Evaluation. Questions 1 to 7.

Evaluation q1 - q7 from Liam James

Individual Contribution

Individual Contribution

  I will be directing the thriller. We will all have and discuss discussions about certain things we want in our thriller, but when we are filming, I will make the final decisions and I will be holding the camera most of the time. It was my idea to film at my house due to it's location and privacy. The reason I chose to be the director was mainly because I know the layout to my house and because I want to make the thriller into how I imagine it. However, I'm sure this task will be very difficult as I have never directed anything before, this is a new task for me.

 

My ideas for the thriller;

• Use a car to introduce the characters. They will pull up to my house and Nature will be driving.
• Emily plays the person who is kidnapped.
• Put Emily (Anna) in the boot of the car.
• Bill will steal the car with Victor.
• The camera does not see Bill's face.
• Bill is wearing all black.
• We save time by making Anna forget her phone in the car.

Shooting Schedule and Equipment: Planning

Shooting Schedule and Equipment

  Our equipment will consist of Nature's camera, a school tripod and ourselves, myself, Nature, Emily and George (Bill, Nature, Anna and Victor). Because we are filming at my house, and it takes about an hour to get there from school, we needed a day where all four in our group could get to my house before it gets dark, which makes Monday of every week the perfect day to film. Everyone finishes at the same time in the morning, so we can meet up at sixth form and start making our way to my house. We cannot film too many times in one week as the other three characters do not have a bus card, and must pay £3.50 every time they want to travel from Norwich to my house and back. This means we need to make every time we film as efficient as possible. We also decided to do the scenes with Emily (Anna) in first so she does not have to keep coming on the following weeks. We have not set specific dates for certain scenes to be shot as we do not know how long it will take to shoot them.

 



Characters: Planning

Characters

Nature Wesby

Nationality: American 

Age: 17

  Due to nature being a young American girl, we thought  it would be best to make her oblivious to her surroundings. Due to her name actually being Nature in  person, we thought it was the best name for her and it is different, just like her character. We do not know what happens in our film after the two minutes we are given, however, I think it would be best for Nature to have a huge role in the thriller, probably seeking revenge for her friends kidnapping as it would completely define her personality and the name of her character. 

Bill James

Nationality: unknown (most probably British)

Age: unknown 

This is my character. In the opening to the thriller, the audience does not see his face, the colour of his skin, and they don't hear his voice. Therefore I am able to play this character. However, this character is older, probably in his mid-thirties as he will be controlling the situation, coming across as though he has experience and outsmarting people. This is why this character will most probably die at the end of this thriller or a sequel, or he will kill everyone trying to stop what he is doing. The audience will hate him, or love him, that is the aim, therefore the audience will be pleased with his death or disappointed with him surviving, or vice versa. His name gives the impression that he will lose.

Victor Neal

Nationality: British

Age: 17

Victor is working for Bill. He will be represented in a similar way, as in he will keep to himself and wear the same dark colours. Due to his age being similar to the two female characters, you can guarantee he does not now what he wants. After the two minutes we have for the opening, Victor will most probably turn on Bill, which will get him killed. Without Victor, Bill would not have been able to pull off kidnapping Anna, suggesting Victor is important. 

Anna Flones 

Nationality: Norwegian
Age: 18

Anna is the victim. She is stereotypically blonde with her nationality, and fits the character profile for a kidnapping. She will come across as helpless. This is why her name fits her character, because her name helps represent her fate as it is not a strong name. She has a very short time in the opening, and for the rest of the thriller, she would probably be used as a hostage.

Casting of Characters

We did not have auditions for roles in our thriller as it seemed like a waste of time. We decided we have all the characters we need in our group. We have two boys and two girls. Two of the four characters are not British, which widens our audience, which is good for a niche film. 

 

Costumes, props and objects planning

Costumes, Props and Objects: Planning. 

  Each character is different, based on gender, ethnicity and their role in the thriller. Therefore, we have to present them completely differently by dressing them differently.

• My character, Bill James, is wearing black. Black leather shoes, black work trousers, huge black coat, and leather black gloves. This idea was originally related to kill Bill vol.1 as we wanted to use similar props for the shots. Bill in Kill Bill has generic cow boy boots, directly related to his ethnicity, and as our thriller is English, and I am English, I decided to present myself as smart, especially as my character will be presented as the boss. The camera will not see my face, just like in the opening to Kill Bill vol.1. The fact that I will be wearing black clearly illustrates that I am not the good character in this film. You could almost say that he is 'dressed for the occasion'.
• Nature Wesby is American. The thriller starts off with Nature, Victor and Anna turning up to a house in Nature's car. Nature is different, and will therefore be portrayed as different. She will wear extravagant bright colours which will reflect on her loud and outgoing personality. This idea is not original, because ideas are never original, however, we have not come across a character like this in a thriller before. These types of characters belong in sitcoms and TV shows for children. However, this is only the opening to the thriller. You never know who she could be. Nature will be using an Iphone to listen to music during the thriller, this will be used to show how modern the film is. 
• Anna Flones is a blonde Norwegian teenage girl. She will be wearing bright red shoes, normal dark trousers or jeans, and a black and white jacket. She is the victim. She is very stereotypical with her ethnicity, and will not show any intelligence which relates to the blonde stereotype. She will forget her phone in the car, which is the reason she will get kidnapped so easily. There are countless characters like this in thrillers, such as brad Pitt's wife in Se7en. 
• Victor Neal will be dressed similarly to Bill in our thriller, except he will be more casually dressed. He has to fit in with the two female characters in order to be invited to Nature's house, but needs to be presented as similar to Bill. Victor uses his Iphone to communicate with my character, this is because he will be working for me. A perfect example of a character like this would be Billy Reynolds from Essex Boys.  

Planning

Brief synopsis of the plot.

• Nature, Victor and Anna pull up in a car.
• When they walk to the house Anna forgets her phone.
• She gets abducted by a male who does not show his face. His name is Bill.
• He shoves Anna in the boot of Natures car.
• Nature and Victor have already gone into the house.
• Victor figures out away to steal Natures keys.
• Victor and Bill steal the car with Anna in the boot.
• Nature has no idea what was going on.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 Opening Scene

Kill Bill Vol. 1 Opening Scene

This opening scene is amazing. It is cheap to do and is very simple, which is perfect for someone such as myself who is looking to create an opening scene to a film that is great for leading on to the rest of the film, and more importantly, getting the audience to ask questions. Openings should not give anything away and should leave the audience second guessing, like this opening does.

 

First off, the screen is completely black, but you can hear a woman, who is clearly in pain and/or has suffered something traumatic mentally or physically. Then you see her face, a close up. The audience is not allowed to see anything else, just her face. The black and white sets the mood to bleak and as though this is not a happy start to the film, instantly allowing the audience to identify the genre of film. The cuts on her face are much more vivid and noticeable due to the black and white. The audience is put in the position of the character and instantly starts to feel their pain, even though they have no clue what is going on or what has happened. this noir setting is clearly caused through chiaroscuro lighting that allows the camera to film so vividly which creates a mysterious effect.

 

As she is still making these sounds, the audience starts to hear footsteps in the background. They're traveling at a steady pace, and before you see the shoe, you can tell they are healed shoes. The camera switches to a tracking shot, but only of the shoes. Again, the shot is a limited shot, leaving the audience guessing as they cannot witness more. Once we see the shoe, the audience is instantly told through props that this character has class, but they also know he is a dirty character, as he is walking up to a beaten down woman, with no hesitation in his pace. All of these features build up tension and keep the audience second guessing. The non-ambient lighting creates a perfect shadow, as if the character is walking into darkness. Suspense just keeps continuing to rise. 



 

This opening scene uses props so cleverly to distinguish what characters are like. The title of the film is called 'Kill Bill', and in the first 33 seconds, we are instantly introduced to him, through a napkin, because it has his name on it. This suggests Bill is vein and thinks a lot of himself, instantly allowing the audience to dislike him. He wipes the woman's face, as if to be kind, but he does not help her up. The woman's face says it all, especially her eyes, she has a lot of hate for the man she is looking at, and because of the camera angle, the audience feels as though the hate is towards them and as though they are in Bills position. His watch suggests class, just like his shoes. Even the action he is doing suggests kindness, but it is also clear he is not hurt, his hands are even clean as he wipes the face that is full of bleeding scars. This shows that he has people do his dirty work, but he still stands with pride. As he wipes her face he says 'I bet I could fry an egg on your head right now, if I wanted to', which is extremely unsympathetic, and suggest she is extremely angry, setting up the rest of the film. It also suggests that Bill can do whatever he wants, and feels he has won, but this is just the beginning of the film. 

 

At the end of the scene, you hear Bill pull out a gun, whilst talking as if he were in an everyday conversation, suggesting this is an everyday thing for him. Just before he shoots this woman, she says it is his baby, but he shows no mercy. The audience clearly knows who the bad guy is, and have no idea of what is to come. Perfect opening. 

 

 

 



Essex Boys Case Study

Essex Boys Case Study

  This is my case study on the opening to 'Essex boys'. This is a great piece of thriller research as our task is to create a two minute film for an opening to a thriller. The opening is very important as it sets the mood and tone for the rest of the film and allows the audience an insight into what the film is about and should make them start asking questions, which should keep them watching.

 

   

The lighting in this opening scene is chiaroscuro lighting, which is light that is unnatural. Because the lighting is controlled, and there is little of it, this creates a noir tone to the scene. Because of the position of the camera, where you cannot see out of the garage, it creates a sense of entrapment because the audience has no idea what is outside of the garage, and the camera is not moving. All of these are thriller conventions which allow the audience to identify this film as a thriller.



 

There is more use of non-ambient lighting is this next shot, due to the character switching on another light, allowing the audience to see more of what is in the garage, but the audience still cannot see what is outside of the garage, making them focus on what is in the garage, e.g. the very old car and the fist character they see. The audience feel they are in the same position as the narration begins in this shot. The cob webs and dust suggest age, which instantly gives off the impression that the film is starting with a history in its stooryline. Good use of props to allow the audience to subconciously understand things.

 





This next shot, in my opinion, is superb. The unclean window suggesting this new character, Jason, is unclean, maybe even a psychopath which is supported by his lack of emotion and upright posture, suggesting he feels powerful. He looks ready for what is to come and gives the impression of a big history. The chiaroscuro lighting and noir setting allows him to seem a dark man you would not want to mess with.  

 

This scene suggests many things. For example, the narrator, who has just explained who Jason is, seems trapped. there is no other way out other than forward and backwards. Jason wants to go forwards, so they go forwards. This also suggests the effect of looking like the barrel of a gun, making this seem more threatening and violent.



 There are many outstanding techniques used in this shot. The reflection on the windscreen that make it seem as though they are imprisoned, and the posture of the two characters. The driver, straight face, trying to look normal. You can feel that he does not know how to behave, whereas Jason, the ex-convict is just sitting there comfortably in his bright shirt that instantly attracts the eye, showing he does not care. 

 

The use of a white, empty van is a stereotypical vehicle that criminals use to kidnap people. This allows the audience to see how dark this film will be, especially after seeing the man in the screen shot get beaten up and acid thrown in his face before being shoved in this van. The long shot allows the audience to see all of the mans expressions and body language, showing what a victim would truly behave like in this situation. As he is released, in this screenshot, you can see his desperation to get out, like a caged animal and the use of ambient lighting coming from outside of the van suggests how dark it must have been in there. 

 

This is where we see the man get beaten up a bit more as he gasps for water to help his face feel better. The remote landscape is a perfect place for a thriller, as it does not look aesthetically pleasing. The ambient lighting is perfect as it is a dull day, as it would be in the UK, which suggests reality as if the sun was out, it would suggest happiness.

 

As the weather and lighting set a dull and disturbing mood by the emptiness of this location and the bleakness of the clouds, Jason is shown as more of a psychopath through lack of empathy and the way he behaves. The fact that he still feels the need to harm this man after he has thrown acid in his face suggests  he does not care and is shown as the perfect character for a thriller.

 

This long shot shows how isolated this person is, and because Jason left him alive, it shows that he does not care about what this man says or does about it. He is clearly a psychopath and this shot can be used to suggest how far Jason is from morality and it can show how far Jason needs to go until he is done with what he needs to do.