Evaluation Task 1: Directors Commentary

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

The Tester: Final Edit

The Tester: Rough Cut

We have reviewed all of our raw footage and edited all of our best shots into the order in which we intend them to appear. We have also cut some of the shots to their appropriate lengths. There are lots of points for improvement however, which we acquired from a feedback session of 9 of our peers; the general consensus for improvement were these...

Evaluation Points:

• Add sound effects to emphasise events e.g. car running over Adam and Max slamming the table.

• Edit the car scene to cut out continuity errors and fine tune it to make it look more realistic i.e. speed the shot up when reversed. Cut out unnecessary shots.

• Add institutional information at the beginning (Miramax for distributor first and then our own studio/producer).

• Record dialogue of Kieran whispering into Adam's ear.

• Reduce the overall running time.

• Add soundtrack that emphasises each individual scene's mood and atmosphere.

Setting up the Interrogation Scene

Final Storyboard

The Tester - Final Storyboard from Max Lake on Vimeo.

The shots in the storyboard were changed in the final edit for numerous reasons such as lack of physical space in the location etc.

Final Shot List

We re-wrote the original shot list as we came up with some more ambitious ideas.

1    1.      Long shot of Max getting ready in his bathroom
2.       Extreme close up of tie being done up
3.       Side shot of him looking in the mirror
4.       Camera inside mirror with it being opened
5.       Straight cut to the gun and his hand picking it up
6.       Extreme close up from the side of him cocking the gun
7.       Over the shoulder shot of Max walking out of bathroom and picking up keys from radiator     cover
8.       POV tilt of Max opening door and then looking at Kieran
9.       Two shot of Max and Kieran in the backseat of the car with the camera behind them.
10.   Long shot of Adam
11.   Extreme close up of his hand being handed something
12.   Adam walking towards camera, car following behind
13.   Camera on the dashboard looking at Adam
14.   POV of Adam turning around and seeing the car speed up
15.   Long shot from side view to see him sprinting and the car following
16.   Mid shot from the side of Nixon being hit by the car
17.   Overhead shot of Nixon on the floor
18.   Two shot of max and Kieran dragging his body.
19.   Shot from the backseat showing the boot go up
20.   POV of Adam looking at Max and Kieran as the boot shuts. (Boot shutting indicates fade            to black)
21.   Medium shot of Adam tied to a chair
22.   Extreme close up of his hands trying to free
23.   Max walks to the door (Match-on-action)
24.   Close up of his hand turning the door and entering (Match-on-action)
25.   Long shot of the other side of the door with Max entering (Match-on-action)
26.   Long shot of Kieran follows from behind
27.   Mid shot of Max pulling a chair towards him
28.   POV from Adam of Max sitting down on the chair
29.   Mid shot of Max relaxing on a chair
30.   Side shot of them all. Begin conversation.
31.   180 degree rule, shot reverse shot between Adam and Max
32.   Long shot of Kieran interrupting by slamming the table
33.   Low angle shot of Max saying his dialogue (Transition!!!!!)
34.   Extreme close up of Adams hands trying to get free and he breaks the rope
35.   Long shot of Adam getting up with Kieran facing the opposite way
36.   Over the shoulder shot of Nixon getting up and running at Kieran (Match-on-action)
37.   Side shot as he hits into Kieran (Match-on-action)
38.   Close up of Kieran punching Adam in the face
39.   Mid shot to reveal a stab wound in his stomach
40.   Max dragging Adam away from Kieran
41.   Two shot of Kieran and Max with dialogue
42.   POV of Kieran picks up the knife
43.   Side shot of Kieran walking towards Adam
44.   Close up of him holding it against Adams neck
45.   Adam tells were the drugs are
46.   Over the shoulder of Adam to reveal Max putting his hand on Kieran’s shoulder with dialogue
47.   Max walks to the door with Kieran behind him
48.   Mid shot of the door opening and Kieran looking at Adam
49.   Extreme close up of Kieran’s hand touch the light switch and the light goes out
50.   Cuts to black with a crescendo

Final Script

We re-wrote the original script as we came up with some more ambitious ideas.

INT. BATHROOM – DAY

Shows Max getting ready in the bathroom mirror. Max looks at the mirror, and then opens up mirror revealing a pistol which he picks up, cocks and places inside his jacket. Then picks up keys from radiator, unlocks door showing Kieran waiting for him outside.

EXT. STREET – DAY

Back seat view of two men in a car, they see Adam being handed something. They then run him over and throw him in the boot of their car.

INT. DARK ROOM – NIGHT

Adam is seen confused and bound to a chair in a dark room. He tries to free himself but fails.

EXT. STREET – DAY

Flashback of Adam walking down the street.

INT. DARK ROOM – NIGHT

Max walks into the interrogation room, sits on a chair opposite him questions Adam about something.

MAX

So... where is it?

ADAM

Where’s what?

MAX

You know full well my friend…

KIERAN

Don’t make me beat it out of you!

MAX

Wait! Give him time...

    

INT. DARK ROOM – NIGHT

Adam stands up off the chair and charges at Kieran with a knife, and wounds him. Kieran manages to punch Adam to the floor, he then tells them where the drugs are.

KIERAN

I swear! I’ll kill you!

MAX

Nah man, this guy’s not worth it.

Final Synopsis

The story revolves around a gangster whose dark past begins to haunt him after quitting a life of crime and seeking to contribute to society.

We begin with the gangster (Max) getting dressed. He is getting ready in his bathroom for seemingly another day at his new job. Max then opens up the mirror to reveal a pistol which he then picks up, cocks and places inside his jacket. He then picks up his keys and unlocks the door showing an old acquaintance of his (Kieran) waiting for him outside.

The next scene involves the gangster and his old acquaintance in their car, waiting for a previous client (Adam) to pass by. At which point they chase him down and run him over, putting them in the boot of their car and then proceed to interrogate him about the whereabouts of their drug stash. They leave him to think about what he is going to say, then when the acquaintance is alone; the client attempts to stab him but then is beaten to submission until he tells them where the drugs are. Finally, the old acquaintance and gangster exit the room, switch off the light and the title of the film appears.

Possible Problems on Shoot

People

We found that when we were filming the car scene that some people disrupted some of our shots by walking onto them, so obviously we had to wait for them to not be on the area of the location we needed to use (which was quite a big stretch of road). Furthermore, seeing as we were pretending to chase Adam in the car, one neighbour was a bit concerned by this, so we made sure to inform her on what we were doing (filming media coursework). We then informed the rest of the neighbours and they all agreed to let us film and not get in the way of our filming.

The road we selected to film on is not very busy which obviously means that there’s much less hassle regarding unwanted sound and getting in people’s way. Although the odd car does drive down the road, so we stopped accordingly to make sure we didn't cause any disruption, as well as explaining what we were doing to any driver who asked.

Another problem with using another person for our opening (Max’s Dad) was getting a time that was long enough and convenient enough for us to film. This is why we filmed that particular part in the weekend as he was off work.

With the bathroom scene, we just had to make sure Max’s Mum and Dad were out of the house to ensure that there was no unwanted background noise and that we wouldn’t be interrupted whilst filming. We also made sure to organize a set time slot with them, and fill them in on what exactly we would be doing.

Weather

This did not affect our filming so much as only a small portion of our opening was outside, it was quite cold in the middle of winter; but we made sure to wear appropriate clothing so this did not inhibit our work.

Lighting

This was a much bigger issue, and one that we made sure to plan for as it started to go dark at about 4PM. We made sure to film at about midday so we had plenty of time to film, and, if necessary, film shots again if we weren’t happy with them. Then at about 4:30 – 5:00PM we started to film the interrogation scene as this is what we needed to achieve our chiaroscuro, low key; high contrast lighting that would establish the sinister mood we needed.

For the bathroom scene, we also made sure to film during the day as we needed day scene to contrast with the night scene as the binary opposite of good and evil.

Legal

As we were using a BB gun that looks very similar to an actual gun, we made sure that we didn’t use it outside as obviously people would assume that it is a real gun and this could get us in trouble with the Police for possession of firearms. It was of course fine to use it inside however.

Risk Assessment

The three locations for our production each had their own inherent risks, but these were minimised as much as possible to ensure safe filming of our production.

Max’s Garage
The main danger was in the use of a knife in the fight scene. To prevent any injuries, we used a blunt knife and used the flat side when Kieran’s wrist is seen to be cut.
We also practiced the blocking punches whilst the garage was well lit before filming them with chiaroscuro lighting.

Road
The road we used was on a housing estate, so there was a risk of our filming being interrupted by passing cars and therefore accidents. However, it isn’t near a main road, so we didn’t have this problem. There was a risk of cars pulling out from the several driveways, so we had to check there was nobody in them before we filmed the car chase scene, which was also risky due to the fact that it was in the middle of the road.

Someone being chased by a car may look slightly odd to the public, so we informed Max’s neighbours that we were filming AS coursework before we started.

Bathroom
Due to the small sized of Max’s bathroom, some of the shots had to be filmed from inside a slightly wet bath. To reduce the risk of slipping, we first dried it with a towel, and then put down a non-slip mat, which also prevented it from being scratched by the tripod.

Filming and Editing Process

As we have started filming, we have found that our pre-production processes such as storyboards, shot lists and scripts are not necessarily concrete. This is most certainly apparent when the filming process actually begins, as the medium of film is a creative art form, this, in turn, affects the actual film and how it is put together.

For us in particular, the actual environments used to film in have limitations in space, lighting and sound. These all have to be taken in to account when filming to avoid mistakes such as continuity errors. Consequently, we have had to change much of our shots and some of our narrative. We even considered changing some of our locations, but for practicality issues, not because their use wouldn’t have been realistic. Our main change would have been to film the street shots outside Kieran’s house, but due to problems with the equipment-mainly a lack of charge on the camera-we instead kept with our original plan and filmed the shots at Adam’s house before filming the interrogations scene. The interrogation scenes could not be filmed during the first opportunity we had to do them, again because of faults with the camera, but we did finish the drug dealing scene on the street. However, we decided to re-film some of these shots at a later date, to have plenty of choices during the editing stage of our production.

A good example of the above would be the bathroom scene, where Adam actually had to stand in the bath to film. The art of improvisation is a key weapon in any film director's arsenal. Another good example would be re-doing the scene where a gun is taken out of the bathroom cabinet. For this we could not use a tripod, as we did not have the connector for the camera to be attached securely. So we used the actual environment as the tripod, and this brought a greater realism to the scene, as well as more intimacy with the character in the scene.

When it came to reviewing what we thought would be our final edit before we evaluated or production, we found that we had a major issue, in that it was simply too confusing to be used as an opening to a thriller. To correct this, we decided against using a dual temporal perspective, and instead created a single scene out of the flashbacks and reverted them to full colour. This made the whole production ‘flow’ better when compared to our initial idea of switching between past and present shots.

Special Effects

In order to add an element of action and threat which wasn’t really present in our original production, we decided to add a car chase scene. Whilst obviously not to the scale of Hollywood blockbusters, there were still issues of safety and realism, as we obviously couldn’t run anyone over. To solve this problem, I laid on the bonnet with my feet on the floor, and Max’s Dad then reversed his car. During editing this will be reversed and the shot will be sped up, in order for it to appear as though I have actually been run over. We filmed this same shot from both the car dashboard and the pavement.
These are the shots we filmed:

Adam begins the scene by running away from the car.

Adam then turns around in a POV perspective to see the car racing towards him.

Here you can see we have filmed Adam already on the bonnet.

Here we get the car to reverse.

We also did the crash from a POV perspective as we thought this would be more sinister.

Adam also did a reaction so when we rewind and speed up the clip, it will look realistic.

 When editing we found the variety of shots for the 'running over' scene invaluable. This meant we could try different combinations of clips to get our desired effect. In the end we cut it down to just the POV shot and the side shot of Adam being ran over. We reversed the clip, sped it up a bit and then added a car tire screech which really hit the effect home. Finally a cut to a black screen was added to mimic Adam 'blacking out' after being hit. Overall, we feel we obtained the desired effect, whilst also keeping the scene short and making sure the audience knows what has happened.

One of our first ideas for implementing special effects was during the fight scene between myself and Kieran, in which he'll get one of his wrist slashed. For this, we needed to formulate a way of delivering a fake arterial spurt of blood. By planned to do this with the use of a short length of tubing and a syringe underneath his shirt.

Fake Blood
We needed the fake blood to be of a runny consistency, in order for it to flow easily through the tubing.

For this we used blackcurrant cordial.

Delivery Device
We inserted a length a length of tubing into the end of the syringe.
We then made it airtight with a piece of masking tape.

Finally, a pin was used to block the end of the tubing.





Once finished, it was filled with fake blood and taped to Kieran's arm underneath his shirt.



Despite our best attempts, it didn’t really work, as the camera didn’t pick it up in the low light of Max’s garage. We decided that we’d much rather have chiaroscuro lighting than this particular special effect.

The failed effect

Here is the attempted effect and as you can see, it is just not clear enough for the audience to see. We did try to rectify this by filming some dropping on the floor but we found it ruined the pacing of the scene; thus, we decided to cut it.

Perhaps if we had tested it before hand or also had another method as a backup then we may have been able to use it. However, we may have found that it still didn't fit with the flow of the shots (unless we could obtain some better looking wound effects).

Blood droplets falling on the floor

Enigma Productions Logo

Regarding the choice of the image, we needed an image that actually related to our production company's name an 'enigma' is a mystery and so we used a real life enigma; a symbol of the illuminati,an organisation surrounded with mystery that is easily recognized worldwide on American Dollar bills, hence giving the company an overseas market, therefore generating more profit.


Additionally, money connotes power and authority. Most things in life can only be bought with money, this relates to the themes of drugs and underground crime as seen in our Thriller opening. Specifically, the interrogaters have power over the victim, The character in the end scene is obviously very wealthy, as he wears a suit and owns a nice house, with pictures of many family members and friends, so he is rich in the sense of money and also life. In contrast to this, the victims life is desolate, he has no money, no possessions but the clothes on his back, and no one to help him. This is a binary opposition of rich and poor.


Graphologically, the text used for 'Enigma Productions' is a sans-serif Marquisette BTN lined font which looks heavily stylized and almost handritten, making the style of the text instantly recognizable in the advertising world, which is important for getting the film recognized among the thousands of films released each year. The 'burn' effect, light leaks and vignetting could also be seen to suggest conflict, as the original image has been damaged.


The logo was edited in Adobe Photoshop CS2, which allowed us to edit the top of the image which had writing that took away from the main focal point of the pyramid, and so we used the clone tool to remove this from the image. Photoshop also contained our desired font which is detailed above.

Soundtrack

Originally, we were going to use music from Mogwai, a Post Rock band who have an ominous, ambiguous sound which is full of texture. However, due to copyright issues, this was not possible. We tried to get around this problem by using another, lesser known Post Rock band, but again, copyright issues relating to Creative Commons Licences stopped us from using them.


Due to the fact that our first choices for our soundtrack of were copyrighted, we decided to use a track  by Nine Inch Nails from either the album 'Ghosts I-V,' or 'The Slip', as they are both free to use under Creative Commons, as they are being used in a non profitable production. Nine Inch Nails' industrial sound is perfect for the ominous, disconcerting nature of Thrillers.

As there is no dialogue during the flashback shots or the interior bathroom shots, the music will play a prominent role, with very often little other than the sound a running water or traffic to compete with. However, this will change during the interrogation scenes, where we are likely to only use diegetic background noise with the dialogue between the three characters.

The piece we used for the bathroom scene (01 Ghosts I from the Ghosts I-V album) is sparse due to the individual piano playing dissonant chords. We thought this fit the main character's (Max) personality as he is vulnerable and trying to rid himself of his previous life, and start anew. Additionally, the track could be said to evoke a 'classical' style of music, similar to some of Chopin's pieces on the piano. Seeing as classical music is more upmarket, and stereotypically it's listeners are more 'intelligent', it punctuates the persona we try to create of Max's character being successful in his work.

The tracks we ended up using for the interrogation scene were 'The Four of Us Are Dying' and 'Corona Radiata' which are both from The Slip. The former worked well for the action part of the interrogation as it has a sinister, sneaky sort of sound; emphasising the fact that Adam sneaks up on Kieran with a knife. The music is also more foregrounded in the sound mix to give build tension and atmosphere. 

The latter on the other hand is much more suited for dialogue driven scenes, as it is atmospheric and does not rely on riffs or ostinatos. It is backgrounded in the mix to connote an uncertainty in the atmosphere of the opening. The track relies mainly on pedal notes and so it is very slow, which works much better on the first part of the interrogation as the action following it is much more fast paced.

Creative Commons License for 'The Slip': http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup

Creative Commons License for 'Ghosts I-IV': http://ghosts.nin.com/main/faq

More information on Creative Commons licenses: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Cast, Costumes, Props and Locations

We used Adam Nixon as 'the victim' as he seems the most vulnerable and like an ordinary guy. He fits in well with the role due to skinny figure. His large coat helps enforce the view of him being an ordinary, everyday common person.

Max Lake is then used as the 'mastermind' behind the whole abduction and fits in well with his enigmatic role shrouded with mystery of who he is and what is he doing. Max is wearing a suit during our entire production connoting professionalism and that he is an intelligent man which helps enforce his 'mastermind' role. 

N.B. we kept Max's beard to firstly show he hasn't been taking care of himself, whilst also helping to get across the fragmented nature of the scenes like the non chronological narratives of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction - this would only be obvious to the audience if they saw the whole film of course.

Kieran Brooks then is used as the 'brute' of the situation acting as Max's thug doing his dirty work. Kieran fits in well with this role because he is the biggest one of us and the most intimidating. During the film he wears all black, whilst wearing a hoody also to relate to 'gang culture' and the negative stereotypical view of hoodies and













We made some fake cocaine using flour, baking powder and sugar. This helps replicate the real thing without the illegal consequences and money problems. The use of cocaine during our film helps make an enigma surrounding everyone.

We also used a toy .38 revolver as it connotes danger and death. .38 revolvers are also really cheap to purchase and are a common weapon worldwide for civilians which makes the film seem more realistic as it would be harder for a group of young adult males to acquire armaments.






Max's Lounge

We used Max's house for one of the scenes within the film. His lounge helps show that he has a family or a history of one due to the number of pictures around the room, but as the house is empty apart from Max, it makes you wonder where they are or what happened to them. One of the other locations that we used is Max's bathroom. The reason we used the bathroom is because it is a common preparation area for people getting ready for work and it helps shroud him with enigma as he has a nice house but yet, he stores a pistol in his cabinet.

Max's Bathroom

 Another location which was used was the street outside of Max’s house. This provided an ideal location for our car following/chase scene due to the road being straight and very long. Not a lot of cars come past either as the house is at the end of the street providing us the ability to film undisturbed.

The main location was Max’s garage which we used for the interrogation scene of our opening. The room was very dark and was lit by one light which therefore made it chiaroscuro lighting. The fact that it went dark very quickly also added to the effect. The garage was also unsettling and made it seem like a thriller as it was filled with power tools which are possible items which are dangerous and could be used in an interrogation, reinforcing our reason for using the garage.