This is a finished product of our film challenge. After planning and story boarding we embarked on our filming project. Our film depicts 2 detectives in the 1950-60s Era. We tried making it more realistic by having Jasper putting on an accent, and both detectives wearing clothing similar to detectives would wear during the 60s. We used some terminology that matches the era we are filming in, words such as "Dame" or "Gal", even Jasper's accent matches the era, as he pronounces "Murder" as "Moider". I managed the props and was an actor, Richy and Saimink worked on the camera work and plot, Saimink was also the victim, and Jasper was the main character as the experienced detective. The film was directed, edited and filmed by Richy. In the filming site, we did dry-runs to make sure everything was good, and made some adjustments. In the film, there are 2 characters. John Wayne (Toy) and the un-named experienced detective (Jasper). The short film also has a black/white edited in by using Premier, which adds the authenticity of being a Film Noir/Crime Thriller.
American sniper is a Action/War/Biographical Thriller based on the life of Chris Kyle, a US Navy Seal Sniper who was murdered in February, 2013. The film is a tribute to Chris Kyle's life, from a child to a fully grown adult. The opening sequence is filled with many micro-elements, and it is simply just magnificent. It combines a whole bunch of emotions, making you sit at the edge of your seats. The opening takes place in Iraq, on Chris Kyle's first tour. The first thing we see in the opening is this: A platoon of US Marines, with an M1A1 Abrams supporting them, rolls through a war torn city in Iraq.
Just this one short scene in the intro tells a lot. In the background, you can see buildings that are very old and war-torn (Destroyed), their paint deteriorating away among the gun-fire and deaths. The state of the building tells us that it is abandoned. 2 US Marines can be seen in the background, looking around for insurgents. This tells us that the environment that the Marines are so dangerous that normal civilians have fled somewhere else, it give us a sense of fear and anxiety.
In this scene, Chris aims his Remington Mk.13 Mod 5 Sniper Rifle at a man acting suspiciously on a cellphone. This scene is important because it has a big effect on the audience watching. It shows the audience the character's expression in combat, in a war-torn country with danger lurking around every corner. Even though that is the environment that they are in, both of them is calm,cool and collected, like it's another boring day at work. Since Chris is aiming at the man, it gives the audience a feeling of anxiety because the audience does not know what Chris is going to do next, is he going to shoot the man or let him go? It gets the audiences tensed up.
In this shot, it is a wide angled shot from Chris's over watch/sniping spot, covering the platoon of Marines down on the ground. This shot shows clearly the environment they they are in. The conditions there are unbearable to live in. Blown up cars and debris from blown up buildings litter the streets. The buildings itself look like those of a abandoned shanty town. This shows the harsh environment these Marines have to go through, it is an eye opening shot of how chaotic and dangerous the setting really is. It gives us a feeling that anything can happen at any moment, ambushes can occur within seconds, it plays a big effect on fear, fear of the unknown.
In this scene, Chris aims his sniper rifles to 2 people, a woman and a child. The woman is handing the child a RKG-3 Anti-Tank Grenade, which can do serious harm to the tank and the marines patrolling (Not seen in this shot). This scene shocks the audience because it breaks all morals and ethics, by using a child as a weapon of war, aka Child Soldiers. The audience are stunned,shocked as the mother hands the child a Anti-Tank grenade. Mothers are associated with warmth and love, however in this scene, it seems like the mother is willing to let her son throw the grenade and get shot by the Marines. It shows the audience how far the terrorists and insurgents are willing to go to kill the Marines, even to the point of using children as cover or as the weapon themselves. This scene is one of the scenes that makes the audience hold their breathe, as they are in disbelieve, that this actually happened. Since the whole movie is based on a true story, this scene actually happened in Iraq. The audience will be shocked, scared, some even traumatized by this actual scene. This scene is very important because it has some short to long term effect on our thinking. When I first saw this scene, a hatred grew inside me, a hatred for the terrorists and insurgents. I asked other people what they thought and most of them said the same thing, that they cannot believe that this actually happened, and they hate the terrorists even more. The scene plays with our emotions and way of thinking mentally.
This scene is equally as deep as the one above, it is very emotional and heart breaking to see. This seen is shot from Chris's POV, while looking through the scope of his Mk.13 sniper rifle. It shows the child's facial expression. The child looks sad and dull, like he is being told to do something he doesn't want to do, while his mother just simply stands and watches. It is emotional for some audiences, as the child is really young, and doesn't really know what is going on and is simply doing what his mother said. That the child, an innocent civilian, can be used by terrorists to harm people. This scene creates anxiety as the audience doesn't know what Chris is going to do, it plays with the audience's emotions.
Our task is to create a film opening/short film on a Film Noir/Crime Thriller, complete from scratch. The people in our group are Richy,Jasper,Saimink and myself. We started off by planning the details and props/story. After we finished we drafted a story line. Richy,Jasper and Samink worked on the story line while I worked on the filming locations and the props we were going to use. We decided on having a 1950/60s style film noir/crime thriller.
Why do we watch scary films? Dolf Zillman: The transfer theory tells us that by experiencing negative and scary imagery. It intensify our feelings, our positive negative feeling. We enjoy seeing seeing evil getting beaten and vanishing because it makes us feel pleasure and relief. Glen D. Walters: 1) The tension and suspense, created by micro-elements in the film and the narrative. Along with the manipulation of formula. It's not realistic (Unrealism), the idea that it is not real so that it's fine for us to watch, knowing it's fictional. 2) Relevance. The fears explored by the audience, have to be revelent to the audience. They have to believe in it. Aristotle: 1) Catharis is when we let out our violent feelings out by watching negative or violent things to fulfill our violent feelings and desires.
Task: Recreating some scenes from the Zodiac movie using a video provided. Then compare with original.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D13q-2I62w
1) This scene at 3:34 where the suspect hands the detective his "Zodiac" watch.
Original:
Re-make:
2) This scene from the 0:16 mark of the video. Where the suspect faces the 3 detective.
Original:
Re-make:
3) This shot is from the 1:14 mark of the clip, where one of the detectives examines the suspect's boots.
Original:
Re-make:
4) Another snapshot, 38 seconds into the clip. It contains the 3 detectives, sitting across from the suspect.
Original:
Re-make:
5) Another still from the 5:17 Mark of the video. Where the suspect leaves the room and the detectives stare at him.
Original:
Re-make:
(Note: Unlike the photo above, our photo doesn't have a mesh)
The opening scenes of the movie, gives us a lot of ideas and feelings about how the world is in the movie. At the start of the film, we hear about the military guarding mosques, a siege in Seattle, and England closing it's border and deporting illegal immigrants. It gives us a notion that the world this movie is set in, has a violent/dangerous environment. This is supported in the film opening, where an un-usual amount of policemen and military helicopters are seen. At the end of the intro, a bomb goes off in the cafe, which further supports my theory of London being a dangerous un-stable place. From what we learn in the intro, the word is set in a fictional plot, in an alternative universe. Along with the heavy presence of government forces (military and police) London seems to be in a terrible state of condition. With cars extremely dusty, motorcycle hawks-haws,trash piling up on the streets. It seems like London has turned into a slum/ghetto like place. With hawks-haws spotted commonly, it is assumed that is a heavy Asian immigrant population based in London. This is supported by the fact that in the intro, we heard a news reporter saying that Britain is closing it's borders and departing illegal immigrants. In the intro, the news reporter and news we see on the TV in the movie, tells us that the world youngest person died at 18. This suggests that the movie is set in an alternate time-line where there is this birth control or age control restriction going on, since how can the youngest person in the world be 18. This could be caused by over population of Asian countries. Furthermore, as evidenced by a bomb going off in the intro, there seems to be some kind of conflict/terrorism in London. The micro-elements in the film also plays a big role, such as the color and clothing of people. Everything is dull and sad, most of the people in the film are wearing dark colors suggesting the movie is in the "dark ages" of humanity.
2 British Police Officers patrol the streets.
A military Chinook helicopter is spotted in the sky.
More police officers are seen inside the coffee shop.
Trash bags piled up on the street.
Hawks-haws are seen everywhere on the streets.
Dusty cars litters the road.
News about Diego's death.
An explosion erupt from the cafe, creating a chaotic feeling.
Example/Terminology: We see as he addresses the class we have a mid shot Walter from the students perspective, this allows us to see his expressive body language, the tone of voice reinforces his enthusiasm.
Analysis: The tone of voice he speaks, is quite bright and exciting about teaching Chemistry. The 3 bottles of chemicals in the scene also represent his moods. The bottles are green,blue and red. Red representing his anger, green representing passion ,blue represent his happiness.
Point: He is represented a “poor/weak” teacher. By this I mean he is low in the Hierarchy of characters in the story, he is also struggling financially.
Example/Terminology: He has to work extra time as a shop assistant in a car wash,which shows that he is lacking some money. Furthermore near the end of the clip, the glovebox of his Pontiac Aztec wouldn’t shut, symbolising that his car is in bad condition therefore giving the idea that he is having some financial problems and isn’t able to afford simple things such as fixing a glovebox.
Analysis: The way he dresses, is stale/cold and doesn’t have any color/snap to it, his clothes also looks really old and stained. He is portrayed as someone who doesn’t receive respect from the student. In the clip, it shows the student not paying attention, and doing what they like. It also portrays Walter as a “weak” person, because he is shown to be at a different rank in the Hierarchy than the people around him, possibly at the botto
Planning:When our teacher gave us the task. Ryu, Richy and me, sat down and started to plan our film right away. He decided on the theme of "Heist." We drew a mind-map of our first plans on what the plot is going to be, what is going to happen in the film, props and the camera angles. We created a brief story board which we put in the film, some parts of the story board were changed during the film. We also experimented on a couple of camera angles such as POV, High Angle, Canted Angle. We didn't have a leader as all of us decided on votes and agreed to all our ideas.
Execution:When we started filming, we realized some parts of our story board didn't work or matches with the film. We improvised a lot on the spot, thinking and agreeing on the new ideas, concepts, the lore and camera angles. We started filming the same scenes from different angles and deciding on which one is best. Throughout the process of filming, we came out with new camera shots such as Richy's idea of the "Three shot" and "Tracking shot". Ryu worked on the camera/planning, Richy and myself worked as actors/planning and some ideas on the camera angles.
I came up with the idea of having the footsteps of our 2 main characters (Richy and myself) slam into the stairs at the same time, and walk up at the same place. Which turned out surprisingly well. One of the camera angles in the film that I like the most was the POV when (Richy)opens the cupboard containing the documents. Initially I was going to bring more realistic props such as a proper replica rifle of the M4A1, but since this was just a side project, our teacher made us use Nerf Guns. Other than that, we also ran into some minor problems such as actors laughing or smiling, which Richy and myself as actors couldn't hold our smile/laugh in, it is something we are going to have to work on.
Final Product:
Things I found pleased: The management of props was really good. Everyone brought their own props on-time, ready to film with no issues. This played a big role as we did not have to borrow any props from anybody else, and there were no setbacks. Furthermore, I'm really pleased about the camera angles used in the film. They varied from each shot, each creating different effects for the audience. Another thing I found pleased was Ryu's editing, it really gave a film a better reception from the audience as his editing skills were flawless, Richy and me were amazed on the things he can do.
Things we could do better: I think that our acting could have been better since there were scenes where we were either laughing or smiling and it really messes up the audience's reception of the film. We should practice not smiling and have a still face during filming. In addition, I think that our filming period should have been managed better. We filmed everything in one day instead of several days. If we filmed on several days we could have increased the quality of the film and the length of the film itself, we passes the 1 minute limit.
What could be improved if we repeated:
If we were to do the project again, we would have extended the planning and filming period so instead of 1 day, we would have multiple days to film and edit, and make the film less rough.
For the past year or so, I've been watching a TV Show called "Hawaii Five O" which I'm sure many people would know what it is. This series got me attached from the very first episode. What got be attached to the series was the pilot episode of Season 1, the very first episode can be described as interesting and epic, with action based drama through out the episode.
The episode starts off with the main character, "Steven McGarrett" a US Navy Seal, in a convoy transporting his arch enemy, a terrorist by the name of Anton Hesse. Anton's brother, Victor kidnaps Steven's father and calls Steven, demanding the release of his brother or his father will be executed. Steven won't let the prisoner go, and his father says the same thing. Suddenly the convoy is attacked by a UH-1H Helicopter fitted with side machine guns and rocket pods. The helicopter blows up the leading Humvee in the convoy forcing the 2 vehicles behind to come to a complete stop. Steven and soldiers supporting him (U.S. Army Military Policemen) dis-embarks from the vehicles, firing on the mercenary. Mercenaries start roping down from the Huey as they blow up another humvee, killing more soldiers. Both side exchange gun-fire but the mercenarys being better trained/experienced kills most of the US Army MPs, leaving Steven and only one MP left alive. However Steven with his Navy Seal skills, takes out all of the Mercenaries. Anton, desperate to escape, grabs a M9 Beretta from a dead US Army MP, and aims it at Steven. Steven shouts for him to drop the weapon, however he is forced to shoot Anton. Anton's body-armor is pierced by Steven's bullet, killing him. After killing Anton, Victor calls Steven. Realizing his brother is dead, he aims his gun at Steven's father, and proceeds to shoot him in the head. That is only the intro of the first episode.
Scenes from the intro:
A mercenary aims his G36C at Steven during the ambush.
A US Army MP takes cover as a mercenary fires on him.
A mercenary shoots a US Army MP as he moves in the way of Steven and the mercenary saving Steven's life.
The UH-1H Helicopter fitted with side machine guns and a rocket pod, uses a rocket to blow up the leading humvee of the 3 vehicle convoy.
Anton gets shot by Steven after grabbing a handgun from a dead US Army MP and aiming it, forcing Steven to shoot him.
This “Over The Shoulder Shot” follows Detective Hanna as he fires his FN FNC-80 Rifle at one of the bank robbers, (Shiherlis) as he climbs aboard the getaway vehicle. This OTS Shot follows up a gunfight between the bank robbers and the police detectives, they both where exchange gun-fire. Through this OTS the audience can see the environment/surrounding that the Detective is seeing as he fires at the Robber. It gives us a chaotic feeling of what is going on.
This shot is known as a “2 Shot”. There are 2 people in this
shot, Sergeant Drucker with his Mossberg 590 Shotgun and Detective Casals with
his M16A1 (fitted with a M16A2 Handguard) aiming at the bank robbers. This shot shows
the 2 detectives clearly aiming their weapons at the getaway car, it creates a
feeling of excitement and anxiety on what’s going to happen next. This shot
follows the 2 detective as they run, following the getaway car and shooting at
it.
This shot is the “Shallow Depth Of Field”. It isolates the
LAPD Officer who’s aiming his Beretta 92FS Handgun at the bank robbers. He is
the centre of attention in this shot. Since he is the only one in this shot, it
focuses on his facial expressions and the feeling of not knowing what is going
to happen next, is he going to get shot or not. He seems scared and focused at
the same time. The shot exemplifies that feeling.
The shot in this snap is the “Big Close-Up”. It shows a
close up on one of the bank robbers (Shiherlis) wielding his Colt Model 733.
The shot zooms in on the robber as he exits the banks and fires on 2 FBI
Detectives advancing on him. He looks calm and steady as he aims, he doesn’t
rush or hurries his actions, and he simply does this by instinct. The facial
expression on this man’s face is like of a cold blooded killer, he doesn’t
express anything on his face has he pulls the trigger. It gives an audience a
sense of fear. If you were on the other side of the gun getting aimed at by
this man, who has no fear, no emotions on his face, just a blank expression,
wouldn’t you be scared?
This shot is known as the “Bird’s Eye View.” In this scene,
one of the bank robbers (Michael Cheritto) wields his IMI Gaili ARM as he aims at the
hostages trying to get them on the floor. It is used to show some of the
aspects of the environment such as the hostages and the Robber. It shows the
power between the both of them and who is in-charged. It gives a wider view of what is happening
inside the bank and specifically targets on (Michael Cheritto) and the
hostages.
This shot is called “Very Low Angle”. In this snapshot, the
leader of the bank robbers (McCauley) gets up onto the stands. Since this is
shot at a location where (McCauley) is higher than the horizon of the camera,
it signifies that he is in power while the people below are powered by him
(powerless). It gives a sense that he is now in control of people’s lives below
him.
This shot is the “Long Shot”. This is often used in scenes
where the character, in this case Detective Hanna, tries to intercept the 2
surviving bank robbers who are trying to flee the scene. His body language is
easily seen and he looks serious and cautious as he moves towards the robbers,
rifle in hand. It increases the tension and anxiety in the scenes to come.
This shot is commonly known as the “Point of View” or POV
for short. This shot is a POV because it is take from the bank robber’s pov,
inside their now shot up getaway car. It shows the audience what’s ahead of the
bank robbers as the car skids un-controllably towards the parked cars and the
police roadblock ahead. It gives the audience a sense of fear as the scene
continues to go POV and inches closer to the parked cars, resulting in a crash.
This are one of the scenes that makes the audiences jolt back, it creates a
nervous/scared effect for the audience.
