Filming

I did a test film with the shots i want to use and the actor in most of his costume. I t didn't go well and most of it looked rubbish, but i've made a little 1 and a half minute tester of shots with music. Its not serious like the real film will be. I will need to get the smoke machine, face-paint and more of a costume to make it look more realistic and stuff.

Filming

I have organized filming for sunday, so i should have a practice version of the original idea by monday to put together and look at before I decide whether to change it to a sniper thing or leave it.

Sniper?

Mr Bonney suggested using a sniper, rather than a soldier, and thinking about it i would prefer it, as it would be easier to get camouflage and a uniform as the camouflage netting stuff is quite easy to get and i wouldn't have to focus on the face but on the eyes. It would also build the tension and i could use more shots that show the gun, his eyes, the trigger and stuff. 

Film Posters

I have started thinking about making a film poster, and have looked at other war film posters like The Kingdom, Full Metal Jacket, Black Hawk Down, Platoon, We Were Soldiers,  Dead Presidents, Quiet American, The Deer Hunter and Hamburger Hill. Their all Vietnam-based except The Kingdom and Black Hawk Down which  are based on the Iraq war and Somalia. 

• The Platoon poster is quite simple which is good and has a quote "The first casualty of war is innocence." and then the logo and something featured in the film. I like this poster because of its simplicity and effectiveness.
• The We Were Soldiers poster is a bit more complicated, looking very serious with Mel Gibson looking straight into the camera and having clips from the film around the picture. I don't think it's a great poster because there's a lot going on in the poster with out much flow to it, it seems a bit random. I like the close-up of the face though. 
• I like the Dead Presidents poster because its weird and  doesn't really seem like a war film poster, it seems more like a thriller or horror film, with just the face of the main character looking really evil and disturbing, i like the contrast of white and black in it because its simple and makes you feel uneasy.
• The Hamburger Hill poster is much more like a war film because it shows a group of soldiers looking happy and like they've just come out of fighting, its not as good as the other film posters but still an good example for a war film poster.
• The Full Metal Jacket poster is quite simple and i think in a way parodies the Platoon poster, with the helmet and the quote at the top "In Vietnam the wind doesn't blow, it sucks" again it's simple but makes you want to see the film.
• I like the Black Hawk Down poster because it shows the main character looking war-torn and the colours are dirty browns and yellows which are like the desert-like streets and he's in a helicopter which is from the film. It's still quite simple, not giving away too much.
• I like the Kingdom poster because its got a split page, the bottom half with the title and credits and the top half with main characters in action in a clip from the film. It's quite modern and different to most war films which is good.

Finishing off, sounds, costumes, props, brief outline...

For the costume i will try to borrow someones old CCF uniform and i will cut it up making it look worn and dirty, a grey vest for underneath because the Vietnam soldiers didn't really have armour and stuff just helmets, boots and basic uniform. I am using a friends BB gun for the gun which looks quite realistic so should be able to be shown close-up.

The sound will mainly be diagetic in my own footage like rustling leaves, gun sounds, heavy breathing, things that the main character is meant to hear. Some of the sounds will have to be added in afterwards, because i can't record real gun sounds and things really, but could use a boom mic for the rustling leaves. In the actual credits the sound will be non-diagetic as it will be a voice over with newsreels and music. The music I'd like to be tinny like music on propaganda films and the voice over very American and like a news reader explaining the controversy over the Vietnam war.

The brief outline of my film is just the main character walking through the bushes and looking nervous and cautious, then he hears gunfire, loads his gun, aims and then just as he fires it cuts into the title, and then that disappears and the credits come in, which will be a kind of timeline with jungle shapes like trees, and stuff like tanks, helicopters, moving out of it in the style of The Kingdom and the voice over will be over the top.

Full Metal Jacket Trailer

Black Hawk Down Trailer

The Kingdom Trailer

Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket was the most helpful film that I watched as it is relevant to the Vietnam War and furthered the idea of a war film in a different perspective as Full Metal Jacket is in the perspective of someone reluctant to fight and is a Journalist reporting the events to other soldiers and the commanding officers. The way it shows the training of the soldiers before they go to Vietnam and makes you understand how hard it is to train to be a soldier, with Private Pyle who is particularly tormented by the drill sergeant, physically and psycho-logically and eventually goes insane and shoots the drill sergeant and then himself. This scene is particularly hard hitting as it makes you realize the other effects of war. I also like effects used in Full Metal Jacket, for example the smoke in one scene used to cover the in-coming Vietcong, the shot used in this is in the perspective of a soldier manning a mounted machine gun shooting blindly into the smoke. I like the ideas in Full Metal Jacket as they are simple, but effective making it quite hard to watch but also very captivating, for example the use of a young girl as a sniper in a building where the Marines question whether to leave her to suffer or kill her.

Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down was inspiring because of the action and how real everything seems when you watch it, the explosions and guns and even the actual combat all seem real and makes you really sympathize and feel supportive towards the US Marines. I like the camera angles and movement used in action scenes, as it often shows panoramic views of the streets ahead of them which could have enemies’ in. which leaves you very much on edge, expecting the enemy to attack them. The way everything is contrasted with the dull sandy beige colour of the uniforms and streets is interesting as it draws you into the film because you’re always looking for the different colours which are the guns and enemies. There are also point of view shots of soldiers running which I like the idea of as it shows the soldier and the scenery in a new way making it look more sinister and threatening.

The Kingdom Analysis

The Kingdom was the main inspiration for the way I want my opening credits as I like the idea of the sweeping camera showing the credits along a timeline with a voice over explaining the event leading up to the events in The Kingdom between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The timeline has opaque shapes and symbols related to the film like tanks, oil wells and jets etc. I also like the idea of new reels relative to the events in The Kingdom and how the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was set up, giving a brief history explaining what lead up to The Kingdom. In the Kingdom, the camera angles and movements are interesting, and a few examples especially which got my attention was a shot through the curtains of a house, slightly distorting the two people talking inside, which made you feel weird and know that they were talking about something bad before the conversation properly starts. There’s also a scene in a car which shows people talking and in one case it shows Special Agent Ronald Fluery from behind with him turning to look at the passenger talking to him. These camera angles mixed with the lighting effects helped as the darkness is made to seem like safety rather than light like in most films. I like this idea and would like to try it in the opening, making the main character seem safer in shady areas of jungle. The storyline also inspired me as it shows conflict from a different point of view, The Kingdom in the point of view of four Special Agents from the FBI investigating a bombing.

Animatic

This is my Animatic for my film.

Settings

These pictures below are from a grassy, woodlands area across the way from my estate, it's where i want to film my own footage.

preliminary task!!!!

This is my final preliminary, we had to re-film a few shots because the camera wasn't straight enough.

I used the Canon XL2 camera and then iMovie to edit the film.

Full Metal Jacket

I watched Full Metal Jacket, and i can't really figure out whether i liked it or not, it was really weird compared to most war films, its more gritty and psychological. The ways the scene switches were weird, going from a crazy soldier shooting his drill-Sergeant and then himself to a Vietnamese prostitute offering herself to the soldiers. 

It also looks at war in a different perspective, through the eyes of a journalist rather than a soldier even though he does end up fighting. 

I like the idea of it not being entirely based around the fighting and actual war scenes and has the drill Sergeant to show how disturbed people get from war and the scenes around the towns in Vietnam where they all seem relaxed and calm. 

I think i would prefer doing a war film based around Vietnam rather than Hiroshima, because i think it would easier to get a starting title more like the Kingdom, with typography mixed with the news footage.

Preliminary Task

Me, Will and Peter started our preliminary task, just trying out camera angles and taking some test footage for all three of u, only Will's was good though, so me and Peter will probably have to do ours again.

I think we know what we have to do, and which camera angles we need so we'll be able to do it better next time. 

I have also been looking at videocopilot which has helped give me ideas for effects in my actual film.

Test Movies

Video CoPilot

i've been looking at the effects and stuff for adobe after effects and its given me a better idea of what footage of my own i need to add to the news footage and typography stuff, i've also been looking on youtube for news clips about hiroshima.

Storyboard

Okay, i've finally done a storyboard, its very brief though and the pictures are only to represent what sort of thing i want, the blank spaces are where my own footage of a very blurred figure walking through a desolate, grey place. The black spaces are where typography briefly explaining Hiroshima and the bombing. it won't let me upload it though but will try.

War film

I really wanted to do an opening like the kingdom, with black and white footage of news and things that happened in Iraq, with typography and a voice over. I'd like to do this for Hiroshima and have real footage from the bomb and aftermath mixed with typography explaining what happened briefly.

Potential Target Audience... Film Institutions... Genre...

Potential Target Audience
I'm using certificate fifteen.
The guidelines say that their can be frequent use of strong language which i'm not likely to do in the 2 minute opening, there's not going to be nudity or sex, but their will be the implication of violence and stuff, because i'm doing a war/thriller kind of film... so i'm not really sure how to rate it, so will probably stay with a fifteen.

Film Institutions
I want to find a fairly unknown film institute, but so far i can only find big names like Paramount, Lionsgate and stuff.

Genre
I am definitely sticking with the Thriller genre and am now looking to do storyboards. The type of thriller i was thinking of is maybe a war thriller, with news clips about war and stuff so i still wouldn't need the actors. I've looked at a few war films already, like Saving Private Ryan and The Kingdom.
I like the idea of news clips with the typography.

opening of Creep, stroyboard idea.

I like the opening of Creep with the blurry scenes which develop into bloody floors and stuff.
I don't like the film but the opening is effective.
The actual titles are simple which is good and there isn't really actors in it so is the sort of titles i'd probably do.
For the opening i would like to use close ups on masks and tools in darkness with weird light on them to make them look creepy and probably exaggerate them and stuff.

Thriller

I think i'm staying with the thriller genre, just because its easier not to use actors for the opening to a thriller, and if you do use actors you don't really need to show the whole person.
I think aswell that doing a thriller will mean that i can use adobe after effects and cool camera effects to make simple things creepy and weird.
The location i was thinking wouldn't matter too much either as i plan on focusing on small things and then adding effects and maybe using old film reels to make it scary.
Although i have these ideas, i don't really have a proper idea for the opening...

Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas

I love the way things are exaggerated and distorted to make it seem like Raoul Duke is on drugs and how the voice over describes what is happening so calmly.



This clip shows the weirdness of the film, especially around 3 minutes in when Raoul Duke and his attorney are in the bar and he imagines the bar being full of lizards and the floor being covered in blood. Before this scene, they are checking in to their hotel and Raoul Duke is tripping, and seeing the check in clerk's face stretch and look as if its melting.
I like the use of distortion and would like to try it on the opening to a film.
I think i'll probably make the opening to a thriller. But until i'm sure i'll keep looking at different films i think are interesting or will help until i properly decide.

Fight Club Typography

This is cool:





I like this sort of title and would like to try this sort of thing.

Fight Club

The opening to fight club is weird, and makes me like the idea of voice over titles more...
It shows what looks like the inside of brains with all the electrons and molecules and stuff, but then keeps zooming out until you get Jack's head with a gun in his mouth, which then shows Jack and Tyler in a hotel room, and a voice over talks about a bomb that's going to blow up a hotel.
After this the voice over explaining (sort of) Jack's boring life where he feels nothing and is an insomniac and how the bomb thing started.
I quite like the idea of showing an end scene first but mixed in with the voice over and adobe after effects words. I'd quite like to mix these ideas into a thriller, but am not sure on what genre to do so am still looking at films and theatrical trailers.

The Strangers

The Strangers gave me ideas for a thriller as it uses predictable horror in an unpredictable way. Stuff which you'd expect to happen does, but either before or after you think it will. It also uses simple things to make it scary like them moving stuff around the room but only slightly and enough for the woman. The story is predictable, but there are twists. The use of lighting and the dark is also a huge tool in making the film scary, there is a scene where the masked man is following the woman through her house without her knowing. The way this makes the audience feel is why its scary as you want her to know that he's there. Later on in the film she is trapped behind a slatted door and can see the man walking through the house looking for her and sit on the couch, although you expect him to see and catch her, there is a slight twist. Another masked woman jumps from the side and starts shaking the door and making it seem like she's trying to get to her. These sort of simple horrors are predictable, but because you expect them, but no the way they actually happen, it is quite scary. There is a really good use of music in the film as when the masked people are axing down the door, there's a fairly upbeat song which makes you feel weird as the music is making the axing look more sinister and creepy, especially since the record gets stuck on one line which makes the scene seem really surreal.
The masks also are a big part in making the film creepy because you don't know what the people look like which makes them seem unhuman and makes them seem like they have no identities, which is a good way to make an opening to a film scary, especially with the light and dark which is used in this film. This film has given me a lot of ideas on making an opening to a thriller or horror movie, using simple things like masks and darkness, the main problem is its a cliche.
Another big factor in making it scary is the idea that what your watching is based on a true story.

The Kingdom

The first film i watched is The kingdom, which although isn't a genre I'd want to do, has given me idea on the opening. In the opening it uses news reels with an explanation of the Saudi Arabian/American oil situation. It also uses very graphic silhouettes of tanks and different relating images. I'd definately use this sort of intro, but for a different genre.
Camera angles are also used well in the film, especially in more action scenes where the camera moves and seems hand-held, they also make scenes where people are just talking more interesting as it moves around and switches, one from behind a curtain making only the people visible. The camera angles when people are in cars and stuff are interesting because of the way it switched between views of looking in the windscreen, behind seats and in a way jumping between characters points of view.