Filming Sunday 13th December

We have just finished filming the first scene and i feel it has gone really well because the animatric helped us to see which shots we needed to use and also the duration of the shots. However we have shot 3 different variations of each shot to decide upon the best. We will be putting the shots on the editing suite during the week and hopefully we will be able to decide upon the most appropriate editing style and the effects that will help reinforce the meaning of the narrative.

Cast and prop list

Cast List

James Woodlock: Played by Geordan Gaukroger.

Jack Woodlock: Played by Joshua Underwood.

News Reporter: Les Lamb

Prop List

Candle.
Television.
Vase.
Telephone.
Board Game.
Football.
Backpack
Gun.

Shooting Schedule

We plan to shoot the majority of the scenes on Sunday the 13th of December. We plan to shoot the rest of the scenes we need in the Christmas holidays as the cold and frosty weather will enhance the overall message which we are trying to portray within our film.

Script

Script

Prologue: In the year 2010, a team of scientists in a secret research facility 3 miles under the city of Hull discovered a deadly chemical contained within the earths crust, when extracted and mixed with air, the chemical turns into a airborne virus. After 3 months of no contact from the scientists, the army sends a group of Special Weapons and Tactics soldiers to investigate what has happened, when the soldiers open the door and look inside the facility every single one of the scientists has vanished without a trace, but unbeknown to the soldiers, when they opened the facility, they released the virus upon Hull.

6 months later ………….

James: Hello. Hello? Mum? Jack? Were is everybody?

News Presenter: and we will have more on this story later. This is news 24/7 with me, Bruce Roland. ----- At precisely 7.56pm on Monday the 24th of March 2010 A devastating outbreak occurred completely annihilating the city of Hull, leaving no traces of life. The virus was released from an underground laboratory and within hours had completely wiped out the entire population of Hull. If there is anyone alive out there in Hull we strongly urge you to stay indoors. This is news 24/7 with Me, Bruce Roland.

(James Falls to his knees and runs to the phone. He smashes a vase in anger)
James: FUCK! What the fucks going on? Where’s everyone gone?

(Smashes Phone & Walks through to small room where he see)

(Laughter can be heard)

Fades to Colour & Present, Jack walks out of door.

(Flashback)

Jack: OH, we’ve lost my favourite ball.

James: Don’t worry I’ll get you one tomorrow. Oh shit, look at the time, come on, we’ve gotta get back for tea or mum’ll kill me.


Present Times:


James: I recognise that Ball.

Animatric

Filming and Uploading

Today we uploaded our first scene onto the editing suite. It was the candle scene and was the background for our introduction. Although it was mis-framed, it was a good shot and needs to be done again within the frame.We are scheduled for a full day of filming on 29/11/2009 and will have at least the first two scenes done.

Production meeting

Today we finalised our story board and started filming. We now have our establishing shots filmed and need to wait until Monday to use the editing suites.

9th October 2009 meeting

In our meeting we have finished our aims and context and synopsis and are very far into our storyboards. We will be taking the photos for our settings very soon.

Aims and Context

Ben Underwood
Aims and context

Forsaken


A short film following the stylistics of a post apocalyptic thriller genre to appeal to an intellectual male mainstream audience that would span all the way from A- E social classification, which prefer thoughtful narratives to high octane action.

I will be following classic Hollywood conventions for the structure of my short film as most of my influences for my film have been post apocalyptic thrillers which follow the classic Hollywood conventions. However I will also be taking small elements of film structure from film noir and French new wave.

I will be able to take away from my previous studies things such as camera angles/shots, conventions and stylistic elements and put them to good use within my film project.

Within my film I will be undertaking the role of cinematographer, editor and sound technician. I hope that from practical work in these areas it will give me experience through trial and error. As I am in a group we have both chosen the stylistic elements which we are most comfortable with to give us the best possible outcome.

Before the production of the film I intend to start intensive planning including scripting, storyboarding and animatriks. I will be having weekly meetings to discuss and improve our ideas. These meetings will also give us a good time scale to the final deadlines of the specific areas of the project.

I intend to appeal to my audience by using techniques such as high angle shots and cantered angles, along with abandoned and desolated locations. I feel these will show the mood of the film and will allow the audience to recognise that our protagonist is truly alone, and if done correctly, may even allow them to empathise with him.

I will be applying previous learning to this project from the As film studies year as it gave me a broader knowledge of things such as how to create meaning through stylistic elements. Also through last years project on a time limit I have learnt how to plan and work more efficiently and effectively.

Sunday 27th september meeting

In our meeting we discussed our next steps into the development of our film project and have started to draw up some storyboard sketches. In the meeting we were able to finish our introduction and initial idea segments on our blog. We are now working on the synopsis and storyboard. We have scheduled the next meeting for the 9th October 2009.

Synopsis

Our short film, Forsaken, is set in various abandoned and derelict locations around Hull and for the most part is centred around the protagonist. The narrative follows the story line of The Quest.

19 year old James Woodlock returns home from sea to find that the human race has been wiped out by a deadly virus.

He sets out to look for any survivors and to get a deeper insight into the catastrophe.

As he looks around the derelict town were he used to live many of his memories come flooding back to him at several different locations. There is a series of flashbacks showing our protagonist in several locations with friends and family.

After James finds his brothers football in the park he heads home and this is when he finally realizes his brother is dead. He succumbs to the inner demons that have been haunting him throughout the film and puts a gun to his head and kills himself.

Initial ideas

I have a very specific idea for the narrative and genre of my potential film which has been confirmed by both me and josh to be a very creative and effective film which would allow us to fill all of the criteria needed to allow us to show off our skills to the best of our capability. We have chosen to create a post apocalyptic thriller film which is set in Hull. The narrative is about a man who returns home from work at sea or abroad (unspecified) and to his horror discovers that their is no sign of any life on earth. Horrified the protagonist sets off to find out what has happened and is faced with a mentally emotional journey through a series of flashback memories.

This is some concept art from various post apocalyptic scenes this is the type of idea i have in my head for the scenery being bare, Barron and lifeless.

This is the original concept art for the video game 'Fallout 3'
This is the original concept are for 'I Am Legend' I chose to put this picture on my blogger as it reminded me of an image i had in my head for this film project.


This is the original concept art for 'I Robot' I chose to put this picture on my blogger because the abandoned city is what i would like my scenes to look like.

Genre research

Ben Underwood
Genre Conventions –Post apocalyptic Thriller

I personally feel that a thriller is meant to do exactly that, thrill. However to achieve this many elements must comprise to create a certain effect for the audience.
The conventions of a thriller are largely based around character driven narratives and binary opposition which are used in films such as Crank (Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, 2006) The character driven narrative is essential as it helps the audience to familiarize and sympathize with the protagonist which intern makes it more personal and emotional for the audience.
Thrillers are usually about life and death situations .The locations of a thriller convention are usually in barren, exotic or single central locations which do not have much variation to different scenes which gives the narrative a great sense of verisimilitude. The hero in a thriller could even be an ordinary citizen drawn into danger by circumstances beyond their control and they face danger alone or with the help of a group. The protagonist is typically cut off from the resources of their everyday life.
The average thriller genre film is usually longer then a mystery genre film, the fast paced and brisk action is crucial to its success.
Binary opposition between good and evil is a convention of a thriller which is shown in I Robot (Alex Proyas 2004) the use of binary opposition within a Thriller is key as the narrative is focused characters and opposing forces instead of relying largely on plot. The characters in a thriller genre film are ordinary heroes who are resourceful and tough. High stakes, non-stop action and plot twists conventionally run throughout a thriller to keep the story intense and interesting up to the big climax.
Part of the allure of thrillers comes from not only what their stories are about but how they are told. The plot of a thriller is usually driven by the villain, who presents obstacles that the hero must overcome.
A Thriller has been described as "the sudden rush of emotions, the excitement, sense of suspense, apprehension, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace."

Introduction to A2 film project

I will be creating a short film within a group consisting of me (Ben Underwood) and Josh Holtby. We will be undertaking different roles in our group with me being in charge of cinematography and Sound and Josh being in charge of directing and lighting, however we will both be undertaking the role of editing as we both have vast knowledge in the subject and the combination of our skills will hopefully lead to a better outcome. I was very happy to receive this film project as i feel it will allow me to express my creativity with out limitations of restricted briefs. Throughout the project i will be researching, planning and developing various different topics surrounding my film genre and conventions, production and directing.