Preliminary Film

Theories: Research

Theories in Media 

There are multiple different theories that can be considered when analysing film. These theories offer explanations as to why: different props have been used; characters have been included and various structures followed. Combined, these are what make up the content of the film and can have detrimental impacts on the way that the film is perceived.

There are four main theories.

Propp's character roles

The first is Propp's character roles. This theory suggests that all characters within film fit into a category. These are used so that the portrayal of individuals can be categorised to decide their role in progressing the film. For example, a character such as Spider man would be categorised as a hero, whose purpose is to contribute a positive motive. Whereas a character like Cruella Deville is a Villain. The purpose of a villain to be to fight against the actions of the hero/heroin. Every character in every film, according to Propp, can be filtered into one of the following roles:

• Hero
• Villain
• Donor (somebody who gives something)
• Dispatcher
• False hero (the one who is thought to be a hero but it later found to not be)
• Helper 
• Princess
• Father figure

It's important to note that a character can fit into multiple roles, and are not confined to just one description.

Levi-Strauss's Binary Oppositions

A second media theory is that of Levi- Strauss's. His theory of Binary Oppositions, suggests that there must be contrast within film. A binary opposition is a pair of related items or concepts, that are opposite in their meanings. For example: rich/poor, black/white, up/down, slow/fast, young/old and gay/straight - along with many more. Including these in film increases the complexity and therefore the interest generated of a piece of media by developing a more interesting narrative.

Thodorov's Narrative Theory

Thodorov's Narrative Theory encourages the idea that all narratives follow the same three part structure. They begin with equilibrium. This is the part of the story where everything is balanced and controlled. Then, this progresses as something comes along to disturb the equilibrium. This could be a disaster or fight which must be amended by one or more of the characters. Finally, the film will reach a resolution. This is when the equilibrium is restored.

Mood Board: Planning

Making the Ident: Production

I began making the ident using Adobe After Effects. Using this programme allows me to add layers to the ident (as you would in photoshop) but with the addition of using moving transitions and other video effects. 

The first thing that I had to do was import a background from google images. When doing this, I had to ensure that the graphic was royalty free and open for reuse with the inclusion of editing. I chose to use a brick wall to imitate a wall in a bar. This would later accompany the look of a wall light. Then, I changed the colouring of the background by applying a monotone filter. Initially, I thought that I would apply a vignette effect whilst in After effects so that the centre of the frame would be highlighted, but I decided to add this in once i'd imported the ident into Premiere pro as the process would be much faster if done via that programme. 

Secondly, I added the text. There were no fonts on Adobe After Effects that particularly suited the look that I was going for and so I downloaded some fonts from google. Again, these were open for use by anyone. I changed the colours of the two fonts that I had imported so that they would appear neon, with the characteristics of a glowing bulb. I decided to make the two fonts different colours in order for the two elements to be read separately (emphasising what the differing fonts may have already achieved). Once this was complete and I was happy with the choice of colours, I used a transform effect to slightly tilt the writing. I changed the orientation of the text by -10 so that it was still legible but looked good. 

After editing the writing, I added a neon ring. I used the eye dropper tool to match the colour of the ring to the text at the top. I then wanted to make the ring slightly more rough looking. To achieve this, I used the 'pen tool' with a no-fill setting on it. I followed the line of the already established circle and finished by also matching the colour to the pink text. This allowed me to achieve a circle shape that was less structured that the one i'd initially made. Lastly, I deleted the first circle- leaving just the drawn ring.

Title Sequence Research: Planning

The Title slot for the crime/psychological thriller Se7en, connotes a psychological thriller/horror genre. After seeing the title, you begin to question what the film is going to be about. The typography used here has a rough look to it because it is slightly uneven and faded in places. This is something that is regularly used in thrillers and the sub-genre of psychological thrillers as it creates ambiguity and a sense on unease.

The opening of this film (excluding the title), starts with a close up shot of a book from a mid-angled position of the top of it. This could generate mystery as the audience doesn't know what the book contains, given that they are unable to see the page contents. The camera is steady and so the movement of the pages in the foreground and the hand in the background is emphasised. Automatically, our focus is drawn to the movement of the hand, which is unidentifiable because it is out of focus and therefore, not detailed. As a viewer, we begin to question the identity and involvement of this figure as part of the narrative.

Next, camera is placed at a high angle, allowing the viewer to look down on the book revealing what’s written on the pages and showing pictures people that appear to look tortured most inflicted with wounds relaying that fact that there is possibly going to be gore and murderous occurrences in the film. We also see close ups of certain words that are being blocked out by black pen but are half recognisable without looking very closely at the shot as it runs at a fast pace from each shot. The words that are revealed are words such as "Homosexual". This perhaps suggests that the film will begin to challenge delicate ideologies and deal with sensitive subjects in a manner which is intended to provoke a reaction from the audience. 

In addition, the mystery person could possibly be a psychopath as they block out people’s faces and various words that look like sections from religious prophesies. In one shot, we see a newspaper cutting where they have specifically removed the word "God". This suggests that the film will involve religious themes, or possibly satanic themes. Also, there could be an element of murder in the film. It also suggests there are religious references throughout due to the religious connotations from the word "God". Everything shown here, keeps the audience guessing. It is unknown as to whether or not the imagery here could be taken as clues and pointers that reveal more about the storyline/context. The clues are shown on different paper clippings that the person is seeming to be collecting and adding to what could be their diary or portfolio. This ambiguous action can be seen as a convention throughout a lot of psychological thriller/horror genre films.

Finally, the lack of long shots in the title Sequence prevents the viewer from seeing fully, what’s happening. As a result, we see no overview of the action that is taking place on screen. This could have been used to reinforce the fear of the unknown and the mystery of what the character is doing. In addition to this, everything that we see in the title Sequence is what can be seen from the villain’s viewpoint. Therefore, we see the whole thing through his or her eyes as opposed to our own. This visual device may have been used to characterise our likeness to the villain, or to portray the idea that we aren’t as far removed from the film as we may wish we are.  

Rushes: Production

Here is a brief edit of our film opening. We will use this to gain feedback from our target audience. We will do so by shwoing a group of 15+ year olds this clip and record their reactions. Then, we can ask them a series of questions to help us digest their reaction in a more structured format. From this, we will be able to establish where the strengths and weaknesses are, in order for us to improve the opening.

Risk Assessment: Planning

There are a number of hazards that need to be considered in preparation for filming and production of our two minute film opening. All locations must be put under inspection to ensure that they're suitable for use. By conducting a risk assessment, we will be ensuring the safety of everyone physically involved at the locations. I am going to categorise the risks during my production process into three separate categories. These are: environment, characters and equipment. I will then evaluate how to minimise these dangers to ensure that the production process is as safe as possible. In order to initially identify the risks, I visited the filming locations and noted down both the major and minor risks. I then inserted these general risks into tables and suggested the most effective ways that I could minimise or eliminate them.

Environmentally, there are a few risks to consider. Firstly, the house proposes several possible dangers. This filming location is directly adjacent to a road. Therefore, I will have to make all individuals on set, aware of this hazard and in turn, this should reduce the risk  Due to this I will have to take precautions that none of my cast or crew accidentally fall. Secondly, the car park may have several dangers. Considering the time of filming the cast a crew should be reminded of oncoming cars so that no one becomes injured. Furthermore if individuals are not on camera then they must make themselves visible so that we know everyone is safe and that no one is in harms way, considering it's an open site.