AWAKEN SCRIPT (UPDATED VERSION)

AWAKEN 2016 (UPDATED VERSION)

Awaken Film



This is the updated version of our film Awaken. We have improved it since the first version to a higher standard and added in more content and camera angles to make it better.

EVALUATION QUESTION 7

Evaluation Question 7

The Preliminary task helped us to understand how the cameras worked. It also gave us the opportunity to test out different camera angles and shots. It gave us the chance to plan out a film before we even started filming. This involved creating a script and allocating roles to different people. We also had to create the characters and give them personalities. The editing side of the preliminary task after we had filmed was very useful as we could get a taster of how the software worked and what it was like. We were able to practice different types of editing skills such as cutting down clips and changing the coloring of it, also adding in different effects such as transitions.

AWAKEN SCRIPT (ORIGINAL FILM)

AWAKEN SCRIPT


Tense music introducing the film through the intros.

Transitions into the film. There are sounds of branches cracking and crunching, birds and the wind in the background.

Death: Continuous laughing in the background

Death: You believe in fairy tales don't you Jacob?

Death: Continuous laughing in the background

Death: I can hear you... very... very clearly

Jacob: (Screams) NOOOOOOO!

Deep heavy breathing from Jacob as he runs. There are sounds of branches cracking and crunching, birds and the wind in the background.

Death: Does that mean you don't believe in the man who wears a long black cloak. Holds a scythe sharper than any blade. A soul that is so lost it just cant be guided. 

Death: Continuous laughing in the background

AWAKEN FILM LOGO

AWAKEN FILM LOGO

This is our Studio Logo. It has been displayed at the start of our film.

EVALUATION QUESTION 1 AND 4

Evaluation Question 1 and 4

This is our evaluation question 1 and 4. It displays our two posters in the background with a voiceover the top of it. This is another way that we have advertised our film by having posters and a video to help people to see it and see it in different aspects. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 6

Question 6 Evaluation

Evaluation Question 6

EVALUATION

Evaluation Question 2, 3 and 5

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our film, the main character of our narrative is a teenage boy, which is unconventional of the genre as the main character, usually a victim, is typically female in the horror genre. Also, we represented a stereotypical idea of teenage boy getting into trouble by having him be in a coma, showing that the character was in an accident some time before the film begins. Parts of our film have been set and filmed in a Forrest/wooded area which can be seen as stereotypical of a horror genre. This is because a lot of films from this horror have been filmed in these type of locations in the past. The type of music that we used in this opening scene could also be classed as stereotypical of the genre that we picked as it is tense and creates an suspenseful atmosphere throughout the film as if you do not know what is going to happen next.

The type of costume for the character 'Death', who is the horror character, has some stereotypical features and a costume. For example, the character wears dark clothes which help him to blend in and add to his scary, mysterious personality. The person playing the character has worn face paint which adds to his scary features and makes the audience feel tense and on edge. They type of face paint he is wearing can be seen as stereotypical as it is black and white and originally based on a skeleton. He wore black clothes to reflect his personality and character. It also helped him to blend into the background which added to the mysteriousness that surrounds this character. Also, by not showing much of this character we ket the audience on edge and not knowing what is going to happen next. The main character, who is called Jacob and is a teenage boy that is affected by the problems in the film, wore a hospital gown. This helped to portray his character as the audience will have realised that he was in hospital and that he has had an accident. By having these costumes we have added more depth into our film and made it look more professional. We used a hospital oxygen mask in our film which was one of our main props that we used. This also helped to make our film look more professional but also added more depth to the character and helped to build him. 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media institution that might distribute our media product is a somewhat mall company such as the studio that released The Woman in Black’, Momentum Studios, or the studio that released ‘The Blair Witch Product’. Our film would be a smaller scale independent film in terms of production, requiring a smaller budget and costing less than other films such as ‘Insidious’. This is because our film requires and uses little amounts of special effects or CGI, instead using more practical camera effects such as spinning and breaking the 180 degree rule to create confusion and distortion, rather than supernatural computer generated effects. Because of this we would need a smaller budget and therefore would be best distributed by a smaller studio. 

Also, our film would be distributed by a smaller institution as we used practical costumes as well, having face paint and cloaks for the character 'Death', and not using CGI monsters or ghosts. Also, contrasting some other horror films, we left the horror to be created by tension until the very end, rather than be presented explicitly, making our film similar to Indie film such as 'Blair Witch Project'. Again this is why our film is best distributed by a smaller studio.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Our characters attract our audience, which is young adults/older teenagers. This is because the main character in our film is situated in this age group. By having a character in this age group we are creating a bond with the audience as they can relate by being the same age. Also, the story line is based around a normal boy that lives his life the same way as everyone else but he is the one that has been affected by the story line, this helps to attract the audience as they can see and understand that anything can happen to anyone despite their background. 

We also attracted the audience through marketing. The forms of marketing we have done is creating several posters which gave a glimpse of what the film could be about and what the characters look like. These posters were made in the traditional horror style, using monochrome colours and a dark setting. This was done to attract the typical horror audience who are interested in film made in the horror genre. Also, having a poster would appeal to a younger audience such as teenagers and young adults as they see poster a lot more than the older generation as teenager leave their homes more and see the poster on signs, buses, and billboards. Our poster was inspired by other horror film posters such as 'Scream', and posters of 'Insidious 3', and would therefore attract the audience who likes these other horror films.

Another way that we helped to attract the audience and get our film out there is by creating two versions of the film. The first version showed what our film is and what potential it has. It gave the audience a taster of what it is like and what could happen.

We also attracted the audience by making our film look professional. The type of costumes we used helped to make our film look more professional. For example, the character Jacob, who is the main character, wore a hospital gown. This was a good quality costume which helped add to the affect and to build his character. The character Jacob also wore a hospital oxygen mask. This was also of good quality and this prop helped to engage the audience as they will believe the story line more. Another prop we used was a Television and connected it to a laptop to display a video of a Hospital monitor which gave the realistic mirage of the Television being a Hospital monitor. This would also engage the audience as they will see the film in a professional light, believing that it could be real. In our film there was another character that had a costume. This was the character Death. Death wore dark black clothes which resembled his personality. This also helped him to blend into the background which was crucial for some parts of the film as we did not want the audience to know what was following Jacob. Also, the character Death has face paint on. The face paint was based on a skeleton but we adapted it to fit our needs of the film and its characters. 

Awaken 2016 (Opening Scene)

https://youtu.be/FkRfmVU5Voc

This is the Opening Scene of our film Awaken. The link above also takes you to the film on YouTube.

SECOND FILM POSTER

FILM POSTER

Mr Judge Feedback

Medal: Well done for completing some tasks to a decent standard .  In order to improve your coursework grade you need to provide further evidence from all your class work and make sure it is on the blog, as key components are unfortunately missing. 

Mission:  Coud you please copy/embed the bfi tables so that we know which data you are referring to

• Textual analysis of Seven and an horror opening are an absolute must. 
• Work on Genre development and Christian Metz requires images, 
• Some aspects of the previous feedback need resolving namely images, being embedded.  
• Representations of gender in Thriller and Horror films 
• Images to illustrate key points in your discussion on film noir
• Finish your BFI data analysis by uploading the relevant tables with your summaries

Please provide feedback, in the form of a new post, how and when you hope to achieve the tasks. 

3.3 ANALYSIS OF BFI DATA ON GENRES AND AUDIENCES

Analysis of BFI Data on Genres and Audiences 

The data in the table tells us that the horror genre has 37 releases and has made 57.5 million. The Thriller genre however has had 64 releases yet has made 29.1 million. This tells us that the Horror genre is more popular even though it has fewer releases compared to the Thriller genre. The Horror genre made the most profit from releasing fewer films. I have chosen to make a Horror film as this shows that it is a popular category of film.

The second table tells us that the Sci-Fi genre has been released in 422 sites and has had 9 releases making 87.4 million. The Horror genre has been released in 145 sites, with 37 releases and has made 57.5 million. The Thriller genre has been released in 89 sites, with 64 releases and making 29.1 million. The Horror genre is available in more sites and has made more money than the Thriller genre which has been released in fewer sites.

This table tells us how the number of releases that each genre has had. It also tells us how much money they had made. On the right hand side there are titles that are given as examples to each one of the genres. As we can see from this table that the Horror genre had 7 releases and had made 14.8 million. This is the genre that I have chosen to base my film upon as the tables have shown that it is a popular genre that people like to watch.

SHORT FILM: AWAKEN (SYNOPSIS)

Short Film: Awaken

Director: Joe Dalley

Main Character (Jacob): Matt Wills
Doctor (and Extras): Oliver Large

Smartly Dressed Man: Charlie Ridout

Plot: A boy named Jacob ( Matt Wills) life has just taken an unexpected turn as he is rushed in to A&E and slowly drifts in to a coma; when Jacob wakes up he finds himself in a mysterious place and as he walks on in this new place he quickly finds out that he is not in the life he previously was in. As memories from his past start to fade in front of his eyes, he starts getting distorted and breaks down in a panic and as he looks up a blurred figure of a man is standing there saying "I was excepting you..."

Summary: A boy called Jacob goes into a coma. He then wakes up in a forest but not in the previous life he was in. As he stands up, he starts hearing voices of people from the past, both dead and alive before hitting the ground with his hands on his ears, muffling the sound with his eyes shut. A while later, he opens his eyes to be greeted by a smartly dressed man. The main character asks "where am I?" and hears a reply of "you'd think a boy would know his own mind" in a whispering voice... 

Synopsis

Genre: Fantasy/Horror

Location: Hopwas Woods, Hospital (Garage OR Landau Sixth Form)

Audience: 12+

Costumes:

Jacob - Hospital Gown, Gas Mask

Smartly Dressed Man - Suit

Doctor - White Coat

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF AN OPENING SCENE OF A HORROR

The Woman In Black

The opening scene of The Woman In Black has the stereotypical features of an opening scene of a horror film. There is tense music which adds to the suspense and engages the audience with the film. It gives the idea and feeling that something is about to happen in the film. This could be something dramatic which again engages the audience.

The whole of the opening scene is tense as you do not know what is happening or what is going to happen next. You have also had no insight into what the storyline is at this point so you can be left confused.

The lighting is not very light in this opening scene. Only natural lighting has been used, the one window that we can see is the main source of light. There are quite a few shadows and dark areas in the room where this is set which adds to the suspense as you do not know where this mystic figure may be hiding. The lack of light could reflect on the mood of the genre and what may happen further on in the film.

The costumes that are used in this opening scene are taken from an earlier era, around the victorian times. These type of costumes are effective for the genre as they add to the suspense with them being stereotypical costumes. There is not much colour in the costumes which could reflect on the mood of the genre.

There are many different camera angles that are used in this opening scene. The very first is a close up of two tea cups. It then zooms out a bit so that you can see the three children. In this opening scene there is not an establishing shot, which is usually used to show where the scene is being set, so you do not know where or what is happening or going to happen. Towards the end there is another close up of a doll which adds to the suspense as dolls are stereotypically scary in horror films.

From looking at this opening scene I have been able to learn and understand what a stereotypical opening scene of a horror is like and what it contains. I have been able to see the type of camera angles that are used and also the lighting. The opening scene has shown me the type of costumes that are used and what type of characters are in it. All of this has helped me with my own horror opening scene as I can take into consideration what I have learnt and what I can include into mine.

MR JUDGE FEEDBACK

Matthew, I think you know what you need to do you need to just get on and do it asap.

1.   TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING OF SE7EN WITH IMAGES AND VIDEO EMBED FOR SE7EN

2.   CHRISTIAN METZ MODELS OF GENRE DEVELOPMENT – HORROR (12D ONLY) + IMAGES

3.   FILM NOIR & HISTORY OF GENRE (HSR) + IMAGES/VIDEO EMBEDS

4.   STEREORTYPICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THRILLER/HORROR GENRES/CHARACTERS

5.   TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF OPENING OF A HORROR FILM – WOMEN IN BLACK/SCREAM etc.

P.S. Poster is awesome - who created it?

THE OPENING SCENE OF A FILM NOIR - THE MALTESE FALCON

The Opening Scene of a Film Noir – The Maltese Falcon

The film ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is a Film Noir from 1941. It is by John Huston and stars Humphrey Bogart. This film follows the typical Film Noir storyline of having a Detective and then a femme fatale who needs help. It has the stereotypical characters and their costumes. The type of language that they use is also stereotypical of a traditional Film Noir. Also, the whole film is in black and white so this also follows the stereotypical Film Noir requirements. The audience that this film is aimed at is possibly the older generation. This is because they are the ones that have grown up with this genre of film and they would have been around when the Film Noir genre was first being created. The enigma in this film is that no one knows who has killed this man so this hooks people to make them want to carry on watching the film and to possibly tell others to watch the film too. The men are stereotypically older than the women in the Film Noir genre.

At the beginning of the scene there is a piece of text rolling down the screen which introduces the film and gives a basic outline of what has happened in the past. This could also give an insight of what is going to happen in the film. After this part there is an establishing shot which shows where the film is set. It shows the Golden Gate Bridge with a headline of ‘San Francisco’, this tells us where the film is going to be set. An establishing shot is typical of the Film Noir Genre. There is also a shot of a newspaper, which gives the audience a rough overview of where the film is set and what could happen by the headline and title of the newspaper.

The next scene is set in a private detectives office. There is a man, who is the main character, sitting in his office at his desk. We learn that he is the private detective. He is wearing the stereotypical costume that a private detective usually wears in a Film Noir. He is wearing a suit with a trilby hat and is smoking a cigarette. The woman then comes in looking distressed. She is a stereotypical woman that usually stars in the Film Noir genre. By the man being in the office and the woman coming in needing help it can show that men are the ones that have more authority then women at this time. The detectives secretary is called Angel, so this could infer that there are two types of women; the women that are sincere and are not corrupt and then the women who are corrupt and try to lure the detectives into their traps, this is known as the femme fatale. The woman tells the detective that she needs help and the man says that he will help her. This can be seen as the ‘spider and the fly’ situation as the woman is luring the detective into helping her when she doesn’t really need it. By doing this, the detective is becoming a suspect. The detective also has a partner that later comes into the room who is wearing similar sort of clothes to him, also following the stereotypical costume of a Film Noir. They can be seen as carrying out a ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine.

There are many different types of camera angles that are used in this scene. One of them being the establishing shot at the beginning; this sets the scene and lets the audience know where the film is being set. Another camera angle that is used is an over the shoulder shot, this shot shows both of the characters but one of them has there back to the camera. The over the shoulder shot gives a clear narrative but only shows the facial expressions and emotion from the character who is facing the camera. The film uses the 180-degree rule and follows it well in the opening scene. A close up shot is also used in this scene. This type of angle can tell us a lot about the character, as we are able to see in detail their facial expressions, which can tell us how they are feeling and sometimes what they are thinking.

In this opening scene there are a variety of sounds that are used. Some of these sounds have been added in whereas some of them are either dialogue or sounds that occur from the characters. Diegetic and non-diegetic sound have both been used in this scene. Diegetic sound is a when the source of the sound is visible on the screen such as someone speaking. Non-diegetic sound is when the source of the sound is not visible such as the sound effects. The background noise can reflect on the type of place that they are in such as car sounds and people talking can infer that they are in a busy city. Towards the start of the opening scene, the woman and the detective are having a conversation, which is diegetic sound. This is helping the audience to understand the storyline of the film. At one point the detective refers to the woman as “sweetheart”, this can be seen as talking down to the woman as if she is not as important. It could also illustrate that the detective may have deeper feelings for the woman. Further on in the film there is a gunshot, which is non-diegetic sound. This is creating suspense and hooking the audience to the film. Between different scenes there is transitional music. The transitional music can also hook the audience as it keeps them engaged and gives them the idea that something is going to happen. There is tense music that is played when something dramatic is going to happen in the film. This engages with the audience, as they know that when this music is being played something is going to happen. The music builds up suspense and can form a bond between the audience and the film as they feel part of it.

The whole film is in black and white so it is different types of lighting that is being used and can be difficult to see it. There are some forms of artificial lighting that have been used, such as lamps and ceiling lights being turned on. It is however a lot of natural light that is being used.

STEREOTYPICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THRILLER/HORROR

Stereotypical Representation of Thriller/Horror

Quite often representations have been pre-established in Genre films such as Horrors and Thrillers. Certain representations have now become stereotypes or Archetype. An example of a stereotypical character that has been used many times is Dracula. Dracula has always has the same stereotypical look in a variety of films or books that he has been featured in. The character has been stereotypically the same since Bela Lugosi's version in 1931 in regards to his Age, Gender, Social class and costume.


The Representation of Gender/Ethnicity 

Cultural Bias: Hollywood has always been 'white' centric, for example, Actors/Directors have always been Male and Caucasian with Black, ethic, minority actors only playing minor roles. Certain actors like Will Smith/Morgan Freeman have broken the mould. In the Thriller genre, it has always been common to have a White/Male protagonist in the key roles. It wasn't until the 1990's that it began to change. For example, in the film Se7en (1995) Morgan Freeman played a smart, intellectual, senior, methodical detective. This had always been represented as a 'White' actors role, but his role as Detective Somerset in the film 'Se7en' was ground breaking, which continued in many Films/TV dramas, such as 'Wire' and 'Luther'.


Gender Bias: In the Thriller genre, Females have predominantly played the victim role, or the femme fatale (the seductive vamp, that cannot be trusted). Since the 'Silence of the Lambs' (1990) and the role of Jodie Foster playing FBI Rookie 'Clarice Starling' the representation of women in Thriller/Horror has been fair more challenging.

Heterosexual Bias: Having a homosexual/lesbian protagonist is almost entirely rare even in liberal Hollywood. The idea of a leading male detective, in a film, being openly gay is unheard of. Indeed one of the criticisms of the famous author of the Hannibal Lector books; Thomas Harris is that nearly all his antagonists such as serial killers have homosexual tendencies, and sexual deviances, and that this is a negative stereotype he has helped form.

CHRISTIAN METZ MODEL OF GENRE DEVELOPMENT

Christian Metz Model of Genre Development

Christian Metz’s was French film theorist who is renowned for his genre characteristics theory. Metz’s claims there are reoccurring expectations there are 4 development stages that can be applied to a genre; Classical, Experimental, Parody and Deconstruction. 

Classical
An original piece of work which is developing the initial codes and conventions of the genre.

Experimental
This is where the genre is established and experiments which different sceneries and scenarios.

Parody
In the 90's the development stage reached a phrase where thriller scenes and movies incorporated comedic effects watering down expectations of the film. 

Deconstruction 
The thriller genre has now evolved into a stage where hybrids are evident. The thriller has now fused with several other genre creating sub-catergories the most established being sci-fi/thriller or horror/thriller hybrids.

PRELIMINARY TASK POSTER