Preliminary Task 1 Planning

Preliminary Task 1 Planning

Basic Plot:

our original ideas
inputting conventions that would suit our style

An evil boss type of character would walk into a room and interrogate a victim then he'd walk out the room and have his henchmen deal with the said victim. We planned on following as many thriller conventions as we could. such as darkly lit rooms, weapons(guns, knives, etc) 

Characters 

Boss(no bow tie)

Henchmen

we were going for a classical villainous look for the boss and his henchmen. Wearing dark colors which suggest danger and mystery, a common convention of the thriller genre. The boss is going to wear a black suit with a white shirt and black pants and shoes, a high-class man. His henchmen will wear just a black shirt and pants to match the theme and to clearly distinguish them from the boss especially in dim lighting.

The Victim is to be shirtless wearing just pants and to be tied around a pole the aim is to make him look weak and helpless. the aim was to make him of a lower class than the boss character. Ella was in charge of organizing costumes. 



Location
Our first location was to be an empty room with a pole in the center for the victim to be tied up on. the room worked well for us as it had flexible lighting so we could make it as dim or as bright as we liked. Our plan was to have the room dimly lit so that we could convey a sense of mystery, however, the room had a lot of foot traffic outside meaning it would interfere with the sound. 
Addison was in Charge of finding a Location and soon found a workshop that had a similar feel of an abandoned underground warehouse which works well for our thriller as it fits a common convention of an isolated place giving the viewer the feeling of being alone and there being no one to help.

an unconventional door.
  still meets the brief and suits the conventions well as it is dark.

rundown and messy.
undesirable conditions.

 Script

this was our original script with our original location. The stage directions had to be edited to fit our new location. However, the actual dialogue didn't need changing. the dialogue was only supposed to be two lines and so we decided to keep the actual topic of conversation vague to add mystery, a fairly common convention of thrillers. It hides the true intentions of either character and somewhat forces the viewer to make their own judgments.  

updated script for the new location

lighting plan

this was the original lighting plan for our original location but we changed our location and so our lighting plan is going to change as well. We have to fit the lights down a long passageway without obstructing the actors walking.

Equipment Required
\\- Camera
\\-Tripod
\\-Lighting Gear
\\-flecky
\\-Sound Gear
\\-Boom Pole

Principles of Continuity
~match on action
~Shot reverse shot
~180o rule

\\~Match on Action
is a film technique where the editor cuts from one shot to another and the second shot matches or continues the first shot.in our film, match-on-action will occur when the villain bangs on the garage door then it cuts to the door opening form the inside. Also when the villain signals the henchmen it cuts to the henchmen walking towards the victim.

\\~Shot Reverse Shot 
Refers to when a character looks at another character(or object) then it cuts to the other character or object looking towards the first character. or our film this will occur during the dialogue between the villain and the victim, with one shot showing the villain squat next to the victim and talk to him and the next shot showing the victim tied up responding.

\\~180o Rule
a basic guideline of keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary axis between two characters, the first character is always frame right of the second character. This allows the viewer to visually connect with what's happening in the background of the scene and not have to worry about changing scenery in the background. this rule will be followed in our film as in the conversation scene we intend to stay to one side of the axis.

Opening Sequences

Opening Sequences

Split,2017[panel showing Opening sequence]

Opening sequences of a film are used to establish the mood and tone of the film. Opening sequences also establish the setting and characters and the general direction the film intends to take, however, this may not be as obvious. For example in the 2016 film Split the opening credits are small clips establishing the setting, a long hallway with lights along the concrete wall and a room with a bed in it and somewhere underground, and a little about the characters,a young girl with brown hair and a tall man who we don't see the face of, with cuts to the actual which are big bold and in a white font against a black background.

Vertigo,1958[panel 

The difference between Opening Credits and  Title Sequences is that Opening Credits are merely a list of credits that tend to overlay the beginning scene of a film. They serve the purpose of giving credit to the producers, main actors, and other key people in the production of the film. Title Sequences, however, are separate from the actual film. They tend to show the mood and atmosphere of the film as seen in Hitchcock's Vertigo. It starts with an extreme close up of a female character's lips then pans to her eyes and finally to her right eye. The shot is then covered with a red hue. and the film title covers the eye. The spirals begin to cover the pupil of the eye and then the eye fades away leaving the spiral in the center of the screen. A sequence of spirals begins to appear on the screen fading in and out and changing shape and color. This works well as the meaning of vertigo is a sensation of spinning dizziness. It is not, as many people maintain, a fear of heights. It is often associated with looking down from a great height but can refer to any temporary or ongoing spells of dizziness caused by problems in the inner ear or brain. The spinning spirals elude to the theme of the film, that it might cause 'Vertigo'.

James Bond opening Sequence.

Directors use different techniques in the opening sequence for different effects. A director may choose to do a stylised opening sequence, such as the one in Vertigo or the James Bond series, this technique can easily capture the audience and give a clear indication of the tone of a movie. Sometimes credits over a blank screen, with supporting music, can be enough to portray the desired tone to the audience. Finally, embedding clips of the movie into the opening sequence, such as in the opening sequence of 'Split', can also achieve the same effect. In 'Split' the jump cuts to the film clips were mixed up giving the sense of being split apart.

Each film, 'Vertigo' and 'Split', used a different opening sequence.'Split' used opening credits showing us glimpses of the actual film along with the credits, whilst 'Vertigo' used a title sequence separate to the film its self but both were able to convey their meanings strongly, preparing viewers for the story that was about to unfold.

Homework assignment 1

Riverdale Season:1 Episode:1 Plot Analysis

Riverdale is a teen drama that focuses on the mysteries and dramas that occurs in a small town by the of Riverdale.

In episode 1 we are introduced to Cheryl and Jason Blossom twins of a rich family. They were going for a morning boat ride when Cheryl supposedly dropped her glove into the water and when Jason lent over the boat to get it, the boat capsized, and Jason drowned, or this is what we are led to believe according to Cheryl’s account of the story. This event and the whole show is narrated by the character we later find out to be Jughead a student at Riverdale’s high school who is writing a novel on the events of the mysterious death of Jason Blossom.

The story seems to follow three main characters. Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge.

Each character is going through something within their own personal lives that affects their school lives. Betty Cooper is pressured by her mother who tries to make her perfect or at least hide her imperfections her mother stresses to her the importance of the school year, and how it is crucial for her to do well so she can get into college. It is implied that she has ADHD as her mother reminds her to take her Adderall. Another implication that her mother is trying to enforce perfection upon Betty. Veronica Lodge moved to Riverdale, from New York, after her father was arrested. Veronica inherits her father’s infamy as seen when Kevin Keller askes “is it true what they say about your dad” it becomes clear that her father’s image is directly reflected to her. She struggles to prove others around her that she is trying to improve and make herself into a better person. She shows her changing character when she apologizes to Betty after the “7 seconds of heaven “incident at Cheryl Blossom’s after party. Archie Andrews is struggling to come clean to his father about his passion for music, his father wants him to join the family business and eventually take over, leading him to lie to his father about football practice and to his coach about his commitment to his father’s business. Archie and Betty have been friends since childhood, Betty wants “to be more than friends”, however Archie is more interested in the new girl, Veronica.

Cheryl is portrayed as the popular girl who is good at everything. However, she is a bully to our main characters, but the problem is our main characters are unable to retaliate as she victimizes herself and uses her brother’s death as a defense against anyone who would dare defy her she has a tyrannical rule over the school with this.

Later during the episode Jason Blossom’s body is found in the river with a bullet hole in his forehead making his death no longer an accident but a murder everyone is put under suspicion for his murder we find out that Archie and Mrs Grundy now something about the murder as they were together that when it happened. Archie has internal struggles trying to hide his knowledge to the point where he can’t even sleep. This causes his relationship with his teacher, Mrs Grundy, to become closer and the principle becomes suspicious.

By the end of the episode some issues are resolved. Archie has decided to commit to all three of his choices, working for his dad on weekends, music lessons in the morning, and football practices after school. Allowing him to focus on dealing with his thoughts about the murder and his friendship with Betty. Betty has also decided to take a break on relationships and focus more on school and all her activities. She has managed to stand up to her mother and she is now more in control of her life but her relationship with her mother has also changed she has become more relaxed around knowing that her mother doesn’t control her. Her and Veronica have become good friends and have both joined the “River Vixens”, Riverdale High’s cheer team, after defying Cheryl Blossom. Proving to themselves that they are both stronger than what other people perceive them to be.

Percentages dedicated to each category

- Serious Social Issues 40%
- Everyday aspects of teenage life 30%
- Teenage relationships 30

 Relevance to my life 

The aspects of murder and death are definitely irrelevant to my life at the moment. However, Archie’s struggles with commitments are very relatable, I don’t have a family business that I must inherit however I struggle to balance my soccer with school and my art and all my church commitments. Trying to find a healthy balance between all of the commitments can be very difficult the fact that Archie was also going through something similar made the show much more relatable and I was even able to learn from his choices .  

Link to episode.

https://www.netflix.com/search?q=riverdale&jbv=80133311&jbp=0&jbr=0