Captain's Log - 28/09

IN yesterday's lesson, we drew up two spider diagrams for ideas of both alternative scenarios to occur in the film and possible endings. We came up with a variety, both rather simple and easy to do as well as more complicated, but interesting ideas, which will probably use, as part of our general aim to be a bit more experimental. We also worked on two possible transitions between the real and imagined realities in the films, both of which are very complicated. I, also came up with the idea of using a sort of visual motif, some sort of object which can be seen to signify a separation between real and imagined, taking inspiration from outside the genre, particularly from The Godfather and the appearances of Oranges before scenes of death -

Pitch

Captain's Log - 25/09

Today, we, unfortunately, presented a bright pink Prezi to the rest of the class and a camera. Apart from  a few overly long rambling sentences, stutters and mispronounced words, it went well, covering all the ideas and presenting them. We also received a few very good questions from the class and Miss Moore, which we could use for the evaluation topic of audience response, as well as allowing us to expand the ideas presented and even giving us more ideas to explore for our film.

Captain's Log - 19/09

In today's lesson, I have carried on with creating the prezi presentation for our pitch, contributing most of the ideas concerning the narrative and plot of the short film. I have also continued doing research and finding clips of our inspirations.

Captain's Log - 18/09

So far, we have thought up the idea and narrative for the short in discussion, and gathered a fairly solid narrative structure. We have also considered ideas from other films, such as Pusher, and Run Lola Run, on how our film could be more innovatively shot and visually interesting. We have considered effects to use as well, in post-production, to best display the abilities of the team members in such a short film. Also, we have come up with overall approaches to the film, with an aim to try to fit too much into the short film, rather than too little, as other A2 projects seem to have done.

Prophecy Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyb-7ljlqFo

Mise-en-scene

The location is very appropriate to the narrative and circumstances. It appears to be set in a small apartment in some part of London, with fits in with the accents of the actors and their clothing, appropriate to young people, to create a more believable setting. The film also seems to utilise a very muted colour scheme, with very little strong colours, this gives it a sort of gritty realism.

Camerawork

The camerawork for most of the film is very conventional, mostly medium shots and close ups, with the occasional Dutch Tilt, first used when the younger boy, Ali, begins to act strangely, transferring the older brother's emotions onto the audience. There is also a POV shot composed of the same shot, superimposed onto itself an moving around to simulate the elder brother's drunkenness. Another similar shot occurs after the older brother's death showing his dead face. Given the way that it repeats the style of a POV shot, it could be said to represent an out of death experience. It continues when he wakes up, to show confusion on the part of the character.The way the shots follow the older brother's movement and viewpoint, it is clear that we are meant to empathise with him and his view on the events and his younger brother's strange behaviour.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film is very dramatic, being quite operatic and classically influenced, apart from the diegetic music over the older brother's headphones. The mostly classical non-diegetic soundtrack, is at odds with the realism of the mise-en-scene and camerawork. However, it does serve to allude to a more important aspect to the narrative, before it is explained visually or in dialogue, creating a clever and subtle use of foreshadowing. It reaches a crescendo at the climax as the protagonist discovers Ali's prophecy. The diegetic sound on the other hand is very conventional, showing more of the realism shown in the mise-en-scene, apart from a static noise accompanying the glitch effects.

Editing

The short film has a very good use of editing. A strange glitch effect across the actors creates a huge contrast between the realistic presentation of the rest of the film, really making the strangeness of it stand out, and creating confusion and mystery. From the point when the older brother falls onto his bed to his death, a black outline appears around the edge of the screen. This is quite subtle, not being something that an audience might notice on a first time viewing, so it registers on a subconscious level, making the tone become much darker, fitting in with the narrative as Ali's prophecy is soon to come true.