16 April 2020
Media Studies
Preliminary Task 2 - Planning
•
done by Grace Watson:
Brainstorming (by Grace Watson)
Part 1 - Spider-web diagram:
Part 2 - Our main plot idea:
A large, tall man offers a young, small girl a 'sweet'. He invites her to walk with him to his car where the sweet is. She happily goes along with him. Soon after handing her the sweet (which is the object that is 'given'), he then invites her to get into his car. She has a 'discovery' or 'revelation' moment, and remembers how one should never take a sweet from or get into a car with a stranger, and so therefore she realises that perhaps this man is a danger to be around. This will be symbolised by her looking up at him worriedly, politely saying, "Um, no... thank, ... you... no.. thanks," and dropping the sweet on the ground as she turns around and begins running away at a high speed (a bit of a stutter - sound revealing her nervousness) [we may use a close-up shot of her face revealing her worry, and then a low-angle shot looking up at the man revealing his superiority and her vulnerability in this moment]. He will then dash after her, trying to grab her - the chase scene of him chasing after her. This chase-sequence will be followed by him managing to catch up to her and pick her up, with her hitting her head against his on accident, hurting herself. He will carry her, at pace, to his car, shove her inside, hand her a dirty teddy-bear from behind the car seat, and then drive off, the little girl screaming. [Extreme close-up of his face as he carries her to reveal his determination and awful character - pale face, blue rings under his eyes, really strange man].
Once they have driven away, a wide-shot of the mother leaving the bathroom and gently calling "Amberlyyy, where are you hiding?" in a warm, kind voice, a relief from the strangeness of and discomfort caused by the man.
Mood board (by Grace Watson):
Storyboards (by Grace Watson):
Sound/Audio (by Grace Watson):
- Perhaps some eerie and hollow-sounding music which (paired with the drained and cold lighting) will evoke worry and discomfort in the viewer.
Video tutorial on how to improve the quality of the sound on Adobe Premier Pro in post-production:
The soundtrack of the Jaws opening sequence will be used as one of the inspirations for our product. I like how the sound starts off very soft, and then slowly becomes louder as the scene progresses, the voices are then heard and finally, as the two characters begin running away, the music becomes very soft and still, once again.
Sound effect of the bathroom door opening as the girl's mother exits.
A few options:
option 1:
may consider different options later on.
Video tutorial on how to improve the quality of the sound on Adobe Premier Pro in post-production:
The soundtrack of the Jaws opening sequence will be used as one of the inspirations for our product. I like how the sound starts off very soft, and then slowly becomes louder as the scene progresses, the voices are then heard and finally, as the two characters begin running away, the music becomes very soft and still, once again.
Sound effect of the bathroom door opening as the girl's mother exits.
A few options:
option 1:
option 2:
Props and costumes (by Grace Watson):
- The little girl's name will be 'Amberly'.
- The meaning of her name is "A Jewel-quality Fossilized Resin; As a Color the Name Refers to a Warm Honey Shade", according to Google.
- This little girl will resemble warmth and safety - the meaning of her name refers to the 'warm' honey shade, and she will be wearing warm colours - a beautiful, warm and fuzzy, red or orange cardigan, blue jeans and white sneakers. Her hair-ties will also be bright and vibrant.
- Her eyes will be bright and she will carry a freedom and joy (supports stereotype of children being care-free).
- Her hairstyle will be two pigtails - a typical childhood hairstyle, emphasising her still being a young child. My mom is really talented in this department and so will do her hair before we start filming.
- 'Amberly' will be neat and clean, bright and smiling, captured quite well, as an example, in this image:
She will almost look mis-placed in this dark and gloomy park.
In contrast,
- the man will be wearing clothing of cold colouring - greens, blues, and perhaps even faded magenta. - more specifically, he will be wearing an old, dirty (to resemble his dirty, dangerous background) jumper, and faded blue jeans that have lost their colour. His shoes will be sandals.
- covering his jumper/questionable t-shirt will be a large brown coat. This coat symbolises a hidden character - viewer may question what he is trying to hide.
- covering his jumper/questionable t-shirt will be a large brown coat. This coat symbolises a hidden character - viewer may question what he is trying to hide.
CONCEPT (by Grace Watson)
TITLE
Sweetness
{a kidnapping thriller}
The title of our film will be ‘Sweetness’ because throughout, there is the symbolism of the word ‘sweet’. This is evident in both the actual physical sweet (lolly) handed to the little girl (Amberly), and the man’s calling her a little “Sweetie-Pie”.
Secondly, the word ‘sweetness’ is often associated with joy and deliciousness, whereas in our film, it represents/symbolises an evil and terrible man and his ‘gestures’.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Sixteen years and older
This is because those aged under sixteen may not cope with the content of the film (abduction/little girl being separated from her mother/scary).
INSTITUTIONAL/GENRE CONVENTIONS TO BE INCLUDED
· Symbolism/iconography – the little girl’s clothing will be bright and
warm – relating to her innocence and joy.
warm – relating to her innocence and joy.
· The man’s clothing will be dark, dirty, dingy and old – relating to
his evilness and the disgusting act he is about to carry out.
his evilness and the disgusting act he is about to carry out.
· Irony – filming in a park (setting) where there should be many children,
running around in pure joy and excitement. However in this park there are hardly any children, it is gloomy and eerie. This irony causes the viewer to feel uncomfortable, and to worry for the child.
running around in pure joy and excitement. However in this park there are hardly any children, it is gloomy and eerie. This irony causes the viewer to feel uncomfortable, and to worry for the child.
· Having a dangerous and questionable man near such small children will evoke fear in the viewer.
· Sound – the scene will begin with a slow tempo and soft, hollow-sounding, non-diegetic music. This will emphasise the eeriness. The soft music will slowly build up as the tension rises, and it will then drop into complete, deafening silence as the car drives away. The sudden silence will put an end to the building suspense with a loud (yet silent) ‘bang’!
· Lighting - quite eerie, cold and drained - this will spark irony as a park should be child-friendly - bright, happy and safe. It's as if it is being miss-used.
· Shadows – when filming the man, three-point lighting will be used to
create shadows over certain parts of his face. Just as parts of his face
will be concealed, he is trying to conceal his character and actions of abducting children by seeming sweet to luir the child toward his car, grabbing the child and driving away before any other problems arose.
create shadows over certain parts of his face. Just as parts of his face
will be concealed, he is trying to conceal his character and actions of abducting children by seeming sweet to luir the child toward his car, grabbing the child and driving away before any other problems arose.
· Narrative – the narrative itself builds excitement and suspense as the viewer follows
the man along his journey to abducting the little girl, captivating them.
the man along his journey to abducting the little girl, captivating them.
· the camera’s perspective will jump between subjective
and objective which also increases suspense and evokes tension, as said by Spielberg.
and objective which also increases suspense and evokes tension, as said by Spielberg.
· When filming from the man’s perspective, a canted,
disorientated angle will highlight his untrustworthy character.
disorientated angle will highlight his untrustworthy character.
· The door creaking (sound effect added in editing) as the mother opens the
door – the creaking evokes worry within the viewer.
door – the creaking evokes worry within the viewer.
· Perhaps the man will have a knife evident in his pocket. The knife resembling danger and death.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
The opening shot will be an establishing shot, revealing a white van parked in a parking lot, facing a children’s park. The second shot will be a POV shot from the man sitting in the van, looking towards the park at the children, scanning (pan). This large, tall man will step out of his van and walk toward a young, small girl who he then offers a 'sweet'. He invites her to walk with him to his car where the sweet is. She happily goes along with him. Soon after handing her the sweet (which is the object that is 'given'), he then invites her to get into his car. She has a 'discovery' or 'revelation' moment, and remembers how one should never take a sweet from or get into a car with a stranger, and so therefore she realises that perhaps this man is a danger to be around. This will be symbolised by her looking up at him worriedly, politely saying, "Um, no... thank, ... you... no.. thanks," and dropping the sweet on the ground as she turns around and begins running away at a high speed (a bit of a stutter - sound revealing her nervousness) [we may use a close-up shot of her face revealing her worry, and a low-angle shot looking up at the man revealing his superiority and her vulnerability when she says no thank you]. This will then progress into a chase scene in which he will dash after her, trying to grab her. This chase-sequence will be followed by him managing to catch up to her and pick her up, with her hitting her head against his on accident, hurting herself which will cause her to stop resisting and start holding that spot and crying in pain. He will carry her, at pace, to his car, shove her inside, hand her a dirty teddy-bear from behind the car seat, and then drive off, the little girl screaming. [Extreme close-up of his face as he carries her to reveal his determination and awful character - pale face, blue rings under his eyes, really strange man].
Once they have driven away, a wide-shot will reveal the mother leaving the bathroom and gently calling "Amberlyyy, where are you hiding?” in a warm, kind voice; a relief from the strangeness of and discomfort caused by the man.
ACTION AND PACE
· Begins slowly, suspenseful and mysterious.
· Suddenly speeds up when the little girl begins running away.
· The pace then remains quick and tight until the car begins driving away, when all goes slow and eerie once again.
EXTRAS
· There will be hardly anyone else in site – vacant, quiet, eerie atmosphere.
· The music will be non-diegetic.
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF HOW TO BALANCE THE CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION
· Very obvious and drastic hand-held camera movements during the chase-scene, flicking between the POV of both characters.
· Eerie and slow handheld camera movements most of the time – highlighting that eeriness.
These shots, although hand-held, won’t be too drastic and will remain relatively still.
These shots, although hand-held, won’t be too drastic and will remain relatively still.
CHARACTERS AND NAMES
- The little girl's name will be 'Amberly'.
- The meaning of her name is a “Jewel-quality Fossilized Resin; As a Color the Name Refers to a Warm Honey Shade", according to Google.
- This little girl will resemble warmth and safety - the meaning of her name refers to the 'warm' honey shade, and she will be wearing warm colours - a beautiful, warm and fuzzy, red or orange cardigan, blue jeans and white sneakers. Her hair-ties will also be bright and vibrant.
- Her eyes will be bright and she will carry a freedom and joy, and will be neat and clean, bright and smiling (supports stereotype of children being care-free).
- Her hairstyle will be two pigtails - a typical childhood hairstyle, emphasising her still being a young child, innocent and trusting. [My mom is really talented in this department and so will do her hair before we start filming].
- She will almost look mis-placed in this dark and gloomy park.
In contrast,
- the man will be wearing clothing of cold colouring - greens, blues, and perhaps even faded magenta. - more specifically, he will be wearing an old, dirty (to resemble his dirty, dangerous background) jumper, and faded blue jeans that have lost their colour. His shoes will be sandals. His dirtiness will match the gloomy eeriness of the park and the action he is about to carry out.
All of the above will cause Amberly to stick out, highlighting right from the beginning her vulnerability in the dark place.
PRACTICALITIES OF FILMING/CONTENT
· This idea is justifiably realistic – it is a reality that MANY children are abducted and separated from their parents all around the world, and for many the possibility of their child being abducted is an actual worry – this will relate to the viewer and cause them to really engage with the clip.
· A safety issue may arise with regards to driving the car – we must ensure that the driver of the car concentrates on driving properly when he drives away, and that he doesn’t only focus solely on his acting role. Road safety is most important.
· Filming at J.F. Kennedy Park in Castor Bay. No permission is required.
· Filming will take place during the week after school between 5 and 7 pm to ensure that the park is as empty as possible. At this time, the sun will be beginning to set and so the lighting will already be slightly darker, which is ideal. Alternatively, we may film from 2-4 pm on a Thursday afternoon as school will still be in progress so there will therefore be less people around.
· Equipment required is: two cameras (one is extra for in case the first camera’s battery dies), memory card, tripod, shoulder mount rig or the camera, the fleccie, the lights, the audio equipment (the microphone, boom pole, audio (XLR) cables, headphones).
· We would ideally like the park to be empty. This is for two reasons. Firstly, because it will create
that eerie and lonely atmosphere, emphasising the child’s vulnerability, and secondly,
more practically, because we do not want to catch the faces of other locals and their
children on camera. One possible problem is the park not being empty. We will have to be somewhat flexible with our camera angles on the day to eliminate filming others not involved as far as possible. One way in which we are counteracting this problem is by filming form 5-7 pm, hopefully a time that is not too busy. Alternatively, we may film from 2-4 pm on a Thursday afternoon as school will still be in progress so there will therefore be less people around.
Location/Setting (by Grace Watson):
- J.F. Kennedy Park, between Castor Bay and Milford - there's a playground for the small child to be near, and a public toilet opposite it where the child can point to her mother being. In between the playground and the public toilet, there is also a parking lot where the man's car can be stationed.
large amount of room for the chase-sequence.
Amberly's mother is inside the public bathroom.
- I plan to make use of quite eerie, cold and drained lighting and a hollow-sounding song (non-diegetic sound) to emphasise the eeriness - this will spark irony as a park should be child-friendly - bright, happy and safe. It's as if it is being miss-used,
Having a dangerous man near such small children will evoke fear in the viewer.
Editing (by Grace Watson):
Link to some research regarding the editing basics, if I ever need to remind myself of anything throughout the production process.
The Five Editing Basics Premier Pro
Link to some research regarding the editing basics, if I ever need to remind myself of anything throughout the production process.
The Five Editing Basics Premier Pro
Helping with the logo - contributing ideas (by Grace Watson):
examples as inspiration:
we would most definitely quite like perhaps some colour? not too much colour though - to keep it professional-looking.
done by Chene Harris:
TALENT:
Theo Payn: acting as the strange man, abducting Amberly (Aria)
Aria Ironside: acting as the young girl, getting abducted by the strange man (Theo Payn)
Rachel Ironside: acting as the mother of the young girl (Amberly also known as Aria Ironside)
done by Hunter Look:
Shot list (by Hunter Look):
establishing shot of the park from behind car.
1.) Pan shot from abductor's P.O.V. looking at the girl's mom leaving to go to the bathroom.
2.) Match-on-action of man opening and then closing the car door.
3.) mid-track shot and cut closer to an over-the-shoulder shot of man walking towards the little girl (shaky camera).
4.) mid-shot from side.
5.) high angle shot from the man's P.O.V. looking down at the girl, offering her a sweet.
6.) low angle shot from girl's perspective looking at the man, accepting the sweet.
7.) mid-P.O.V. shot of him looking down at her - she'll be smiling and will then begin 'pause' and realise that something is fishy.
8.) close-up of her face when she realises that it's strange and she shouldn't take sweets from strangers (discovery moment) - kind of like a 'pause' moment.
9.) full-shot of the girl dropping the sweet.
10.) birds eye-view/high-angle shot of the sweet as it falls.
11.) hand-held shot chasing after the two actors.
12.) birds-eye view shot from the top of the playground element - Theo chasing Aria.
13.) mid-P.O.V. shot from Theo's perspective chasing Aria.
14.) wide/long shot of Theo grabbing Aria and her fighting back - lots of camera movement in this shot.
15.) mid-shot of Aria and Theo hitting heads.
16.) close-up of Aria holding her head and stopping fighting because of the pain.
17.) extreme-wide shot of Theo carrying her towards his car.
18.) extreme-close-up of half of Theo's face as he walks towards his car, carrying Aria - shadow on his face.
19.) extreme-close-up shot of Theo's hand opening the door.
20.) wide-shot shot of him opening door.
21.) wide-shot of him shoving Aria into the car.
22.) close-up of Aria hitting her head against the side of the inside of the car.
23.) extreme-close-up of her painful spot.
24.) mid-shot of Theo closing the door.
25.) track shot of him walking toward his door and getting into his car.
26.) extreme wide-shot of the car driving off.
27.) wide shot of Aria's mom coming out of the bathroom.
28.) close-up of her looking around and then yelling for Aria.
29.) mid-track shot running after her as she runs in the car’s direction, yelling for Amberly in pure distress.
30.) extreme close-up of the mother’s eye - stressed, agitated, confused, deeply worried.
Treatment (by Hunter Look):
Title:
"Sweetness" we have used this title as a a contrast to rather what is happening, like the man is stealing away her sweetness.
Prepared by GCH productions which includes Hunter Look, Chene' Harris, and Grace Watson.
Date:
Not confirmed yet as of COVID-19 so we don't know when we will be able to go film or go back to school.
Example: It is proposed that the film will be of 1 to 2 Minutes duration, and that it will be filmed at Kennedy park, because there is a playground there which is a common place for kids to hang out, also, the bathrooms parking lot and playground are in close proximity meaning we do not have to travel very far to get to each shot location. Also because it is on a cliff right by the water and and in the end credits i want to use those shots to show the new Zealand beauty as a contrast to what as just happened.
This film will include the following conventions of thriller films:
-Low key lighting, because this adds the unknown effect like anything could jump out at any minute and it adds a scary look to it, also conotating with the fact nothing very good happens at night.
-shadows, i want to be able to show some sort of shadow effect where the shadow is behind the tall man because this could give the audience an idea of the fact that this man is fronting to the girl so that he can almost gain her trust a little bit but in reality he is just putting a front up in front of his sinister ideas.
-change in angles, the change in angles shows something almost distorted meaning that it may look okay at that point but there is something going on in the bigger picture that is dodgy and the audience will be able to see this as i would like to play around with the idea of when the little girl looks at the tall scary man she is looking on a skewed angle at first to show that he may look normal but there is something sinister in his "motives".
-low angle of the girl looking up at the tall man and a shot looking down on the girl from the POV of the tall man, this shows the effect of the tall scary man being dominant and stronger and dangerous, also the fact she is looking up to him gives us the sense he is very tall and scary.
-Dark clothing, I want the tall sketchy man to be wearing dark and ominous clothing to make him again shown as not being seen properly for what and who he really is.
After watching the following thriller films/thriller openings, get out, inception, split I have been influenced by them in the way where I want to use the following theme used in get out, as well as the dark lighting. From inception I would want to take the action music in the background, and the danger element. From Split I want to use the fact the young girl is alone and isolated while everyone else is with each other.
Problems encountered:
The problems we have encountered is that we cannot film at the moment because of COVID-19 and we do not know when we will be able to get out to film any time soon.
……………………………………………………………………….
The film will include the following:
(1) Character names and their motivations/representation in the film:
- i don't know the names of the little girl yet but the tall man we have chosen to go unnamed. at the moment but the motivation and representations of the little girl is a representation of innocence and some good things in society. Whereas the tall man is showing bad things and deceit and how society is becoming corrupt and evil.
(2) Ideology (incl. message of film, relevant representations and any commentary on supporting or challenging representations as well as representation theorists)
(3) Mood and Tone:
-the mood and tone in this movie is trying to be quite nice and light at the start and as you notice the man starting to follow and look at the girl in his dark and creepy attire the mood starts to become darker and creepier/ more serious as, this is quite a serious topic and i think we can do something good with it while not making fun of it, in all its seriousness.
(4) Camera Shots, camera movement/lighting/angles, lighting:
- i want to get a nice mix of wide shots and close ups to show the full view of what is going on and in certain moments close ups so that it shows in a way the full detail of what is going on. in this movie i want to use dark lighting and shadows to show the shady actions and that what is going on is bad and also the dark and shadowy effect is a thriller convention. in the way of angles i really want to use a slanted angle every time it shows the tall man because it can show he may be acting all nice towards her but his actions are actually sinister.
(5) Themes and motifs:
- kidnapping, where the girl is kidnapped by the tall man who gave her the lolly
-chase scene, where the tall man chases the girl, this is often used in thrillers as something to give something different to the movie as well as adding something that is suspenseful and you are always uncertain.
(6) Narrative
At the beginning the girl is just playing on the playground ,by herself, (her mum is in the car). there are other kids around but she wants to stay by herself. A man then comes and sits on the bench, noticing she is by herself, he sits there for a little, just watching her. The little girl then walks to bathroom and the man follows her, as she comes out of the bathroom, we will use a wide shot of her walking out and behind the bathrooms you will see the tall man who, then follows her out at a good distance, she then drops something and he picks it up and gives it back to her and asks if she wanted a lolly, she says "yes", and follows him to the car. As they get to the car/van in her mind she remembers that she shouldn't talk to strangers and especially not follow them to their car, so she politely walks away and as she gets slightly way she starts to run.The tall man then realizes she can tell he is dodgy and runs after her and grabs her. once he gets her, he picks her up and takes her to the car and chucks her in the back and drives away as she screams and cries and hits the windows.
(5) Mise-en-scene/setting:
- Kennedy park at the playground, public bathroom, and parking lot.
(6) Symbolism:
-gun/knife, these are symbols of the tall man being someone dangerous and someone you cant trust, what i want to do with these is put them in the background of a shot, and so the little girl cant know but the audience will, giving them some information to add the suspense.
-black clothing/hoodie, this is symbolic of the fact he wants to hide something about himself and the fact it is black means he may be dangerous because black is quite mysterious, and why is he wanted to not be seen ?? What does he have to hide ??
(7) Sound and music:
I will use dark ominous sounds in the background while the man walks behind her to make it creepy and more scary and then as he picks up the stuff to talk to her it will stop. Also this background sound will be played as he draws her to the car, but, as she runs away it will switch to action like chase scene music. Also there will be the ominous dark sounds while the logo as she gets chucked in the truck it will get louder and louder as she screams and hits on the windows until it eventually cuts to black and the music hits its high point when it goes black and the logo comes on the screen, in which it will then start to lower until an eventual no music while the credits finish. Also at the start i will probably have some upbeat but creepy music playing as the man looks at her while she plays on the playground, to emphasize that he is creepily watching a little girl play on a playground.
(9) Use of credits and logos:
- i will use a logo at the end to show the controversial title at the end from a blackout to logo to emphasize the ending before the credits so that the emphasis is not drawn away by the credits and rather makes the end and title logo pop.
(10) Editing:
I want to make the editing slow and not quick cuts because the slow cuts can emphasize that the girl cant escape and is not fast enough to get out. Also it stretches everything out and emphasizes everything making it that much more effective in making it more and more nerve racking and suspenseful making us want to know even more what will happen to the girl.
BEGINNING:
At the beginning the girl is just playing on the playground ,by herself, (her mum is in the car). there are other kids around but she wants to stay by herself. A man then comes and sits on the bench, noticing she is by herself, he sits there for a little, just watching her.
MIDDLE:
The little girl then walks to bathroom and the man follows her, as she comes out of the bathroom, we will use a wide shot of her walking out and behind the bathrooms you will see the tall man who, then follows her out at a good distance, she then drops something and he picks it up and gives it back to her and asks if she wanted a lolly, she says "yes", and follows him to the car. As they get to the car/van in her mind she remembers that she shouldn't talk to strangers and especially not follow them to their car, so she politely walks away and as she gets slightly way she starts to run.
END:
The tall man then realizes she can tell he is dodgy and runs after her and grabs her. once he gets her, he picks her up and takes her to the car and chucks her in the back and drives away.
THE MAIN CONFLICT/TENSION IN THE SEQUENCE:
-When the little girl kind of realizes what is happening and starts to walk away, because it creates a lot of tension between the girl and the man and how the girl feels in danger and the man has realized she knows which causes the girl to freak.
FURTHER NOTES BELOW:
This key tension will help, because it will show how if the girl just listened to the mum's advice she wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
Call sheets (by Hunter Look):
Hunter Look:
02106243502
Theo:
0221900159
Chene:
02102281886
Grace:
0275695932
