 5 participants could not list one. 4 listed 'season of the Witch' and 5 listed 'Solomon Kane'.

Type of lead

Interestingly the women mostly (7) voted for a female lead and an ensemble cast, with an almost perfect correlation. The men were similar but on the other side feeling there should be a single male hero. Possible error concerning understanding of the word ensemble.

Length of opening

Every single result was in either the 5 minute or 10 minute band.

Key themes

Theme	Number
Violence	18
Gore	12
Sex	7
Nudity	7
Relationships	5
Realism	10
Humour	2
Fear	18
Weapons	10
Monsters	15

The themes data showed that the men were more likely to choose nudity and sex as well as gore. Women were more likely to choose Violence. There was an even split on realism.

Analysis

After looking at the data it looks like my demographic enjoy: Monsters, violence, fear and gore. They expect a five to ten minute opening, which I can only do five of. And finally the trend was to an ensemble cast with a male lead. I will research the two listed films Season of the Witch and Solomon Kane and see what influences I can take.

Exploitation of the market

After the initial questionnaire it appears that the majority of my 14-21 aged responses called for a fantasy film. This is enough evidence in and of itself to choose that genre of film.

The reason for this is because the above age bracket is the most easily exploited of them all. They are young and dependent on their parents which means they have a high amount of disposable income which is not 'theirs' but 'theirs to spend'. This means they have no attachment to it because they did not earn it which means its only function is to be spent.

Secondly, we can apply marketing pressure from multiple angles: firstly we can market the film in such a way that parents will react badly to it, thus enforcing the teenager's desire to see it out of rebellion; next we can market it on the sites they visit and the places they go making it the 'cool' thing to do. This applies social pressure which young minds are more susceptible to. We can also focus on marketing the enjoyable aspects of the film without having to go into any greater meaning; this makes development easier because no difficult or engaging topics need to be handled.

To this end I intend to make a Fantasy horror movie. The horror element is because it came second in the favourite film genre choice.

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Bram Stoker's Dracula is the 1992 adaptation of the Dracula story and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola with an all star cast, including: Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. The film was an Important endeavour for Coppola because his production company, Zoetrope, was in a tough financial situation. Fortunately the film was a blockbuster hit and the company was saved. The opening eleven minutes of the film, which I am looking at, neatly cover the origin of Dracula and events which set the story in motion.

The cinematic style of the film owes a lot to the movies which inspired it -Nosferatu, Dracula (1931) and Dracula (1951)- particularly in Coppola's choice to use as few digital effects as possible (infact there is only one in the entire film). The effect of choosing not to use digital effects is that the film has an ageless quality to the special effects. This is because CGI tends not to age well when compared to practical effects. e.g.

  The practical Uruk Hai make up in Lord of the rings still stands up today, where as Jar Jar is showing his Age compared to the work in Avatar. That being said even Avatar is already showing it's age compared to the CGI for the latest Mass Effect game.

   The music also deserves special note because it harks back to Hammer and horror films of the 40's to 70's. Which solidifies the aesthetic established by the visual style.

The use of practical affects is particularly ingenious in two instances. The first cleverly uses already filmed footage projected onto the backdrop of the scene to make it appear as if Dracula's eyes are appearing in the sky.

The second interesting use of practical effects is during the battle scene with Dracula where the soldiers fighting in the background are all shadow puppets. While this is not intensely realistic it gives the whole scene, and indeed further uses of similar techniques give the whole film, an air of fantasy without appearing simply badly done.

The colour palette is also exaggerated which gives it a feeling of heightened reality, or fantasy. This combined with some of the other techniques listed above and the clear fantasy of Dracula's castle

 

       

Dracula's castle in fact was directly inspired by Resistance - The Black Idol.

 

  

Some of the more interesting techniques used are high angle shots, so high they are almost straight down. Top down shots are regularly used to show the character in their surroundings and often to show them isolated there. The technique is used in this manner to show the character Renfield in his cell. However, the angle is slightly off which gives the shot a weird overtone. The other use of a very high angle shot is when Dracula has lost his love. The use of the technique here seems figurative, to show that Dracula is now alone, isolated, now that his love is dead. 

Another interesting point is that the two loves in this 

scene are both wearing colours associated with love 

and lust -Elizabetha Green and Dracula Red- and 

Dracula's in particular carries other connotations such as blood and anger.

One other point worthy of note is the quality of the framing of many of the shots in this film. The cinematographer was Michael Ballhaus who has been nominated for three academy awards.

  In this show Dracula is framed directly in the centre and is flanked by the door and the torches. The door almost create a corridor focusing our view on Dracula.

 

 Here the shot encompasses so many elements all framed in the centre by the well lit cross.

Once again a centralised shot of the two characters framed by scenery.

In terms of marketing there was a single trailer that had to be recalled because audiences found it too intense. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x-JGNTHXbos" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

  

Casino Royale

Casino Royale was pegged as' the first film in the Bond reboot franchise' which is a cunning marketing tool used to distance the new films from the old despite the Bond character existing in a 'floating timeline'. It is an attempt at a faithful adaption of the first Bond novel, of the same name, and aims to bring the series back to it's roots by displaying a younger and more realistic Bond.  Martin Campbell , who proved his ability to establish a new grittier bond when he directed 'Goldeneye' eleven years earlier, and Daniel Craig stars as the new Bond. The casting choice was controversial because Craig breaks away from the traditional dark haired and suave persona attributed to Bond. Instead he gives off a Matt Damon esque vibe with a muscled physique to further notch up the realism.

The first two scenes. Which comprise the opening, title sequence and plot set up. Are what I will be looking at. These total nine minutes and thirty nine seconds, which is fairly conventional for the openings of thrillers in terms of what it tries to get done in the ten minute window.

The opening scene is comprised of two elements. The first is Bond's assassination of an English official. The second is a fight, inter-cut into the assassination scene. These two elements neatly set up Bond's character and the new, realistic tone for the film. Both are also shot in black and white hinting at the events acting as a prologue for the events of the film.

The assassination element of the scene is set up with the usual establishing shot and anchoring text telling us where we are. From that point onwards long takes are used juxtaposing the tense slow paced action against the inter-cut fight scene. Only Diagetic sounds a present within this scene and at the start very little noise is present at all.

The entire exchange between Bond and the official takes place in a darkly lit office. The darkness keeps the audience from being able to see everything that is going on, adding to the tension because of what could be unseen. The darkness also adds symbolically to the shot representing the darkness of the deeds performed in the office. The final touch of the lighting is the decision to put Bond's target in more light than Bond, possibly highlighting how exposed he is compared to Bond.

There are two more visual flares in this half of the scene. The first is the use of a great deal of props in the room to intensify the claustrophobia created by the darkness. The second is the momentary flash of a picture of the chief's family as Bond shoots him; this final affect adds an interesting bit of commentary on Bond's actions, casting them in greater, shades of grey, realism.

Two more aspects of the production are communicated via this half of the scene. The first is the return of the Bond wit in the form of 'I know where you keep your gun' in response to the chief saying 'shame, we barely got to know one another'. And a callous remark of 'yeas... considerably' after he kills the man. However, while these both pay homage to the traditional Bond dialogue there is an emphasis on toning it down to be less flamboyant and cliché. This is most evident in the remark Bond makes as it is less witty and more callous.

The fight inter-cut into the tense scene sets the tone for the films action. The first thing we notice is that the location is grimy, it's a bathroom and a dirty one at that. The action is shot with a shaky camera but not cut so quickly that the audience is given whiplash, unable to see what is going on. The reactions by the actors are attempts at realism with concentration on their face. The fight choreography is simple and messy, such as when Bond nearly gets killed when the bad guy picks up his gun. And the death brutal. This half of the scene basically communicates to us that the action is going to be gritty and real, in keeping with the trend sent by the Bourne movies.

We then cut to the 'Gun barrel' sequence, another returning motif, and the opening titles.

The design of the whole scene is reminiscent of the cover of Casino Royale the book, this was an intentional design on behalf of the film crew. It's major visual theme is that of the suits of playing cards in a deck of cards, referencing the primary plot event in the film. It is also noticeably lacking in naked/ semi naked women, a staple for Bond openings. This is maybe due to not wanting to push the women as object angle of the stories any more and due to the presence of the strong female lead.

The opening titles also feature a song by Chris cornell. The lyrics are well woven into the film. For instance the song references the cost of being able to kill others and repetition of 'knowing my name' which is of course referencing how we all know Bond.

Once this opening is over we cut straight to a scene of a gurilla military camp complete with mud, tents and ak47's. The anchoring text tells us we are in Uganda. The purpose of this scene is to set up the major plot and primary bad guy, along with the mastermind bad guy 'mister white'.

There are a few interesting touches in this scene. First off is the close up on le chieefs inhaler, a later plot point. The second is the bit of foreshadowing show in the dialogue between mister White and the freedom fighter FF:'How can I trust a man I have never met with my money?' W:'My organisation only supplies the introduction'. Mr White's lack of endorsement quietly highlights future events, it also introduces the 'Organisation'.

The final point is the stand off moment where the camera cuts to close up's of each of the character's faces while playing high pitched strings to up the tension.

The promotional materials highlighted below further showcase the new gritty aspect they are trying to run with in this Bond film.

In conclusion the opening of Casino royale has several examples of doing what it sets out to do, which is to re-invent the character for the 21^st century as a more realistic and gritty character in the real world.

No country for old men

   No Country For Old Men was directed by the Coen brothers. In the opening fourteen minutes all three of the principle characters are introduced and the stage is set. In a word I would call this opening subtle and to go further I would say it is low key. It is clear from the lack of action, though there is violence, in the first fourteen minutes that this is not a rip roaring action based macguffin movie; in fact the said item seems incidental when compared to the development of the characters.

   None of the characters introduced fit the bill for an action movie. Josh Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss, the hunter, who is shown to be slow and thorough but an average guy and the 'hero'. Tommy Lee Jones plays Sheriff Ed Tom Bell whom we only hear via the voice over which thematically fits his role in the film as an insightful observer of the fallout of Llewelyn's activities. Javier Bardem plays Anton Chigurh, the principle antagonist.

   The direction is slow, which allows for thinking time as the events unfold. Thinking time is something rarely present in big Hollywood films so immediately this tells you the focus of this film is very different. There are close ups only when required, such as when the money is revealed and Chigurh's weapon is shown, otherwise the camera sticks to medium and long shots to help frame the characters in their surroundings. These two elements, slow paced and mostly medium to long shots, really solidify the atmosphere because you are given so much time to observe the whole picture and helps show the Vastness of the locations.

Also worthy of note is that there is 10 minutes with near to no dialogue, no action and no music, because of how rare elements like this are the artistic direction the film runs with is very obvious from the start.

   In the promotional material for the film there were at least four posters. Three display the bottom half of the three principle characters with a phrase relating to their arc in the film. Each of these has been put through a filter to give it a unique aesthetic. Llewelyn's is the closest to reality -displaying his every day guy side-, Sheriff Bell has a reddish hue -likening it to cowboy films of their hay-day- and Chigurh's is bleached -possibly due to his lack of emotions or a further reference to death-.

  The fourth poster has Llewelyn running from the ghostly face of Chigurh. This looks more like a horror poster than a drama. It paints Chigurh as an almost omnipresent threat which cannot be escaped which is similar to how he is painted in the film.

In depth analysis of Anton Chigurh

   The most interesting element present within the first fourteen minutes of the film is the primary antagonist: Anton Chigurh. His actions throughout the opening of the film are the most worthy of further analysis.

His black attire and dark hair tells us that he is the antagonist and this, like Llewelyn's white hat, is a carryover from the cowboy genre where black equates the bad guy. He is also clearly Spanish and considering that the film is set in America that makes him an outsider which is indicative of the mysterious and unknowable aspect of his character because he is not one of them and is thus outside their understanding. If we look we also see his face is oddly pale and his hair falls like a shroud around him. The pale, almost white, face and shroud like hair intimates to me that Chigurh is meant to be death.

   

  His weapon, the cattle stun, is also indicative of his character and his way of thinking. The weapon, because of it's outlandish nature, once again solidifies the idea that he is an outsider which people struggle to understand. His weapon is so enigmatic that the deputy that brings him in is confused as to its purpose. The weapon, used to kill helpless cattle, and the way he uses it, literally asking the man to stay still while Chigurh presses it against his head, demonstrates that Chigurh thinking of humans as little more than animals that are to be put down when needed.

   Finally in the scene where Chigurh kills the deputy we have a looking straight down shot (usually used to show the character's isolation) showing a crazed expression on Chigurh's face as he strangles the deputy but when the deputy dies Chigurh lapses into a face of calm enjoyment; both of these detach us further from the character solidifying his role as the outsider.