Mise-en-scene props-
To make our film look more realistic, we will need to use various props. A mobile phone will be needed for when Lola is texting her boyfriend and will be quite a significant prop which will be used frequently throughout. To make the film look more realistic and relevant Lola will have a fairly updated phone so it doesn't look out of the ordinary, so we will possibly using an iPhone as it the most popular brand of phone. Other props which will be used are flowers and cards for the memorial at the accident scene. Again to make it more realistic we will tie some police tape round a lamp post to imply that what happened there was extremely serious.
makeup-
when Lola reveals her dead body we will need to ensure that she looks realistic. To do this we will need to ensure that Lola's face is extremely pale and drawn as a dead body doesn't have any blood flow. Also, we will need to make sure that Lola's lips are very blue and under her eyes are very dark to make her look lifeless. Also, because Lola was killed in a car accident, she will need to have bruises and wounds on her face. But the wound will not be fresh as a few weeks have passed since she died.
Costumes
The characters will be dressed very normally and basic, for example jeans and tops. However, a costume which will be needed will be a hospital gown for the first scene when Lola wakes up in a hospital. The hospital gown will add to the mundane realism in the film as the gown will make it look like she's been administered into an actual hospital.
The character Lola will be given makeup to make her look very pale as she is dead. She has been involved in a car accident therefore may have bruising to her face and possible blood marks. Her eyes will be very dark giving her an overall result of not looking healthy at all. Her hair will look very messy and unbrushed due to her not being in an ideal state.
Lolas friend -
Lolas friend will also look very pale due her being dead but will have no physical bruising to her face. However, she will have marks around her neck which will have come from when she hung herself due to not being able to cope with Lolas death. This will just look like red bruising around her neck that will represent a noose that was once there to strangle her.
Costume:
Lola will be wearing a hospital gown due to being put into hospital. This will give the story a sense of realism as this is something which would happen if someone was actually admitted into a ward unit.
Props:
Flowers -
These flowers will be seen in the scene where Lola is walking to her boyfriends house and sees the accident scene in which she was killed yet doesn't realise its her accident scene. This will tell the audience how she died as it is obviously from a car accident.
Police tape -
Police tape will also be included at the accident scene just to give it more realism. This is because at a real accident scene police tape would be placed when an accident has just took place. It also tells the audience the accident was recent giving hints that it was indeed Lolas accident.
I think the title sequence for My Sisters Keeper would be something similar to a title sequence we would want to achieve for our film Lola.
It starts off with sad piano music which is something we have already agreed we want included in our film. This sets an immediate tone and lets the audience know it will be emotional straight away. This is then followed by non diagetic sound of a voice over of a character in the film. In My Sisters Keeper, the character who is doing the dialogue is talking about the troubles and drama that she is facing in her life. This is something similar we can get Lola to do, however we would get her to talk about moments before death but make it slightly confusing to the audience so they are unaware she is actually dead. This would then make sense at the end of the story when her death is revealed.
It is also set non linear as it is memories from the past that they are reflecting or looking back on. The editing has been done so it almost looks like a video tape that they are watching back. This is also something we could include in our title sequence as Lola is dead therefore she would also have flashbacks of her memory just before her death.
The cinematography includes lots of long shots that fits well with the music. This gives it a slow pace that doesn't rush straight into the film. We should also take inspiration from this and start our film off slow and build it up towards the end at Lolas death reveal. There are also close up shots of characters faces to show emotion and how happy they were in their old memories. These shots we could also do to express how the characters used to feel contrasting to how they now feel in this short film.
Six Feet Under:
What I particually like in the title sequence Six Feet Under is the mise-en-scene as it relates a lot to our short film Lola. The character in the title sequence is clearly dead or dying due to being in a hospital gown and bed and being rolled down to the hospital room. This is something we could include in our title sequence due to Lola being in the same circumstances and it will immediately tell the audience what situation she is in. The setting, in a hospital room, is also something which is similar to our short film therefore we can take inspiration on what our setting should look like and props we should include in it.
However, the music in this title sequence feels very upbeat and almost brings a humours feel to it. I believe if the music was changed to something more sad or sinister, the whole clip would have a completely different feel to it. If we did something similar to this title sequence, we would add sad piano music to make it seem more emotional and set an immediate tone.
There are lots of close up shots on props such as the dead persons feet. This brings realism to the clip as the feet are very pale showing that the body is indeed dead. It also brings a mysterious element to it as we never see the persons face therefore we are not 100% sure they are dead. This would be useful in our film as our character is dead yet we dont want the audience to know until the end of the film.
In our film, we are hoping to put some non diagetic sound of sad music in which will reflect the tone and mood of the story. It will make the audience feel the story more and make there inner emotions come out. This music may be played in the title sequence or during a particular emotional scene in the film such as when Lola finds out she is actually a dead spirit. The music may build up and become more tense in scenes such as when Lolas parents are arguing or during the flashbacks.
In the clip above is a good example of something we are hoping to find or achieve and add to our short film. It starts off with a simple piano which is quite calm yet has an emotional sad feel to it. In then builds up with violins and other string instruments to create more tension and more emotion within the song itself.
Background noise: ambient hospital sounds
In our short film, the setting is located within a hospital/hospital room. To make the short film more realistic, during these scenes we will place a quiet ambient hospital sounds to make it sound like Lola is in an actual hospital.
The clip above is a good example of something similar we are wanting to find. It has the typical sounds you would find in a hospital such as heart monitors, nurses/doctors chatting, walking and doing everyday jobs.
Non-diagetic sound: Heart monitor
During the title sequence of our film, we are wanting it to start with the sound of a heart monitor. This is to justify to the audience where the film is heading. It will let them know the film is in a hospital setting and a character within the film is either dying/dead. It also brings realism for the audience as the sound is a motif which will be recognized by everyone.
Car accident/car tyres:
This non-diagetic sound effect will be played when Lola is having flashbacks of her accident. This is because as we may not be able to edit/film the actual car accident due to this being very difficult, we can at least add the sound effects to let the audience know how she died. This may also bring realism as the car tyres is a sound which will be recognised.
The plot of this short film is about a teenage boy who returns to the scene in which her ran over and killed a young boys mum. The teenage boy is driving and on his mobile phone at the same time, he accidentally drops his phone and tries to pick it up whilst continuing to drive and ends up loosing control of the wheel and spiralling out of control and driving onto the pathway and knocking over the mother. Distressed, the teenage boy jumps out of the car and begs the young boy for forgiveness, however, the young boy shakes his head, declining his apology and proceeds to break down and cry on his mothers body. Throughout the film, the teenage boy is reminiscing the day of the accident and having flashbacks. At the end of the film, the teenage boy returns to the accident scene and knocks on the door and the little boy opens it. He pleads for his forgiveness one final time and this time the young boy accepts his apology and the film finishes. This story has a similar plot to ours, it starts of very dramatic and a series of events unfold using flashbacks and although the final outcome of the film is still very sad, the ending leaves the audience feeling like there is hope and the situation will get better. Another similarity with both films is the theme of death. In both films, a person dies in a tragic car accident and the film is biased on the aftermath. Also, the audience is mislead throughout this film as throughout we get the impression that in fact the young boy was killed rather than the mother which provides a twist ending which is again, similar to ours. The audience is again mislead in our film as they get the impression that Lola and her friend is actually alive and it is not until the end where she reveals and find her body that we find out they are both actually dead.
A variety of shots have been used throughout the film but some stand out more than others. The close ups allow the audience to see the emotion and distress in the teenage boys face and also allow us to see his reaction when he has the flashbacks and relives the day of the accident. It also allows the audience to see the remorse and guilt he feels and we can see how traumatised he is. Close ups will also be effective to use in our film to show the confusion and anger in Lola's face when she thinks everyone is ignoring her. Another type of shot which is effective in the film is the point of view shots from the flashbacks. The point of view shots put into perspective what is was like being in that particular characters position and allows us to personally emphasise with them. We also will be using the point of view shots in the flashbacks of when Lola is hit by the car. This will allow the audience to understand what happened to Lola and will be quite effective because they will become aware of the situation the same time Lola does which will make them feel more involved. Handheld shots also add an element of mundane realism. Particularly in the car scene, the jerky, ragged effect makes the audience feel part of the scene rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position. I think in our film, the handheld shot will be particularly effective from an inside view from the car which hits Lola to create a similar effect to the one in this film.
Some editing techniques which are quite striking is the blur effect used in the flashbacks. The use of the blur allows the audience to understand that the accident was being reminisced in the boys memory, the blur also tells the audience that it's quite a faint memory and by blurring out the surrounding gives us the impression that the boy can only remember the significant parts of that day. Again, I think that this particular editing technique will work quite well in our film when Lola's having a flashback to the day she was hit by the car. The point of view show where she momentarily sees the car before it hits her will have a blur effect making the car the main focus in that particular frame allowing the audience to understand that everything else is insignificant.
A non-diegetic track is played throughout. The piece of music is played on a piano and quite powerful and emotional. Although played continuously throughout, the sound level is turned down at crutial points of the film and can be heard faintly in the background. Other sounds such as diegetic sounds and sound effects are played over the non-diegetic track to ensure that a variety of sounds can be heard and create a more realistic effect. Sound effects such as the screeching of the car also helps to recreate the accident and make it look more realistic and is again something we will use in our film. The sound effects also help build up a climax, as the screeching of the car is quite alarming and makes us think that the impact that is going to have is very serious. A possible criticism of the sound used in this film would be that there is very little speech from the characters which could ultimately slightly disinterest the audience as they may not fully understand what's going on in the film. But overall, I think that the different sounds used in this film work really well together.
I think that some obvious themes in this film would be death, loss, remorse and tragedy. The theme of death allows the audience to personally empathies with the young boy. He's so young but he's already lost the most important person in his life. The theme of death and loss is so powerful as it can reach out to such a large target population because at some point or another a person will have lost someone close to them in their life. The theme of tragedy is a dramatic composition in which someone is dealing with a serious issue. A tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in the viewing. The tragedy of the mothers death really makes a good storyline because it puts into perspective how important she was in the boys life and it also sends out an important message about how dangerous it is to use a mobile phone whist driving and really emphasizes the impact it can have.
The use of characters of different ages helps attract a larger target audience. From the video, I would assume that the target audience would be both male and female aged from about 12-50. My reasons for this is I think that young people would benefit from watching the film as they would be made more aware of the dangers of driving whilst using a mobile phone even from a young age. Also, I think that it is also aimed at an older audience as they may have children which they can educate themselves of the dangers. The young boy reaches out to a large audience due to his naivety and vulnerability which helps us to sympathize with him.
The setting in the film is mainly biased on the accident scene where the mother was killed. The film is set in the present time but the flashbacks allow the audience to see the trauma and grief that occurred there. The setting could be described as a juxtaposition as the flashbacks and present contrast with each other. The present tense is quite peaceful and quiet , however, the past is distressing and creates an unpleasant atmosphere. The accident scene is set in what appears to be a quiet neighborhood which could gives the audience the impression that this sort of accident could happen right on their doorstep.
The lighting is appears to be quite dull as a blue filter has been added to create a cold, lonely atmosphere. It isn't until the very end of the film when bright lighting is used. The lighting at the end of the film is used to signify that the boy has been forgiven and he finally accepts his apology. Although the situation is not resolved and the mother will never come back, the young boys forgiveness almost gives them both more freedom and allows them to move on with their lives and accept that fact she's no longer coming back.
The makeup used on the young boy make him look pale and unwell, which implies that he's not coping with his mothers death very well and it's had a huge impact on his life. I think the dark colours under both boys eyes imply the lack of sleep they've both had and shows us how emotionally torn they both are.
Overall I think that this short film is really good, and I can take inspiration and ideas from it which I can use in my film.
Panic room Plot- After her divorce, Meg Altman and her daughter Sarah move into an old-fashioned house with one very modern addition: a "panic room" which is virtually impossible to break into, designed for refuge during a home invasion. In their first night in the house a trio of thieves do break in and Meg and Sarah rush into the panic room. However, the intruders are looking for something inside the panic room, and given the recent move the room's hotline to the police hasn't been hooked up yet. Worse, Sarah is diabetic and the room doesn't contain any sugar... Analysis- The opening sequence to the film is very striking and unusual, however, the simplicity of the sequence is very alluring. It gives virtually nothing away about the film itself but sets the scene and automatically allows the audience to adapt to the setting. The use of pan shots and tilt shots allow the audience to see how large and how populated the city is. From first glance, the titles that appear look virtually real and proposes the question 'are they actually on the buildings?'. However, as the title sequence continues the audience realise that they are not. The impact this creates is it gains the audiences attention as they begin to focus more intensely as they try to distinguish what is and inst real. They float against skyscrapers and down town churches as if they belong there and overall creates a really nice effect. The music used in the sequence gives the audience the impression of impending doom. The dramatic and intense tone really sets the atmosphere and keeps the audience on edge. It feels like the music is a build up to a dramatic climax and it is inevitable that something bad is going to happen. The music contrasts with the scenery as the city appears to be very normal and ordinary, as though nothing sinister would ever occur there. However, the music implies otherwise, we get the impression that something sinister is going to happen. A low angle shot can be used to show the vulnerability of the people living in the city. By looking up onto the skyscraper it gives us an almost point of view shot of someone from the street looking up. It also puts into perspective how big and daunting the city is. This could also put into perspective how many risks there can be in someone so big and so densely populated. Towards the end of the opening sequence, two characters appear and begin speaking in an American accent which tells us that the film is biased in America and judging from the master shots in the opening sequence, it could be set in New York city. When the film title appears on the screen, it is significantly larger than the other title which allows us to focus on it more. After the title appears on the scree, the music then becomes more upbeat and pacey which relates to the title 'panic' which is quite effective.
In our film, I think it would look really effective to use a similar idea of displaying the titles on objects and scenery. However, instead of using master shots and establishing shots, I think close ups and extreme close ups will help create a more dramatic, intense effect which links in with our genre.
This film opens with a pan shot of a bedroom. We can guess that it is a boys bedroom, due to the colour scheme and the things it contains, such as a fake skeleton, a toy soldier and toy planets. The only noise in the background is the ambient sound of seagulls, which suggests that he lives near the seaside. The lack of noise could suggest the loneliness of the character. This is a very successful way in starting a film, as a bedroom can tell us a lot about a character without giving too much away. We can guess the gender of the person, their interests and their age.
Inbetween these pan shots of the bedroom, the titles flash up. There is still silence in the background when these are displayed. This is quite an old fashioned way to present the title sequence, as it reminds me of a silent movie.
After the camera has finished panning the room, we see who's bedroom it is. He is a teenage boy, which we could guess from his bedroom. He is sitting in the corner of his room, and looking out of the window. A high angle shot is used here, which makes him appear small. This is done to show that he feels lonely and insignificant. He is sitting crossed legged with his hands resting in his lap. This portrays him as an awkward and shy character, rather than arrogant and boisteorious.
The room is very dark, which may show that he is rather unhappy and isolates himself from the rest of the world. He begins to speak, and says: "Most people think of themselves as individuals, that there's no one on the planet like them." We can see from the grammar and vocabularly in his opening sentence that he is intellegent and well spoken. He continues to say: "This thought motivates them to get out of bed, eat food, and walk around like nothing's wrong" This is a very negative perception on life, which shows he is quite pessimistic. He is very similar to our lead character Lola. He then introduces himself. This gives the audience a personal connection with the character.
We are then shown the outside of his house. This is filmed in extreme long shot, which is used to remind us that he is so small in comparison to the rest of the world. This makes him seem more normal and insignificant. We are then shown a series of photographs of the area in which he lives. These include a seaside, a field and a lake. This is very British scenery so we assume from the pictures and his accent that he comes from the UK. The pictures of the beautiful views completely contrast with how Oliver views the world, which reminds us of how negative and dark his personality is. However, he is very likeable as there is something very relatable about his mundane and realistic view of society.
After viewing the picutes, the title of the film shows up. The background is of water which relates to the film title 'Submarine'. The music playing in the background is a song called 'Stuck On A Puzzle' By Alex Turner, who is in a famous indie band named the Arctic Monkeys. This relates to the films independence as the band were also on an independent record label. Alex Turner wrote the entire soundtrack of the film, which will have also attracted a large 'Indie' audience.
At the end of the sequence, Oliver is facing a beach. This is filmed in long shot. Although he is in the centre of the frame, he seems so small in comparison to the rest of the beach. The fact he is not facing the camera and we can only see the back of him again highlights his depressive state.
PLOT- Taking place in a nameless city, Se7en follows the story of two homicide detectives tracking down a sadistic serial killer who chooses his victims according to the seven deadly sins. Brad Pitt stars as Detective David Mills, a hopeful but naive rookie who finds himself partnered with veteran Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman). Together they trace the killers every step, witnessing the aftermath of his horrific crimes one by one as the victims pile up in rapid succession, all the while moving closer to a gruesome fate neither of them could have predicted. From the title sequence, we can see glimpses of key elements which will be significant throughout the film. To keep the audience intrigued, each frame is slightly distorted and dark colours have been used to to create an intense and unearthly atmosphere.
ANALYSIS-From this title sequence, I would like to take inspiration and try to recreate and personalise key frames. Extreme close ups are also used which create a nice effect along with close ups as it makes the title sequence more intense. Nothing is given away in this title sequence but straight away it gets the audience asking questions. Jump cuts are also used frequently throughout the sequence which again adds and element of distortion and ultimately draws in the audience and begins to make them question the film, 'what's happening?' and 'what is being investigated?'. The music used is also very striking in the sense that different sounds are used together to create an alluring sound. it becomes quite uncomfortable for the audience to listen to as there is a contrast between high and low pitches but again it makes the audience more drawn to the TV.
The girl with the dragon tattoo
PLOT- Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, ruthless computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from almost forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.
ANALYSIS- Similarly to the se7en opening sequence, the girl with the dragon tattoo uses close ups and extreme close ups to distort objects and make them appear significant. Again, dark colours are used to create an intense atmosphere and the use of the dark imagery seems to be common amongst different title sequences therefore must prove popular amongst the target audience. I think it would be effective to have use a similar theme in our title sequence as it gives the audience the impression that something is unknown and the darkness symbolises that there is something bad has happened/going to happen. The use of the dark and dull imagery at the beginning of our film could also be used to foreshadow the death of Lola.
Although these films may not be the same genre as ours, key elements from their title sequences have given me inspiration to use in our title sequence, therefore that is the reason why I chose to analyse these two films.
Ambient Sounds: Due to the majority of our film being taped outside, there will be many ambient sunds in the background to signify this. There will probably be birds in the background, and we will often hear cars going past. There also may be other people walking past, as they are in a public area. This is to make the film look more realistic where there is an unnatural silence.
Diagetic Sounds:Due to the majority of our characters being in their late teens, most of the diagetic sounds will be coming from texts and calls on mobile phones. Music will also be playing through Lola's earphones at some point, which will be non diagetic as she has them in , and diagetic when she takes them out (for effect) . This will highlight the tragedy of Lola's death as it reminds us that she has been killed at a young age. There will also be the sound of cars going past and there may be other people in the scene talking as the majority of the film is in public. This is to make the film look more realistic where there is an unnatural silence.
Non Diagetic Sounds: Sad and slow music will be played during our film at certain key moments where it is required. The music will remain calm right to the very end, as it is not until the end of the film that it is discovered that Lola is dead.The music will be slightly more up tempo and angry when she discovers her boyfriend with another girl, in order to convey her emotions of rage and also heartbreak. Sad music will highlight the tragedy of the situation and will help the audience empathise and relate to the story and Lola's character. When the accident is shown at the end, a creative way of adding music would be to put on uncomfortably happy music on at the end. This will show the contrast of Lolas mixed emotions of her sadness of being dead but also her relief. They manage to convey a mixture of emotions in American Horror story. The boys are smashing up a haunted house. The audience knows something bad is about to happen. However, this music (below) is played in the background.The cheery music completey contrasts to the situation. This makes the audience interested in what will happen next.
Sound Effects: Many sound effects will be used in our film to make it more realistic. One of our main sound effects will be of a heart monitor, which will be played when Lola is in the hospital. It will flatline when we discover that Lola is dead. This will hit the audience with the fact that Lola has actually passed on and is now in the spirit world. Other sound effects will include mobile phones ringing and the sound of a car accident. However, this may be hard to portray, so it is possible that we may have to change what caused Lola's death.
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, sexuality, poverty, class divisions, violence against women and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves, others, society and even natural phenomena. Drama is one of the broadest movie genres and includes subgenres such as romantic drama, sport films, period drama, courtroom drama and crime.
Histroy of sub genre - Supernatural:
Supernatural film is a genre that centers around supernatural elements, such as ghosts, gods, goddesses, and miracles. Supernatural films deal with the unknown questions of life; therefore, they tend to incorporate religious elements into the plot. Since they emphasize the unknown, Supernatural films are considered quite suspenseful. These films often cross over into other genres, creating hybrids like Supernatural-Comedy and Supernatural-Drama. Examples of Supernatural Film:
What Lies Beneath - While others believe her to becoming delusional, a woman is convinced that ghosts haunt her house.
Poltergeist - A ghost haunts a suburban home and kidnaps one of the children through the television set.
Ghost - After a man is murdered, he tries to communicate with his wife through a psychic.
The protagonist character Lola is a young female aged around 17 years old. She is your regular everyday teenage girl that happened to have a terrible tragedy in her life. In our film, Lola has been involved in a road accident causing her death which she is unaware of. This has caused her to feel isolated as her loved ones around her seem to not take any notice of her. However, her parents/boyfriend cannot actually see her to notice her due to her being a dead spirit.
Similar character - Susie Salmon:
A similar character is Susie Salmon from The Lovely Bones. This is because she is also a young teenage girl who was involved in a tragedy that caused her death. She also has the same innocent look that I want Lola to have and has a similar story line of being a young girl in spirit form.
Lolas friend:
Lolas friend is also female and a similar age of 17 years. She is the character which helps the plot flow as she tried to encourage Lola to figure out she is dead by telling her to go explore and hopefully find out for herself. She is very upbeat and seems to be enthusiastic towards life which is ironic as she is a dead spirit. She has marks round her neck from where she hung herself due to not being able to deal with her friends death.
Similar character - Holly Golightly A similar character to Lolas friend is Holly Golightly. In The Lovely Bones, Holly helps Susie accept her death and enter heaven/afterlife. She is similar as we want our character to show the same upbeat personality as her.
Mum and dad:
Lolas mum and dad will have been very proud parents who care and love their daughter very much. However, after Lolas death drama was caused in the family due to them arguing about how things could have been avoided. Their relationship is holding on by the line and Lola is unaware of this due to her being involved in her own isolation.
Similar characters - Nick Parker and Elizabeth James
In The Parent Trap, Nick Parker and Elizabeth James were a married couple that ended up getting divorced due to some drama. The result of this drama caused them to argue and cause complications within their family.
Lola's parents will be similar characters as her parents are also having complications due to drama - Lolas death. Her parents will be have been very loving towards Lola but are now suffering from grief and heartbreak. The complications are causing them to argue daily which will be seen within the short film.
Lolas boyfriend:Lolas boyfriend is around 18 years old and is your average teenage boy. He loves Lola very much and is unable to cope with her death. Due to this, he is talking to a female counciller which Lola in unaware with. Confused, Lola mistakes the counciller as another girl he is seeing which causes her to feel isolated and cheated on. In the film, he will look very untidy with hair too long and stubble that needs shaving due to not making effort and being grief stricken. His clothing will also have little effort with just jogging bottoms and a baggy tshirt.
Similar character - Tom (500 days of summer):
Tom from 500 days of summer goes through a heartbreak due to a girl leaving him for another man. Even though it wasn't through such a tragic event as in our film, both characters will be feeling similar pain.
