Planning coursework

 I have decided that I will be doing a intro to a Psychological thriller. this is because personally I find these the most suspenseful due to how film language is used to show the unpredictability of the characters minds. Furthermore, psychological thrillers are suspenseful for most people because in one way or another they can relate.

Film Name: Concrete town

Characters:

I will have one main character who will be played by Vedaant Jean Paul (Casey), Vedaant is great for this role as he has long hair that can be messy. Casey is unpredictable and messy and this is represented in his messy clothing but also him commonly being filming with shaky cam, hand held shots and dutch tilts.

and another actor who will play a minor role George Kelly (Passerby/friend) of Casey, George will work well for this role as he looks sinister. this friend is well dressed and has his life together this will be shown in the still and central framing.

Narrative: A man is being followed by a group of people, he believes they are after them and it is his mission to find out who they are but it is revealed this is an illusion in his head and actually these are normal people who are just going about their day.

The set:

Credits: 

I will like to present my credits like this example from the movie "se7en" so that they are minimal like this in my film because I want to maximize the opening visuals over the text.

the credits I will use are:

actors

director

writer

camera operator

film title

camera operator/s

Shutter Island opening credits

In the opening title scene here we first see this long shot that is pushing In of cells, we see water dripping down. This is a symbol that denotes ideas of drowning and suffocation which creates suspense for the viewer and makes us feel alone, this is typical of the phycological thriller genre as it gets into the viewers head. The use of Camera when there is repeated push ins is an effort to bring us into the world of shutter island, The director has used the push in into the facility where the gates open for us to make the movie personal and create direct suspense and make us afraid for ourselves. This opening credits is a tonal montage, this use of editing is extremely important in terms of iconography of the thriller genre we don’t have time to see the shot so this makes us feel like there is something we are missing, there is something their that’s going to get us. The Mise en Scene of props is also used here to highlight this is a thriller, when there is a gun which is iconography of a thriller. This opening has made me want to use a montage as it will best communicate my main characters distress when he is feeling like people are watching him and after him. 

My experiment with montage:

Using a montage in a intro can be used to establish mood but also give an idea of flashbacks and trauma which could be used to explain the characters actions.

Get out scene analysis 

When Chris is being introduced to these people they are all shot in individual medium closeups, which gives the connotation that he doesn't trust these people for some reason. We then are shown that Chris finds comfort in another black person through the use of a handheld shot of Chris asking a question which breaks this rigid tense feeling that is going on with all the steady shots.  When the flash goes off instantly there is silence that suggests something has gone wrong. There is then a Steadicam shot which slowly moves in to a closeup of Chris's friend which draws the viewers attention to his emotion and we can see his fear, and makes us ask why. the use of Steadicam shots when tracking I feel is most important in phycological thriller as it can be used to create tension. also in my intro I think camera movement and tracking is key and this will create rhythm along with the use of montage edit which will make suspense.

my experiment with tracking:

My Experiment with snorricam:

I want to use snorricam as I feel it is the perfect shot to encapsulate the distress my character is going through when running away from everyone.

Shot list

Shot	Shot Type / Movement / Angle … Shot Description
1	Establishing long shot of the city
2	Long shot tracking forward until medium closeup
3	closeup "sigh"
4	medium closeup low angle
5	over the shoulder shot, tracking forward with Casey
6	low angle shot tracking forward
7	closeup of Casey's face Dutch angle Steadicam
8	POV shot camera on head going from left to right
9	extreme zoom to a strangers face
10	extreme zoom to a strangers face
11	extreme zoom to strangers face
12	extreme closeup Casey's eyes
13	Tracking casey as he runs between people shaky cam
14	Long shot panning from a height following as Casey runs
15	Long shot Casey runs into a dark alley way
16	Snorricam as casey runs through a dark alleyway with dark lighting on one side of face.
17	full body shot from side angle of Casey bumping into friend at the end of the dark alleyway
18	Medium closeup of Casey (no sound) he has scared expression
19	Medium Closeup (No sound) friend waves
20	Close up of Casey (No Sound) scared expression
21	Extreme closeup of friend with no sound mouthing "hello"
22	long shot (sound on) friend is disappeared, Colorful and nice city

 

 

Questions/concerns

I want to make use of the mass of people in the CBD, I need to consider the legalities of filming others.

filming office buildings or owned buildings?

Font:

(Found on Da Font and called Thompson regular)

I want to present my credits subtle but I would like to do them by putting them on things like signs or on buildings or generally things that normally have words on them and then when my character walks past them they disappear.

Lighting Experiment:

split lighting to show reality and delusion

this lighting will be used as a metaphor to show my characters delusion and reality, this lighting is typical of the phycological thriller.

Colour:

 I am going to desaturate the video when it is from Casey's POV to differentiate from reality and his delusion that people are out to get him.

Sound:

In my intro I am going to use moments of silence even if diegetic sound is expected as this will communicate the extent of casey's fear, he can't even think about what he is hearing as he is so scared.

Casey

his clothing is messy and unsmart, this is to reflect his mental state, furthermore his black jacket gives canotes he is rebellious.

"Friend"

Casey's supposed friend is wearing smart clothing, this is to highlight casey's messy clothing and too say that this friend is far more stable. at the same time this black suit makes him appear sinister. this also shows how different and isolated Casey is from the people around him.

First shoots

                                        First shoot day

Today (29 January ) was my first shoot day, it was fun and we got some clips done, but as always the first shoot day is often quite difficult as we are still working everything out and trying to help the actors understand what's going on. But it was a great day and we were able to learn how to use the equipment well and practise and get some really difficult shots.

Me and my team met at raffles MRT and then went to this cafe to eat and get prepared for filming. I gave the costumes to my actors and showed them what and where we would be filming that day.

Shoot day 2 (6 February) :

The second shoot was far more successful as we were all more comfortable with the equipment and understood the work flow. This time I made sure that the team understood the storyboard and script. we were able to get over half of my planned shots and were able to complete filming my initial storyboard. 

from this experience I definitely learnt the importance of actors fully understanding a script and being familiar with equipment because it makes the experience of filming so much more effective. 

One obstacle we did however face on this day was the heavy Singapore rain. this meant we had to wait for extended periods of time to film which was very disrupting, but also we had to keep the camera equipment dry and safe which was challenging but we made it work and all camera equipment was unaffected.