Labels

Friday, 19 December 2014

The Apartment of 2 Women

We took the bedroom scene as an opportunity to put props and areas together to give the impression that 2 women live here, also trying to avoid stereotypes with one lesbian being 'the man' of the relationship, we've tried to not make it so there aren't very feminine objects next to contrasting masculine objects throughout the room. 

1. 2 pairs of high heeled shoes, we thought a pink and a blue pair would be best contrasting colours although blue is seen as a masculine colour, we've made Sophie (the perceived killer) wear the pink heels so she wasn't seen as the 'dominating, strong male of the relationship'.


2. 2 different perfumes, showing the femininity of them both. Also both bottles are completely different, showing the contrast between the two characters but are still close.


3. 2 wine glasses, showing that they are a couple, also having a girly humorous ornament shows that these 2 have a home together rather than just a fling.


4. A 50 shades of grey book, because its soft porn for girls, and why not? Sex sells.


Wednesday, 17 December 2014

Shaun of the Dead


In our first shots of 'Morning Coffee' we've used longer shots for the coffee making, we feel that this lingers too much and little tension is built.

In Shaun of the dead they use several quick cuts and close ups to speed up the morning routine. We really like this and want to incorporate it into our film opening, but to increase tension, especially with the coffee making I'm going to use lots of different shots of making coffee but quick cut close ups to emphasise the coffee - what the audience thinks kills Zoe.

Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Credits

Name of the studio - Blue Chair Studios
Name of the production company -  Foghorn Productions
Zoe Ellis
Sophie Millard
Morning Coffee
Casting by - Rama Ghanem
Music by - Christopher Higgs
Production design - Emma Sherry
Editor - Zoe Ellis
Director of Photography - James Cousins
Producer - Zoe Ellis
Directed and written by - Jessica Olson


Monday, 15 December 2014

IDEA - Lipstick

Keep lipstick occurring throughout the movie.
  • Adds to the femininity of the film
  • Red lips are seen as seductive 
  • Relates back to the Femme Fatale character
  • Sophie leaving the kiss mark on Zoe's cheek, like her 'mark'





Saturday, 13 December 2014

Filming schedule for this week

Sunday, 14th

Sophie coming over, 11am

Shots-
Phone message scene
Towel shot
Shower shot
Dressing shot
Teeth brushing shot
Lipstick shot

Location-
My flat
- Bathroom
- Bedroom

Props, costume-
Jeans, jumper
Pyjamas
Towel
Phone
Lipstick
Wine glasses
Perfumes


Monday, 15th

Zoe and Sophie coming over, 4pm

Shots-
Waking up
Zoe hair and face mask scene
Toast and coffee scenes
Feet 'goodbye' shot
Kiss on the cheek shot
Mug smash, dead shot





Wednesday, 10 December 2014

New script

Black screen, name of the studio Blue Chair Studios, name of the production company -  Spotlight Productions.

Looking directly at an alarm clock, the time changes to 6am, a hand comes from the left of the screen and slams down on it, turning the alarm off.

Camera is looking at a wall and door from the bed, Zoe gets up from one side of the bed and exits to the right of the screen Zoe ellis appears on screen. Sophie gets up from the other side of the bed and exits through the door on the left of the screen. Sophie Millard appears on screen.

Sees woman walking into the bathroom. Quick cut shots of towel getting hung up, shower turning on, teeth brushing, then shot of the woman in the bathroom looking at the back of her head then camera then turns round to the right looking at the side of her face – whilst this is happening she’s putting on lipstick Casting by Rama Ghanem

Cuts to the other woman in a different bathroom looking at the back of her head then the camera turns around to the side of his face – whilst this is happening he’s putting a face mask on. Music by David Cousins

Sees Sophie putting on pink heels, cuts back to Zoe peeling off her face mask,  Sophie's phone goes off with a message saying "Have you done it yet" Production design Emma Sherry

Feet shot of the 2 women walking into the kitchen but separately,  Editor Will Simons

Zoe get out a knife and chopping board Director of Photography James Cousins

Whilst Zoe is preparing the bread Sophie comes up behind her and puts her arms around Zoe's waist as Zoe turns around, Sophie's other hand grabs for the knife. Screenplay by Jessica Olson

The camera then cuts to pushing down the bread in the toaster, aggressively. The camera quickly cuts to Sophie pouring the coffee, then a shot of a sachet of a white substance being poured into the coffee - although it is not seen as to who pits it in the coffee. Then to the toast popping up, Zoe sips the coffee, Sophie crunches down on the toast, kisses Zoe goodbye, then Sophie's hand opening the door and leaving, the door slamming goes over the music (all close ups).  Producer Zoe Ellis

Sophie now outside passes a person and there is an exchange of a large amount of cash when passing, the screen goes black and the smash of a coffee cup is heard, shot of Zoe lying dead on the floor. Director Jessica Olson 

Monday, 8 December 2014

New Characters - Sophia

Zoe Ellis's character

Name: Sophia
Meaning: Wisdom

We wanted Sophia to be the innocent, deceived character who had been reeled in by Layla. We're going to portray Sophia as the binary opposite to Layla with several different aspects of the morning routine.

Firstly, Sophia will stay in her pyjamas throughout the opening, furthermore her pyjamas will be a childish design, our ideas are that they will have some sort of animal design on them. In addition to this, during the 'getting ready' part of the movie Sophia will be in her bathroom applying a face mask, and peeling it off - we were hoping this would represent the clean, purity of her. She will also be barefoot throughout, adding to the down-to-earth natural aspect of her personality. In the kitchen she will be preparing food for Layla, showing her homely and caring nature, only wanted to look after and care for her other half. Our hope was to successfully portray Sophia and Layla as binary opposites to one another.

We chose the name Sophia as it sounds very sweet, and innocent, but this has the meaning of wisdom. Sophia will be mainly seen as the victim, but when Layla's phone goes off we'll see Sophia immediately look over to Layla pick up the phone, also in the coffee making scene we see a sachet of poison put into the coffee, although we do not see who put it in adding mystery and complexity to the plot.

Sunday, 7 December 2014

New Characters - Layla

Sophie Millard's Character

Name: Layla
Meaning: Dark beauty

We wanted Sophie's character to have elements of a femme fatale character, a femme fatale is a stock character of a mysterious character of a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, dangerous and deadly situations.



In Layla's case, we want the audience to perceive that Layla has charmed and lured Sophia (Zoe's character) into a relationship, leading her into a deadly situation - poisoned by coffee

We will not be making everything about Layla's appearance and actions pointing directly towards a murderous character. We want it to be subtle. We will achieve this by Layla wearing red lipstick, a seductive colour with connotations of blood, in addition to this when Layla kisses Sophia she will leave a red kiss mark on her cheek as if she is leaving her mark on her. Also, Layla will be wearing pink heels to add to the glamour of her character, Within the plot we're creating Sophia will be poisoned, Layla will be making the coffee but there will be a shot of the poison going into the coffee although it will be made unclear as to who put it in.


Friday, 5 December 2014

Orange is the New Black

Looking at the most modern TV drama with lesbians, bisexuals, transexuals etc. containing the most obvious portrayals of stereotypes we've seen that there are 2 different types of stereotypes, not just the 'all lesbians are butch' one. We've also seen how hair and make up can portray sexuality as in Orange is the New Black they are limited to hair and make-up as all costumes are the same.



 We have conformed more to the 'lipstick lesbian' stereotype, especially with the Layla character. We did this intentionally to add to the stereotype of female killers being seductive and mysterious.



Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Avoiding Lesbian Stereotypes

Upon research, these are the lesbian stereotypes that I found, and will be avoiding in the film opening.

  1. In every lesbian couple, one has to be the man
  2. Lesbians all dress like men (butch)
  3. All butches have short hair and are overweight
  4. All lesbians hate make-up, shaving, bras and dresses


Monday, 1 December 2014

Gay Characters

I've decided to change the characters from male and female to 2 females. I realise that this will decrease a large amount of audience as there is still a chunk of the population that are uncomfortable with this concept and are still homophobic. In my opinion having 2 lesbian characters shouldn't make a difference, and since gay orientated films such as Pride and Blue is the Warmest Colour has been released and incredibly well received I believe that this will make zero difference to my film.

In addition to this, as its a mystery film, the audience can't see the stereotypical violent killer male. In the film opening it's going to be implied that one of the women had been poisoned by her coffee, a more traditional killing tool used by women.


Friday, 28 November 2014

Script


Alarm sound playing throughout this shot

Camera (hand held) goes through the front door of the house and follows through the hallway and turns to the close bedroom door, name of the studio Blue Chair Studios, name of the production company -  Spotlight Productions.

Starts to hear alarm clock noise. Camera hand held, moves down close to the floor. Follows the door opening and into a bedroom, turns to face the bed and lifts up to se 2 pairs of feet close together. Camera then follows the bodies up and stop when the man’s arms are around the woman’s stomach and neck is in shot.

Camera then moves to the alarm clock, into a close up of the clock, the man’s hand then smacks down violently on it, turning the alarm off.

Camera then cuts to the woman’s hand turning on music on a touch screen devise. Camera cuts to the wall  (lamp light turns on) opposite the lamp and on the right hand side of the screen you see the woman’s back, Lily Saunders appears on screen, and you see the majority of her shadow on the wall. She has a bare back and puts on one of the man’s shirts. And swiftly walks away towards a shelf and puts some music on.  The man then gets off the bed on her side; same as before, where you only see the left side of him and you see the majority of his shadow, Leon Harpley appears on screen. He stretches out with clenched fists and goes in the opposite direction the woman went and leaves the room. Morning coffee appears on screen.

Cuts to a shot of the woman in the bathroom looking at the back of her head then camera then turns round to the right looking at the side of her face – whilst this is happening she’s pulling off a face mask. Casting by Rama Ghanem

Cuts to the man in a different bathroom looking at the back of his head then the camera turns around to the left side of his face – whilst this is happening he’s putting shaving cream on. Music by David Cousins

Then moves to split screen, the woman’s side comes in from the right, the camera shots are behind their heads and then follows the 2 characters (who then pass each other to which the other only comes in slight shot of the others shot). Production design Emma Sherry

The man’s shot then moves away and were just looking at the woman who is in the kitchen. Close up of the woman’s fingernail scraping against the work surface, the sound playing over the music, she then taps on the work surface once, hard, with her nail. Editor Will Simons

On the sound of her nail hitting the work surface the camera immediately cuts to looking at the man’s back just pulling down his shirt, an alert tone and vibration from his phone is heard, camera cuts to him picking up his phone to see a message. It reads ‘is it done yet?’ Director of Photography James Cousins

Camera cuts to the woman in the kitchen cut a loaf of bread slightly aggressively, the sound of the bread cutting goes over the music, the man shows up behind her and puts his arms slowly around her waist. She stops cutting the bread and turns around to look at him. His hands then reach back behind her back, looking like he’s grabbing for the knife. Screenplay by Jessica Olson

The camera then cuts to him pushing down the bread in the toaster, aggressively. The camera quickly cut s cut the pouring of coffee, then to the toast popping up, the man sipping the coffee, crunching down on the toast, kissing the woman goodbye, then his hand opening the door and leaving, the door slamming goes over the music (all close ups).  Producer Zoe Ellis

Camera cuts to the woman’s hands holing a coffee cup, the camera slowly moves up to her face smiling, Director Jessica Olson the shot slowly goes black, the sound of a mug smashing is heard and then the camera turns back on and is a birds eye view shot of the woman dead on the floor. 

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Interviews: Mystery genre

Questions:

1. What would you look for in a mystery film?
A1: An unfound answer. A questionable death with an unclear answer. Clues for the audience before the police find them.
A2: Intrigue, a slowly unraveling plot, drama.

2. What don't you like in a mystery film?
A1: Cliches, such as Americans.
A2: Blatantly obvious plot twists.

3. Do you prefer classic or horror mystery?
A1: Classic
A2: Classic

4. Why?
A1: I prefer to watch a clear character development, in horror that doesn't normally happen. Classic mystery is always more in depth.
A2: No need for the excessive blood and gore. I prefer the psychological dramas.

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Interviews: Comedy genre

Questions:

1. What would you look for in a comedy film?
A1: Subtle and dry humour.
A2: Character development so that you get to know them and their personality so the jokes and humour become funnier.

2. What don't you like you like in a comedy film?
A1: Appear to be natural humour, not appear like they're really trying to be funny.
A2: Not loud and outright, obnoxious humour, I really dislike teenage American comedies.


Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Bill Milner Mixtape


The beginning of this short film has the same idea as the To Do List, and is just another example of having the credits in the scene rather than just words over the screen.

The To Do List Title Sequence


In the To Do List all of the credits are written and have been merged with the settings, like in CD's, pencil cases, posters etc. This is a good technique when wanting to focus on the setting or era that the movie is set in, although we don't want to focus on the era, the setting could be an idea - the house of a suspiciously happy/sad couple, although we'd need to have the right balance of looking at credits and actions of the actors as a murder does take place, and the audience would need to focus on that.

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Legally Blonde Opening Credits


Although my film won't be in the same genre of legally blonde or as upbeat or light as these opening credits, but I like how you never see the main characters face throughout the whole sequence but you  get shots, glimpses and hints of what her life is like and her personality. In my opening I was hoping to show glimpses of what the couples relationship was like, the initial thought would be that they were happy together but then you see the odd thing such as a text message which would arouse suspicion as to if there were any secrets between them.

Monday, 10 November 2014

Dexter morning routine


I'm thinking of following a similar credit opening to the TV series Dexter, where you see a morning routine, but there are references and hints of death and a darkness is expected during the show. I also like how there are lots of close ups and very fine detail, also how there is a point of view shot where we see what Dexter sees. I hope to use point of view shots throughout my opening (the point of views from a man and a women together, also going through a morning routine).

Idea Change

I've changed my idea from a funeral scene completely, as even making a coffin with my friend proved to be too expensive in materials. I'm sticking with a similar genre of film, where death is involved but maybe some dark humour throughout the title sequence.

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Characters

Have either 4, maybe 5 characters that the shots focus on through out the opening, and then have more minor characters in the background just to create a small crowd. I don't want a lot of people in the shots though as I want the audience to think that the person that died wasn't massively popular, but wasn't hated, they just had few very close family and friends in his life.

Rain


I was hoping to have the funeral shot in the rain as it adds to the solemn mood I'm aiming to portray, plus the characters can all have black umbrellas which would naturally darken the shots.

Thursday, 23 October 2014

Monday, 20 October 2014

The Dark Shadows Opening


The dark shadows title sequence includes several long shots and establishing shots, which I will attempt to use in my film opening, to show the setting and general mood of all the characters in the scene. In these credits, I also like how you have a medium close up of Victoria, showing some of her emotions and suggests what sort of character she will be. 

In addition to this, as I have mentioned in previous posts, I like how the credits fade in and out on either side of the screen. The general colour of the shots emphasise the darkness and there is an overall grey colour to it, this with the deep, melancholy soundtrack portrays a dark and gloomy look to the movie.

Thursday, 16 October 2014

Order of opening credits


  Name of the studio
  Name of the production company
  Starring
  Film's title
  Featuring
  Casting/Casting by
  Music
  Production design
  Editor
  Director of Photography
  Screenplay
  Producer name
  Director

Trunk shots



Quentin Tarantino's trunk shot/low angle shots have always interested me because you don't know what or who is in the trunk, like in reservoir dogs its a police officer, I like the fact the shot is basically what the officer is seeing and adds a hint of mystery to a shot.

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Music for opening credits





As I wanted my opening credits to be melancholy and a generally gloomy and sad atmosphere I wanted music to accompany that mood, and then an action or speech to add a humorous spin on the situation. I also liked the simplicity of just a piano playing, I'll be asking my friend Lily, to help compose and play a piece for my opening.

Possible font for opening credits



I might use this font in my film opening as it is simple and won't be the main focus of the shot, I would like to have this font in a grey colour and softly appear and disappear in the bottom corners of the screen.

A Dead Man's Shoes Opening Credits


In a Dead Man's Shoes I particularly like how the credits show up in the corner of the shot rather than in the middle of the shot or just getting in the way of the shot. I think it's a more subtle way of showing credits. I'm also fond of the colour of the font. In addition to this, I also like how the lighting isn't very high and there's an almost greyish look to it.

Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Juxtaposition in Reservoir Dogs




In the famous ear cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs juxtaposition is used with music, in this scene Mr. Blonde  tortures a tide up police officer by cutting off his ear, absolutely grotesque and a horrible thought, let alone someone in a film actually doing it. Quentin Tarantino makes this scene almost humorous by playing an upbeat song (stuck in the middle with you) and having Mr. Blonde dance around and having him enjoy himself whilst he's doing it. Tarantino somehow manages to lighten this scene by playing this.

In Bruges Title Sequence




There are several elements of 'In Bruges' opening credits that I like and would like to incorporate in my film opening. Firstly, all shots are dark and shadowed in the night time, even when there's a shot in the daytime, there is still a greyish tinge to the colouring and no enhanced lighting, giving it an overall glum look to it. Secondly, the font, the colour of it and how it softly enters and exits throughout the sequence, again adding to the slow, moody, glum atmosphere. Further adding to this, the music I particularly like, having just a piano playing makes it simple yet explains a lot about how the opening credits are setting a fairly miserable view on what the film will be. Finally, my favourite part, where everything is fairly down and melancholy, when Colin Farrell starts speaking, he adds a lot of humour to it, even though we find out that he's a murderer, and in general a fairly grumpy irish git, he is still funny. I enjoy juxtaposition where a sad mood is completely spun around and made humorous.