A young photographer goes to the forest to take pictures and while doing so he notices a mysterious figure/masked being in some of the photos he had taken. After doing some research on rumours about the forest he had visited, he revisits the forest only to find out that the rumours. We then watch as the young photographer tries to escape this masked being he had encountered in the forest.
- Decided which roles we were to take in the production of our short film
- We took a look at the feedback that we had received for our film treatment pitch and decided to go with our second idea. We also went over how we could improved the idea and improve character development for certain characters, while keeping the film simple and easy to carry out/produce.
- We talked about specific characteristic that our ators should have and began deciding who could be possible actors for our short film.
- We started to create our storyboard and discuss what shots are to be used in certain scenes.
- We also conducted more research into how scripts are commonly written and based our script off our storyboard.
- We then decided on two possible locations to use and started doing risk assessments and call sheets to analyse what can go wrong when filming and decide when we should start.
Through our audience feedback, we have found out that...
- Our first film idea which is a drama is overcomplicated and may be too hard to carry out. This is due to the fact that the locations (Westfield shopping centre) that we had planned to use may be inconvenient as we would would have to get permission every time we want to use it. As well as that, we were told that our first idea seems very detailed and because of this, the film may end up being too long.
- The audience preferred our second idea which is a thriller, as it seems more interesting and easier to carry out and produce.
- The audience thought that one of our characters needed to be developed and that they don't know too much about the character from what we have said in our pitch.
Our group will take this into consideration when developing our final idea.
Target Audience:
- This film is targeted towards more of a older audience which consists of people who 15 and older. This is due to the fact that the film shows a lot of violence and gory scenes. Also, it is of the Horror/thriller genre and films of this genre tend to be targeted towards an older audience.
Characters:
In this film we see 2 characters, a murderer and his girlfriend.
Synopsis:
This film follows the story of a man who one day finds this strange marking on his arm. Ever since this had happened, the man had been going into a state where he would kidnap people and murder them after taking them to a location which is unknown, even to himself. This short film shows him as he discovers he had kidnapped his girlfriend and tries to help her escape from his evil persona. However, he only has 5 minutes to do so.
Camera Techniques:
Example 1: Wide shot/Establishing shot
This shot was used to set the scene and introduce the main location that the short is filmed at.
Example 2: Close Up
This shot was used to show the character's facial expression and clarify her emotions for the audience.
Example 3: Close Up
This shot was used to show the character's facial expression and clarify her emotions for the audience.
Example 4: XCU
An XCU was used as the object featured in the shot is significant to the scene. In this case, it emphasises and lets the audience know that the main character is a killer. This particular shot, helps create an eerie mood/atmosphere. Editing:
At the start of the film cutaways were used to cut in and out of shots of our main character as he is seen running and things such as the title screen and screens showing featured actors. The cutting rate was generally quite fast at the start of the film as we watch the man running towards the location where he had kept his hostage. Also, the cutting rate was generally quite fast throughout the entire film as the film focuses on the hostage's escape and the fast cutting rate gives us a sense of urgency. As well as that, the film also features montages of clips which show things such as the man's past and articles on his killings. Furthermore, the film also uses visual effects to blur the screen during scenes showing flashbacks.
Sound:
The film starts off with non-diabetic sound as we hear the main character narrating over shots of himself. Also, we hear a lot of diegetic sound in the form of ambient sound and the voice of characters in the film. The ambient sound is very important in this film as it creates suspense. In this film we here absent sound as we are shown the location it was filmed at from the outside and we hear nothing but the sound of crickets. This suggests that no one else is around and creates suspense as any sudden loud sounds may surprise the audience during a thriller. Furthermore, we hear a lot of non-diabetic sound such as stings, which is used to create suspense.
Mise-en-Scene:
Lighting: The lighting in this film is generally quite dark. This adds to the eerie mood created by the combination off effects, sound and lighting.
Location: There are two main locations used in this film which are:
- A field/woods/mountain side
- A room
Costume and Props:
- The murderer:
The murderer is shown holding a knife. This was done to make it clear that this man is a murderer to the audience. As well as that, he is also seen wearing a coat covered in blood which also adds to the idea of him being a murderer. Many props were also used as part of the location to add to the idea of him being a murderer such as old newspapers showing articles of killings he was responsible for.
- The murderer's girlfriend/Victim:
The murderer's girlfriend/the victim is shown wearing casual clothes. However, she is covered in blood and is shown chained to a chair with tape over her mouth. This emphasises that she has been kidnapped and is being held hostage.
What I liked about the film/What techniques would I like to use:
- I like how the film uses a fast cutting rate to create suspense and I plan to use this technique in my short film.
- I like how the film makes use of ambient sound that can be heard from the location used to create an eerie and strange mood and I plan to use this in my short film.
This film is targeted towards a more older audience (starting from young adults - older people / 15+) as it shows us the darker side to to human behaviour.
--> The film features scenes involving violence, robbery and rape.
Number of characters:
We see 4 main characters in the film, but we do also see many other actors who play the police, and passengers on the bus. The 4 main actors are...
- The bus Driver
- A young man / passenger
- Robber (1)
- Robber (2)
Narrative Structure: Linear
Synopsis:
Bus 44 follows the story of a female bus driver and her passengers who encounter two robbers on their bus journey.
The film starts off with a shot showing a young man who happens to be stuck on a highway, and luckily enough, he sees a bus come by. After he had got on the bus, they continued their journey. However, along the way, they encounter two robbers who decide to not only rob the valuables of every person on the bus, but also rape the female bus driver in the fields by the highway. At this point every, passenger on the bus was pressed up against the window contemplating over whether or not to go and help her. In the end, the only passenger who had the courage to go and help her was the young man she had let on the bus earlier. Once, he got to where she was, he was unable to save her and got injured in the process. Later, after the two robbers had gone, the bus driver and the young man who tried to help her headed back to the bus. However, once they had got there, the bus driver immediately told the young man to get off. We then see a close up of the young man's face as he asks why he wasn't allowed back on when he was the only person to help her. But he receives no reply and the bus driver drives off into the distance. Later on, after the young man had managed to hitch I ride to the nearest town and on the way, he sees policemen surrounding an area where a car accident had happened. He soon finds out that everyone on the bus, including the bus driver was dead and come to a realisation that it was the bus he had just been kicked off that crashed. The film then ends with a close up of the young mans face as the smiles.
Camera Techniques:
Examples:
Example 1: Extreme-long shot / establishing shot
This shot was used to set the scene and show where majority of the short film takes place.
Example 2: Long/Wide shot of young man and bus.
The use of a long shot allowed us to see the young man's entire body, meaning we can see his clothing and body language. Through this we are able to tell (through his body language) that he is very desperate in this situation.
Example 3: Mid shot of passengers as they look through the bus windows.
This shot was used as it allowed us to see the actions and body language of the passengers on the bus.
This was done to emphasise how cold hearted these passengers are as they are just sitting back and watching as the bus driver gets raped.
Example 4: XCU of car accessory
This shot was used as the prop shown in the shot is significant to the scene and the film itself. It plays a big part in the film and as shown in the following screenshot where we see a wide shot of a police man holding up the accessory as evidence from the car crash that had happened later on.
Editing:
The film starts off showing a young man on the side of a highway, but cutaways were used to change the focus of the scene and switch between shots of an incoming bus and the young man. As well as that, cuts were also used to switch between scenes. Generally throughout the film, the cutting rate was quite slow. However, it changes and speeds up towards the end when see the police acting very urgently at a car crash site.
Sound:
This film's sound mostly consists of diegetic sound in the form of dialogue. This was done to help the audience have more of an understanding of the storyline and what was going on in each scene. However towards the end we do hear some non-diegetic sound. As we were introduced to the police later on in the film, we hear fast paced music playing in the background. This was done to add to the mood and emphasise how urgent the situation was for the policemen.
Mise-en-scene:
Lighting:
The lighting in the film was good and was generally quite bright. It was very consistent and there wasn't a scene that looked out of place.
Location:
The film was shot in Hong Kong and the main location were..
- The inside of a bus
- A highway
- A field
Costume and Props:
During the film we see that 2 of the main characters, the bus driver and the young man are wearing every day clothes. However, the two robbers that they had encountered were wearing suits and carrying knives. This shows us that they have more power over the other characters as they are carrying weapons. Also, the fact that they are carrying weapons tells us that they are represented as criminals.
What I liked about the film/What ideas would I take into consideration when creating my own short film?
- I liked how camera techniques were used to clarify what was going on and emphasise certain representations of characters in the film. I plan on doing the same by using techniques such as Close Ups as my main short film idea is a Thriller, and it also heavily relies on clarifying the emotion of characters in order to set the mood.
