On Location

As I had strong feelings toward the genre of the film before being put into groups I'd been thinking about possible locations had the castle market possibility fallen through. Out of interest, I took a walk up to Park Hill estate and realised that the whole complex of flats would, if need be, make a good alternative to the castle market. While there I took a number of photographs that depict its potential.

  

Two Minute Location

The images below came from a recce to a possible location for our two minute emotive film. The images represent some of the angles we've storyboarded for the film. Due to unforeseen circumstances the location may have to be changed, regardless, taking these pictures has been useful as it highlighted potential issues that we were able to discuss and over come.

Mama

I've been a fan of this short film for a while and once it was decided that we wanted to shoot a horror this semester I was very excited to incorporate elements of it into my own film.

Cinematography

The most noticeable aspect of the film, and my favourite, is that the film is made up on just one long take, being that I'm the cinematographer for the project its my hope that I can mimic this technique for a portion of the film. What I love about how it's used in Mama is the way it force holds the tension and make the audience feel as vulnerable as one of the little girls being that the continuos shot gives you the impression of actually being there, rather than just watching. It's this that I hope to imitate, I love the idea of following the security guard as he goes on his rounds, experiencing as he does, the strange goings ons. I feel this is a more intimate way of shooting the film and forces the audience to form more of an emotional attachment with the protagonist, mainly because as a result of the cinematography I hope the audience feel like they are sharing the experience rather than just spectating it.

Another reason i think this style of cinematography will work well is due to the location. The market is huge and full of corridors, corners and different levels, with adequate research and good planning I believe it will be possible to utilise all these features to create a really visually interesting film. It's not my intention to shoot the whole film in as few cuts as possible however, I realise that with the technology and equipment we have at our disposal it would be impossible to achieve a Children of Men style of film. This being said, I think that for a section of the film, just one scene perhaps, this kind of filming would be highly beneficial to both the audiences engagement with the location, character and highten the level of horror to what we hope to achieve.  

A technique the film makers have used in this example to increase the horror factor is to play with the playback speed. With some careful preplanning they have been able to frame 'the monster' and in post speed up the footage of her coming toward the camera, the effect being to deeply distort her movement and make her seem 'otherworldly'. I'd like to experiment with these kind of simple effects to exaggerate our own monster and possibly speak to some visual effects students to see if they'd be able or interested in applying some effects, as they've done in Mama, to animate her face and hair.   

The biggest challenge I'll face when physically shooting a sequence of this type will be keeping focus. Due to shooting on a DSLR, there are few ways to accurately predict or pull focus while filming on the move. The simplest option would be get hold of a fast lens, meaning the depth of field would be increased however this may not be an option. We plan to use a shoulder rig for the DSLR which has a focus ring on the side that uses cogs to pull the lens into focus, while this bit of kit is for third years we're hoping we can use it regardless. Its these two factors that will attribute to the success or failure of my intentions, in the worst case scenario I'll have to make do and simply repeat the shot again and again until I get it right.

Sound

Though I'm not in charge of the sound for our film, I think its important to discuss how its relevant to the success of a film. In Mama, the soundtrack is minimal but plays as much, if not more, of a role in making the film scary. In building tension, silence is as important as sound, an audience isn't used to images not being accompanied with sound therefore any moments of silence are very noticeable. It raises tensions as when audiences are aware of silence they are waiting for something to happen that will break it. In horror, often this comes as a loud bang or scream, catching the audience by surprise, making them jump. Instead of this, Mama's soundtrack introduces low frequency sound effects that build as the girls get closer to meeting 'Mama', the sound of something smashing triggers the sound effects to drop, once again introducing an unnerving silence which is broken when the figure appears in the doorway. The combination of the sped up footage and the sudden screams of the girls acts as the moment where audiences are expected to jump.   

      

Ten Minuet Location

For our ten minuet film we wanted to centralize the theme around the paranormal, mainly because we thought as students it was a topic that isn't often attempted and secondly because we already had a great location lined up. Last semester I made a documentary about the closure of Sheffield's Castle Market, as a result of getting to know some of the staff, they had allowed us to film in the market during closed hours. Between around 9pm and 5am the market is empty aside from one member of staff, the night guard. At the time we joked about how spooky the place was when deserted and from this the idea grew that we would like to make a horror set in the market.

Early this semester I went to the market and spoke to the manager, he seemed to remember us from the last time we'd filmed there and was happy to let us have as much access to the market at what ever hour we requested and as many times as we needed. During this same visit we ran into one of the contributors of the documentary, a stall owner, and got talking to him about our next project. He seemed very enthused about the concept of a horror story set in the market and pointed us in the direction of a night guard who had some real-life ghost stories about occurrences of the paranormal that had happened to him personally. We met him and he took us on a unofficial ghost walk of the market, stopping us at every location where he had seen or heard something unusual.

The history of Castle Market supports the idea of potential spiritual happenings being that the building sits onto of the remains of one of the largest medieval castles in England, hence the name Castle Market.  One of the stories that we were told about involved a handless and footless figure, dressed in chain mail, moving through the bottom floor of the market before disappearing through a wall.  Ordinarily I'd dismiss the story as an imaginative hallucination, however, talking directly to the person who swore it happened had a slightly more chilling effect than had it been a 'friend of a friend' kind of story. Regardless of the truth, the stories have fired my imagination and will act as some of the inspiration for the film.

The pictures below depict part of the foundations of the old castle the public can still visit. We've been told there's a lot more to see however due to dangerous access its not possible to go down and see it.

The image below illustrates the scale and location of the 13th century castle.

Harry Brown's Depressing Morning

While trying to think of films that portray emotion as much through cinematic techniques I suddenly remembered the beginning to Harry Brown (Barber, 2009), I can distinctly remember it having quite an effect on me the first time I saw it. As in A Lonely Man, the performance of the actor helps a great deal in the portrayal of the given emotion, rather than it being so performance driven however, its the fact that Harry Browns character is old that gives the scene poignancy. Its very easy as an audience member to sympathise with the older generation, especially concerning the themes of loneliness and isolation.

The scene opens with a close up of an alarm clock that reads 6.30. Instantly the audience can recognise that its early morning, for a first time watcher this doesn't mean anything yet, however it sets the scene for whats to come. In terms of the scene stylistic choices, its obvious to see that quite a heavy grey/green filter has been applied to the footage. The result is a sapping of vibrant colours, everything in the room is monotone, giving the audience an instant feeling of sadness and depression. In other words, Harry Browns out look on life is bleak. Lastly, the use of shallow depth of field gives the impression of bleary eyes, without wanting to read too much into this, it could be the case that its representative of Brown's old age.

Its following this shot that the audience sees Cain's character for the first time. The close up is unforgiving and immediately gives the audience a good idea of how he's feeling. The fact that he's already awake and waiting for the alarm to go off suggests a depression that, as I've already mentioned, is represented though the colour grading. Not that you can tell though these screen grabs, but each shot of Brown is drawn out, this both reiterates his sadness i.e. not wanting to get out of bed and secondly, suggests he's in no rush to go anywhere or do anything.

The next edit cuts to the other side of his bed, revealing him to be alone. As I've said before, the fact that Cain is an old man, his being by himself automatically suggests widower in the way that a twenty something lying by them selves simply does not. Instantly this throws up sympathy from the audience without anything needed to be said or explained.

The conformation of a deceased spouse comes in the next shot, a cut away to a bed-side-table on which photo's of whats assumed to be his wife are sat. In terms of art direction, the numerous bottles of pills that surround the pictures tell yet another unspoken story, clearly he's not aging well, another reason to feel sorry for Brown.

To further establish to suspected death of this wife Brown then strokes the pillow where she used to lie, this shot in particular holds for a long time, reiterating the fact he misses her company. Its now that the theme of loneliness becomes apparent. Art direction, again, is worth noting here, his green pajamas blend him into the background (you can see the green wallpaper on the walls), this suggests he's succumb to his depression, loosing his character and vibrancy. In a sense, becoming just part of his flat, rather than living there, he now just exists there.

After some time, it cuts to a wide of his whole room and the first thing an audience notices is its lack of any outstanding features, all the furniture is plain, all the colours dull thus continuing the concept of bleakness. It also shows him at his most alone, this wide, as a result of the mid shots and close ups that precede it is almost shocking, despite it being a small room, due to the minimal set dressing it makes him seem small in comparison and frail. This idea is represented through the action of his taking a long intake of his inhaler, confirming an illness hinted at in the previous cutaway.   

These two cutaways serve as a frank introduction/explanation of Browns morning routine. The fact they are extreme close ups accompanied with brutally crisp audio recordings suggests Barber wants to make a point out of whats he's eating for his breakfast. The solitary mug reiterating his loneliness and the poor quality white bread with a thin scraping of jam hints at poverty, (not that the look of his apartment hadn't already) not only this but the plainness of his breakfast further adds to the general plainness of his life.   

The position of the camera in this next shot looks as if its the point of view of someone sat across from him, for this reason when the next shot reveals him to be sat alone it becomes very apparent that he has no one.  

For me, its this shot that has the most emotion attached to it, the empty chair epitomizing the way he feels and his current existence. Without a word spoken, the audience completely understand Brown's situation and his emotional state. The use of light is really evocative in this shot too, although colour grading has contributed to its look, the use of pale morning light refuses to lighten the mood. The whole scene is almost too somber to bare.  

The sound used in this scene also attributes to the tone, as I've mentioned, no dialogue is used and in its place is deathly silence. In this instance I feel this is much more befitting to the scene as it firstly, takes no attention away from the depressing imagery but secondly, continues the theme of isolation, further instilling the fact he is completely alone. The way in which Barber has made the sounds of the scraping of toast and pouring in of water so loud could be to exaggerate to the audience how the sounds of him making breakfast are the only ones he hears in the mornings, a depressing thought in its own right.  

Two Minutes of Inspiration

These film extracts were shown in class. I'm going to analyse them and discuss how these findings can contribute to my own work.




Cinematography: Starting from the beginning of the extract, the camera slowly tracks around from a side angle until it frames Firth's character centrally within the frame. The original placement of the camera presumably acting as somewhat of an establishing shot, placing Firth's character within the location he's sat. (Personally, I'm a fan of any sequence that minimises cuts, using them only when attention needs to be brought to some other aspect in frame or to suggest certain things to an audience. This sequence ticks these boxes for me). This unassuming camera movement tells the audience a whole lot. Firstly, the slow movement is a delicate way of introducing the character to the scene, it would have been jarring to the audience had there had been a cut from the previous shot (not shown in this clip) of the outside of his house to him squarely facing the camera. (This method of using a track or pan to introduce a scene is widely used). Secondly, the fact the shot stops where it does places Firth directly in front of an audience member, better suited for capturing the actors performance and forcing the audience to look at nothing else.

The next edit is to a cut away of the character taking off his glasses, suggesting an uneasiness or some kind of  nervous habit. It also sets up a shot to come where Firth drops them, implying a lack of control, both physically and emotionally. Since the shot where the glasses are dropped is loaded with such important meaning, to not include this cutaway would perhaps cause the later cutaway to seem over dramatic or unusual as there would have been no prior understanding of him holding his glasses in his hand. In terms of performance direction, having the actor take off his glasses makes him easier to empathise with. Eyes are the window to the soul, being able to see directly into the actors eye's make the performance more powerful. 

    

It then momentarily cuts back to the 'front on' shot of Firth but changes very quickly to a side angle of his face. I'm not entirely sure why the director has chosen to include this second angle. The result is that we see his reaction from another perspective; for me personally this adds to the impact of his performance, from the side the audience is able to see slight facial movements that they are not aware of when watching him from the front. For this reason I believe its fair to say that the reason for this scene's impact is due to Firth's performance, meaning that in our own work we may not be as lucky with our 'talent'. Regardless, if I'm to include a similar technique in my work I'll have to explain my choices if it's not clear through the actors performance. 

It once again then cuts back to the main shot of Firth, however rather than remaining static the director has chosen to use a very slow track in. The result of this is that as the conversation progresses, more is discovered and more emotions start to be visible, the audience are getting closer and closer to these emotions. Essentially, as the scene reaches it's climax, the audience are forced to take in all the emotion that comes as a result of it. Again, this is quite a common technique and one that I plan to emulate in the two minuet film. The fact that there are no cuts for quite a while guarantees the sequence to be unrelenting, for the audience there is no escape from the performance and its this lack of fear to hold the shot that contributes to the emotion of the entire scene. It only cuts once the phone conversation is complete, back to the side angle, capturing the action of Firth putting the phone down. Then back once again to him centered in frame, still crushed in as he was before the shot cut and still savoring all the small emotions Firth brings to the character.

It's now that the second cut away of the glasses is used, the audience see them fall to the floor, now able to understand why we saw the first cut away and the importance of it. Very quickly it cuts back to the shot before it, lingering further still, then back to the side angle, showing the second perspective and finally back to the original before the scene ends.

If anything is to be taken from this sequence, it's the fact that so much emotion and comprehension of a character can be captured through a very simple set up. It doesn't always have to be the case of over complicating the camera angles or the amount one might think is necessary. In this instance, just using the two and switching them back and forth is far more effective in terms of forcing the audience to empathise with the character. I'll definitely take this into consideration when story boarding for my project. If I can, I'd like to use as little number of angles as Ford does.

Sound: Like this cinematography of this sequence, its the simplicity and the less is more mentality that works so well. The only sound heard apart from the conversation for the majority of the scene is the rain out side. Pathetic fallacy at its more obvious. Having said this however it works really well, the type of rain is worth considering, in film there are many ways to record rain and many ways it can be portrayed. In this case, though its heavy (as you see in the establishing shot of the house) it doesn't at all sound violent  On the contrary, though it's noticeable  its almost relaxing, reflecting the calm demeanor of Firth's character while he's on the phone. Its only when he hangs up and allows him self to break down does it gradually get louder and louder and more chaotic sounding, intensifying the scene.

The only other sound you hear relate to the phone, the most noticeable being when Firth attempts to hang up. Though the camera angle doesn't depict him placing it down, though considered sound effects, its portrayed that he fumbles for a second before managing to successfully put it down. This is a great example of how all three elements of a scene come together to convey an emotion. The camera crushed in, capturing all the emotion, the sound, used to suggest an instability and of course the excellent performance from Firth. From this I would say I've learnt not to underestimate the power of sound in a scene, especially in terms of sound that comes from out of frame. The actor may not have been directed to do this and if that's the case then it goes to show what some carefully considered sound can achieve.        

Emotion

Our chosen emotion started out as being fear, this was because, off the back of Rob's alien related character study we thought we may want to produce a horror film. This is still the basis of out ten minuet piece, however it has been though that with our combined experience of special effects being absolutely none, to try and produce a 'Signs' inspired film would be asking a lot. Instead, I feel better it would be more achievable to base both our ten and two minuet film around the emotion of anxiety. This way, the horror can be more suggestive and tense rather than all out humanity vs. aliens.

Due to this change in emotion, although anxiety and fear are very close to one another, it allows us to more flexible with the two minuet film. Inspired in part from my character study, we want to include the theme of domestic violence. Our initial idea was to use a child actor and try to portray his or her fear of a domestic fight they can hear coming from downstairs. At first I really liked this idea, it got around the constraint of no sync dialogue as none of the speech would be coming from within frame. However the more we discussed the notion of recruiting a young child actor, especially considering the subject content, we though it was bound to get us into some real problems. As a result this idea was scraped for a new one.

Idea No. 2 and the one we're currently running with is the representation of the two minuets in a house wife's day prior to her abusive husband returning home from work. When I suggested this notion I realised that it would be easier to represent the wife anxiousness of the husbands return rather than flat out fear. I guessed that if the wife was in fear then she'd be less likely to be active, rather sitting still, subdued. My idea was more about her frantically preparing the flat/house so that it was perfect for the husband to arrive back to. Not only this, but the actions of someone when they're nervous are far easier to direct to an actor. For example simple things like biting nails, not being able to sit still, tidying an already immaculate house etc. In contrast, to get a convincing performance of fear from an non experienced actor is much, much harder.

As its turned out I believe the change has been for the best as it's allowed for the productions of both films to be more practical.