Short film- Insomnia
Location shots for short film
This is a short video containing shots of the locations we used for our short film, the images are in black and white because our short film is also in black and white and I wanted the full effect for the shots.
Finalised storyboard- ending
These are the final pages to our storyboards which finalises the development and the ending. Again, they are in relation to the scripting on Mathew Dorrell's blog.
Additional storyboards- development of story
These storyboards are the scenes that make up the middle of our production, they show the disruption of the narrative and the protagonist recognising this disruption. These storyboards are in relation to the scripting on Mathew Dorrell's blog. View the script: mathewdorrell.blogspot.com
Storyboarding
These storyboards are the first pages to our production, they are the opening scene when the audience is first introduced to the character and some of the background of the story.
Case study response
The research gathered from our case studies will benefit our planning as it will make it easier for us to storyboard and plan the use of more specific camera angles, it will also assist us in the development of our character as well as the casting. In addition the elements of narration in our case studies will assist the development of our script.
Additional case study
My project partner, Mathew Dorrell, has also completed an additional Case study.
www.mathewdorrell.blogspot.com
www.mathewdorrell.blogspot.com
American psycho (2000)
Released on the 21st of April in 2000, directed by Mary Harron, making $4,961,015 on the opening weekend and a worldwide gross of $34,266,564, American Psycho follows the story of a wealthy New York investment banking executive whom hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his friends and co-workers. He slowly gets deeper and deeper into the depths of his imagination as he fulfils his illogical and gratuitous fantasies.
He soon becomes lost in his sick fantasies and begins killing more and more, he eventually becomes obsessed in this alternate world he seems to live in and there appears to be no way out. Eventually it becomes apparent his insane acts were all in his head when he discovers one of his first victims is actually still alive and that he never killed him.
I have chosen American Psycho as my case study because the theme links to my production with Mathew Dorrell. Both American Psycho and our production follow the theme of the mind, alike to American Psycho the mind is the location for the narrative conflict in our production. Our plot revolves around the character having to battle their own mind to understand and resolve the conflict.
Another relation our production has with American Psycho is the similarities in the characters, Patrick Bateman (the main character in American Psycho) is deluded by his insanity, living in an illogical and unrealistic world. The main character in our production is deluded by depression and paranoia, forcing them to live the same unrealistic world as Patrick Bateman. The theme of an alternate ego is also present in our characters traits, alike to American Psycho our character has an alternate ego that seems to control their thoughts and actions, hence creating conflict within the mind. An additional link between the case study and our productions is the genre, both American Psycho and out production follow the conventions of a psychological thriller.
Nine Frame analysis
These nine shots taken from the film American Psycho portray the kinda of shots we'd like to include and imitate in our production. A lot of these shots consist on focusing on something important via close up shots and shots showing a wide perspective of something to emphasise one of our themes which is loneliness.
This shot shows both characters in an apartment, the bright lighting of the shot contradicts the dark nature of the scene as Patrick Bateman prepares to kill his first victim. This contradiction of death with light is somewhat like the director was using irony to create humour. This shot is also interesting because, as it is a wide shot and the victim (sat in the chair) is in thecentre of the shot it emphasises the vulnerability of
the victim.
This next shot is of Patrick and another one of his victims, a prostitute, in the car together. Almost like a two shot, I found this shot interesting as the camera is looking through the window rather than portraying the events from within the car.
I found this shot to be peculiar as I figured there was rarity in having the camera as a low angle shot looking up through the props. Having the character at the centre of the shot emphasises their importance as well as what they are doing. In a way having props block parts of the shot adds to the suspense as we the audience can't see the rest of what is going on forexample if someone is about to walk in etc.
Alike to the other two wide shots, I found this shot interesting because of the large amount of space used and the brightness of the shot. Because the shot is so bright I think this adds to the emotions suggested within this shot, possibly again, loneliness, vulnerable, sadness etc.
This shot is of one of Bateman's dead victims, the camera is looking down through the centre of the spiralled stairs at the victim. I like this shot because of the use of all the surroundings, I think using such a vast amount of space and having such a long high angled shot makes the gratitude of the situation even more dramatic.
Another notable element in American Psycho is the use of music, throughout the films the scores are controversial to the emotions inflicted in the scene. For example in one scene, whilst Bateman prepares to kill his victim the song 'Hip to be square' by Huey Lewis and the news is on. The fast tempo and major tone of the song contradicts the sequence of the scene and I think this adds a creepy and abnormal twist.
Thriller Genre study
My coursework partner, Mathew Dorrell, did the study on thriller;
Another interesting element in American Psycho I am particularly eager to use in our project is the narration. Interestingly all told in first person by the main character, Patrick Bateman, the narration adds that specific element which really does help the film live up to its name. Having such a slow paced narration of such an obsessive temperament really adds to the suspense and tense elements of a thriller. For example when Bateman is describing one of his colleagues business cards in his head.
Thriller Genre study
My coursework partner, Mathew Dorrell, did the study on thriller;
Repertoire of elements: Psychological thriller
Themes: The psychological thriller has become a popular sub-genre across a vast selection of medium, radio, literature etc. However the most popular is film, despite this wide range of media productions under the sub-genre of psychological thriller these themes have remained consistent.
The most popular theme for psychological thrillers is the theme of the mind, the narrative is usually based around the mind which is the location of the narrative conflict. The characters battle their own minds to reach new levels of understanding and perception.
Another theme is reality, the characters try to determine what elements are true and what elements are false within the narrative. Death is also quite a popular and recurring theme in psychological thrillers, in the theme of death the narrative is often based around the characters fear or fascination with death.
The theme of perception revolves around the characters own interpretation of the world around them, often the characters will misperceive the world around them, or their perceptions are altered by outside factors within the narrative.
The theme of identity focuses on the characters confusion or doubt about whom they are and the narrative follows them as they try to discover their true identity. Identity themes are simply the definition of one's self.
Last but not least is the Existence theme or purpose theme. The narrative is solely based around humans striving to understand their reason for existence, characters usually try to discover what their purpose is in their lives, the narratives conflict is often the way characters discover this purpose.
Psychological thriller narrative: The typical narrative of a psychological thriller usually follows the conventional narrative structure Todorov designed, that being:
1. A state of equilibrium at the outset
2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action
3. A recognition that there has been a disruption
4. An attempt to repair the disruption
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium Psychological thrillers tend to be of a closed narrative, where all points meet closure, and tend to follow a linear structure. The story is often from a 3 person perspective but in themes identity of the mind the narrative can often be from a 1st person narrative. As psychological thrillers are based a lot on the irrational fear, such as paranormal/supernatural activities or insanity there is a big focus on Strauss' Binary oppositions. A lot of the focus being the typical, 'good vs evil'.
The typical psychological thriller narrative often has a negative conclude, usually having the characters fail to defeat or resolve the conflict and resulting in suffering or death as the consequence. A narrative based on things such as being followed, being watched, murder, suicide and deception is typical to the psychological theme.
The typical psychological thriller narrative often has a negative conclude, usually having the characters fail to defeat or resolve the conflict and resulting in suffering or death as the consequence. A narrative based on things such as being followed, being watched, murder, suicide and deception is typical to the psychological theme.
Iconography: A thriller is based on the elements of suspense and tension, and so typical iconography evolves a lot around the unexpected, the unknown or the unexplainable.
Typical iconography of a psychological thriller consists of things such as, silhouettes, shadows, enclosed spaces, darkness, night time, strange noises, unexplainable circumstances such as lights switching on randomly, screams, crying, the psycho character and the victim.
Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' was one of the biggest influences on the psychological thriller genre, having set the bar far higher than anyone else for a film of its time, Hitchcock exemplified all the typical elements of a thriller that created the perfect atmosphere managing to scare people far more than usual, especially for a production from that period in time, having very limited techniques to create such scenes as the famous 'shower scene'.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/
Genre study
Sub-genres of the genre; Thriller
There are many sub-genres within the thriller genre. As the thriller genre is based a lot on the emotions inflicted on the audience (suspense, tension, excitement) its very easy to create sub-genres and hybrid genres from a thriller engaged story.
Some sub-genres are a lot more popular than others, the most popular of which is the psychological thriller, this sub-genre revolves around the elements that are related to things only in the mind such as processes of the mind. They are always mental elements rather than an actual physicality. In most psychological thrillers the tension and suspense is formed from one character where that character and others involved must resolve the conflict within their minds. The conflict is usually related to something that has happened to one character or all characters. This conflict with the mind is made more vivid via physical expressions usually expressed by physical manifestations or physical torsions.
Supernatural thrillers bring in elements involving things from other worlds, such as demons or ghosts etc. Supernatural thrillers usually play on people irrational fears, meaning there is no rational reasoning for believing something exists however we do anyway no matter the lack of evidence. This connection to the supernatural is then combined with the suspense, tension and mystery a typical thriller entails. A perfect example of both the psychological thriller and supernatural thriller combined is Paranormal activity (2007). The film follows a woman who claims she has always seen things since she was little, she moves in with her new husband and when he finds out about the supposed 'hauntings' he decides to leave a camera recording in the house to catch any strange activity. It eventually gets worse as the two find out the hauntings is caused by a demon, more extreme things begin to happen and the film follows the couples struggle to deal with the conflict.
Another sub-genre of thriller is action-adventure thriller, this sub-genre involves elements of discovery and excitement, combined with the tension and suspense of thrillers. A good action adventure thriller, will entice its audience with the fulfilment of their childhood fantasies of being the adventurer whilst keeping the film dramatic and serious through a series of climatic tense scenes. An example of a action adventure thriller is Sahara (2005), following the story of archaeologists looking for a certain find, who get involved in something far more dangerous and end up on a big thrill filled adventure.
The sub-genre, religious thriller, uses elements from history involving things from a religious background to build up a tense and suspense story with high stake and deadly politics. A good example of a popular subject focused on in religious thrillers is the group known as the illuminati, one film based on this and a good example of a religious thriller is angels and demons (2009). The sequel to The Da Vinci code (2006), the story is about a new illuminati causing a threat to the highly religious city of Rome and its religious traditions and members.
The sub-genre, Disaster thriller proved popular in the 90s, they tend to revolve around weather disasters however the story can be about any kind of disaster that effects everyone, large groups of people or small parties. The disaster creates perfect situations that relate to the emotions inflicted by thrillers such as a tornado ripping through a city would create a stronger sense of tension and suspense. An example of an extremely popular disaster film in the 90s was titanic (1997). Following the story of a woman whom survived the tragic accident of the titanic, she tells her story and how it all happened.
Another somewhat popular sub-genre of thrillers is the medical thriller, the story of a medical thriller is based on new medical technology that was designed to help people but instead morphed into something deadly. This then forms into a bigger conflict and causes a disaster. The idea of a deadly pandemic destroying the human race has always proved popular with directors whom's production involve a medical aspect, such as the film 28 days later (2002). Other examples of medical thrillers include, shutter island (2010), Flatliners (1990) and The cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) one of the most influential silent films ever produced in 1920 by German director Robert Wiene about the head of an insane asylum who controls his patients through willpower. Another notable film that follows the sub-genre, medical thriller, is the recent, Contagion (2011). A thriller centred on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.
A less popular sub-genre of thriller is Historical thrillers. This sub-genre has proven drastically unpopular as the difficulty to create a story of historical reference involving elements of the thriller is evident through exemplified productions. Historical thrillers are set in the past and usually combined with other sub-genres, the story tends to be about an important event in history. Examples of historical thrillers include, The man in the iron mask (1939) and the mandarin film good men, good women directed by Hsiao-hsien Hou (1995) that received impressive reviews for both a foreign film and a historical thriller. One of the most popular historical thrillers was Elizabeth: The golden age (2007).
One of the biggest and most popular sub-genres of the thriller genre to date is the serial killer thriller. In a serial killer thriller, a killer will terrorize a group of people with horrific violence. It is the hero's (usually a detective etc.) objective to stop the killer before someone else becomes the next victim. Many serial killer thrillers are very graphic and realistic through prop use, location, camera work and setting.
There have been many popular serial killer thrillers such as American psycho (2000), Monster (2003) and Sweeney Todd (2007). One of my favourite series of serial killer thrillers is the red riding trilogy (2009), the three feature TV movies which make up the trilogy of the best selling books by David peace, in which each focuses on a specific serial killer set loose on the blue collar English town of Yorkshire, while also delving into the corrupt police force that also have blood on their hands. Fine storytelling, excellent production value and actors such as Andrew Garfield, Sean Bean and Rebecca Hall feature. Last but not least, is the techno thriller. The story is driven by technology in techno thrillers, in which the conflict is either caused by the technology and resolved by the technology. Such as military technology, medical technology, media technology etc. The Tom Clancy books which were later developed into games proved popular within the sub-genre; techno thriller. Such films include, The thirteenth floor (1999), Untraceable (2008), Goldeneye (1995), The matrix trilogy (1999-2003) and the latest remake from Disney, Tron (2010).
Rough storyboards for first ideas
These a few storyboards I drafted when we were developing our first ideas. A lot of the shots we wanted to use weren't common in productions or for that matter typical to the genre we had chosen to focus on, such as the side shot of the character walking up the stairs all in one long take.
First idea, the changes and the difficulties
The first ideas developed in partnership with Mathew Dorrell were based around the genre of drama, specifically social realism. We chose to base our story around drug abuse and money, we felt this would give the film a gritty feel to it, adding to the drama.
The story evolved around a man called Will Grovern, indulged in a world of drugs and alcohol he got involved with the wrong people, after a decade of forever owing money and living on benefits he is forced to live on the streets. During this period his health deteriorates and in his eyes all hope is lost.
He sleeps on same park bench every day, and during the day a woman, named Sarah Lake, passes him on the way to work and home every day. He notices her occasionally but thinks nothing of it. One day she stops to talk to him, it becomes apparent they went to the same school and dated for some of the older years in college. She offers him help and offers refuge so he can get back on his feet.
The two eventually fall in love, Will manages to get a job working as a chauffeur in London and things are looking up, one night he comes home from work to find Sarah crying, she claims men came round asking for Will and demanding money and threatened her with violence. The two characters argue and in frustration, Sarah leaves the apartment.
He sleeps on same park bench every day, and during the day a woman, named Sarah Lake, passes him on the way to work and home every day. He notices her occasionally but thinks nothing of it. One day she stops to talk to him, it becomes apparent they went to the same school and dated for some of the older years in college. She offers him help and offers refuge so he can get back on his feet.
The two eventually fall in love, Will manages to get a job working as a chauffeur in London and things are looking up, one night he comes home from work to find Sarah crying, she claims men came round asking for Will and demanding money and threatened her with violence. The two characters argue and in frustration, Sarah leaves the apartment.
Whilst walking down an alley Sarah is attacked, mugged and stabbed. Will runs out of the apartment to find her and comes across her dying in the alley, she dies in his arms. The initial ending we had decided on was that Will would place his coat over Sarah's body and a pull back reveal shot would be used in transition to fade to black.
After researching some films, we made the decision to alter the ending slightly and add some additional info. We chose to do this by adding a new depth to the story involving a revenge scene and more of a back story.
Adding this revenge scene would have made the genre a hybrid of drama and action.
The additional scene we wanted to include was of Will hunting down the killer and going to kill them, the scene we depicted in our heads was of Will walking into the killers apartment armed with only a hammer and killing them and any associates. He would then walk out dressed in the suit he was wearing stained with blood, and walk into the distance.
We like the idea of the suit because we thought it added a contrast to the initial base of the story. We also thought this held relation to binary oppositions.
We like the idea of the suit because we thought it added a contrast to the initial base of the story. We also thought this held relation to binary oppositions.
There were various difficulties present with this idea. Of course, the film wouldn't have any great effect on the viewer if it wasn't realistic, however as it is a small project there was a lot of reason to doubt our capabilities to present this realism we wanted.
The first issue that was apparent to us was casting and props, it was clear it wouldn't be easy to film scenes of drug abuse and violence nor would it be easy to find props and make up artists to make all these scenes work. We did decide to try and find drama students from the local colleges and university, however, we then decided against this as it would be difficult to find students with the time and willingness to do a project and for free.
Another big issue with the idea was length, even without the revenge scene the story was obviously still too long. If we were to cut scenes out there wouldn't be enough information for the viewer to understand the story. With this idea there was too much of a back story to have to fill the viewer in with in the time we were given and so we had to rethink.
The first issue that was apparent to us was casting and props, it was clear it wouldn't be easy to film scenes of drug abuse and violence nor would it be easy to find props and make up artists to make all these scenes work. We did decide to try and find drama students from the local colleges and university, however, we then decided against this as it would be difficult to find students with the time and willingness to do a project and for free.
Another big issue with the idea was length, even without the revenge scene the story was obviously still too long. If we were to cut scenes out there wouldn't be enough information for the viewer to understand the story. With this idea there was too much of a back story to have to fill the viewer in with in the time we were given and so we had to rethink.
The following idea we came up with still followed the genre of drama but also had elements of the thriller genre. It still had elements of verisimilitude because we were certain that would make the film more captivating.
This link is to a post on Mathew Dorrell's blog in which he explains the idea we chose to stick with.
This link is to a post on Mathew Dorrell's blog in which he explains the idea we chose to stick with.
