Shot List- Ma.Task

Writing the Shot List?

Definition: List of shots used to plan or manage the shooting process of the film.

Example of a Shot List...

What is the purpose of the Shot List?
Portrays all the Shots that will be included in our film and is useful on the day of the shooting working in accompaniment with the storyboards. The Shots are in chronological order and details of lighting/depth and focus are included.

What were the challenges?
Sometimes we left out details of depth and focus which we later had to discuss, another challenge was we wanted a variety of shots but weren't sure exactly if we wanted to use them. In our minds we wanted to make full use of our Location London so made sure wide shots for example were included, but we were not sure what exactly would look best there.

Image of our Shot List...

 

 

Looking at the Shots we planned to incorporate we anticipated some problems that might occur during the day of production; Firstly with the wide shot displaying the characters Alex and Leo (7) because we knew there would be lot of people whilst filming so we were concerned with them appearing in the frame...
2) I also thought the tracking shot would be an issue because the camera movement could appear "shaky" not smooth. But to solve this we took a tripod (enabling the camera to stay in place with smooth movement) with us to make sure that the tracking of the character would appear smoother.

Storyboard- Ma. Task

Storyboards

Definition: a sequence of drawings, typically with some directions and dialogue, representing the shots planned for a film or television production.

Examples of Storyboards...

What is the purpose of the Storyboards?
The Storyboards are the second stage of Pre-Production process. It is the visual representation of the Screenplays and depicts all shots planned for the directors and camera operators. The shot types are included and key notifications can be seen on the Storyboards.

Task
We made Storyboards of our film as part of Pre-Production.

What were some of the challenges?
We encountered some challenges in determining the Shot Types to use a variety which was difficult to predict what would work best with our location of London. Also, it was a little difficult to put our visual ideas/interpretations to multimedia format on paper with important details of focus and depth of each and every shot to avoid flat shots. To further this, when the storyboards were first created it was open to interpretation due to the lack of clarity so they were created again making shots of better quality and detail.

Our Storyboards...

Screenplay- Ma.Task

Writing the Screenplay...

Definition: A Screenplay is the script of a film, including acting instructions and scene directions, closely used by the director.

An example of a Screenplay is presented below..

Fantastic Four (2005) movie script

by Mark Frost and Michael France.
Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Shooting Script.  

FADE IN:

CLOSE ON A MASSIVE STEEL HEAD

Our first thought: DR. DOOM?  But it's not moving.  A
welder's torch sparks into frame in the hands of a sculptor
on scaffolding.  This is art, an epic 20 foot statue going up
of a business mogul (VICTOR VON DOOM) in whose generously
extended hands sit two intertwined columns of DNA.  His face
is chiseled, angular, perfect (too perfect).  Past sparks, we
MOVE down to pick up...

EXT. STREET/VON DOOM INDUSTRIES TOWER - DAY

REED RICHARDS and BEN GRIMM head toward the soaring glass-box
atrium of VDI Headquarters.  Designed to inspire awe, it
does.

  REED
 High open space, exposed structural
 elements.  Obviously aimed at first
 time visitors to create feelings of...
 smallness, inadequacy.

Ben glances at Reed, who looks a little nervous.

  BEN
 Good thing it ain't workin... Reed,
 what are we doing here?  This guy's
 fast-food, strip-mall science --

  REED
 This wasn't our first stop, in case
 you forgot NASA.  And Victor's not
 that bad.  He's just a little...
  (seeing the statue)
 Larger than life.

INT. VON DOOM INDUSTRIES TOWER - DAY

They move past the statue, into the sprawling atrium.

  REED
 He's financed some of the biggest
 breakthroughs of this century.

  BEN
 You'd never know it.

He motions to a high-tech ORB, showing FOOTAGE of VDI's
accomplishments: a safe and clean nuclear facility, the first
private Space Station.

All images have VICTOR front and centre, glad-handling George
Bush, Tony Blair, shady International Leaders.  The last
image is Victor holding the AMERICA'S CUP.

  BEN (CONT'D)
 Jesus.  That too?

They reach three stern RECEPTIONISTS.

  REED
 Reed Richards and Ben Grimm to see --

A receptionist cuts him off, handing them each a pass.

  FEMALE RECEPTIONIST
 Executive elevator, top floor.

  BEN
 What's the price for a smile round here?

They head for the elevator.  Reed carries a small, black box. 
As they enter the elevator, steel doors shut and we CUT TO --

INT. VON DOOM INDUSTRIES TOWER - OFFICE - DAY

A large, dark office.  Ben in the corner.  He yawns,
watches...

BRIGHT HOLOGRAMS: Stars.  Planets.  They hover in the air,
making the room feel like a majestic portal into outer space.

  REED (O.S.)
 My research suggests that exposure to
 a high-energy cosmic storm born on
 solar winds might have triggered the
 evolution of early planetary life.

REED stands among the holograms, speaking to a MYSTERIOUS
FIGURE in shadow behind a desk.  An ominous, PULSATING RED
CLOUD covers the stars.  It washes over a hologram of EARTH.

  REED (CONT'D)
 In six weeks another cloud with the
 same elemental profile will pass
 Earth's orbit.  A study in space could
 advance our knowledge about the
 structure of the human genome, and
 help cure countless diseases, extend
 human life --

The SHADOW clears his throat.  Reed speeds up, emotional.

What is the purpose of the Screenplay?
The purpose of the Screenplay is to inform what happens in the film chronologically; the first part of the filmmaking process. It contains all acting instructions and scene directions. The actors and directors are able to make use of the instructions and the setting, which makes it suited to the production stage of filmmaking. The screenplay essentially serves as the bare ones of the film. The artists later develops the Storyboards which is the visual medium of the Screenplay.

The Task given to us was: 'Create the opening of a new feature length film to include sound and to last no longer than two minutes'.

Our Screenplay...

As depicted there is not much dialogue, this was done on purpose to add enigma to the opening of our film as the audience want to find out more about the characters. Our opening ends with a question "Are you okay?" reinforcing this. The only character interaction is at the ending when Alex questions Leo. Leo is thus portrayed as mysterious and the screen play demonstrates this by the lack of speech from the protagonist.

Directors Research

Directors

Part of our research included looking at some of the best directors to explore what styles they incorporated and whether they stick to the conventional openings of film. Each director had a different style/approach so we wanted to have an idea of what style would suit our genre (Mystery). Some of the directors include Quarantine Tarantino, Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton. To me Tim Burton's style influenced some of our decisions especially in conveying our genre; he manipulates the colour and lighting in particular adding blue and grey colouring which connotes a cold and mysterious feel to the audience. This is evident in the "Corpse Bride". This music further enhances this effect sometimes adding a depressing sombre tone. To create a dramatic effect and heighten tension during  scenes the camera movement is fast (pace) with quick cuts. The audience engage with the characters emotions.

Main Task- Opening of a Film

MAIN TASK: 'Create the opening of a new feature length film to include sound and to last no longer than two minutes.' All audio and video must be students own work. Audio may be obtained through a copy right free source.

We were told that our film had to be an adaptation of a book that had not been released as a film. So in our group we did some research to find appropriate books for our film, this was difficult for us in the beginning as we had such a huge range of books to chose from but also some of the narratives were not satisfying us. We had searched in our school library, the internet and even Whatpad an app on androids. Finally we decided on "Running on the Cracks" as this was suggested and read by a member in our group.

Running on the Cracks is award-winning writer Julia Donaldson's first novel aimed at a teenage audience. It was published in 2009. (See Synopsis in the FILM TREATMENT for the details).

Film Openings- Our Genre Divergent

DIVERGENT

Divergent is a 2014 American  science fiction action film directed by Neil Burger, based on the novel of the same name by Veronica Roth. It stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James. The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic version of Chicago, where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Beatrice Prior is warned that she is Divergent and thus will never fit into any one of the factions and soon learns that a sinister plot is brewing in her seemingly perfect society.

The title of Summit Entertainment and then (swivel effect) Redwagen Entertainment enter first accompanied by unusual music/sound of wind which makes the mood feel almost strange feel to the audience. The title of the film is made significant by the dramatic variation in the music and the capitals "DIVERGENT", again adding a Sci-Fi feel because of the music this could also be alluding to the genre of the film that is action with elements of mystery. The setting of America is  established by the extreme wide shot of the city which is later followed by a confirming title of "Chicago". Enigma is created to the audience as they wonder why this long tracking shot of various wide shots of the city appear and where are the main characters? The city is different in the extreme wide shot showing field/natural areas surrounding it. The time implicitly is established towards the end by the crowd of people because of their attire which seems recent around but it is not explicitly stated. Also the narrative is not really established clearly. However this opening is successful in creating a Sci-Fi and mystery mood because of the lack of conventions included.

Film Opening- Divergent (CLIP)