Term 2: Reflection/Evaluation

1. I had a little bit of trouble doing my film treatment because I had to shorten words down but still explain it, not in a detailed description though. I had to do the treatment quite a few times to see if it was right or not, checking for errors and using present tense speech (bit hard to write because I’m not use to it)

2. Didn’t really plan or research that much before doing my treatment because I already had my story in my head and I wrote it down, but I mainly got the idea from watching ‘The Lovely Bones’ but I changed things differently to make it into a short story

3. Doing the activities on learning about different angles and shots help me imagine what kind of angles/shots I wanted to
introduce in my storyboards so I could get a better understanding of how I wanted my scenes to look like. The template was good in the knowing what detail I wanted to put into the storyboards. On the side of the storyboard there was sections saying: shot type, camera positing, action/dialog/ detail and notes. This actually made me on task with what I was suppose to be doing with my storyboards. It was really easy for me to start off with drawing the images then writing what I wanted the scenes to be scene like.

4. I thought I would have trouble with drawing the storyboards but in matter a fact I was surprised with the final results. I had trouble with how many storyboards to draw, like the main parts or the small parts. I learnt that doing all of the shots are important because then you get lost and no one knows what going on when you start filming.

5. Write the story first because it helps you create you film treatment then use the treatment to incorporated that into the storyboards. Better in pencil to draw the storyboard, rather than taking photos because then you have to put the arrows in and that takes a while. Draw the arrows while you finish drawing it because then you’ll forget to put in the arrows in storyboard.

1. Yes I am happy with the final results because when we were in the group, we talked about the story and what to add and what to take out, and everyone participated in the ideas of the film. There were some edgy bits that we rushed like the pre-production. I believed that we rushed the pre-production stage because we were so excited to be getting started that we didn’t have a scripted or plan any angle/shot list. But overall we worked well as a team and our ideas together are somewhat good.

2. We didn’t mange our time well because while we were in pre-production we talked for a while about where we wanted to set the scenes, how we were going to do it and mainly we changed the storyline. We didn’t really talk about the angle/shot sequences, the scripted, plan B and mainly we rushed everything. The time of shooting was very rushed because when we started filming we took a longer time on the first scene and then we rushed the scenes that we did during the end of the day.

3. I would change the idea of the story, the location, scripted, the time of day and some scenes that was taking. The story because it’s a bet complicated and it’s quite hard to follow throw some parts of the story. Scripted because we didn’t really write a whole scripted down and learn from that we just made it on the spot which was a bit edgy because ever take we shot we changed the lines every time. The time of day wasn’t that right compared to what was planned on the storyboard. Most of the scenes were set during the day and were quite bright. The beating up clip wasn’t how the storyboard was like, being set in the day inside of a night scene. The location links over towards the time of day that was set, such as the beating up scene (explained previously).

Film Treatment

Bright Light

A girl finds herself thrust into a world where there is no escape; with the help of her dead best friend, can she ever escape this world.

Story By

Emily Bennett

Key Characters

Susie: Teenage abuse victim who is in between two worlds. She meets best friend, Letty, who had past away due to a collision of another car. She recalls what happens to her.

Letty: Was Susie’s best friend who had been in a car accident due to a car collision of another car. She encounters Susie in this mystery world.

Four Men: Men surround Susie in a dark alleyway, happening to beat her up to uncertain death.

Susie’s Family: Four family members’ of Susie, including: mother, father and two siblings. They are oblivious to Susie’s appearance, they can’t hear or see her.

Susie’s Friends: A group of Susie’s friends who have the same appearance as her family.

Key Locations

Front/ Back Yard: Front yard of a house, her house is at the end of the cul-de-sac with a deserted street. A dark cloud surrounds the sky with sunlight shining brightly upon the yard. Back yard with a pool, tall trees surrounding the yard and a concrete bench.

Big house: Large lounge in front of the front door, a dinning room table with a candle stand in the middle. A bar with an extension room connected to the bar.

Street: A deserted street with streetlights looming above the street.

Alleyway: Dark alleyway with rubbish bins along the wall, light is dim, water on the floor and graffiti on the walls.

SYNOPSIS

A vista of a deserted neighbourhood street slowly comes into view, with a girl lying on the front lawn of her house from a bird’s eye view. There is no music. The girl’s face is shown before moving slowly towards the door. The door slowly opens showing a full perspective of the room with intense thrilling music. Thrilling music crescendos as a dinning room table comes into view, showing four people. The camera moves slowly towards a man, zooming in on his face, before moving to the girl shaking the man. Shifting towards a candle burning in the middle of the table after changing scenes to another room. A medium shot of the girl’s face exposes the screen with a gathering over her shoulder. She walks to the group as soft violins play. The camera views each solemn face from a low angle then moves upwards to an eye level position. Backing out into a mysterious garden, camera zooms onto a bench where girl runs towards it. Low shot of the girl seating down with another girl from a distance. Both girls circle each other as the music crescendos after a flash back of a deserted street. Dark night, streetlights shine on the street from a bird’s eye view, following the girl running away from four men by a dolly shot as the music increases with the intensity of the chase. The girl starts walking faster when the men jump in front of her from a dark alleyway, the music decrescendos but a deep tension is playing. A bird’s eye view of the alleyway after a dolly shot of the men circling the girl. A medium/low shot of a man pushing the girl onto the ground with dramatic music. Side of her face is beaten up with blood gushing out of her mouth and nose. A bird’s eye view of the antagonists starts to fade revealing the scene in the garden. Looking up towards her friend, the girl discovers there is no way back. Shifting towards the house, life returns with the girl watching her family like a silent ghost with music increasing with brightness and happiness, the scene fades to reveal the end.

Practicing a Treatment

Storyboard 1:
Two characters are set in an empty church where a tall man confronts a priest wondering wither he knows anything about the ship. The view of the priest’s expression is startled by the man’s appearance in confronting him in his own sanctuary. The man starts to walk slowly towards the priest with no fear on his face. The moment is tense and alight with gripping thoughts of wither the priest should run. The sunlight streams in the church with a feel of warmth and comfort, but could warmth and comfort save the priest. The priest doesn’t know what to do, but he decides for running to save his own life. The tall man is ready for a chase while the tension surrounding the two characters is strong with the starting of a chase. The sound of the priest heavy breathing filled his ears full of longing and loss. While the man’s large shoes filled the church with the deafness of his slow movement towards the priest.

Reflections on the unit & Evaluation on the Essay

Reflection:

I had not problems of difficulties during this unit because it was very much the same and simple in the work we were doing in class. We mainly talk about the elements in films, which are Mise-en scene, cinematography, editing and sound. We did different activities like analysing films like Moulin Rouge, The Aviator and short scenes from Aliens and Shanghai Noon. What the activities involved was using one (sometimes it was all or the teacher told you what to use) or more elements are writing a paragraph in explaining the way the element is used through the film. You just learn them as you good, sometimes in the begging you have to ask again what Mise-en scene or cinematography involves but when you keep asking you soon well understand the meanings of the elements. Research of the genres helped because you can see the difference between each genre based movie, with the use of the elements. This is because of how each film is represented in the genre by feeling different emotions towards what the film is trying to get across.

Evaluation on Essay:

I’m not that satisfied with my final results because I thought that I didn’t try harder enough with what I was trying to say in my sentence structure. I thought I did do ok by overall my thoughts have changed to the results that I got. Yes I would have changed most things in my essay like the sentences and the structure of my essay. I believe that when I take a longer time on it I tend to get a bad mark so I try not to take longer time on something like an essay because it tends to turn something that I worked hard on into something really pathetic. I would change the second movie that I choose because the scene that I choose wasn’t that good and I would change the length of the essay so I would have time to check over it because it was so long and I didn’t have time to check over it or let someone else check it. Overall I’m disappointed in myself, I let myself down in what my work should’ve been, but that’s the way it goes, I just have to live with it.

The 17 Stages of the Monomyth

Departure

The Call to Adventure

The hero starts off in a mundane situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a call to head off into the unknown.

Refusal of the Call
Often when the call is given, the future hero refuses to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her current circumstances.

Supernatural Aid

Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known. More often than not, this supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid them later in their quest.

The Crossing of the First Threshold

This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known.

Belly of The Whale

The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. By entering this stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis.

Initiation

The Road of Trials

The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.

The Meeting With the Goddess

This is the point when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely.

Woman as Temptress

This step is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.

Atonement with the Father

In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving in to this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power.

Apotheosis

When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return.

The Ultimate Boon

The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the Holy Grail.

Return

Refusal of the Return

Having found bliss and enlightenment in the other world, the hero may not want to return to the ordinary world to bestow the boon onto his fellow man.

The Magic Flight

Sometimes the hero must escape with the boon, if it is something that the gods have been jealously guarding. It can be just as adventurous and dangerous returning from the journey as it was to go on it.

Rescue from Without

Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, oftentimes he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life, especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience.

The Crossing of the Return Threshold

The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. This is usually extremely difficult.

Master of Two Worlds

This step is usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.

Freedom to Live

Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live. This is sometimes referred to as living in the moment, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past.

Genre Identification: Shanghai Noon/ Alien Element

Genre: List some of the common elements used in these genres; consider Mise-en-scene, Cinematography, Sound (Effects and Music) and Narrative Conventions (typical scenarios or characters)

Action Films: Lots of fight sequences, weapons, bombs, stunts are made when jumping out of buildings or stunts made by vehicles that flip or blow up. At the beginning it starts off with a pop song then when an action sequence breaks out an orchestra starts to play or pop songs are used to describe the action. Normally there is a bad guy who gets killed by the heroine.

Adventure Films: Something exciting waiting to happen, a heroes journey is involved with the growing up of the main character, weapons such as rifles, quests, challenge, finding something, discovery, traveling, mystery, falling in love,

Comedy Films: Humor, laughter, stupid, funny, romance, two dumb people, beautiful girl, handsome guy, crazy chick, chick flick, rude villains, high people, love story

Crime and Gangster Films: Forensic scientists, always a crime scene, homicide, weapons e.g. guns, always a bad guy who gets killed or caught, twist, complications, tough people, racial discrimination, few deaths,

Drama Films: Yelling, crying, someone dies, love triangle, love that can’t be together, cat fights, complications, exaggeration, lose, emotions

Epic Historical Films: Based on a true story, drama, conflicts, betrayal, fight sequences, some are based on war,

Horror Films: Suspense, dark, few sound, a very fast heart beat which is the one sound you can hear that stands out, supernatural, mystery, blood and gore,

Musical Dance Films: Different styles of composition, love story, dramatic, lyrics which tell the story, happy people, happy moments in time, dancing, set in a random place, songs meaning something deep

Science Fiction Films: Supernatural creatures, space, different worlds, laser weapons, space creatures, many sound effects, robotic techniques, based in the future, based in the past towards the present and the future, strange powers

War (Anti-War) Films: Based on true events like WW I and II, historic events, planning secret organizations, killing Hitler, battle sequences between two companies, in a different language, subtitles, black and white, strong language, death, loss, courage, soldiers

Westerns: Cowboys and Indians, guns, cowboy hats and boots, country music, in the desert, small towns, strange people, stables with horses, tough men who don’t welcome the characters to their town, main character is funny does crazy tricks, men have low voices, set in American desert, quick movements in taking out the gun,

Mise-en scene Storyboard: First Day of School

We had to get into 5 or 4 groups and design a story board of the genre of horror on the first day of school for one of the girls...