Audience

AUDIENCE

Certificate: 12A, this is because of the nature of the theme of cannibalism. Because i do not show any graphic or disturbing images the certificate is able to be lower.

Gender: I do not think that my film is gender specific because in today's society, shocking films containing strong themes are accepted as a form of art.

Age Range: 15-25

Type of Audience: People that are interested in student films.

Storyline: My film doesn't possess the narrative structure of a typical blockbuster movie because there is no resolution.

Genre: A romance film in the style of a horror film. A student film.

Type of Film:Arthouse, Student Film

Narrative

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

 

EQUILIBRIUM

 

The couple appear to be happy together.

 

DISRUPTION

 

Mary seems to have disappeared from James’ life.

 

RECOGNITION OF THE DISRUPTION

 

Mary hasn’t disappeared, however she is being served to James on a plate.

 

AN ATTEMPT TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE

 

None.

 

RE-EQUILLIBRIUM

 

James appears to be happy with another woman, Belle.

 

I will create the narrative of my film by using a montage sequence to interlink present and past events so that the audience can be lured into a false sense of security when they see the apparently happy couple.

 

Prop List

PROP LIST

-   COOKED MEAT
I will need some meat for James to eat. I chose pork because it  imitates most efficiently what human meat would most look like. After doing some research into the best meat to use i came across an article. Wesker and Son Butcher's in London had opened their store and dressed up the meat to resemble real human hands and feet. I contacted them to see if i could possibly buy some or get instructions on how to make it. This will make the meat seem more authentic. However, i didn't recieve a reply.

  
 

-   NECKLACE
The necklace is an essential prop to my whole film as it suggests that James Malum has been eating his victim. I used a white neckalce with flowers to symbolise that James has been murdering the innocent and beautiful.

 

-   KNIFE AND FORK
I needed a Knife and Fork so that James could eat the meat

-   PLATE
I needed a plate to put the meat on.

-CANDLES

I used the three candles as a framing device to show that James is trapped. He is trapped by the obsession and is unable to lead a normal life.

 

 

-DEAD FLOWERS

Dead flowers to symbolise the death of beauty and innocence within James' life.

-REFLECTIVE JUG

I used the reflective jug to show that James' is two faced and that there is two sides to him.

 

Film Locations

Burton Agnes Hall and Gardens.

The Band Stand

I will film the romantic montage in this location. Shots 1,2 & 3.
I really like the setting of this shot because it reflects the genre conventions of a romance film. I have made the lighting very warm meaning it mirrors the character's feelings towards each other in a typical romance film. However, here it is ironic because James' intentions are a little more sinister than the audience would expect. I filmed on a relatively sunny day which gives a warm, happy atmosphere about the location. I want to juxtapose the romantic shots to the sinister shots so that when the audience realise that he is eating her it is more shocking. He takes a mouthful and then we see a shot of her smiling happily.

The Pathway

I will film more of the romantic montage here. Shots 4 & 5. This location is also very romantic because it has a fairy-tale type atmopshere that suggests Mary is living her fantasy. The trees and the gargoyles that surround the two shows that she is trapped and cannot escape what is to come.

The Gardens

I will film more of the romantic montage here. Shots 6,7,8, 9, 36,37,38,39,40 &41.
This location is very romantic and interesting. The flowers are a typical convention of a romantic film so therefore fit the criteria for my film. It is very bright and almost magical, it gives a sense of mystery.
 



The House: Exterior

I will film shot 10 here as Mary and James enter the house. This shot suggests that he is very wealthy and therefore gives him power.

The House: Interior

I will film shots 11,12,13,19,20,21,23,24,26,27,28,30,31,32,33,34,35.
The interior of the house is very antique looking and grungy. I wanted this to reflect how you would imagine the house to look from the inside, but also to reflect his character. It is very dark which suggets that James has something to hide. The candles surround him to show that he is trapped by his own obsession that he himself has created, although he doesn't know it.

The Beach

I will film shots 14,15,16,17,18,22,25,29.
I filmed at the beach just as the sun was setting so that the lighting was very romantic. I wanted to have a shot of the two characters walking into the sunlight to suggest that she will soon meet her end and "walk into the light".

 



 

Characters

CHARACTERS

 

James Malum:

Malum is Latin for evil

James is the cannibalistic protagonist, middle aged, incredibly wealthy and handsome. His alluring smile makes it easier for him to attract his victims.

 

Mary:

Mary, suggesting the Virgin Mary – Innocent and pure

Mary is James’ first victim; she is dark haired and beautiful and around 20 years old.

 

Belle:

Belle, meaning beautiful in French.

Belle is James’ second victim; she is blonde and beautiful and around 20 years old. Her character echoes Mary’s character significantly because I want the audience to relate with the victims, making it harder for them to accept the fact that they have been brutally murdered. Not only this, but Belle has an innocence about her which makes the idea more stomach clenching.

 

 

 

Story Type

Story Type

SPIDER AND THE FLY

My film undergoes the story type of ‘Spider and the Fly’ because one character (James) lures another character(s) (Mary and Belle) into a false sense of security. He ensnares them and traps them in his web as he lures them to their deaths.

Synopsis

 

SYNOPSIS

James is a cannibal who eats his lovers. The film shows him walking romantically with one girl and he gives her a necklace. The necklace is significant as it appears on the remains of the girl to suggest that he is eating her. He is then with another girl to whom he gives the same necklace.

Genre Conventions

 

Film Studies - Creative Project

Genre Conventions

My film follows a horror narrative but is filmed in the style of a romance film. I want to include some horror conventions to suggest that things are not what they seem about the protagonist ‘James’. Usually in a romance film, the couple meet and fall in love but there is often an obstacle stopping them living happily ever after. However, in my film, James, who is the main protagonist, is not what he seems. The obstacle is in fact James who is a rich, cannibalistic entrepreneur that lures his victims into a false sense of security by pretending to be their lover.

James resides in his stately home which supports the idea of wealth, but also obeys typical horror film conventions, concerning location, as it is completely isolated and in the right lighting looks daunting.  




Burton Agnes Hall - Horror Conventions

Burton Agnes Hall - Romance Conventions










I wanted to use Burton Agnes Hall because I make the audience believe that it is beautiful location, typical of a romance film. After the audience realise that things are not as they seem I can use lighting, sound, cinematography, mise-en-scene and editing to create a horror film atmosphere. Just by softening the picture on the right and increasing brightness and contrast I have made the Hall look beautiful, inviting and almost like a dream. The image on the left has been desaturated, sharpened and the brightness has been decreased to make the hall look mysterious, fearsome and unnerving. 

Themes: In a typical romance film, the main theme is love. In my film I not only want to portray this theme at first but I also want to show themes of a horror film for example morality over lust/greed. James is an exceedingly wealthy character and his staff are prepared to cook a human at his will for money. This shows how a human’s lust for money is more important than their own morals. I also wanted to make the meat coming out on the platter look incredibly appetising so that when the necklace is noticed the audience are shocked by their own gluttony after eyeing up the food.   
 
Settings: Romantic areas like the beach, the park, a river, a stream, a flower garden with high-key lighting when Mary and James appear to be ‘in love’ but when James is at his mansion the mise-en-scene is pleasant at first (for example high -key lighting)  but after he has eaten Mary the setting starts to turn sinister with low-key lighting (creating shadows and unfamiliar shapes)  and the Dutch angles are more evident which contradicts the romantic music that will slowly turns sour.

Burton Agnes Hall and Gardens

Bridlington Beach









Iconography: Of a typical romance film the iconography consists of beautiful dresses, streams, birds, flowers, relaxing music. In my film I will also incorporate subtle iconography of a villain/killer. For example: snakes (on a ring for example) or a carcass like at the beginning of natural born killers.



Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone, 1994

Filmography Techniques: I want to use a Vaseline filter on the lense of the camera to create a hazy effect like in Casablanca which gives a romantic appearance to the shot. I will also increase the contrast to make it look warmer and happier along with high-key lighting which belong to the conventions of a romance film.

Casablanca, Michael Curtiz, 1942









 

I want to use close-ups of the James and Mary’s faces to show their happy facial expressions and their intimacy. I also want to use copious amounts of Dutch angles interlinked within the romantic part of the film as they don’t conform to the typical conventions of a romance film and suggest that something isn’t right about James.

When James is seasoning his lunch I want to make the shot black and white but the dressing he is decorating the meal with in red showing that it is blood just to confirm to the audience that he is a cannibal. I want James to have a sinister look on his face while he does this, completely non-naturalistic, so he has this comic book villain persona in the only part of the short film, accompanied by a low-angle. Like in natural born killers when the camera changes to black and white to show the frenzy of the violence. I want to do this in my film to break down all expectations of James’ normality and show that he is a killer. I also want to show the romantic music linking the two conventions. The cinematography and mise-en-scene reflect a horror genre and do not match the romantic music.  
 

 

 

Genre

My film consists of a horror narrative but filmed in the style of a romance film and at times a horror film, this is to subvert audience expecations.

Maltese Falcon Task

Film Studies: Maltese Falcon Task

Schedule

Wednesday 3^rd October

Period Three: Filming – Georgia, Riley, Josh, Nicola

Thursday 4^th October

Period One: Filming – Georgia, Riley, Josh, Nicola

Friday 5^th October

Period Three: Filming – Georgia, Riley, Josh, Nicola
 

Monday 8^th October

Period One: Editing – Georgia and Josh

Period Two: Editing - Georgia

Period Six: Editing – Georgia, Josh, Nicola
 

Wednesday 10^th October

Period Three: Editing – Riley, Josh, Georgia, Nicola

Thursday 11^th October

Period One: Completion of Task
 

Tasks

Storyboarding: Georgia and Riley

Costumes: All

Lighting: Josh

Props: All

Booking Equipment and Filming Space: Georgia

Actors: All

Camera man: All

Director: All – So that we all have an equal input


3rd October 2012

Today we filmed a few shots with lighting and costume and will continute tomorrow in period one

The Finished Product

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGTfzuD70EA

Gag Reel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjFXNOoV9PI&feature=relmfu

Evaluation

Evaluation of “The Maltese Falcon” Opening Scene Reconstruction

When producing the film we came across many problems even though the end film was an overall success. The main obstacle was the fact that we had limited time to film but also the fact that we had to film in a classroom. However, we compromised by changing the angle of a few shots to avoid losing total believability in the diegesis.

The continuity of the sequence was somewhat tainted because, scarf was hanging off in some shots whereas in others it was tied. We only realised this fault when we came to editing and by this time it was too late to do anything about it. The problem here was the fact that we had limited time to produce the sequence and no time to re-film if we wanted to reach the deadline. Also we only had an hour at a time to film so we tried to film as much as we could in the time space.  [Image of the scarf on and off]

Out acting abilities were restricted as Riley, Josh and Nicky had never had much experience meaning we had to reshoot footage various amounts of time due to corpsing which was primarily, my fault. Similarly, we didn’t have a significant amount of time to learn lines which meant the majority of the time we either forgot lines or were reading off a page. When I film my film however, I don’t have any dialogue so it will be one less obstacle to encounter. Despite this, we managed to adapt well and the acting was fairly satisfactory!

We used an artificial light to enhance the performance in our film which was an overall success. However occasionally when we used a long shot the lighting didn’t match the lighting in the close-up shots. However when we de saturated the film in editing the problem more or less dissolved. In my film I am filming outside so will use natural light, therefore I shouldn’t encounter any issues with lighting. I am going to start early in the day so that the natural light doesn’t get darker as the sun sets. 

Most of the cinematography and camera work was great however some shots didn’t match the film directly because of limited space. However, when it comes to filming my film I will be outside so I will have sufficient space to film my film.

Limited time was a huge issue so we didn’t have time to download music to match the original Maltese Falcon clip. However, the camera picked up the sound perfectly without the use of a microphone. In my film, I have no dialogue so will use music over the sequence. I will have more time to download music so this will not be an issue.

Trying to replicate the film was difficult due to the space we had and the restrictions to the space. We had a low budget, not the right space or location. Also the quality of our acting wasn’t as good as the original, obviously. However, the lighting in some of the shots was perfect and the quality of the footage turned out well.

The majority of the filming was a rush, but towards the end, when we had more time we took more care with the camera work and did more than one shot to improve the quality of the footage. When I film my work I will have more time because I can dedicate whole days to filming whereas at college we had to improvise and film when we had frees at an hour at a time and also when the classroom we used was free.

When we came to editing the film, overall it was good. We got to practice on the software meaning that when it came to editing my real film then I already had experience on the software. A lot of our footage we couldn’t use due to corpsing however we had enough in the end.

Because of the amount of bad footage we were able to make a gag reel which demonstrated a comedy aspect to the whole production and demonstrates visually some of the problems we had.

In conclusion the whole experience was very useful as we gained experience and realised, in advance, some of the problems that may arise when we came to film our coursework. We also gained experience with the camera and the editing software.

 

Aims and Context

AIMS AND CONTEXT

I will be producing a short film called "A Lover's Picnic" for my FM Creative Project. I hope to achieve the codes and conventions of the Romance and horror genre. This is to appeal to a target audience of students aged 15-25. Males and females, particuarly those interested in films that have a shock factor or a twist. The film would also appeal to those that have an avid interest in student films.

My aim is to introduce mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound, coming from knowledge i gained in FM1 to explore the genre of Romance and Horror and also to subvert audience expectations.

To aid my project i have researched films that posess both a Horror and a romantic genre, such as 'The Skin I Live In' Pedro Almodovar, 2011.

I intend to direct the film, as well as writing and editing it. My directorial influence comes from the style of Pedro Almodovar and Tim Burton. Tim Burton has the tendency to create films that posess both a Horror element and also a romance one. Stylistically, his frequent use of dutch angles will prove to work well in my film. Also, Pedro Almodovar, is famous for his use of bright colours and his ability to carress surfaces with the camera which is what i intend to do.


 

The Brief

To develop an extended sequence from an imagined feature

 

OR

 

Develop a complete short film between 3 and 5 minutes.