Company Analysis - Context 2

I have created a mind map of film production companies around nottingham and norwich. I have researched companies around the area I am for uni and where I am at home. I will use this for my "Company Analysis" report for context 2 and will try and contact some of these companies to see if I can get some work.

MALac

THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Fade in from black: white text on black background:

Courage is the belief that there is

something more important than personal safety

Fade to black

Int.Day.Room

HE is sweating. Hard.

SHE stands impassive. Unconcerned.

HE rubs his wrist and we see HE is chained to the chair.

SHE

(Bright. Breezy)

Are you sure you wouldn’t like a drink?

(smiles)

Never too late to change your mind.

HE

(Afraid)

I swear, I swear. Please. Stop. Please?

SHE

(placing a briefcase in front of the chair)

Shush. Be quite quiet. It will no longer be necessary to

lie.

HE

I swear…

HER

Shush, shush.

(popping open the case)

I have here a malac. God it’s beautiful.

Could you hold him please?

MAN steps out of the shadows and forces HE’s hand

horizontal.

HE

Don’t. Don’t. I swear.

SHE

(pleased)

MALacs. Now no more shall we part on this path of truth we

find ourselves on.

Playing with the MALac in the case, its metallic sheen

plays on SHE’s face.

SHE

Pain, enlightening truth. This is what MALac brings.

Shall we continue?

SHE removes the MALac and shutting the case she steps

forward.

HE screams.

THE END

OUR ADAPTION OF THE SCRIPT

Fade in from black: white text on black background:

Courage is the belief that there is

something more important than personal safety

Fade to black

Int.Day.Room

HE is sweating. Hard.

SHE stands impassive. Unconcerned.

HE rubs his wrist and we see HE is chained to the bed.

SHE

(Bright. Breezy)

Are you sure you wouldn’t like a drink?

(smiles)

Never too late to change your mind.

HE

(Afraid)

I swear, I swear. Please. Stop. Please?

SHE

(looking over to the knife, hammer, elastic band and nails)

Shush. Be quite quiet. It will no longer be necessary to

lie.

HE

I swear I’ve done nothing… why are you doing this to me?

HER

Shush, shush.

(walks over to the tools)

Your going to want to tell the truth.

Where is she?

Man: what are you talking about, I’ve done nothing?

She walks over to him with a blade and elastic band

Don’t. Don’t. I swear.

You’re going to want to stay still for this kind of procedure!

NOW TALK!

He: FUCK YOU i don’t know anything.... please just let me go.

(pleased)

MALacs. Now no more shall we part on this path of truth we find ourselves on.

Her: Playing with the knife, walks slowly towards him

HE: Wait wait, please you don’t have to do this

SHE

TELLL ME!!

HE:  I don’t know, im telling you the fucking truth

SHE moves closer towards him

Fade out

HE screams.

THE END

We changed the script so instead of the malac being an object of some sort it's a girl who has gone missing. The guy has been kidnapped because she believes she has her hidden. We thought this could be a lot more dramatic and carry more suspense.

I was in charge of the lighting but we all had a go trying each role such as using the camera and recording the sound.

Our story was a guy that goes to the pub, meets a girl, gets drugged and wakes up hangdcuffed to a bed whilst she is interrogating him about a missing girl. She threatens him with a knife throughout the scene.

We all decided to do an edit, I decided to show some quick cuts of the guy getting ready and drinking at the pub with some simple background beats. I used a scary atmospheric background sound for when he is chained to the bed which I think works well.

Moving Image Rationale

When we looked at the script we saw it as being more about loss than simply turning into a dog, someone acting in that way because his dog has died. We didn't like the script so we thought we would make our own interpretation of it, we came up with the idea about a girl who is depressed and drinks heavily because she has suffered a loss of some kind. We thought we could perhaps keep the loss as a secret leaving the audience to guess or make it be about losing her boyfriend and show her holding a photograph of him at the end. We were going to create a stop frame scene showing the glasses pile up and her drinking like the heroin scene in 'Requiem for a Dream' (Directed by Darren Aronofsky). We were going to film this in a flat using a dim light to make it seem gloomy, perhaps using one light with either an orange or blue gel. With this idea I wanted to capture lots of interesting shadows covering the girl, the shadows being her depression. Shadows work well in abstracting and distorting, which would look effective over her face making her seem quite scary. For the outdoor scenes we would have filmed when its just getting dark. I would have liked to film long shots and high shots around trees to make her look isolated and overpowered. The shadows of the trees towering over her, making her look trapped in spider-webs. I also wanted to film a lot in hand held to create the look that she is out of control and drunk or the world look out of control to her.

We couldn't go forward with this idea in the end because the actor kept letting us down so we had a group discussion to talk about our options. We then came up with an idea which didn't require us getting an actor and wouldn't take to long to film as we didn't have long to get this done. We thought about filming from the dog's point of view who is neglected by his owner and takes on more of a human role; completely reversing the script. I filmed this all in hand held from a low angle to the height of a dog. I had to keep moving the camera from side to side to create the look of a dog moving which I think I achieved well. We didn't need a tripod or lights and didn't need any real acting so it saved us a lot of time. We only used the legs of a member of our group and the hand of the owner of the flat.

I found the dog drinking the water scenes the hardest to do as I had to splash the water with my finger whilst moving the camera up and down without getting the finger in the shot. This took a while to get right.

Although I got quite a sore back from bending down a lot to film I did enjoy this a lot and I am pleased with how I filmed it. I have seen point of view filming before such as 'Jaws' (Directed by Steven Spielberg) who filmed from the shark's point of view as it approaches it's victim. The way he has done that makes the audience feel uncomfortable as we don't want to be in that position. I am also very happy with the sounds and editing that Ajay and Amanda did. We filmed in a noisy atmosphere and had to completely remove all the sounds from the video and add new ones. I am pleased with the group edit but I did find a few problems which I corrected in my edit. Part of the voice over was cut off missing out a word so I had to find the original, import it into Adobe Soundbooth to remove the noise and increase the volume. I increased the volume of the voice over more in my edit so its easier to hear over the dog sound effects and I noticed the finger been seen in parts when the dog is drinking the water in the cafe so I cut them out. I changed the titles so the members of the group are at the beginning and all the other credits are at the end and added a much more upbeat music track at the end as I found the other one slightly depressing. I am very happy with the edit I have made and the effort we all put in as a group.

If I was given another chance to do this project I could take a completely different approach perhaps focusing on a man who loses everything, becomes homeless and starts to beg. I could create a film of someone going insane, a film about a prisoner or even someone completely transforming into a dog, such as growing hair and claws, like a werewolf.

Moving Image - Group Edit and my edit

Group Edit

I am really pleased with our film, I think the hand held camera works well as the dog's point of view. I noticed a few problems like part of the voice over is cut off leaving a word out and I noticed that when the dog is drinking in the cafe a hand can be seen splashing the water in parts. I find the music at the end is a bit sad which I don't like that much.

My Edit


I have changed the titles so the names of the people in our group are at the start and the people that helped are at the end. I sorted out the cut off voice over, I found the original file, put it into Adobe Soundbooth so I could remove some of the noise and increase the volume before putting into Premiere Pro. I increased the volume of the voice over so it's easier to hear over the sound effects. I cut out the parts showing the hand splashing the water so it looks more like the dog drinking, making the scene shorter. I decided to use a much more upbeat music track. I am really pleased with my edit.

Poem used for voice over

When it came to editing we thought the sound effects of the dog wasn't enough so we decided to find a poem for a voice over. We used the poem 'What The Dog Perhaps Hears' by Lisel Mueller which we liked as it's from the dog's point of view. I did the voice over for this, we breaked it up so there were pauses and we choose the right scenes for it to be used.

         WHAT THE DOG PERHAPS HEARS

If an inaudible whistle

blown between our lips

can send him home to us, 

then silence is perhaps

the sound of spiders breathing

and roots mining the earth; 

it may be asparagus heaving, 

headfirst, into the light

and the long brown sound

of cracked cups, when it happens. 

We would like to ask the dog

if there is a continuous whir

because the child in the house 

keeps growing, if the snake

really stretches full length

without a click and the sun

breaks through clouds without

a decibel of effort, 

whether in autumn, when the trees

dry up their wells, there isn't a shudder

too high for us to hear.

What is it like up there

above the shut-off level

of our simple ears?

For us there was no birth cry,

the newborn bird is suddenly here, 

the egg broken, the nest alive,

and we heard nothing when the world changed. 

             Lisel Mueller

Moving Image 2nd idea

We had to change our idea as the actor kept letting us down so we thought about filming as the point of view of a dog who is neglected by its owner and instead of showing someone acting like a dog we have gone for a dog taking more of a human role, such as getting its own food. I filmed this in handheld to get the shaky look of a dog moving and it makes quite an interesting film. The audience are more involved this way as they are seeing through the dog's eyes so they are connected to the character. We didn’t like the script we were given so we wanted to make our own interpretation of it.

Shot list for dog idea 2.

Hand held shots to be used throughout film.

1)    Hand held tracking forward, long – mid shot, of walking down hall way.

2)    Close up of surroundings.

3)    Vertical pan (side to side looking around).

4)    Close up nudging cupboard door open.

5)    Mid shot/close up food in the cupboard – empty?

6)    Close up food falls on the floor.

7)    Close up – taking plate to owner.

8)    Stop frame/mid shot of plates piling up.

9)    Mid shot of bathroom door.

10) Close up of door opening

11) Close up/tracking  - moving forward along street.

12) Close up, hand held pan looking up at surroundings.

13) Hand held mid shot, moving through tables.

14) Mid shot, arrives at table/water.

15) Close up, drinking water.

16) Mid shot looking for food.

17) Close up routing through food.

18) Mid shot bathroom door.

19) Close up leaving bathroom.

20) Close up holding lead.

21) Close up/tracking forward through the park.

22) Close up of drinking water indoors.

23) Mid shot/stop frame plates piling up.

24) Mid shot – owners arm.

25) Close up nudging owners arm.

26) Using card to opening and closing in front of lens – eyes closing.


Storyboard

Moving Image 1st idea

Director: Natasha Owen.

Producer: Helen Newman.

Camera: Chris Thorby.

Sound: Ajay Chauhan.

Editor: Amanda Lao.

We were given the script of 'Dog' and my role was to film. We focused on the idea of someone turning into a dog being more about someone dealing with the loss of the dog. We came up with an idea of a depressive drinker who is suffering from a very different loss. The way she is looked at; turning into more of a mess and the habit is what makes her seen as more of an animal. We thought of the title 'D.O.G - Depression Of the Girl'.


1st idea script

TITLE SCREEN: DOG Depression Of the Girl

Costume:

Lucy (Lucy Yates)
Smartly dressed, a Dress
Jeans and a top
Tracksuit bottoms and hoodie

Foundation/face paint - washed down with water- crying/distressed effect.

mascara/eyeliner + water - smudge effect.

Boyfriend
Jeans and T-shirt/jumper

1 INT. KITCHEN (FLAT) .

Cupboard doors are flung open and rapidly slammed (banging) as the cupboards are revealed as empty.

Close up opening the cupboards

CHIPPED NAIL POLISH

Eventually... one cupboard is opened and shut quickly and then re-opened. We see inside. there is a bottle of alcohol.

Close up from inside the cupboards

Lucy Yates is considering to take the bottle.

Freeze-frame of her face

Teary/smudged

Smartly Dressed - Dress

v/o) Ordinarily I wouldn't have considered it but... 

At the point of reaching for the bottle, she is hesitating.

Over the shoulder reaching for bottle

2 INT. KITCHEN. 

She is putting down the bottle and glass. Then opening the bottle.

She picks up the glass and pouring drink.

Birds eye view 

Once she put down the bottle, she is staring at her bracelet.

Close UP

Flashback of boyfriend giving her a bracelet

3 INT. LANDING (toilet). 

Medium shot of the door

From outside the toilet we hear about to sick, toilet flushing, crying,about to sick and toilet flushing.

Lucy stumbles out of toilet then wipes her mouth.

Medium shot coming out of toilet

4 EXT. STREET (cafe) .

WALKING PAST OF THE CAFE

Tracking of her

LUCY LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDOW

Close up

Flashback of her holding boyfriends hands in a cafe

5 EXT. STREET. 

We see Lucy sitting outside the cafe and pouring a drink into a glass.

Medium shot

6 EXT. Street (off Licence). 

Lucy coming out of the off licence shop.

tracking

Lucy unloads her shopping. Lots of bottles of alcohol.

Close UP

7 INT. Lounge . DAY 7

What follows is a montage of a series of jump cuts as glasses of drink, glassed piling up, drinking, crying. Glasses and bottles switching sides. Different glasses. Sometimes the glass is shot cups.

close up STOP FRAME

8 EXT. arboretum park. DAY 8

Lucy walking through the park.

Medium Shot

9 EXT. PARK. DAY 9

Flashback of hand held and videoing each others.

Video camera/ mobile phone.

10 INT. FRONT ROOM. NIGHT 10

Lucy lying on the sofa, with bottles of alcohol sit on the floor and sick (chicken soup) on the floor.

Close up shots of bottle, pans to arm and up to face.

Fade out

THE END

The stop frame part showing the glassing pile up and her drinking will be like the heroin scene in 'Requiem for a Dream'. The Scene can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEWgk0_zTQQ

Original idea cinematography and props

Camera

Shot  1 – Close up opening the cupboards

Shot 2 – Close up from inside the cupboards

Shot 3 – Freeze-frame of her face

Shot 4 – Over the shoulder reaching for bottle

Shot 5 – Birds eye view putting down the bottle

Shot 6 – Birds eye view putting glass down

Shot 7 – Birds eye view opening and pouring drink

Shot 8 – Close up of her looking at bracelet

Shot 9 – Flashback of boyfriend giving her a bracelet

Shot 10 – Medium shot of the door

Shot 11 – Medium shot coming out of toilet

Shot 12 – Tracking of her walking past the café

Shot 13 – Close up of her looking through the window

Shot 14 – Flashback of her holding boyfriends hands in a café

Shot 15 – Medium shot pouring drink

Shot 16 – Tracking her coming out of off licence shop

Shot 17 – Close up of unloading shopping

Shot 18 – Stop frame

Shot 19 – Close up of drink

Shot 20 – Close up of her drinking

Shot 21 – Close up of her drinking

Shot 22 – Close up of her drinking

Shot 23 – Close up of glasses piling up

Shot 24 – Close up of glasses piling up

Shot 25 – Medium shot walking through the arb

Shot 26 – Flashback handheld

Shot 27- Videoing each other

Shot 28 – Close up shot of bottle, pans to arm and up to face

Fade out

Costumes

Lucy

Smartly dressed, a Dress

Jeans and a top

Tracksuit bottoms and hoodie

Boyfriend

Jeans and T-shirt/jumper

Props

Tuesday –Make up mascara, water, bottles, costumes, bracelet, handbag

Wednesday – Chicken Soup, bottles, glasses, costumes, bracelet