Planning
Pitch
Before we could begin to go ahead with planning our film opening in detail, we had to prepare a brief outline and pitch our idea to the rest of our class and teacher. We described our overall film plan; a story of a lovesick wife turned vicious assassin who, when her dirty-businessman husband had an affair, in a heartbroken state seduced him, kissed his cheek leaving a red lipstick stain (which then became her signature mark) before strangling him to death with her scarf and taking all of his money. Ever since, she gains revenge for her ex-husbands infidelity by assassinating and marking other men who remind her of her deceitful husband, before stealing their money the way she did to her husband. We explained how our opening would consist of this woman going about her vicious routine of killing, kissing and stealing as she intervenes with a trade of money between two "dodgy" business men who work within the same trade as her ex husband (for example, the trade of illegal drugs etc.) Our teacher whom we were pitching our idea to described it as "vague" and said that it wasn't clear from our pitch why she would be killing these men. As a group we agreed with this but also decided that the opening would be a brief insight into what the woman does- not why, this would be included later on in the film. We decided that the opening would be fine as long as the audience gathered that she was a powerful female assassin, whether or not they understood why is irrelevant to the opening and would become apparent later on. Our teacher also said that the opening has a "good alternate representation of women" and that it has "potential".
Storyline And Opening Description.
This is our first real decision about the opening plot of the film and what it would consist of. This shows briefly our characters and the location where they will be situated- one male (Ray) in the airport and the other male (Mickey) in the car-park, the female assassin character waiting somewhere between the two- possibly sitting innocently at a cafe or waiting by the airport- basically blending into the background leaving her unnoticed by Ray. We plan to make her visible to the audience by using the camera and editing to focus on her in the background whilst defocusing on Ray in the immediate foreground. We decided to use these two locations because an easy and clear connection can be made between the two- an airport is recognisable to the audience and they should be able to get a sense of reality from the setting because of this. Additionally, all airports have car-parks and therefore a clear link can be made although it is not pointed out that the car-park belongs to the airport, the audience should be able to easily establish this. We decided against the warehouse for a location because of this reason- it would not be evidently apparent that the car-park belonged to this setting and therefore may be slightly confusing for the audience. Our brief outline of our storyline consisted of the following; Ray receives a briefcase, while Mickey waits in the car-park for Ray to deliver the briefcase to him. However, before the item is traded between the two, or they even meet in fact, our female assassin intercepts Ray in the lift just before the doors close, strangles him with a scarf that had previously been tied around her neck and the audience are left with a shot of the closed lift doors accompanied by silence. The audience will then watch as Mickey receives a text message from Ray, he opens it to find an image of Ray- dead with a red kiss-mark on his cheek (our female's signature sign to show that she had killed the man) leaving Mickey infuriated and frustrated.
Character Profile.
This was created to give our group the first real visual idea of what the characters would look like and what they are like as a person so that we will be able to get into character as we would be playing them in the opening. As a group we decided that it was important to know and understand the characters so that we could make the opening as authentic as possible. Our character profile included costume, hair and make-up and props as well as an outline of them as a character and a brief description of their history.
Veronica is a woman in her mid 20's that is seeking for revenge on all 'dodgy' business men that remind her of her husband who left her, whilst cheating on her. She will be wearing a black leather jacket, with fitted trousers, her signature scarf which is her weapon and is what she kills with, aviator glasses to give her the mysterious look as if her identity has been covered by those glasses, also those glasses are types of glasses that the police are known to wear, so it's as if she killing for the greater good. Lastly she is wearing red lipstick to connote anger and blood, the anger is what she feels as she seeks revenge and the blood represents all the businessmen that she has killed. She has her targets which are Ray and Mickey and she goes for them, and doesn't stop until she kills them, she's in all the right places at the right time and is shown to be powerful and strong because the weapon she uses which her scarf indicates that she has be strong to kill her targets with just her scarf. The scarf shows the more softer side, as its the only thing that is of colour when she dresses up, even though it is what she kills with, it is the only fashion statement that she has to make her look more lady like.
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Our first character, Ray, is a young male in his early 20s, he will be wearing a smart, crisp black and white suit with a black tie- this will show the audience that he is a business man of some sort and hints also at the idea that he has money to spend if he can afford a nice suit. However, to make him appear slightly illegitimate he will be wearing sunglasses- as to conceal his identity to others at the airport, and he will have a wooden toothpick in his mouth- which also connotes illegitimacy because of its representations of "bad-boys" and the idea that it represents a character who is not entirely trustworthy. Ray works for Mickey and does his dirty-work in their trade of various illegal goods such as drugs and stolen cars- making them quite wealthy.
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Mickey is also quite young, however he is older than Ray in his early 30s- indicating that he has more experience than him, he is older and therefore has been in the trade longer than Ray, earning himself a higher status and authority over Ray. He will also be wearing a smart suit (although slightly scruffier than Ray- he can afford to look scruffier as he has more money and is not working on the airport ground, meaning that less people will see him and giving him less of a reason to look smart). He will also be wearing a long trench coat, this implies to the audience that he is trying to not only keep himself warm, but the typical connotations of long trench coats on dirty business men often implies that they do not want to be recognised- hiding their body and their clothes means that they look less like themselves. Mickey's job and history are similar to Ray's although Mickey has been in the business longer and therefore hired Ray to work for him and do all of the unwanted jobs such as collecting packages. He organises large-scale scams and robberies, earning him the money which we see Ray collect for him in the briefcase. Additionally, he has contacts and links to the police which allows him to go about his immoral work whilst paying members of the police to keep quiet about his jobs.
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Props.
We used a briefcase as a prop because it was what our storyline relied on, as this was what Veronica wanted off them and was the reason why she killed them. We also used this prop to show professionalism between Ray and Mickey, as it fit their character profile and their costume, it had to be used to that reason. A briefcase represents business men and also can be used to make deals, but we used it for money, which is shown in the first scene, when money is being shown. It was then shown again when Ray was in Heathrow Airport, on the phone to mickey to show the deal that was being made.
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The scarf was a very important prop, because it was what Veronica used as her killing weapon. The scarf symbolised Veronicas's feminine side, and was really the only thing she wore that showed a more fashionable side. But the most feminine thing she wore was what she used to oil the other two characters. The scarf was red, which connotes blood and death, and was mainly used to complete her mysterious and dark look.
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The aviator sunglasses were one of the most crucial props used- they were one of Veronica's signature features. These brought with them connotations of mystery as they conceal her identity as well as bringing a powerful air with them, they complete her 'look' of being sinister as you never really see her facial expression, portraying her as emotionless even while she kills people in cold blood.
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Storyboard.
The story board is the first real vision that we had laid out in front of us of the form that our film opening would take. Included are the rough outline sketches of what should be shown on screen, the length of each shot, the camera angles and positioning, the audio that can be heard (both diagetic and non-diagetic), special effects to be added on in editing and a brief written description of what is going to be shown. This was our brief outline on what we plan to do, however the opening itself may differ slightly from the storyboards depending on factors such as whether or not certain camera angles work, the diagetic sound is effective and whether or not the lighting works the way we intended it to. The non-diagetic sound will be added on in the editing process as will the 'letterbox' effect that is shown on the first page of storyboards. The rest of the storyboards are the first outline of what the clip should contain- with room for changes where needed. We had decided that changes may need to be made depending on whether or not the lighting, mise-en-scene or camera angles worked well to produce and outcome that we were happy with.
Script.
The first draft of our script was the script that we decided to stick with, although it may change in places due to factors such as; the location (whether it was suitable), the lighting, mise-en-scene, the actors and whether or not they worked well in the clip. We also included where the cuts would be, however we had not decided at this point on what the transitions and cuts between the clips would be, for example whether we would fade the clips in and out or add other effects.
Questionnaire.
Before we began to film, we wanted to be sure that our target audience (teenagers and young adults) would be interested in our film and to see whether or not they would make any changes, therefore allowing us to alter the film according to their feedback. We created a short questionnaire which would give us enough information about what people thought when given a description of our film opening. The factors we considered asking in the questionnaire were; age, gender, the audience's preferred film genre, what they enjoyed about their preferred genre, whether they would be interested in watching a female lead role in an action/adventure film, whether they would want to view our film and to give reason why/why not, and any changes that they would make to our film opening. We gave our questionnaire to five males and five females- ranging between the ages of fifteen to twenty so that we could get a good overall idea about how our target audience would receive our film opening. The majority of people who completed the questionnaire said that they preferred watching action/adventure films with reasons such as "they allow you to get absorbed into the moment, gun fights and car chases that give you an adrenaline rush make a film successful" and "they are full of excitement and personally I prefer them to slow-moving films such as romance." When asked whether they preferred a male or female lead role in an action/adventure, the majority of people selected female, when asked to give reason why they told us that it was "new and original" and "not something that conforms to the typical action adventure film, a female lead role is unexpected as females are usually portrayed as 'sidekicks' or as helpless victims". The changes that people suggested we make to our film opening were small details such as "having the other male role, Mickey assassinated as well as Ray in order to show the audience that the female lead, Veronica is an assassin and that it is not just a random murder." and "perhaps consider including some dialogue just to make sure that the audience can establish a link between Ray and Mickey."
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Filming Timetable.
Our filming timetable was a record that we kept of when we filmed and what we filmed during each session. On our first week of filming we used the lessons to film the opening shots of the panning over Veronica and Ray- from the 3rd Feb to the 8th Feb. This was successful and didn't require any refilling after we had got our shots. We then went on to film the car-park scene on the 18th Feb, we decided to film all the shots in one day however these were mostly unsuccessful and ineffective so the following week we decided to re-film all of the shots as well as adding other shots (such as the end shot of Veronica walking away from a dead Mickey). On the 3rd March we went to Heathrow Terminal 5 to film all of the shots for that location- most of these shots worked well and were effective however when watching them back in editing we decided some of them needed to be refilled due to small errors such as the camera moving slightly etc so on the 17th March we returned to re-film these faulty shots. We took advantage of the lesson time that we had and decided to use this to film the lift-scene; using a lift that was in school on the 21st March- this was successful and didn't require any re-filming. After we had achieved successful shots from each location we completed the editing. |
Distributors.
Bad Robot
We decided to choose Bad Robots Productions for our smaller film distributor. One reason why we chose to do this is because they are known for being joint distributors with paramount pictures- making the combination of our distributors realistic and believable as they have been combined previously in other films such as Mission Impossible. Which is also good because it's linked to our film genre which is Action/Adventure. In addition, the fact that they were a part of the Mission Impossible films means that they also have direct links to our film opening because of their links to action/adventure films. Bad Robot are mainly known for producing many Action/Adventure movies - other than Mission Impossible - they have produced movies such as Super 8 and Star Trek, they may not relate to the exact movie storyline as what we are doing but they fit well with our genre.
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Paramount Pictures
We decided to choose paramount pictures as our larger/ more recognised film distributor. This is because it's known for distributing similar films to our genre (action/adventure) such as Terminator, The God Father series and the Mission Impossible series which all consist of action based genres- therefore making it a realistic option rather than using a large distributor which works with films that have no similarity to our film, for example Pixar which works with animated children's films. This was a good option because it has a similarity towards our film opening as well as being a well-known distributor among the film industry. Paramount also did movies like Eagle Eye, which is a movie that shows a hidden villain trying to take over the lives of people, this also shows thriller and suspense just like our film opening is supposed to. This distributor relates to the genres that we are using, for example as we are doing Action/Adventure, our film opening also has an element of thriller and suspense which Paramount shows, this is what we want to portray throughout our film opening.
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Film Inspirations.
Title Sequence Selection- The Italian Job.
We decided to choose this sequence of title shows because it displays the movie images through a thin horizontal and vertical strip rather than alowing the whole screen to be filled with the image. Another reason why we choose to mimic this idea is because it hides much of the image and allows the audience to picture the movie as slightly mysterious- giving off the impression that there is possibly something more than what meets the eye to this film. The black background and coloured moving images creates an immediate contrast. It also alows a lot of room for adaptation as we would be able to alter the width and depth of the 'postbox' effect- possibly making it start as a thin strip showing little of the image and then expanding to show more of the image on screen and vise versa going from wide to narrow. In addition, it gives us an opportunity to show the title sequence before the opening, if we were to show the titles in this way before the actual opening stared then it would mean that the opening itself would not have any distractions to take away from what is happening on screen by names appearing on the side etc. We also agreed that this way, it would look much more proffessional and 'neat' having it laid out like this, tidy strips of images with room underneath, above and on the side for the titles.
Heroine Representation.
Because of our decision to use a female character as our assassin, we researched various films with female heroines or powerful women as their main characters. An example of films we looked at are; Resident Evil- the main character being a headstrong woman who can defend herself easily, equipped with guns and the ability to fight people who at first seem much physically stronger than her, usually men. We were inspired by her because she instantly comes across to the audience as independent and feisty before we even see her fight- something that we want to reflect in our female character. Secondly, we looked at Salt; another film with a powerful, independent female lead role. This dominant woman is similar to Resident Evil's female lead because of the feeling of power and strength that the audience easily gathers on first impressions without it being necessary to show her physically fighting or opposing other people. Finally, we looked at the film Mr and Mrs Smith, this was not so much based on the female's strong and independent characteristics (although she does have an inspirational character) but more because of her physical appearance. Her costume, hair and make-up are all similar to how we wish to portray our female lead in the opening of our film; the simplistic yet smart outfit combined with shabby-chic hairstyle and aviator sunglasses- which in themselves represent a serious, dangerous character with a slight wild streak to them, something which we wish to portray in our female character.
Other Inspirations- Holes; "Kissing" Kate Barlow.
The film Holes inspired us for our idea of leaving a red kiss mark on the victims of our female's murders. The lead role of Holes; "Kissing" Kate Barlow used this signature mark on the men that she had killed- hence providing her with her infamous nickname. As a group, we thought this idea was very original and provided us with a means to make our female assassin 'known' and show that it was not the first time that she had done this- therefore allowing us to show that the mark is recognised. Additionally, it is a one-of-a-kind mark which makes it distinctive as a female's mark- the red lipstick and kiss mark is very feminine and is often seen as quite sexy and very obviously left by a woman, combining this with the fact that the male character is dead provides us with a great contrast; something very soft and sensual against the cold image of a dead man's body is quite disturbing and unexpected making it unique. Furthermore, because of the fact that it is an obvious feminine mark, it enforces the idea that this woman is very strong and independent and yet remains very womanly and does not distract from the idea that this woman is in fact a fiery female.
Locations.
Heathrow Airport.
We decided to use Heathrow Airport as one of our main locations because it is well recognised by most audiences. Additionally, it creates a feeling of mystery as the audience immediately begins to wonder where Ray has come from and what he is doing there- adding to the shady aspect of his character. Furthermore it makes the 'business' that Ray and Mickey are participating in seem more organised: as Ray comes out of the doors we see him on his phone and a stern Mickey telling him not to be late to meet him in the car-park.
Car-park.
We chose to use an indoor ca-park for our second location, this is because with it comes connotations of mystery and a slight eeriness. As well as this, it is easily associated with the airport and the audience makes a connection between the two that they belong to the same area. We decided on this specific car-park because it was well lit and therefore wouldn't compromise on the camera quality and mise-en-scene. It also showed the difference in the characters- Ray is the worker who collects goods and does the dirty work whereas Mickey imply has to wait in a quiet car-park for him to arrive.
Lift Scene.
We needed to have a 'bridge' between the airport and the car-park, to show how Ray would be going from one to the other and to show the moment that he was attacked. We chose this lift because it was quite small and cramped- leaving little space between Veronica and Ray therefore building suspense as the audience wonder what will happen in the lift. Additionally the mise-en-scene worked well in this lift as there was a single light above Veronica- working as a concentrated spotlight and therefore drawing more attention to her as she stands in the centre of the lift.