Most of what I have done is still the same as what I had before. There was the change from not having the 'attempt at funky eye opening techniques' as I put it before as it would be outside my capabilities. The change just meant that I filmed from the mother's angle as opposed to the son's. I had also originally planned to have the montage filmed in Australia but that was impossible due to me putting it off and I'm glad I didn't as later I got a marginally better camera to record here.
The biggest changes came from my original Concept where I thought I was going to make a mockumentary. Thsi quickly turned into a documentary due to it fitting my general ideas better found in the treatment. The original concepts connotations of characters and also the whole testing family dynamics were still relevant. I mention exaggerated realities in the concept plan, they are now all just realities. The exaggeration was for the mockumentary. Documentaries wouldn't be documentaries if they purpsefully exaggerated what was going on. The montage wasn't one going backwards through the trip, simply a montage. And I did end up using When Doves Cry.
So mostly the final product follows the original plans.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Production Evaluation
The positive aspects were far and few between, lost between the stress and procrastination of the majority of the process. An aspect that was positive about the whole process was slowly building knowledge about how to use Premiere Pro. I say this as the first day i used it I could have thrown a brick at the screen. But I'm not into destroying things before I've even paid them off, so I came back the next day and over the week of editing and clip manipulation I managed to make some things easier, while some of the more complex edits such as getting both clips on the screen at the same time for my walking and the tower at Dreamworld took much playing around to get something that worked. Also the fitting of the clip transitions (of the montage) to the beats of the music. It was important for the tower clip to start when the snare kicked in and then, besides the boat clips, change to the beats. It took a lot of editing of clip lengths and also eidting of the music to get it to work. I also enjoyed trying to fix the sound throughout the video. Mainly the talking. I am someone that while gets absolutely stressed at the whole editing process is quite happy when things eventually work and a masterpiece comes to fruition.
Steps that could have been done better are the original scripting. Looking back if I had have actually sat down and tried to get a solid script it could have been better. My favourite is the last scene with my mother 'and touch everyone.' how awkwardly amusing. The fact I went to Australia wasn't the most helpful of things that could have happened. I was supposed to film a lot more over there which would have made the montage better however I was purely in holiday mode. Then I got sick. So some of my original ideas had to be thrown out the window. Again, mainly the montage. It looks a bit cheap now.
My sound recording could have been severely improved. Having to try and dub the tracks to an acceptable level was just about impossible. Waveforms of my voice everywhere and having to put up with listening to my own voice. I pity other people.
To achieve these things I could have gone with my original idea of using separate microphones attached to the people top record the sound. Even if these were visibly attached to the front of the people's tops like on talk shows it would have been fine as it is a reality show. And in saying that it's also not Jersey Shore boom miked 'reality,' it is reality. It's not a movie where every little imperfection needs to be hidden. Overall re: the scripting and any planning, a more solid plan that I was sure could be gold would have been better. The feeling that everything I was doing was just a little bit average put me off fully investing myself in the project and putting things off. I can see now that even with what I did do that it isn't a bad film. But it could have been box office smashing level.
The fact I also used so much different technology at different stages of the production process was also an issue with the quality of the final output. I used a different camera in Australia to the one I used back home. I actually used two. One for the hotel room and also the establishing shot. I then used one on the boat which I borrowed off the people I stayed with in the second week. Then I used one for the majority back home which was supposed to be an upgrade. But as far as sound goes that is hugely debatable. Then I used a fourth one for the reshoot of the scene of me walking along the bridge going into the montage. I should have invested in a quality video camera. I just was a cheap production manager back then and wasn't going to spend more than a flat $100 and what can you get with that? Nothing.
Well, all in all these changes could have positively affected the media product. What is already a fairly good idea could have been better executed and the quality of the footage could have been better so that the editing stage wasn't such a pain. There was unnecessary stress when other subject departments, namely English, are throwing a mass amount of work at us. Also internals in 2 subjects during the final editing week. So, also, the clichely cited time management could have been better which may have meant a better edited project.
Focusing for a moment on the actual scenes. The footage of Mum - 'get that f--king camera out of my face' through until the door slam was my favourite single piece of footage. It brilliantly portrayed my Mother as an unhappy, vile character. It would set you up going through the rest of the film as someone who could change into this mood at the drop of a hat. Making the trip horrible for everyone else. The establishing shot was taken to go right across to the sea more, however due to a smudge on the window and sun glare this was not possible. Removing the smudge proved out of my technical ability as it blended in to the rest of the image a bit much. But I think it does still portray a lovely little city where you would want to holiday. high rises,beach, sun. Eden's section does show a broken, deprived boy. So all is well there. Ahh montage is as mentioned throughout and the day:1 activity is fine with me as it shows the stess before they have even left. You have to leave on a positive note or it can set the tone for the whole trip.
Steps that could have been done better are the original scripting. Looking back if I had have actually sat down and tried to get a solid script it could have been better. My favourite is the last scene with my mother 'and touch everyone.' how awkwardly amusing. The fact I went to Australia wasn't the most helpful of things that could have happened. I was supposed to film a lot more over there which would have made the montage better however I was purely in holiday mode. Then I got sick. So some of my original ideas had to be thrown out the window. Again, mainly the montage. It looks a bit cheap now.
My sound recording could have been severely improved. Having to try and dub the tracks to an acceptable level was just about impossible. Waveforms of my voice everywhere and having to put up with listening to my own voice. I pity other people.
To achieve these things I could have gone with my original idea of using separate microphones attached to the people top record the sound. Even if these were visibly attached to the front of the people's tops like on talk shows it would have been fine as it is a reality show. And in saying that it's also not Jersey Shore boom miked 'reality,' it is reality. It's not a movie where every little imperfection needs to be hidden. Overall re: the scripting and any planning, a more solid plan that I was sure could be gold would have been better. The feeling that everything I was doing was just a little bit average put me off fully investing myself in the project and putting things off. I can see now that even with what I did do that it isn't a bad film. But it could have been box office smashing level.
The fact I also used so much different technology at different stages of the production process was also an issue with the quality of the final output. I used a different camera in Australia to the one I used back home. I actually used two. One for the hotel room and also the establishing shot. I then used one on the boat which I borrowed off the people I stayed with in the second week. Then I used one for the majority back home which was supposed to be an upgrade. But as far as sound goes that is hugely debatable. Then I used a fourth one for the reshoot of the scene of me walking along the bridge going into the montage. I should have invested in a quality video camera. I just was a cheap production manager back then and wasn't going to spend more than a flat $100 and what can you get with that? Nothing.
Well, all in all these changes could have positively affected the media product. What is already a fairly good idea could have been better executed and the quality of the footage could have been better so that the editing stage wasn't such a pain. There was unnecessary stress when other subject departments, namely English, are throwing a mass amount of work at us. Also internals in 2 subjects during the final editing week. So, also, the clichely cited time management could have been better which may have meant a better edited project.
Focusing for a moment on the actual scenes. The footage of Mum - 'get that f--king camera out of my face' through until the door slam was my favourite single piece of footage. It brilliantly portrayed my Mother as an unhappy, vile character. It would set you up going through the rest of the film as someone who could change into this mood at the drop of a hat. Making the trip horrible for everyone else. The establishing shot was taken to go right across to the sea more, however due to a smudge on the window and sun glare this was not possible. Removing the smudge proved out of my technical ability as it blended in to the rest of the image a bit much. But I think it does still portray a lovely little city where you would want to holiday. high rises,beach, sun. Eden's section does show a broken, deprived boy. So all is well there. Ahh montage is as mentioned throughout and the day:1 activity is fine with me as it shows the stess before they have even left. You have to leave on a positive note or it can set the tone for the whole trip.
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Exam Reflection
Well as a whole the exams went better than the mocks last year. I at least attempted to put some study effort in. However, this year I have put more effort throughout the year in so more information was already retained, especially in commerce so that studying was purely for brushing up on points and not staring at a page and going 'oh holy scheiße I have no idea what any of this is about.' Well.. apart from 2.1 accounting but who knows about accounting notions and qualitative characteristics, really.
In respect to Media Studies I did try but as seen in English my essay writing has never been particularly stellar. I'm not good at sequencing or the memorizing of points and quotes etc. I spent about an hour and a quarter on each essay I believe and didn't write everything that I could have purely for condensing purposes. In the representations essay I did have an essay memorized where they compared the boy racers to skin head Nazi's and compared their actions to those undertaken in the South African rugby protests of the 1980's but I felt it was too specific even within the offending group. Mmm I'm not sure what I'd do for the end of years that is different. I attempted to perfect them this time around so I'm not really sure what angle I would take next time. For genre I'd probably go back to basics and for representations write about whatever we learn in the coming weeks and write a parallel essay to everyone else in the class.
In respect to Media Studies I did try but as seen in English my essay writing has never been particularly stellar. I'm not good at sequencing or the memorizing of points and quotes etc. I spent about an hour and a quarter on each essay I believe and didn't write everything that I could have purely for condensing purposes. In the representations essay I did have an essay memorized where they compared the boy racers to skin head Nazi's and compared their actions to those undertaken in the South African rugby protests of the 1980's but I felt it was too specific even within the offending group. Mmm I'm not sure what I'd do for the end of years that is different. I attempted to perfect them this time around so I'm not really sure what angle I would take next time. For genre I'd probably go back to basics and for representations write about whatever we learn in the coming weeks and write a parallel essay to everyone else in the class.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Various Tasks
Task 2: Pre-Production Research
Well, I had a gander at some professional documentaries on youtube of different styles. I looked at the documentary "Living with Michael Jackson,' as it follows his life and is intercut with interview sections. I found this most relevant to what I was doing. This documentary was slammed by fans of Jackson due to the interviewers negative slant throughout however the techniques included must be seen seperately. Upon running my ideas past various people in our own Media Studies class, my cast and Matthew Lane the feedback was positive enough to run with my ideas found in the treatment.
Before I left I looked up the Q1 tower, the highest residential tower in the world. It just so happened to be in Surfer's so I was able to film the establishing shot from up there. Too bad the windows were so dirty when I got there.
Safety issues were non-existant. There was however the one injury with Oriana getting the knee to the face and a rushed trip to the after hours clinic on one of the filming days minutes prior to the filming starting. Also, the day after the montage footage in NZ was shot my Dad got a moon boot on for his broken ankle. It only took a few months for him to get it looked at.
The searches for non-diegetic sound, locations and props were completed as they came up. Sound effects were simply google searched eg. The birds. Music was decided from the beginning and I worked my montage around it. Due to the lyrics mostly. And also due to the holiday my talent was my family no matter what I did.
Task 4: Crew and (Talent)
The amazing crew that will be apart of my film is my family. The main protagonist will be my mother with the counter balances being my father, brother and sister.
Task 5: Production Schedule
Filming of the Australian scenes will be completed on the 21st and 22nd of July. The night scene will be recorded on the Sunday the 7th of August and the remaining scenes on the Wednesday 10th, Friday 12th and Sunday 14th.
Actual Production Timeline. The only reason for a further take after already taking them was because of an actor flub or in the case of moving footage - cutting a part of the body, generally the head, from the frame. I had a pretty much precise vision of how I wanted each shot to look and 9/10 times managed to gauge that at the time of filming when one was 'perfect.'
Task 6: Art Department.
I will require 6 different chairs. They will be sourced from my kitchen and also the motel. I will also need some suitcases which play a vital role in the scene after the opening title sequence. Some passports to go inside some kind of bag. Multiple changes of clothing will have to be undertaken, the talent will have to supply this themselves and their choices are relatively at their own discretion.
Task 7:
Locations:
Surfers cityscape for establishing shot.
The motel in Surfer's for the second scene.
New Zealand - My house for the 121 shots and also the action after the title sequence.
The montage sequence will also be sourced from New Zealand due to timing issues and from pre-recorded online material. This is apart from the footage from the boat that I filmed on an iPhone I borrowed.
Well, I had a gander at some professional documentaries on youtube of different styles. I looked at the documentary "Living with Michael Jackson,' as it follows his life and is intercut with interview sections. I found this most relevant to what I was doing. This documentary was slammed by fans of Jackson due to the interviewers negative slant throughout however the techniques included must be seen seperately. Upon running my ideas past various people in our own Media Studies class, my cast and Matthew Lane the feedback was positive enough to run with my ideas found in the treatment.
Before I left I looked up the Q1 tower, the highest residential tower in the world. It just so happened to be in Surfer's so I was able to film the establishing shot from up there. Too bad the windows were so dirty when I got there.
Safety issues were non-existant. There was however the one injury with Oriana getting the knee to the face and a rushed trip to the after hours clinic on one of the filming days minutes prior to the filming starting. Also, the day after the montage footage in NZ was shot my Dad got a moon boot on for his broken ankle. It only took a few months for him to get it looked at.
The searches for non-diegetic sound, locations and props were completed as they came up. Sound effects were simply google searched eg. The birds. Music was decided from the beginning and I worked my montage around it. Due to the lyrics mostly. And also due to the holiday my talent was my family no matter what I did.
Task 4: Crew and (Talent)
The amazing crew that will be apart of my film is my family. The main protagonist will be my mother with the counter balances being my father, brother and sister.
Task 5: Production Schedule
Filming of the Australian scenes will be completed on the 21st and 22nd of July. The night scene will be recorded on the Sunday the 7th of August and the remaining scenes on the Wednesday 10th, Friday 12th and Sunday 14th.
Actual Production Timeline. The only reason for a further take after already taking them was because of an actor flub or in the case of moving footage - cutting a part of the body, generally the head, from the frame. I had a pretty much precise vision of how I wanted each shot to look and 9/10 times managed to gauge that at the time of filming when one was 'perfect.'
- July 17: Citycat montage footage was shot. Single take at everything. Three sections were used.
- July 19: Filming of establishing shot. 5 angles. 1 salvaged however none were perfect.
- July 22: Filming of the hotel scene. 6 takes. 2 perfect acting, one framed the best. Plus it had the slamming of the door at the end which was only filmed for that one take.
- August 10: Filing of the 'Day 1' scenes. About 6 filmed of Eden's room and then looking towards the stairs. 2 of these were used in the film. One for the first time the angle is used then another the second time. Then 3 from the alternate angle looking back towards the hall and following Mum. 1 was used.
- August 12: Shots of Eden's Interview - 10 takes, 2 usable. Shot's of Oriana's interview (not used in the end) - 5 takes, none usable due to sound. About 5 different takes of me saying each part of my questions in 2 different locations. None of which were in the end usable due to lighting. 6 shots of Mum's first interviewee section and 3 of the second. Two of each were usable.
- September 2: Some footage was shot. None used. Lighting for it all.
- September 4: Montage footage was shot.
- September 23: Final used take of me walking and talking shot. 2 takes, one used.
Task 6: Art Department.
I will require 6 different chairs. They will be sourced from my kitchen and also the motel. I will also need some suitcases which play a vital role in the scene after the opening title sequence. Some passports to go inside some kind of bag. Multiple changes of clothing will have to be undertaken, the talent will have to supply this themselves and their choices are relatively at their own discretion.
Task 7:
Locations:
Surfers cityscape for establishing shot.
The motel in Surfer's for the second scene.
New Zealand - My house for the 121 shots and also the action after the title sequence.
The montage sequence will also be sourced from New Zealand due to timing issues and from pre-recorded online material. This is apart from the footage from the boat that I filmed on an iPhone I borrowed.
Monday, 11 July 2011
Speech/Narration
(Shot 3) "oh, get that f--king camera out of my face!"
(Shot 4) the person that is me/Logan: 'Now, I can't help but notice a mild agitation. talk ahh, talk me through it.'
Mum: "Let me answer that through a story from my life. Before you have children it seems like a great idea. Then you have them, they grow up and the novelty wears off. Moral of the story, save up and move to an exotic location. Buy a nice boat. Be like Madonna and adopt a child at 50 when you are past it anyway and sit around waiting for the benefits to roll in.'
(Shot 5) Me: 'Now you are the oldest and only son, correct? Right, from your perspective here, how was the holiday for you?'
Eden: "I'm not even sure what is real anymore, to be honest... No cellphone coverage because my parents are too stingy to buy me a new phoen and I havn't been on Facebook in 3 days. THREE DAYS."
Me: ..White man 21st century issues indeed.
(Shot 6) Our cheap fleet of last minute brandless, trade me bought cameras captured every moment. What were the reasons that stopped this from being a holiday that is looked back on in the photo albums in 20 years, but made it a holiday that will stop the family from looking eachother in the eye for 30.
(Shot 13.) Get out of bed! The alarm didn't go off and we have to be there in 20 minutes. *Shouted down hall* Joe, where the hell are the passports??
(Shot 14.) Thank God, here they are..
(Shot 15.) Me: So, you are of course the Mother in this family. What were the reasons behind this trip?
Mum: Family bonding. Every family at some stage needs a week together in close confinement. Really let that inner love everyone knows is there somewhere flow out and touch everyone.
(Shot 16.) Me: What are you looking forward to doing?
Oriana:
(Shot 4) the person that is me/Logan: 'Now, I can't help but notice a mild agitation. talk ahh, talk me through it.'
Mum: "Let me answer that through a story from my life. Before you have children it seems like a great idea. Then you have them, they grow up and the novelty wears off. Moral of the story, save up and move to an exotic location. Buy a nice boat. Be like Madonna and adopt a child at 50 when you are past it anyway and sit around waiting for the benefits to roll in.'
(Shot 5) Me: 'Now you are the oldest and only son, correct? Right, from your perspective here, how was the holiday for you?'
Eden: "I'm not even sure what is real anymore, to be honest... No cellphone coverage because my parents are too stingy to buy me a new phoen and I havn't been on Facebook in 3 days. THREE DAYS."
Me: ..White man 21st century issues indeed.
(Shot 6) Our cheap fleet of last minute brandless, trade me bought cameras captured every moment. What were the reasons that stopped this from being a holiday that is looked back on in the photo albums in 20 years, but made it a holiday that will stop the family from looking eachother in the eye for 30.
(Shot 13.) Get out of bed! The alarm didn't go off and we have to be there in 20 minutes. *Shouted down hall* Joe, where the hell are the passports??
(Shot 14.) Thank God, here they are..
(Shot 15.) Me: So, you are of course the Mother in this family. What were the reasons behind this trip?
Mum: Family bonding. Every family at some stage needs a week together in close confinement. Really let that inner love everyone knows is there somewhere flow out and touch everyone.
(Shot 16.) Me: What are you looking forward to doing?
Oriana:
Treatment
The film opens with an establishing shot of Brisbane. This will be taken from a moderate height up a building looking out over central Brisbane incorporating a view of the river and buildings. The shot will pan across to the right and will involve minimal dense sound. Small levels of sound effects imitating the beautiful sounds of life will be included eg. Bird noises to contrast to the following scene of ugliness.
Shot 2 will show the family all seated in the lounge of their motel room. The shot will have a window in the background with low amounts of obtrusive unnecessary furniture consuming the rest of the field. This will make sure that attention is directed towards the characters and not the foreground. The mother will have an angry look on her face as this shot will be seen to have presumably have been taken relatively shortly after a fight between family members. The other characters will have looks of being totally over the trip altogether and basically just wanting to go home. This could be displayed through a sigh by the character sitting directly to the mothers left.
(3) The camera will zoom into a mid shot of the mother and will be greeted with a vile upwards stare and speech directed at the cameraman.
(Shot 4) will be the first of the scenes with an opinion 1-to-1 with the camera type deal as seen in The Office. This will show the mother as aggressive to make her seem completely unreasonable. She will lean forwards into the camera so that her whole look is aggressive, not just her words. This and any similar proceeding shots of this nature will be shot with the character sitting on a basic looking chair against a white wall with no other objects in shot. Again this is so full attention is paid to the characters movements and words.
(Shot 5) The purpose of this shot is to act as the counterweight to the style of holiday that the mother is trying to enforce and will probably be acted out by my brother. This is the same styled one-to-one audience directed shot as the former.
(Shots 6-..) Tentatively this will involve a brief clip of me walking along looking important talking which will then morph into a montage of various holiday clips with me narrating not what is happening in those montaged clips, but the basis of what the film is and why it is at all. The montage will include serious looking clips of an angry mother finger pointing towards the recipient of a complete ear full and a lighter clip of an ice-cream being licked on a hot winter's day. There shots along with the music accompaniment will climax and then the title will fade in.
-Blankness-
(Shot 13ish) Dark room, brother in bed. Mum throws the door open basically forcing it off its hinges. She as she appears to be in every shot less than impressed with anything or anyone. Time is short and nothing is properly organised. The character will roll around and make some groaning sounds in dissatisfaction at having to get up. This will be in POV with him facing the door to see his mother burst in. The scene will begin as dialogue only as he hears his mother before he opens his eyes. Some attempt at funky eye opening techniques and what is shown on screen from POV will be attempted, along with fuzzyness slowly coming down in harshness.
(Shot 14) Brother enters the kitchen with Mum finding the passports. This is the only time where we see the mother with a mildly happy look on her face. Dad is just sort of standing there trying to look helpful, in a daze from being thrown into everything so soon after having gotten up.
(Shot 15) 121 shot. Mother
(Shot 16) 121 shot. Father.
Shot 2 will show the family all seated in the lounge of their motel room. The shot will have a window in the background with low amounts of obtrusive unnecessary furniture consuming the rest of the field. This will make sure that attention is directed towards the characters and not the foreground. The mother will have an angry look on her face as this shot will be seen to have presumably have been taken relatively shortly after a fight between family members. The other characters will have looks of being totally over the trip altogether and basically just wanting to go home. This could be displayed through a sigh by the character sitting directly to the mothers left.
(3) The camera will zoom into a mid shot of the mother and will be greeted with a vile upwards stare and speech directed at the cameraman.
(Shot 4) will be the first of the scenes with an opinion 1-to-1 with the camera type deal as seen in The Office. This will show the mother as aggressive to make her seem completely unreasonable. She will lean forwards into the camera so that her whole look is aggressive, not just her words. This and any similar proceeding shots of this nature will be shot with the character sitting on a basic looking chair against a white wall with no other objects in shot. Again this is so full attention is paid to the characters movements and words.
(Shot 5) The purpose of this shot is to act as the counterweight to the style of holiday that the mother is trying to enforce and will probably be acted out by my brother. This is the same styled one-to-one audience directed shot as the former.
(Shots 6-..) Tentatively this will involve a brief clip of me walking along looking important talking which will then morph into a montage of various holiday clips with me narrating not what is happening in those montaged clips, but the basis of what the film is and why it is at all. The montage will include serious looking clips of an angry mother finger pointing towards the recipient of a complete ear full and a lighter clip of an ice-cream being licked on a hot winter's day. There shots along with the music accompaniment will climax and then the title will fade in.
-Blankness-
(Shot 13ish) Dark room, brother in bed. Mum throws the door open basically forcing it off its hinges. She as she appears to be in every shot less than impressed with anything or anyone. Time is short and nothing is properly organised. The character will roll around and make some groaning sounds in dissatisfaction at having to get up. This will be in POV with him facing the door to see his mother burst in. The scene will begin as dialogue only as he hears his mother before he opens his eyes. Some attempt at funky eye opening techniques and what is shown on screen from POV will be attempted, along with fuzzyness slowly coming down in harshness.
(Shot 14) Brother enters the kitchen with Mum finding the passports. This is the only time where we see the mother with a mildly happy look on her face. Dad is just sort of standing there trying to look helpful, in a daze from being thrown into everything so soon after having gotten up.
(Shot 15) 121 shot. Mother
(Shot 16) 121 shot. Father.
Friday, 1 July 2011
Concept Task 1
My film opening will be of the mockumentary variety. It will revolve around an international family holiday.
I'm thinking of borrowing a few ideas from The Office and also The Hangover. The main ideas that I want to explore are the straining of family dynamics when we must spend an elongated amount of time together. Along with the added stress levels of planning such a trip, and everything coming together at the end... or falling apart at the last minute.
I wish to evoke emotions in the audience towards each of the characters. I want to portray a couple as the ones that are causing all of the drama and a couple that are simply trying to enjoy the holiday but are being cut down by the dramatic characters. The audience should have positive/negative connotations to each character accordingly. This should help the humour come out through their interactions and the word choices that each person uses.
I would like the audience to come out of it seeing that the opening was an exaggerated reality. There is always stress in travel however you get over it rather quickly. But with characters that hold onto the negative and don't let the stress float past them can bring down everyone around them.
So, basically, the film will start with an Australian establishing shot going into another shot with my whanau sitting in our hotel room looking rather disgusted with the whole ordeal. There will be some kind of incident here and then there will be a backwards montage into a title screen possibly with the instrumental ending of Prince's 'When Doves Cry' as I have imagined it being that way in my head. But realistically it would not fit in very well. Then there will be a scene with the morning we are to leave to Australia from New Zealand. This should be relatively brief.
I'm thinking of borrowing a few ideas from The Office and also The Hangover. The main ideas that I want to explore are the straining of family dynamics when we must spend an elongated amount of time together. Along with the added stress levels of planning such a trip, and everything coming together at the end... or falling apart at the last minute.
I wish to evoke emotions in the audience towards each of the characters. I want to portray a couple as the ones that are causing all of the drama and a couple that are simply trying to enjoy the holiday but are being cut down by the dramatic characters. The audience should have positive/negative connotations to each character accordingly. This should help the humour come out through their interactions and the word choices that each person uses.
I would like the audience to come out of it seeing that the opening was an exaggerated reality. There is always stress in travel however you get over it rather quickly. But with characters that hold onto the negative and don't let the stress float past them can bring down everyone around them.
So, basically, the film will start with an Australian establishing shot going into another shot with my whanau sitting in our hotel room looking rather disgusted with the whole ordeal. There will be some kind of incident here and then there will be a backwards montage into a title screen possibly with the instrumental ending of Prince's 'When Doves Cry' as I have imagined it being that way in my head. But realistically it would not fit in very well. Then there will be a scene with the morning we are to leave to Australia from New Zealand. This should be relatively brief.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Horror Genre Study Essay.
The horror genre flourished and adapted to changing audiences over the first 100 years of cinema, and along with the films themselves, so did the conventions that those films adhered to. One of those conventions was the portrayal of main female characters . Early films a la Jane in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), Elizabeth in Frankenstein (1931) and Barbra in Night of the Living Dead (1968) showed the lead as an incapable victim, with no ability to fend for themselves or act logically. Barbra spent much of the movie in a catatonic state after seeing her brother be murdered by a zombie, she has to be looked after by the lead male character, Ben. As time progressed and woman became closer to being equal counterparts of men in everyday life, their characters in films also evolved and they became more powerful. They were more often than not shown as characters that could outsmart the killers, examples where this is prominent are Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby (1968), Laurie in Halloween (1978) and Sidney in Scream (1996). Rosemary, while ultimately being strong and under-covering the plot against her was seen for most of the film as a delusional character like in previous films. She thought the lovely old couple living next door had a conspiracy against her to try and hurt her baby when they were shown as being caring and wanting the best for her. This was released the same year as Barbra's Night of the Living Dead and was at the turning point for woman's portrayal.
The early films used the Female character to give reason or justify the actions of the lead male characters in the destruction of the evil present in the film. Francis goes out to defeat Cesare after Cesare kidnaps Jane in Caligari, and Frankenstein goes to defeat his monster after it attacks his wife-to-be, Elizabeth in Frankenstein. The use of the female characters in this way shows the director's inclusion was only to progress the storyline in a simple way that can be connected with by the audience. The Man must always protect his woman and hence any harm coming to their woman must result in a retaliation against that that has harmed, as in real life. As time passed woman became counterparts of men. This began with a fresh wave of feminist uprising in the 1960s continuing in varying shapes and forms until today which has meant films have adapted to show the female as an equal to the male characters, and even when the killer is a male, above them. As audiences and target demographics of the horror genre moved from sophisticated adult audiences to thrill-seeking teenagers (Halloween, Scream) the director had to appeal to as much of the possible audience as they could. If the tradition of having a weak female lead continued the films would not appeal to the female audiences. Females would prefer to watch a film where they can watch another female overcome the evil themselves than be killed off because they are effectively brainless. Scream has two of these strong females as seen in Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers. Gale Weathers ultimately kills the murderers of with a gun after Sidney outsmarts them inside. This is even unlike in Halloween where the murderer is only rid of after Dr. Loomis comes the strong characters are strongly females.
So, while newer (mid-60's onwards) horror films break from the female lead traditions of the first 50 years they have mostly now followed the newer established tradition seen in Halloween and Scream.
There is however one horror sub-genre that has not fully continued to follow the modern traditions and that is the R18 type nothing but killing off all of the characters with no character development or believable storyline slasher genre. This is greatly attributed to the fact that in the 21st century it is a male demographic orientated sub-genre. Females do not share the same want to watch someone waltz around and take out 80% of the original characters. The female characters in the blood and guts slashers are young, sexually active and attractive people that spend most of the movie either flashing their unnaturally enhanced breasts in a mandatory sex scene or being cornered and blubbering in a corner before being killed off.
Feminist scholar Carol J. Clover says that films such as Halloween showed woman as heroines. Clover discusses how Laurie established the 'final girl' aspect of the genre and how she managed to triumph in the end even though Loomis did ultimately get rid of the murdered. Had the murderer been a normal human Laurie's multiple attacks would have more than killed him. Critics of this view such as John Kenneth Muir point out that Laurie does not survive due to her 'good planning, or own resourcefulness, but sheer luck.' Scream has the Sidney about to be killed by the killers before Gale Weathers comes and shoots him through the head. This is however another female character and shows them as equally powerful female characters. One could argue that if the lead got a clear shot and was fully resourced from the start that these kind of movies would be rather short.
In conclusion, the horror genre has grown into its own kind of uncontrollable monster during its first 100 years and the conventions we expect to see in the films have grown with them. Females are no longer weak and worthless but strong and significant. While there will always be notable exceptions to the norm most movies now follow this convention.
The early films used the Female character to give reason or justify the actions of the lead male characters in the destruction of the evil present in the film. Francis goes out to defeat Cesare after Cesare kidnaps Jane in Caligari, and Frankenstein goes to defeat his monster after it attacks his wife-to-be, Elizabeth in Frankenstein. The use of the female characters in this way shows the director's inclusion was only to progress the storyline in a simple way that can be connected with by the audience. The Man must always protect his woman and hence any harm coming to their woman must result in a retaliation against that that has harmed, as in real life. As time passed woman became counterparts of men. This began with a fresh wave of feminist uprising in the 1960s continuing in varying shapes and forms until today which has meant films have adapted to show the female as an equal to the male characters, and even when the killer is a male, above them. As audiences and target demographics of the horror genre moved from sophisticated adult audiences to thrill-seeking teenagers (Halloween, Scream) the director had to appeal to as much of the possible audience as they could. If the tradition of having a weak female lead continued the films would not appeal to the female audiences. Females would prefer to watch a film where they can watch another female overcome the evil themselves than be killed off because they are effectively brainless. Scream has two of these strong females as seen in Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers. Gale Weathers ultimately kills the murderers of with a gun after Sidney outsmarts them inside. This is even unlike in Halloween where the murderer is only rid of after Dr. Loomis comes the strong characters are strongly females.
So, while newer (mid-60's onwards) horror films break from the female lead traditions of the first 50 years they have mostly now followed the newer established tradition seen in Halloween and Scream.
There is however one horror sub-genre that has not fully continued to follow the modern traditions and that is the R18 type nothing but killing off all of the characters with no character development or believable storyline slasher genre. This is greatly attributed to the fact that in the 21st century it is a male demographic orientated sub-genre. Females do not share the same want to watch someone waltz around and take out 80% of the original characters. The female characters in the blood and guts slashers are young, sexually active and attractive people that spend most of the movie either flashing their unnaturally enhanced breasts in a mandatory sex scene or being cornered and blubbering in a corner before being killed off.
Feminist scholar Carol J. Clover says that films such as Halloween showed woman as heroines. Clover discusses how Laurie established the 'final girl' aspect of the genre and how she managed to triumph in the end even though Loomis did ultimately get rid of the murdered. Had the murderer been a normal human Laurie's multiple attacks would have more than killed him. Critics of this view such as John Kenneth Muir point out that Laurie does not survive due to her 'good planning, or own resourcefulness, but sheer luck.' Scream has the Sidney about to be killed by the killers before Gale Weathers comes and shoots him through the head. This is however another female character and shows them as equally powerful female characters. One could argue that if the lead got a clear shot and was fully resourced from the start that these kind of movies would be rather short.
In conclusion, the horror genre has grown into its own kind of uncontrollable monster during its first 100 years and the conventions we expect to see in the films have grown with them. Females are no longer weak and worthless but strong and significant. While there will always be notable exceptions to the norm most movies now follow this convention.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)