Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Script
This is the script for Joseph's speech, copied from a Celtx document.
INT. DINGY ROOM
A religious fanatic sets up the camera and then delivers an impassioned speech to it.
JOSEPH
Today, God's eyes are upon us. He sees all, and today, he will judge, as ever.
Friends, I do believe, that among us, there are
sinners. Nay, I believe you all have sinned. And the weight of the sin
lies upon you.
I see, for the Lord Himself has shown me. Your sins.
Our loving God has provided, but you, you all have betrayed Him, gone against His word.
He, friends, is not pleased.
And the holy vengeance and fury will be visited upon you all.
You will all repent for your sins, at the hands of our most righteous Lord.
But I, as He has granted me, I am his weapon.
I am the divine sword, His wrath personified.
God has made me. And in his almighty plan, I take my role.
The sins of man reign supreme.
Heathens and unbelievers and heretics, all deny the word of God.
But His word is supreme.
He has chosen me, to be his light.
To illuminate man's darkness, man's sin.
Sin deserves and requires righteous punishment.
And I am punishment.
I will enact God's will.
I shall cleanse the sin from God's earth.
And today, as the eyes of the Lord shine upon us, I
will take the first lost soul, and make him feel the wrath of the
almighty God.
Today, He shall feel the terror of damnation.
I will bring Hell to earth.
I will bring punishment to the damned.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Since the preliminary task, we greatly increased our focus on sound and mise en scene, both of which were somewhat neglected. We developed and planned the costumes to suit the characters, scouted more accurate locations, made sure everything fit the film's versimilitude, as well as paying attention to small details, such as the tape cross on the wall behind the antagonist, despite it receiving barely a second of screen time. We were also overly careful, it turned out, bring a mattress and arranging the room to look as though a homeless person were squatting there, even though the room was barely seen in shot, and not at all in the case of the mattress.
In terms of lighting, we actually used specific lighting, rather than using natural light as we did with the preliminary task. We used a very dramatic chiaroscuro down-lighting effect during the antagonist's speech, which vastly improved the look and affect of the film.
With the sound, we focused again on the small details, including a specific soundtrack, as well as small, non-diegetic rising sounds to create a more suspenseful atmosphere, as well as creating an original soundtrack, which was more specifically designed to our needs.
Mostly, we learnt from our progression to final project the value of the small details in the film-making process and how even though during the process of film-making, they may seem insignificant and perhaps not even useful, they all add up and result in a much more professional and better film, with even the mattress possibly making a difference to my acting by creating the atmosphere, although that may be a bit of a stretch.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
In terms of technology for our group, we decided to make use of each group members particular skill. this is mainly what we learnt about technologies as a group, that they are best used by a particular person who is best at that aspect of filmmaking, and so work using technologies is best delegated between the group. While Ed used Sony Vegas for editing and Jack used Adobe Photoshop and After Effects to create the titles, I mostly stuck to a pre-production role of writing and presenting the idea for the film.
Celtx
This is the software I used for the basic scriptwriting. I had previously used it for other film projects, so I was already able to use the software, and as the script was quite simple, with only the dialogue needed to be written properly, it was relatively easy.
Prezi
I used this software to create the original presentation that presented the idea to the other group members. This was my first time using it, although I had heard of it, I was previously dissuaded by its apparent difficulty in use and how different it was to the Microsoft Powerpoint I was used to. In the process of creating this initial presentation however, I learnt to overcome these difficulties in use and become more accustomed to the alternative software, seeing it more for its advantages in customisability and its ability to interest audiences by more easily including media such as photos and videos, and learning to adjust and preserve through technical difficulties.
iMovie
iMovie was used to create a voiceover for one of the preperatory tasks, a commentary over a key scene in Psycho. I worked together with Jon for this, and we learnt how to more efficiently record short voiceovers by cutting them into shorter recordings and organising them appropriate over the film, rather than a single, long voiceover in which we would stop talking or rush to keep up with the film.
Youtube
Youtube was actually one of the most used technologies, as I used it for research, watching clips from Seven, taking inspiration from the character of John Doe, and also clips of street preachers, which I heavily based the antagonist, Joseph's, speech on. From this, I learnt the value of using technology to research other films in more detail, particularly characterisation, as for previous films, I had done very little research and so had less developed characters because of that.
Celtx
This is the software I used for the basic scriptwriting. I had previously used it for other film projects, so I was already able to use the software, and as the script was quite simple, with only the dialogue needed to be written properly, it was relatively easy.
Prezi
I used this software to create the original presentation that presented the idea to the other group members. This was my first time using it, although I had heard of it, I was previously dissuaded by its apparent difficulty in use and how different it was to the Microsoft Powerpoint I was used to. In the process of creating this initial presentation however, I learnt to overcome these difficulties in use and become more accustomed to the alternative software, seeing it more for its advantages in customisability and its ability to interest audiences by more easily including media such as photos and videos, and learning to adjust and preserve through technical difficulties.
iMovie was used to create a voiceover for one of the preperatory tasks, a commentary over a key scene in Psycho. I worked together with Jon for this, and we learnt how to more efficiently record short voiceovers by cutting them into shorter recordings and organising them appropriate over the film, rather than a single, long voiceover in which we would stop talking or rush to keep up with the film.
Youtube
Youtube was actually one of the most used technologies, as I used it for research, watching clips from Seven, taking inspiration from the character of John Doe, and also clips of street preachers, which I heavily based the antagonist, Joseph's, speech on. From this, I learnt the value of using technology to research other films in more detail, particularly characterisation, as for previous films, I had done very little research and so had less developed characters because of that.
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
A media institution that would be likely to distribute our film would be some sort of independently focused distribution studio. For example, a studio like Fox Searchlight or The Weinstein Company, which typically distribute independent and foreign films.
While studios rarely focus their distribution on one particular genre, as our film is quite alternative, it would be difficult for a mainstream studio, like Walt Disney Pictures, to choose to distribute it, as it would not suit the mainstream audience they would aim for, and it would not be successive enough to warrant the risk of investment from a mainstream studio.
Fox Searchlight would be a good choice as it focuses on independent films, particularly British films which is definitely an advantage, and as it is a subsidiary of Fox, would have a large budget to oversee an international release, although that would be very hopeful. Also, many previous films distributed have achieved great success, propelling small scale, independent British films, such as 28 Days Later and The Last King of Scotland to critical renown and success.
Miramax Films would be another choice, although less ideal than Fox Searchlight, it still shows a similar focus on small, independent films such as The Magdalene Sisters, which would be good for our film, as it is small-scale, independent and quite alternative, it would suit Miramax Films for distribution.
However, for our film, as due to the advances in technology, an ideal choice for distribution, would be VOD or (Video On Demand) as it allows the production company to retain easier control over the distribution and allow it to reach more audiences through systems such as Viera Connect or OnDemand more cheaply. As it is not fully set up as of yet, hopefully, if it were to expand as many companies are planning for it to, it would be an ideal choice for distribution.
While studios rarely focus their distribution on one particular genre, as our film is quite alternative, it would be difficult for a mainstream studio, like Walt Disney Pictures, to choose to distribute it, as it would not suit the mainstream audience they would aim for, and it would not be successive enough to warrant the risk of investment from a mainstream studio.
Fox Searchlight would be a good choice as it focuses on independent films, particularly British films which is definitely an advantage, and as it is a subsidiary of Fox, would have a large budget to oversee an international release, although that would be very hopeful. Also, many previous films distributed have achieved great success, propelling small scale, independent British films, such as 28 Days Later and The Last King of Scotland to critical renown and success.
Miramax Films would be another choice, although less ideal than Fox Searchlight, it still shows a similar focus on small, independent films such as The Magdalene Sisters, which would be good for our film, as it is small-scale, independent and quite alternative, it would suit Miramax Films for distribution.
However, for our film, as due to the advances in technology, an ideal choice for distribution, would be VOD or (Video On Demand) as it allows the production company to retain easier control over the distribution and allow it to reach more audiences through systems such as Viera Connect or OnDemand more cheaply. As it is not fully set up as of yet, hopefully, if it were to expand as many companies are planning for it to, it would be an ideal choice for distribution.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Religious Fanatic
Our film features a very negative depiction of a Christian fanatic. He is presented as the main antagonist in the film and during the opening sequence, beats someone up and then kidnaps them, as well as express radical opinions and intentions in his speech. He shows classic extremist behaviour. Also, he is presented as being possibly homeless, wearing dirty clothes typical of a homeless person and performing his speech in an underground location, suggesting that he is squatting. The dramatic down-lighting, meant to evoke a divine influence, highlighting the religious motivation behind the character.
Influences from other films
Our film also presents homeless people in a very negative light. Again, this is because the main antagonist is a representation of a homeless vagrant, living underground, and also being violently insane and criminal. He is dressed in a very stereotypical costume of clothes a homeless person would wear, although in terms of mise-en-scene, we were limited by scale and budget, so he is not presented as homeless as we would have liked.
Middle Class
The victim played by Jack, is a stereotypical middle class teenager, who in the film is presented as the weak victim. While it subverts the traditional damsel in distress role by giving it to a male, it still places the social class most likely to be presented as useless, the middle class, as the character in the victim role. His only part in the opening sequence is to be beaten up, kidnapped and then struggle at the very end, so he takes an extremely passive role in the film. The character is dressed in an average smart-casual costume, and although the location is unconventional for that character, it is necessary to the narrative.
Influences from other films
The girl, Kim, is kidnapped in the film Taken, and is similar again in terms of a middle class victim. Although she is still upper middle and female, she is still portrayed as a complete victim. Also, Taken is a more action-orientated and fast-paced action film, so the similarity is slightly tenuous.
Our film features a very negative depiction of a Christian fanatic. He is presented as the main antagonist in the film and during the opening sequence, beats someone up and then kidnaps them, as well as express radical opinions and intentions in his speech. He shows classic extremist behaviour. Also, he is presented as being possibly homeless, wearing dirty clothes typical of a homeless person and performing his speech in an underground location, suggesting that he is squatting. The dramatic down-lighting, meant to evoke a divine influence, highlighting the religious motivation behind the character.
Influences from other films
From this clip of John Doe from Se7en, we took the latter part of John Doe's speech, his angered intensity and the kind of motivation. In this way, our antagonist is similar to John Doe.
Influences from real life events
Our antagonist is similar to Anders Behring Brevik in terms of extremism. Although not as violent as Brevik, they both maintain similar Christian fanaticism and the motivation to carry it out violently.
We took inspiration from Christian street preachers in terms of the speech our antagonist gives, using similar language. Also, they resemble our antagonist in terms of their outspoken views, and the Youtube recording is meant to be a more modern and fanatical interpretation of street preachers and televangelists.
Homeless
Our film also presents homeless people in a very negative light. Again, this is because the main antagonist is a representation of a homeless vagrant, living underground, and also being violently insane and criminal. He is dressed in a very stereotypical costume of clothes a homeless person would wear, although in terms of mise-en-scene, we were limited by scale and budget, so he is not presented as homeless as we would have liked.
Middle Class
The victim played by Jack, is a stereotypical middle class teenager, who in the film is presented as the weak victim. While it subverts the traditional damsel in distress role by giving it to a male, it still places the social class most likely to be presented as useless, the middle class, as the character in the victim role. His only part in the opening sequence is to be beaten up, kidnapped and then struggle at the very end, so he takes an extremely passive role in the film. The character is dressed in an average smart-casual costume, and although the location is unconventional for that character, it is necessary to the narrative.
Influences from other films
In this clip from The Silence of the Lambs an example of the typical, although upper middle class instead of simply middle class, victim. This is similar as both are kidnapped and do not resist and kept hostage by the antagonist.
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