Donnie Darko

Brief Bio
-An Arthouse movie
-Shot in 28 days
-Richard Kelly's debut film
-Recommending reviews from the Sundance Film Festival
-It had a poor run at Box Office, released 11th September 2001.
-Moved into the realms of cult status
-Adolescence is a central theme

"A filmmaker is a kind of technician or craftsman" - Richard Kelly

There are four ways of looking at the film:
-Science fiction/fantasy
-Religion
-Psychological
-Political


As the first scene opens, there is diegetic sounds of rumbling thunder and we see a ragged cut of location, the landscape cut jaggedly across by the land creating a dark and light contrast, perhaps representative of the duality of the character's mind.
The first time we see the main character we mistake him for an animal, and this shows vulnerability. His costume is made up of muted colours and this makes him blend into the setting, the shape of his body echoing the land and making him part of the landscape.
The scene is harmonious, until the character 'pops' into shot, separating the division between sky and land, a divisive element to splitting the scene.
The music then changes to Echo & The Bunnymen- The Killing Moon as we change to a suburban landscape. We are then introduced to new characters, sweeping by them as our protagonist does on his bike homeward. We then move in to a garden where who we presume is the protagonists mother is sat reading a horror novel, showing both her character and perhaps the anticipation of what is to come, something strange and surreal.

Potential Casting Ideas For Preliminary Task

Richard Simpson
Richard has a boylike appearance and looks innocent, attributes that are required for the character in the task.He is fairly unkempt and looks quite weak, reinforcing the idea that he is the victim within the task.




Gary McEachran
Gary is less suitable for the character in our film as he is of a stronger build and does not look 'weak' as is required for the part. His styled hair shows a more confident personality and, although he would be talented as an actor, would bring qualities to the character that we do not wish to show.




Hannah Bowerman
Hannah has a 'sweet' face and light coloured hair, which would suggest a more innocent character that the sinister woman we want for our character. She is also fairly short that would not enforce the status of power that we wish to represent.




Jade Maling
Jade is very tall and this would show how she is overpowering the male character in status and why he should be fearful of her. She has a suitable appearance that is good to represent a powerful woman and facial expressions that are serious and stern. She would be good to show a strong character.


FINAL CAST:
Richard Simpson- Male 'Victim'
Jade Maling- Strong, Threatening Female

Preliminary Task-Final Script

WOMAN WALKS, SLOWLY IN NO HURRY, EXPRESSIONLESS. WALKS TOWARDS DOOR, TURNS TO THE SIDE SLIGHTLY AND USES RIGHT HAND TO OPEN DOOR.
WALKS IN, CLOSES THE DOOR BEHIND HER, WALKS SLOWLY TOWARDS TABLE AND SITS DOWN.

SHOT OF MALE, NERVOUS AND FIDGETY, TAPPING HIS FINGERS ON THE TABLE AS HE LOOKS DOWN.

MAN:Whatever they said to you isn't true, don't beleive those bastards!

MEDIUM SHOT OF WOMAN, DISINTERESTED IN WHAT HE HAS TO SAY.
MALE STILL FIDGETING AND DRUMMING FINGERS.

MAN: It's not me you're looking for,

REVERSE SHOT OF WOMAN, STILL DISINTERESTED BUT NOW FAIRLY AGGRAVATED BY THE MALE.
MALE HEIGHTENED SENSE OF ANXIETY

MAN: Jesus, jesus christ!

PUTS HEAD IN HAND SHOWS DISTRESS LOOKING AT TABLE
WOMAN MOODY LOOKING.

WOMAN:Nothing can change what you did.

DOOR CREAKS OPEN, WOMAN TURNS AROUND TO LOOK AND SEE WHO'S THERE, HOODED CHARACTER APPEARS.

Diary/Production Schedule

December:
Planning Period
Group Meetings on:
-17th, brainstorming of ideas for final task
-21st, decisions on main task idea and beginning of early storyboarding
-27th, location scouting

January
-4th, creation of shot list
-7th, Party scene, get cast members and extras, props and lighting
-13th, any extra filming for party scene, redoing of shots
-14th-25th, editing of party svene

February
-3rd, walking shots, exiting hall and walking to exchange
-10th, exchange scene
-15th, any extra filming for exchange scene
-22nd-28th, editing of exchange scene

March
-7th, Stabbing scene
-21st, any extra filming for stabbing scene
-23rd-28th editing of stabbing scene & final visual edits

April
-1st-7th, addition of soundtrack
-10th, creation of titles

Initial Storyboard For Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task- Initial Ideas

-Opening shot of a woman walking, high heels; sexy,close ups of different parts of her
-View from the back of her pushing open the door-medium shot.
-Point of View shot from her perspective of nervous looking man behind table. He starts speaking,shot/reverse shot. Her walking into the room, back to him.
-She sits down and he continues to speak, she says nothing.
-Shot/reverse shot of her reaction to him speaking.
-She says something in reply- medium shot, cut to shot of his reaction
FINAL CUT.

Script Ideas
WOMAN WALKS SLOWLY IN NO HURRY, CLENCHED FISTS BUT STILL FAIRLY CASUAL.
WALKS TOWARDS DOOR, TURNS TO THE SIDE SLIGHTLY AND USING LEFT HAND TO OPEN DOOR WITH DOORKNOB.
WALKS IN, CLSOES THE DOOR BEHIND HER.

WITH POINT OF VIEW WE SEE MAN, NERVOUS AND FIDGETY, DESPERATION AND FEAR.
SPEAKS FRANTICALLY AND QUICKLY.
MAN: Whatever they said to you isn't true, dont believe those bastards!

WOMAN WALKS TOWARDS HIM, PULLS OUT CHAIR OPPOSITE AND SITS DOWN.SAYS NOTHING..

MAN: You've gotta believe me,please,God!
(WIPES BROW)
MAN: It's not me you're looking for!
(PAUSE)
MAN: Jesus, jesus christ.
(HANDS ON HEAD)

WOMAN LEANS FORWARD SLIGHTLY AND SPEAKS CALMLY AND CASUALLY
WOMAN:Nothing's gonna change what you did.

CUT.

Casting
Woman is required to be:
-slim
-tall
-sinister looking
-threatening
-sexy; femme fatale image

Man is required to be:
-fairly young looking
-skinny
-weak looking, more boylike than man
-nervous looking


Costume
Woman is required to wear:
Dark colours, black, harsh , threatening.
Man is required to wear:
Lighter colours, showing innocence or him being the victim, casually dressed. Insignificant looking, unkempt appearance.

Lighting
Dimly lit if possible with specific light on man, interrogation sort of scene.
Shadows on woman's face if possible, creating further sinisterness of character,we do not get the full picture of her as a character, constantly asking questions about who she is, what she wants, why she is to be feared- HER AGENDA.
MYSTERY.

Camera Shot Task

Camera Movements

Tracking Shot- moving the camera back and forth, uses a dolly or track and dolly, tracking into the action-provides intensity, tracking out shows the action in the scene is over. Moves on with the action.

Tilt Shot- camera moving up or down on an axis, upwards tilt shot shows power, can be used with a point of view shot.

Zoom- adjusting focal length, can be used instead of tracking shot, if without the equipment.

Arc Shot- full or semicircle around an object, character/characters. Can increase intensity, show reactions of other characters in a conversation etc.

Crane shot- attached to a crane, view from vertically above the action.

Crab Shot- often used to track the movement of a person

Panning Shot- camera mounted on a tripod, moving left to right or vice versa, often used to show a moving object, or if a character is searching a room.

Why might we use different camera shots?

- To progress the story, show when scenes have finished and when the action moves.
- To create intensity, tension, make the audience feel a certain way. Creates variety within the filming.

Preliminary Task- Requirements

Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite anoher character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. this task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Match on action -single action, seems continuous.

180-degree rule-if you go over the 180 degrees then it will look as though the characters are next to each other. This is not effective if the characters are having a conversation like the one required so it is important to make sure this is done.

Looking at film pre-production:

• Storyboarding
• Casting
• Scripting with directions
• Location
• Diaries, dates and times
• Camera operation, technical skills

FILM LANGUAGE

Editing and Sound:

• Editing is a crucial part of film language
• It structures the narrative
• Links scenes/events together
• Follows a logical order/time span
• Some films distort this, eg. flashbacks

There are many different types of editing:

Fade/dissolve

• Fade images come through another image
• Dissolve-'feathered in'
• Superimpositions-shots layered
• Wipe, 'page-turning', usually used for change of location.
• Inset, similar to insert, a shot within a shot.
• Split screen, two scenes, two locations being simultaneously shown
• Stock shot- usually used for factual films, images created by others.

Questionaires- Catch Me If You Can

After analysing the film 'Catch Me If You Can' myself, I decided to devise a questionaire on the film and ask a focus group their ideas and opinions on it after twenty minutes of watching the film and after viewing the film in its entirety.



Following is the questions I asked and the answers I received from four different people.



After 20 minutes of film:

What genre would you class this film as?

• Thriller


• Drama


• Drama


• Thriller


• Action Film

What period do you think this film was set in?Where?

• 1980's, America


• 1960's, America


• 1960's, USA


• 1960's, America

What do you think of the opening credits? Are they effective?

• They are effective, original and visually good
• I like the credits but they dont seem to have any relevance to the opening
• I think they are boring, however they are relevan to the film
• I think they are good because they are 'arty', stylised.

Do you think that the opening sentences give alot away about what will happen in the film? What do you think will happen?

• It slyly hints what may happen. I think it sontains a sense of mystery in the film. He will be a con man.
• Yes, it gives alot away because of the gameshow scene saying he is a con man and he gets caught.
• We presume from the opening scene that this film is about a con man and his fall from grace, due to the change of scene from the gameshow to the prison.
• Yes, because the gameshow host says he was a conman- I think we will see his life and journey as a con man.

After viewing the film:

Was this film the genre you expected, or did your views change on it throughout?

• Yes, I think so, but it was more of a conspiracy drama with elements of comedy.
• Kind of, but I think that are also elements of satire within the thriller.
• I think I was right to say it was a Drama genre.
• I think my predictions were correct, my views did not change.

Were your predictions of what might happen correct? If yes, do you think that this predictability makes the film not worth watching?

• Yes, but I wasn't expecting him to get caught. No, i liked that I knew mostly what to expect because it was interesting to see how he got to that point.
• Yes they were. But I think there were still twists and turns throughout the movie that make it worth watching and it is amusing to view.
• Although I predicted what would happen, the plot was still complex and I enjoyed it.
• Yes, but the action grips the audience still.

Did the camera shots seem natural, or were their artistic elements in the editing?

• They were mainly natural but there were definitely some arty elements in the scene changes.
• Natural, unnoticeable mostly...but perhaps some artistic elements.
• I think natural, but to make it more interesting other elements were used I think to make the film more amusing and 'funky'.
• Yes, they're very realistic as if you're watching a true story.

Do you think that a lot of cinematic techniques were used? Eg. CGI, mood lighting, sound effects, special effects

• The film seemed smooth as it had a large budget but no special effects because it was based on a true story.
• I dont think so- the film reflects reality and the time period, so I think it would have be out of place.
• I think lighting was used quite effectively in that it represented the situation but I dont think any special effects etc were used.
• A good use of relevant music for each scene.

From these answers, I can deduct several things:

• From the first twenty minutes of a film, it becomes very obvious to the audience the location, era and genre of a film.
• The use of opening credits that relate to the content of the film are effective in introducing it.
• You can give alot away in the first few minutes as long as you make it clear to the audience that there is alot more that can be filmed.
• Providing twists and turns throughout a story keeps an audience interested and keen to continue watching.
• If you want to portray reality in a film, it is best to use natural camera shots that are unnoticeable as the plot develops, and use more natural ways to develop a scene such as lighting and music rather than special effects which make it more fictional.

Catch Me If You Can-First 15 Minutes Analysis Of Shots

This is one of my favourite films, and is an adaptation of the true story of Frank Abagnale Jnr, the notorious conman in the 60's.

The film opens with a programme 'To Tell The Truth', where three men say they are Frank Abagnale and contestants have to decide who is being honest.

-I analysed the film after this point, as we see a medium close up of a man who appears to be a security official in the rain, having a conversation with another two men.

-There is then a medium shot showing five men are speaking being sheltered by umbrellas, followed by a reverse shot of a man in glasses and a hat trying to tell the people present who he is as there is obviously a language barrier.

-It then pans the policemen and shows a long establishing shot showing buildings and the men's surroundings, with words accompanying to explain the location is Marseille, France.

-There is then a shot through a small window at the action, as the men are about to walk through the door. This is followed by tracking shots of the men walking down the corridor and it then tracks back as one of the men walks back to his origin.

-We then see a point of view shot through a grate of a prisoner huddled in the corner of a cell, and then a close up of the other side of the grate showing the bespectacled man looking through--There are alot of reverse shots as the prisoner coughs and splutters and his visitor becomes increasingly worried, then a long shot of him standing and trying to get the guards attention.

-More reverse and point of view shots and a medium shot showing the visitor is reading to the prisoner.There is then a medium long shot of the visitor kicking his stool away and a zoom following the guard as he walks towards him.

-Tracking shot as they drag the man through the corridor and a panning shot as him and the other men go past the camera.

-Match on action, constantly following the movements of the men as they walk around the prison and tracking backwards and forwards as the characters walk away from and towards the camera.

-There is then a downwards panning shot from the other prisoners to the main prisoner as he tries to escape, crawling down the corridor. As it gets to the character, the camera moves up and down following his movements as he tries to stand and falls back to the floor, providing close ups of the character.

-There are then more tracking shots as the guards catch up with him and a close up as a gun is pointed to his head. In the background of this shot we see the guards in a high angle to show their dominance and as the prisoner lies down there is a crane shot above him, to show he has been defeated. This shows the varying amounts of power between the characters.

MIS EN SCENE

-In the prison:

There is very dim lighting, showing a cold and blandly coloured environment. It is a typical prison in that there is no material possessions and that there is no furniture, comfort etc, however this particular prison is shown to be particularly impoverished with harsh conditions. This is reflected in the prisoner character as he is displayed as dirty and unkempt.

-All sounds in this section of the film are diegetic, and this heightens the harsh reality of the situation.

First Post! (:

Hello!

I've set this blog up for AS Media Studies, and so will be posting items alongside it to do with the progress of my projects etc.

Well, im just trying to get to grips with this at the moment, so bear with me whilst I get used to it :]