Below is the script for the dialogue that will take place when the main character turns on the TV to the news. We will use a teacher in our school who we believe will fit the role perfectly as his voice resembles many news reporters.
The body of another ex-soldier was discovered this morning in North London.
The victim, identified as James Palmer, recently served in the Iraq War as part of the 5th Infantry Battalion.
Police believe the murder to be linked to the recent ‘Poppy Killing’ across the area.
Showing posts with label Stage 2: Pre-Production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stage 2: Pre-Production. Show all posts
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Script
Below, is the final draft of our script; which takes place between the protagonist and his mother, over the phone. We will only be able to hear his side of the conversation, therefore we didn't write out a script for the mother.
[phone rings]
Killer:
[picks up the phone]
Hello...? Oh hi mum, yeah I'm fine.
The camera pans across the window-sill to show the blacked out photograph of his battalion, and a war medallion.
It then cuts to the killer again, tracking him as he heads towards the kitchen
I just saw it now; [ironically] it's awful how they keep finding more bodies...
[Pauses in wait for his mother's response]
I'm not a soldier anymore mum...[shows slight sign of distress] I left that behind years ago.
[Assertively; almost resentfully] Look, I'll be fine; if there's one thing I learnt out there, it was how to look after myself
[Turns to look at the drawer]
I'm just on my way out, can I call you back later?
Okay, take care, bye mum.
As he puts the phone down, he moves towards the drawer. On opening it, we see a close up of several poppies and a knife inside. He places the knife in his back pocket, picks up a poppy, and leaves the house.
[phone rings]
Killer:
[picks up the phone]
Hello...? Oh hi mum, yeah I'm fine.
The camera pans across the window-sill to show the blacked out photograph of his battalion, and a war medallion.
It then cuts to the killer again, tracking him as he heads towards the kitchen
I just saw it now; [ironically] it's awful how they keep finding more bodies...
[Pauses in wait for his mother's response]
I'm not a soldier anymore mum...[shows slight sign of distress] I left that behind years ago.
[Assertively; almost resentfully] Look, I'll be fine; if there's one thing I learnt out there, it was how to look after myself
[Turns to look at the drawer]
I'm just on my way out, can I call you back later?
Okay, take care, bye mum.
As he puts the phone down, he moves towards the drawer. On opening it, we see a close up of several poppies and a knife inside. He places the knife in his back pocket, picks up a poppy, and leaves the house.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Meeting Before Shoot
In our lesson today, we were preparing for our real shoot tomorrow.
A rough idea of what we did:
-Ben managed to complete a rough storyboard that we can follow for the shoot.
-We started our script, which we plan to finish and finalise before we shoot tomorrow.
-In the lesson, we also developed the war idea further, by thinking of props that we could add in, especially relating to war.
-We’ve decided to add in shots such as, a track along a shelf, showing a war medal, a photo of a battalion with certain faces marked out with a cross on the photo. Also a shot of the character opening the wardrobe to get changed and the audience seeing a solider uniform. This is right at the start so it will immediately give a slight clue to the audience.
-We’ve decided to film slightly later in the day, to get less bright daylight into the shots, in order to create the right atmosphere.
-Changed the shot of where he picks up the knife, to a shot of him taking it out of a draw in the kitchen.
A rough idea of what we did:
-Ben managed to complete a rough storyboard that we can follow for the shoot.
-We started our script, which we plan to finish and finalise before we shoot tomorrow.
-In the lesson, we also developed the war idea further, by thinking of props that we could add in, especially relating to war.
-We’ve decided to add in shots such as, a track along a shelf, showing a war medal, a photo of a battalion with certain faces marked out with a cross on the photo. Also a shot of the character opening the wardrobe to get changed and the audience seeing a solider uniform. This is right at the start so it will immediately give a slight clue to the audience.
-We’ve decided to film slightly later in the day, to get less bright daylight into the shots, in order to create the right atmosphere.
-Changed the shot of where he picks up the knife, to a shot of him taking it out of a draw in the kitchen.
I feel prepared for the shoot tommorrow, I think we have done everything that we need and that is urgent, we just have to complete the script for dialogue and finalise our shooting script, and we'll be ready to go.
Props
Props List:
-Knife
-Photos (of a battalion with marked crosses through some faces)
-War Medal
-Solider Uniform (hanging in wardrobe)
-Dog Tags
-Poppies
-Phone
-Mug of Tea
-Newspapers (added in on the computer)
-Ben’s Costume – white t-shirt, jeans (a normal daily outfit, again emphasising the fact that he is an average guy, therefore becoming more shocking when we discover that he is the killer. The colour white also means the dog tags stand out.)
-Knife -Photos (of a battalion with marked crosses through some faces)
-War Medal
-Solider Uniform (hanging in wardrobe)
-Dog Tags
-Poppies
-Phone
-Mug of Tea
-Newspapers (added in on the computer)
-Ben’s Costume – white t-shirt, jeans (a normal daily outfit, again emphasising the fact that he is an average guy, therefore becoming more shocking when we discover that he is the killer. The colour white also means the dog tags stand out.)
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Test Shoot Sequence
After watching the test shoot sequence, it gave me a chance to see what our final sequence will look similar to, what worked well and what didn’t work so well. It was quite simple to edit together as it is a continuity sequence. There were parts that I was very happy with, but I also noticed quite a few problems with it.
Problems we came across were:
-A few issues with continuity – some parts of the sequence don’t flow so well and it therefore looks unrealistic. The shots in the real opening sequence can be cut up with the shots of the flashes of newspapers and headlines; this could avoid any continuity problems that make the sequence look odd. We also need to watch for other continuity errors, such as the kitchen light was off in one shot, and the next shot it was suddenly on.
-The time of day - we shot the sequence during the day, which meant it was very bright. Despite the fact that we want to make the guy seem quite normal, with a normal day and starting off with him waking up, and then a shock at the end, we thought the sequence was slightly too bright, which didn’t fit the atmosphere that we wanted to create. For the real shoot, we can film it later in the day, to make it slightly darker.
-The script – for the test shoot, we didn’t have a proper script ready for Ben to read off of. Therefore it was made up on the spot, for the shots of him on the phone to his mother. This made it come across as quite comical and cheesy. For the real shoot, we will have to write a real script for him to learn and read off of.
Problems we came across were:
-A few issues with continuity – some parts of the sequence don’t flow so well and it therefore looks unrealistic. The shots in the real opening sequence can be cut up with the shots of the flashes of newspapers and headlines; this could avoid any continuity problems that make the sequence look odd. We also need to watch for other continuity errors, such as the kitchen light was off in one shot, and the next shot it was suddenly on.
-The time of day - we shot the sequence during the day, which meant it was very bright. Despite the fact that we want to make the guy seem quite normal, with a normal day and starting off with him waking up, and then a shock at the end, we thought the sequence was slightly too bright, which didn’t fit the atmosphere that we wanted to create. For the real shoot, we can film it later in the day, to make it slightly darker.
-The script – for the test shoot, we didn’t have a proper script ready for Ben to read off of. Therefore it was made up on the spot, for the shots of him on the phone to his mother. This made it come across as quite comical and cheesy. For the real shoot, we will have to write a real script for him to learn and read off of.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Test Shoot
We had our Test Shoot today, we shot both original ideas that we had and have made a decision to go ahead with the idea about a killer getting up, getting ready and off to kill another. We made this choice because we came across many problems with the other idea. I’m happy with this decision and think this opening sequence could work really well.
On the Test Shoot, me and Selina shared the roles of camera person, director, sound and production assistant. This was because Ben was in all the shots. We shared the roles fairly equally, and managed to shoot roughly the same amount of shots, giving us both practice for the real shoot.
The problems with my idea were:
-Location. The garage was too cluttered to get to the corner and we couldn’t find another one to film in.
-Acting. During our test shoot acting was a struggle and we thought it would be difficult to find someone who was suitable and wouldn’t mind acting in it.
However, whilst filming the other idea, we didn’t really come across many problems and discovered that it was fairly easy to film. We also timed what he had filmed and it came to 1min 45secs, therefore with credits, titles and other shots added in, such as newspaper articles, it should be close to the 2mins. We have also developed the idea further and made decisions of things that we could add in, such as the man having a conversation on the phone with his mother, in order to add in some dialogue. It will also make it quite creepy as the man will come across as a ‘mummy’s boy,’ having a larger impact on the audience when they discover he is in fact the murderer. Also the shot of where he picks up the knife, we decided to change to him taking it out of a draw, whilst in the kitchen. We thought this would look more effective, as it shows him opening the draw, and he audience are unsure what for, them see the knife.
We have also had an idea to develop the plot, about maybe something to do with the Iraq War. The killer could have been involved in the war, and now he is out on revenge to the other soldiers who gave up.
This gives us potential to add in slight hints related to the war, such as a solider uniform, dog tags, poppies, photos of a battalion (marked crosses though them to signify who has been killed). Then the clips and flashes of newspapers and headlines will make the audience completely aware of who he is. The newspapers will be in black and white, therefore we could add the red poppies to make them stand out.
Before the real shoot we had to have:
-Storyboarded our final idea with all the detail and changes, this will help us visualise it on the real shoot and therefore help with the shots.
-Decide on an icon that will signify the murders and be left with the victims (possibly a poppy)
-Research into newspaper things – headlines.
-Write the script for the conversation on the phone.
-Think about the overall idea and develop it a little.
-Decide on all the props needed for the real shoot.
-Maybe start thinking about possible soundtracks.
On the Test Shoot, me and Selina shared the roles of camera person, director, sound and production assistant. This was because Ben was in all the shots. We shared the roles fairly equally, and managed to shoot roughly the same amount of shots, giving us both practice for the real shoot.
The problems with my idea were:
-Location. The garage was too cluttered to get to the corner and we couldn’t find another one to film in.
-Acting. During our test shoot acting was a struggle and we thought it would be difficult to find someone who was suitable and wouldn’t mind acting in it.
However, whilst filming the other idea, we didn’t really come across many problems and discovered that it was fairly easy to film. We also timed what he had filmed and it came to 1min 45secs, therefore with credits, titles and other shots added in, such as newspaper articles, it should be close to the 2mins. We have also developed the idea further and made decisions of things that we could add in, such as the man having a conversation on the phone with his mother, in order to add in some dialogue. It will also make it quite creepy as the man will come across as a ‘mummy’s boy,’ having a larger impact on the audience when they discover he is in fact the murderer. Also the shot of where he picks up the knife, we decided to change to him taking it out of a draw, whilst in the kitchen. We thought this would look more effective, as it shows him opening the draw, and he audience are unsure what for, them see the knife.
We have also had an idea to develop the plot, about maybe something to do with the Iraq War. The killer could have been involved in the war, and now he is out on revenge to the other soldiers who gave up.
This gives us potential to add in slight hints related to the war, such as a solider uniform, dog tags, poppies, photos of a battalion (marked crosses though them to signify who has been killed). Then the clips and flashes of newspapers and headlines will make the audience completely aware of who he is. The newspapers will be in black and white, therefore we could add the red poppies to make them stand out.
Before the real shoot we had to have:
-Storyboarded our final idea with all the detail and changes, this will help us visualise it on the real shoot and therefore help with the shots.
-Decide on an icon that will signify the murders and be left with the victims (possibly a poppy)
-Research into newspaper things – headlines.
-Write the script for the conversation on the phone.
-Think about the overall idea and develop it a little.
-Decide on all the props needed for the real shoot.
-Maybe start thinking about possible soundtracks.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
My Responsibilities
Tomorrow is going to be our first shoot as a group and I’m looking forward to testing out both of our ideas. Hopefully, from this we can make a final decision about which idea we shall go ahead with.
Tomorrow we will be arriving at 10am to Selina’s house and it’s my responsibility to bring the tripod and the mic. As Ben will be acting, it is mine and Selina’s role to direct, film and check sound during shooting.
Tomorrow we will be arriving at 10am to Selina’s house and it’s my responsibility to bring the tripod and the mic. As Ben will be acting, it is mine and Selina’s role to direct, film and check sound during shooting.
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