In order to get a better understanding of the sorts of techniques we should use to hint at something being off in the world of our film, Adam researched the clues hidden in "Fight Club". There are constant implications of the film's ending throughout, and these are deployed very cleverly. If we could muster even a portion of the skill shown here, our work should come together rather well.
AF
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Graphics
The name of our film is currently undecided, but at the moment we are using the working name from my pitch, "De(i)fied", as this can be read as "deified" or "defied". This name suits the story, at least for the moment. The word "defied" is relevant because the girls will be forced to show a great deal of that in order to survive the events of the movie. They could also practically be compared to deities as they are responsible for saving our world as we know it. Similarly, girl A would seem almost goddess-like to girl B, simply because she is from a parallel universe and is therefore completely alien to her.
On the topic of aliens, then, one of the fonts we're considering using for our title sequence (sourced by Dafont) is that from the movie "Alien". This film is also among our influences, mostly due to its strong female lead.
The font highlights the 'i', meaning it is easier to spot the ambiguous meaning of the title. The chief drawback, however, is that this font is already very recognisable, and could cheapen the effect of our own film, making it look significantly more amateur than we'd like.
fied.png)
We are currently leaning towards the second option out of the two, however, as it has the added effect of making the letter look like a slitted pupil, adding to the sense of unease and alienation (HA) we're aiming to create. This can even be enhanced in editing if we decide to use this font after all.
The alternative font, which Adam picked out, looks like a better idea to me, simply because it is less well-known (it isn't used in anything; it's just a font), and also because Adam took the time to edit it into how I originally envisioned it. He has some reservations about it, so we may need to get some second opinions about whether or not people can tell that the font is implying a dual meaning.
Other than that, however, it seems these two are our chief contenders for our opening title sequence.
I must admit, I do still remain somewhat partial to one of the fonts proposed in my initial pitch. It's not necessarily better than the font above, in my opnion, but I'd liek to repost it for consideration anyway, just because I think it's aesthetically pleasing enough that it should at least be considered.
On the topic of aliens, then, one of the fonts we're considering using for our title sequence (sourced by Dafont) is that from the movie "Alien". This film is also among our influences, mostly due to its strong female lead.
The font highlights the 'i', meaning it is easier to spot the ambiguous meaning of the title. The chief drawback, however, is that this font is already very recognisable, and could cheapen the effect of our own film, making it look significantly more amateur than we'd like.We are currently leaning towards the second option out of the two, however, as it has the added effect of making the letter look like a slitted pupil, adding to the sense of unease and alienation (HA) we're aiming to create. This can even be enhanced in editing if we decide to use this font after all.The alternative font, which Adam picked out, looks like a better idea to me, simply because it is less well-known (it isn't used in anything; it's just a font), and also because Adam took the time to edit it into how I originally envisioned it. He has some reservations about it, so we may need to get some second opinions about whether or not people can tell that the font is implying a dual meaning. Other than that, however, it seems these two are our chief contenders for our opening title sequence.I must admit, I do still remain somewhat partial to one of the fonts proposed in my initial pitch. It's not necessarily better than the font above, in my opnion, but I'd liek to repost it for consideration anyway, just because I think it's aesthetically pleasing enough that it should at least be considered.
AF
Friday, 5 December 2014
Style and Tone
Our chosen genre is sci-fi conspiracy thriller. Our style of filming is influenced by the austere and sombre atmosphere of classic films such as "Fight Club" and "Se7en", whereas the plot is somewhat linked to that of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".
The subtly dystopian feel of the later plot should be hinted at in this opening as well, and so cues that display the idea that something is slightly off should be deployed. Particular influences for this would have to include a selection of novels, simply because books are forced to be more subtle and slow-burning than most visual media about these sorts of things. "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver is a good instance of this, as despite the world containing some truly jarring differences (like the fact that love is considered a disease), these only become apparent slowly, and are mostly portrayed by a sense of general unease as opposed to an in-your-face sense of danger straight away.
Although not particularly well-rated, the film (and book) "The Host" is also subtly similar to not only "The Invasion of the Bodysnatchers" but also has the underlying feeling of innate wrongness that we would want to aim for. The subtle fact that the main character, who is a host to one of the aliens who have taken over earth, has mirrored eyes that glint only when the light is right, is a good example of the sort of simple but apt clues we'd like to include in our opening.
AF & DY
As in my pitch, we have decided to alter colour slightly to emphasise the divide between girl A and girl B, with the girl living on the streets represented in darker shades and the richer girl from the parallel universe highlighted with bright splashes of colour. This can be done using both specifically coloured objects as part of A's costume and surroundings and by altering colour in editing later. The effect should be somewhat reminiscent of "colour splash" photos.
As mentioned previously, Wes Anderson's films such as "Moonrise Kingdom" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and the film based off Kormac McCarthy's "The Road" are our main influences for the coloration.
The subtly dystopian feel of the later plot should be hinted at in this opening as well, and so cues that display the idea that something is slightly off should be deployed. Particular influences for this would have to include a selection of novels, simply because books are forced to be more subtle and slow-burning than most visual media about these sorts of things. "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver is a good instance of this, as despite the world containing some truly jarring differences (like the fact that love is considered a disease), these only become apparent slowly, and are mostly portrayed by a sense of general unease as opposed to an in-your-face sense of danger straight away. Although not particularly well-rated, the film (and book) "The Host" is also subtly similar to not only "The Invasion of the Bodysnatchers" but also has the underlying feeling of innate wrongness that we would want to aim for. The subtle fact that the main character, who is a host to one of the aliens who have taken over earth, has mirrored eyes that glint only when the light is right, is a good example of the sort of simple but apt clues we'd like to include in our opening.AF & DY
Monday, 1 December 2014
Locations
Girl A's House: St. Martin's Road, Stockwell
This location is not only convenient because it is the house of one of the actresses, but also gives the appropriate middle-class atmosphere which we need girl A to originate from to make her reveal as someone from a parallel universe more jarring and interesting.
Girl B's Park: Clapham Common
This location is not only open at all times and therefore available for filming whenever (even early morning/sunset when some of the best lighting is) but also has secluded corners where someone homeless could realistically sleep overnight. The remnants of a fire are also visible in the second picture; a realistic setting we could make effective use of.
Girl B's Street: Landsdowne Way Estates
The street here is appropriately urban and the brown, oppressively boxed rows of estate houses will hopefully create the necessary atmosphere of entrapment and loneliness that girl B ought to portray.
Girl A's Street: College Road
This road is surround by bright greenery that can be enhanced further in editing. This is part of our plan to use colour scheme to underline the fundamental differences between the two girls' lives; whilst girl A is surrounded by colour, B is encapsulated by flat, grey hues.
A and B's Crossing Place: Lover's Walk
This pathway is perfect for the two main character's initial introduction to each other because of the filtered light effect of the trees, as well as because the different colour-scapes of the two will be easier to reconcile using this long road. The dramatic walk up of the two characters to each other can also be enhanced if we use the full length of the road.
A and B's Meeting: Clapham Common High Street
The wide road and the multitude of neatly arranged shop windows makes for a good cinematic backdrop for the scene when girl B finally realises A is watching her. There is usually a lot of traffic on this road too, meaning we should be able to get some great shots across the road through the shapes of moving cars.
The Chase Sequence: Bourchier Street
Placing our chase sequence near the city centre should make it easier to film, especially considering the amount of alleyways in that part of town thanks to the big businesses in the area. Additionally, this location will make it easier to create the sense that girl B knows the city better than A.
AF & DY
Vox Pops
These are a couple of vox pops we did in order to better understand our target audience and any adjustments we may need to make to our narrative to not antagonize our potential future viewers.
AF & DY
AF & DY
Narrative
General Pitch:
The world is being threatened by technological collapse and girl A is the only one who can save it (because she's from a parallel universe where this has already happened) but she needs girl B's help.
Outline of Opening:
The world is being threatened by technological collapse and girl A is the only one who can save it (because she's from a parallel universe where this has already happened) but she needs girl B's help.
Outline of Opening:
- Two girls
o One rich (Girl A) - Big house, family, bed (Clara)
o One poor (Girl B) - Living on the street, well-worn clothes (Yasmina)
- Show the morning routine of each girl
o A - Gets up, gets dressed, breakfast, brushes teeth, says goodbye to mum, leaves (presumably to got to school; backpack)
o B - Wakes in sleeping bag, park, pickpockets a wallet, doesn’t change her clothes, wanders (Clapham Common)
o Both are wearing same necklace?
- Parallel shots of them walking down very different streets (rich vs poor), end up on the same street (Stockwell houses vs Estate)
- Come out on opposite sides of road (Lover's Walk, College Road)
- A stops and then follows the other
- A looks at B from across the street, taking pictures of her while B's looking in shop window (Blinking = camera?) (Urban street; Clapham High Street/Lordship Lane)
- B notices A in reflection, looks around, walks away slowly then ducks into an alley (Central London)
- B starts to run away with A chasing her
- B manages to evade and get behind A, then backs her into a corner
- A explains her purpose with effective one-liner
AF & DY
Online Survey
As part of our "Research and Planning" stage, we had to do some audience research tasks. The first to be completed was the online survey we constructed in order to obtain some quantitative data about our potential target audience.
At the time of writing this, we had over 40 responses (partially due to the fact that I asked some help from my online friends from my personal blog). The statistics we gleaned from this information are as follows:
At the time of writing this, we had over 40 responses (partially due to the fact that I asked some help from my online friends from my personal blog). The statistics we gleaned from this information are as follows:
As for the last question abut favourite films, the answers varied wildly.
The fact that most people who took the survey watched films about once a week and yet attended the cinema only once every few months shows an obvious tendency to prefer other mediums, meaning cinema revenues seem to only be significant if the film can be touted as enough of an event to actually persuade people to see it on the big screen. The survey also suggests that our key demographic in this case is women aged 15 to 21, as reflected by the overwhelming response in favour of pieces with predominantly female protagonists. The tendency towards the comedy genre is somewhat less significant, as it is almost matched by the popularity of thrillers; a cheering concept, considering that's the genre we will be working in! However, there seems to be an unsurprising but problematic tendency to watch films illegally almost as often as at the cinema, which would have affected us as producers had we actually been making this film for commercial purposes.
Furthermore, we created a Facebook page for our upcoming project, which gathered 34 likes within a couple of days; a number that is sure to go up as our work progresses.
In all, I'd say the digital part of our audience research has thus far been a success.
AF & DY
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