More Monsters!

So as I mentioned before in one of my earlier research posts, I was interested in doing an opening scene with monster origami hanging on the classroom ceiling. It may have sounded a bit strange but I have completed a full demo of what it was would look like. (kind of) Once again here is the link to where I found out how to make these little monsters.
A few pictures of the 'making of'.


















My cat seemed to be very interested... But even more so in the final hanging monsters.

Monster Script Draft 1

Monster Script
Draft 1

Ms. Harper: Good morning class! I thought today we would do a fun writing activity.

Class: Awe (whiny, not waning to do it)- Lilly is seen and she does not participate in the whining.

Ms Harper: Now, now kids I mentioned it would be fun, so there is no need to panic. I want you to write about what you are most afraid of. It can be fictional or non-fictional. I am leaving that for you to decide. Say for example, if I were to write about my worst fear I would write about giant spiders attacking my house! (laughs) Anyway, get started now and you have until the end of the lesson, if you don’t finish it’s homework!

(The focus will start to go towards a little girl in the front of the room. Due to an over the shoulder shot, we can start to see what she is writing. Her first written words are “I’m not scared of spiders. I’m not even scared of ghosts. The only thing that frightens me in this world is a monster.”- Then the narration starts and we fade into a flashback.

Lilly: The monster I know isn’t like any other monster. He doesn’t live in my closet or under my bed. He doesn’t only come out at night. I don’t really understand because he says he loves me one day, and others I just hear screams. We still have fun too. But playing hide and seek isn’t the same as before. Because these days, if I lose the game, I lose sleep that night too. I know everything will be okay and the fear will go away. Besides, the monster only comes out when the bottle is out. But I’d still like to know why does he treat me so? I’ll never be mad but I still know there should be comfort at home, not pain from your dad. (As the last sentence is said, we skip to a shot of a man’s shadow hitting Lilly in a dark room)

Collage Feedback & Second Collage

The collage helped us put our ideas onto pictures for everyone else to see and imagine. The first collage helped us to improve our treatment because there was some confusion that arose due to the collage. Some people imagined the park to be a happy place where Lilly can get away and escape. So by having a black & white swing set in the collage, there was confusion whether that place was sad or happy. Therefore we decided to bring in a couple of Lilly's friends into the movie. They would start out with her in the park being happy and playing together. However as the narration of the story goes on, the friends start to leave, and it is noticed that Lilly sticks around. That is when the realization occurs of the reason of Lilly being in the park.

I believe the following collage of "the World of Our Film" is a better representation of the themes and ideas that we plan to include in our film. All the pictures are not just about child abuse, as the story also explores Lilly's childhood of school and friends.

Monster Research

I realize that the monster in our movie is not the typical monster one may imagine in their minds. But the more I though about it, the more I started to question what exactly a monster is- at least in most people's minds. This may not seem very relevant to our film, but I believe it is very important, since the actual monster in our film will firstly be depicted as the fictional monster that comes to everyone's minds. The following is an exert from the wikipedia article about monsters.

A monster is any type of legendary creature which usually appear in legend or horror fiction. The word monster derives from the latin word monstrum, meaning omen, from the root of monere("to warn") and also meaning "prodigy" or "miracle".The term monster refers to a being that is a gross exception to the norms of some ecosystem. A person referred to as a monster is taken as exceptionally evil, grotesque, unreasonably strict and uncaring, sociopathic, and/or sadistic. The word monster connotes something wrong or evil.

This definition can be associated with so many things other than Godzilla and Frankenstein. The second part of the definition is an exact description of Lilly's father. A story/film that comes to mind that does not use the stereotypical monster name to large creatures destroying cities is the movie "Monster". In this movie, Charleze Theron plays a lesbian prostitute who due to some unfortunate events begins killing her clients. This movie, like ours, shows a different side of the 'monster' definition.

Here is a link to the top 10 movie monsters. (Godzilla included!)
Cinemassacre's Top 10 Giant Movie Monsters

After thinking and reading about monsters I came up with a great shot that we could use for our opening scene. This would help us tie in the monster theme. I found a video online teaching you how to make "Monster Origami Masks". The shot I have in my mind sets in a classroom that is filled with crafts done by the children. The craft focus of the shot is the monster origami masks that are hanging from the ceiling on strings. They are light and therefore swing and twirl in the breeze. All different colors are present. If we open with a close-up shot of these hanging masks (that the kids supposedly have created before in a classroom project) it sets the mood for a 'monster' theme. They seem innocent and fun, yet they represent a whole lot more- which is found out throughout the duration of the film. During this shot, the title of Monster would appear on the screen.

Monster Origami Mask

World of Our Film Collage

This collage show's the mood and feel of our film. The main focus of this collage is the many children in it representing child abuse. That is the main theme of our film therefore those images are very important when it comes to someone learning about the world of our film. The picture of the teacher obviously represents the teacher in the film. The colors in that picture are much brighter and more colorful than the rest of the collage because at that scene in the film, the audience still has not yet figured out exactly what the theme of the film really is. Therefore it is contradicting the entire mood with the colorful and happy picture. The empty swing set represents loneliness throughout the film of the little girl. It also has a direct technical correlation to the film as a lot of the scenes will be in a park- one being of her on a swing. Overall mood of this film is very emotional and distressing. It is from the eyes of a young girl, a girl who does not yet realize what is actually going on in her life. Therefore she has had to create metaphorical monsters in her head to cope with the reality.

Cinematography

Cinematography Lighting
The cinematographers in this video had a very creative way of talking about the way lighting affects a film. They described the technical aspects of lighting and the way that reflects directly onto the mood that the film has. A great quote that really stuck out to me was when one of the cinematographers said that you must know your story inside out before you can begin to imagine the lighting of the set. I believe this is a very important point because if you have no direction, anything you try to do will have no purpose and will be there just to be there. The way most of them begin to light scenes is by going onto the set, and then beginning to light it with just one light, and just like that they add one by one until the finished product looks like what they've imagined. It is pretty much just like a painting, you start with a blank canvas and work your way with different colors and layers.

Chris Doyle's Master Class
Christopher Doyle describes a cinematographer as the one who decides exactly what goes onto the screen. He is in charge of mise-en-scene. He mentions using light as a way to create space. By using different lighting from a series of angles, it can change the mood and feel of the film/scene. He gave great advice on the way he creates his scenes. He says that it is not just thought up, but you have to go to a location, and by that you can build on top of what you have with what is available.-Different walls/windows/lights/shadows, etc. Christopher Doyle also compares the difference between the cinematogrophy in western films, as compared to eastern films. He states how western films tend to make the mise-en-scene very obvious, while easterners consider everything in the mise-en-scene and expect the audience to find what it is that is the most important.

Children of Men Emmanuel Lubezki
In this video the cinematographer and the director talk about filming the very important scene of the uprising when Theo rescuing the girl. This scene was very important to the film as it is where the climax and the main action happened. Everything comes together at this scene. The cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki talks of filming this entire scene in one whole shot as to make it seem much more realistic. It was all from the main character Theo's view- to see what are the affect of him being thrown into such a situation are. At this poin there were not many cut away shots and the focus was on Theo. He also speaks of the lighting that he used. He was only using natural lighting as to create a larger sense of realism. Even during night scenes, only fire was used as lighting in the asylum camps.

Feedback

This is the feedback from our second pitch.

Positives

• People thought the way we pitched the story made it seem very touching.
• Very effective & unexpected yet simple and makes much more sense than the original idea.
• The following NSPCC is helpful for inspiration & ideas
  
  
  I believe this advert is very informational when it comes to abused children. It allows us to connect to this child who is not present with the mare clip of a bouncing ball. This allows us to understand just how important little things are to abused children. From a more technical point of view, this advert allows us to learn from its minimalist use of shots and the powerful affect of just dialogue. (Which is something we'll have to do as the narrative of the girl's essay make the entire film. We need to choose the right words to give the right feeling or else the whole story will be off.)
  
• One of the most important things is that we make our film with passion from our hearts.
• Keeping the main character sweet will make the story more endearing.
• An excellent & simple story.

Negatives

• How are we going to get the dad to slap/hit her?
  

The shot will be more disguised and therefore will not need a full on punch. If we just shoot a p.o.v. shot from the girl onto a man coming at her and 'hitting' her, I believe it will be effective. His face also does not need to be shown, therefore finding any male actor would be easier rather than an older man.

• How are we going to find a woman to play the part?

The first step we'll take is emailing all the drama teachers in the school and ask if they would like to volunteer. I think they would be perfect because they already have experience/expertise in the acting field. If no teachers are willing to volunteer, we will resort to using a 6th former that looks old for their age. By altering his/her clothes we can make him/her look even older.

Treatment 2-Monster

We decided to go in a completely different direction with our entire story line. Our first treatment got bigger than what we could possibly achieve. It also had many gaps that were difficult to fill with only a 5 minute time frame. Therefore after undertaking much research into independent shorts, we had come up with a much more meaningful storyline that would also be easier to film.



Monster

This short film reveals the inner feelings and views of a world so much bigger than a girl can imagine. Her outlook on life has been simplified to common metaphors of a young child. However the deeper meanings behind the metaphors are more than some children could bare.
The story opens with the setting of a regular, every day classroom. The teacher gives the children their daily assignment. Today it is no regular assignment. They have been requested to write a short essay-fiction or non-fiction about their worst fear. The teacher jokes about how she is deathly afraid of spiders- therefore her essay would consists of giant spiders taking over her whole house! Lilly’s (main character) fear is a monster that she takes careful detail describing. She describes his actions and his ways- the reasons why she is afraid of him. Throughout her writing there are cuts/fades to Lilly wandering around the park alone. After school hours she’d rather roam the park finding things to occupy her time than go home. In her thoughts while she is at the park she plays on the swing set, kicks around an old found ball, lay in wonder in the grass. As the end of her story approaches it seems to become clearer of who the monster really is. This is reassured by the concluding sentence and the last shot of someone (her father) assaulting Lilly- this being done by a p.o.v. shot of her dad hitting her as she steps foot into the house.
This story gets inside the head and thoughts of a young child who lives in an abusive family. She has created a ‘monster’ in her head as to replace the actual abusive father who has caused her to think this way. The sadness of the main character has made it for the audience to be highly empathetic towards her experience. The entire purpose of the story comes together in the end when it all ends in a bang as the audience finds out that the monster is not an imaginary character in a book or a cartoon, yet an abusive father living in her very own house.

Background Research

(The purple titles are links)

The BBC Film Network website was a huge inspiration to me when it came to getting new great ideas for a short film. It had amazing tips on how to write a short story-from beginning to end. The other very helpful thing about this site is the amount of short they had on hand. I watched quite a few shorts that were all about 5 minutes long just to get a greater understanding of how to portray a story within such a short period of time.
I realized that our film does not have to try and squeeze in an entire lifetime of events into the time frame. I know now that as long as the short film has a purpose, and definitely a meaning, it is a film worth watching. The short films that caught my eye the most are the ones who included children as main characters. I believe children have such a vulnerability that it makes it easy for the audience to empathize with them. Their view of the world is completely different from adults, yet all adult understand this because they were once children themselves.

Here are a couple shorts that I really enjoyed:

A Fairytale of Forgotten Things
This short felt very enchanting and magical. It draws in the viewer with its mystical feel. Every person, a dreamer or not, wants to believe there is something more than just what we see from day to day. For some people it is that little bit of hope that makes them go on.

Dragonfly
This seems like such a simple story line from the get go, yet it has a much deeper meaning once you really think about it. The double timing gives the short an interesting affect which keeps the viewer interested. I also really enjoyed the special affects of the boy magically turning into a dragonfly. It seemed so flawless and perfect. The boys wish (as well as the purpose of the film) of escape has come true in the end.

The Unloved is an independent film that i saw a while back when it aired on Channel 4. I thought it was very moving and gave a great insight of what it is like to be in a poisonous household that leads to childcare. It made me realize how much of a story can be told with complete silence. I think the silent moments of close up shots of the main character- which is a little girl- meant the most. Once again like I stated above, I loved the vulnerability of the little girl. Her innocence is being tampered with everywhere she goes.

Character Profiles for Red Rose Killer

The following are character profiles for the Red Rose Killer story:

Red Rose Killer

Present: The character is elderly in his late fifties, early sixties. His voice is husky and faint because the character is on his death bed suffering from a fatal illness. The character is uncomfortable in his surroundings and constantly paranoid. His costume consists of a robe, rosary beads, old makeup and a grey wig.
Past: The character is young, aggressive and twisted who had become detached from reality because his wife committed adultery with a close work friend. He now is hurt and wants revenge to stop any other men from experiencing the same pain he has. The characters costume consists of long black coat with a red rose placed in the pocket and black trousers.

Sister Deborah
A female character around the age of forty she has lost her older sister who died suddenly with no explanation, she should be caring for her sister and is defensive and anxious whenever her sister is mentioned. Her costume consists of casual clothing including a jacket and handbag.

News Reporter
News Reporter around the age of eighteen to twenty can be either male or female and have a strong clear English accent. The character is required to wear a smart suit jacket and shirt.

Feedback Response

These are our responses to the questions & comments raised while we presented our first pitch to the class.

Treatment 1-Red Rose Killer

Red Rose Killer

Treatment #1

The story stars out as a clip based in olden times. This can be deciphered through the date on the bottom corner of the screen, as well as the granulled old style filming. The voice on the radio speaks of a third murder by the mysterious ‘red rose killer’ who leaves a red rose at the scene of his every killing. The voice on the radio also describes the targets as young, attractive women. As someone turns the radio off the scene fades into current day with the effect of granulled type film being taken off as well as the text ‘current day’ in the bottom corner being displayed. We are then seeing an older man distressed in his sleep. He is shaking and mumbling. At this time there are flashbacks of scenes of murder- this is to represent what the man is dreaming about. The scene cuts from the dream to reality a few times until finally the man wakes up. There is no diagetic dialogue as music covers the man’s voice. He picks up the phone dials a number and then speaks into the telephone (we cannot hear his voice). There is a cut to an analog clock. A fast forward affect of the clock turning quick lets the audience know a long time has past- even though it has only taken up a few seconds of the clip.

Afterwards, we see a women walk into the room. Her dialogue reveals that she is the man’s dead wife’s sister. They have not spoken since the death of Lily (sister and wife). The man seems to be in painful agony (coughing, speaking uneasy). He tells the sister that he has a confession to tell her. As he starts telling his story he pulls out a letter and describes it as the beginning of everything. There is a flashback of a woman writing this letter. His wife is the one writing to him to confess her unloyalty to her husband. She narrates the letter as she writes it, folds it up, and puts the letter on his pillow, followed with a red rose on top of the letter. The continuation of the film happens with a large amount of flashbacks and flash forwards into current time. The man confesses that he has killed his wife as well as 3 other women due to the rage and anger he had acquired from being cheated on. The clips of him killing the other women are tastefully shown with flashbacks of hints of killing and seduction. As the women he was after were unloyal women, just like Lilly. He confesses his killings to the sister. She is obviously very distressed and didn’t know what to think of it all. Before she has time to put her input into the tragedy of her sister and those women, the main character dies. She places one white rose on top of him as there was a vase with white roses next to his bed. This concluded the film with a quote from the bible talking about clearing away your sins, and red turning into white. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”

Color Red Moodboard

This is the original moodboard I created when we first started brainstorming ideas for our films. As we had do base our film upon one of Barking Abbey School's color, my moodboard is filled with descriptions and meanings for the color red. This was a great task as it got us thinking about the different morals/beliefs we could incorporate into the script that deal with the color red.

Moodboard

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AS Opening Sequence June 2009

This is the final coursework for the AS Media Coursework. Our task was to create an opening sequence to a feature film.