Key Location Descriptions

The Beach

The beach is where a majority of the action takes place between Justin and Kate. This is where they spend most of their summer together. They have picnics, build sandcastles, splash around in the water and lay together in the sand. It is here that Justin and Kate’s memories together were first created.

Kate’s House

Kate spends time in her house when Justin was not around. Specifically in this film, the kitchen area, where Kate first read a letter from Justin and the place she finds the space and time to reply.

Kate’s Room

It is in Kate’s room that she uncovers the letter with the explanation of the death of her loved one Justin. Kate spends her time here while she is in the grieving process. It becomes much of her soul comfort when Justin is gone.

Title/Log Line

Film Title: Beyond Belief
Log Line:

Summer is the season of love as Justin and Kate spend a romantic summer holiday together; finding love, exploring trust, facing tragedy and discovering within themselves what can be so easily found in the other.

Key Character Profiles

Kate Parker

Kate is a sixteen year old girl struggling with the normalities of an everyday school teenager’s life. She lives with her mother, father and two younger sisters, a coastal life by the beach. She has a close group of friends in whom she confides everything. She is a sensitive girl who is quite confident around her friends. Her usual attire is comfortable and casual. Kate enjoys reading and she loves going down to the beach. Kate has average school grades and sings with the school choir. She plays soccer and prefers to stay out of trouble. It is when she meets Justin that her world begins to fit together perfectly.

Justin King

Justin is a seventeen year old boy, originally from Australia, he moved to Canada with his family when he was eleven. He and his family are relatively wealthy and take regular trips to Australia to visit close family and friends. Justin plays football and is in his final year of school in America. He plays the guitar and loves travelling to Australia and surfing on the beaches. Justin is quite tall and strong, and he is relatively good looking. Justin begins the battle against cancer after spending a summer with Kate and returning to America. He has a determined and caring personality and he refuses to let his disease get the better of him.

Major Elements - Plot of Story

Romance/Tragedy

A teenage boy meets a teenage girl on a holiday in Australia, on the coast.

The boy is over visiting family after he made the move to America in the previous years.

The girl is from Australia and she lives on the coast.

In the summer, they hang around on the beach and visit families, spend every possible minute together.

When the summer ends boy leaves to go back to America

Girl writes letters to him everyday and he replies,

He plans his trip back to Australia in the winter

One day the letters stop.

Finally months later, the girl receives a letter from the boy’s parents explaining that he had died of cancer and that he didn’t want her to know because he was determined and he knew he was going to get better.

Girl is a wreck for days.

Friends try to cheer her up but nothing seems to work.

Finally she comes to her senses and packs away all her letters.

She steps outside and bumps into another young boy who knocks her over; he helps her up and smiles politely.

Girl smiles as they walk together and the camera zooms up out and into the sky where an incredibly cliché “the end” appears.

Genre Research

Romance/Tragedy

Narrative Structure
Keeps an overall romantic tone
Two lead characters fall 'head over heels' in love with each other and spend a romantic period of time together
whether that is over a summer period, winter holidays, long weekend...
Then, by fate, one of the two characters is ripped from the others arms and taken away somewhere
Both characters learn to either continue to communicate and attempt to stay together
OR
Painfully move on with their lives, never actually emotionally leaving the love they found in the other

Other Codes and Conventions

Generally use very emotional and expressive music
Voice over's of dialogue
Romantic Settings and Scenes
Introduction into the love scene at the beginning
Uses different techniques such as editing, sound and camera shots to immerse the viewer in the deep emotions of the film

Examples
"The Notebook"
"Dear John"

Storyboard Treatment Exercise

There is a villain and a victim in this scene. There is eerie and loud minor toned music used as a lower layer of sound in this scene to create a idea that something bad is about to happen/happening. The villain has been chasing the villain and has now cornered him in a church. We see the villain slam the victim up against a railing; a thud is heard as the victim hits it. Heavy breathing and panting follows. The villain is concentrating hard and looking directly at the victim. A low angled shot is used to portray the power that the villain holds over him. As the villain moves closer, the victim gets up and runs along the railing of the church, into another area of temporary safety. Running footsteps echo as he does this.

Reflection

The unit that we worked on this term I found challenging, to some extent. I enjoyed taking photos and watching movies from different film genres but I thought the continual work on analysing film repetitive and at times quite boring. I know the amount of work we did is compulsory and I'm glad that I did it because now i have a better understanding of film. Grasping my head around the concepts of different media terminology was quite difficult and I'm still going over and starting to gather a clearer understanding. I need to remember in the future to back up all the work that I do because I had a few experiences this term where I have lost work. Analysing one element of the film at a time made most of the work a lot easier to understand, in my opinion.
In writing my essay, watching the film over and over, each time focusing on a different element helped a lot. I didn't begin writing my essay until i had a complete and accurate base full of notes and information. This made it a lot easier to focus more on what I was writing and linking it together in one piece of work. The most difficult part of this term was definitely the understanding of technical terms to use in creative media. Also, the process of putting these words to clever use in my essay. I'm exciting to be moving forward to more film practical work next term.
I am happy with the overall result of my essay. If I could do it again, i would read over it and make sure everything I had in it was necessary. I also would have summarized my points more clearly and more thoroughly in my conclusion. I know I put in the work and I have achieved an acceptable result. I hope I can keep up the good work I am doing in Creative Media this year.

Element Identification

Shanghai Noon - Western Style Comedy
- bright lighting
- daytime
- country music
- variety of shots and different use of focus
- a cowboy who is actually awful at being a cowboy is teaching another
- he thinks he's great, but he's not
- transfer between two scenes back and forth (teaching scene, and a scene where the main character is sitting eating and recalling events)
- light-hearted, no seriousness

Alien - Science Fiction
- strange building structures that have been oddly shaped
- dark lighting
- eerie and cold feel
- suspenseful moments, sounds and silences
- whispering
- jumps between shots, slow to fast, keeping you on-edge
- lighting sourced from outside of the camera frame
- strange and slimy remains, like clues, of the existence of something other than human
- little to no dialogue, suspense in the soft silences of things
- slow rises to the main point of the scene, good use of framing, to hide what the audience can see
- large variety of camera shots and angles
- rain
- aliens, teeth and saliva
- character taken by the alien
- creepy animal - cat

Element Analysis - Moulin Rouge

Film Title: Moulin Rouge

Concept:
In Paris, 1900, a young man is looking back on his past and writing it down in a story. A story of when he first arrived to the night club and fell in love.
Theme/Genre:
Romance, Musical Theatre, Drama
What do you see?
Begins with zoom in shots, busy shots using dull colour and odd angles to create the feeling that it is not a pleasant place. It then moves to a happy, more cheerful and more colourful place, with fast paced, busy shots and loud bursts of colour and liveliness. From there it goes back in time to when the lead character first arrived from the train, old-styled dull colours are used, as if it was all in a dream.
What do you hear?
At the beginning, you hear a ‘creepy’ tune in a minor key; this sets an immediate and emotional feel for the scene. There is typing of keys and the song that is sung is a story being told. We can hear the man sobbing as he retells his story. We can hear laughter and screams, yelling and loud intense music, with the dialogue over the top we can determine it was once an alive place to be. When he goes back in time we hear a train, and we can tell he has arrived to the place he currently resides for the first time.
What do you feel?
I feel uncomfortable watching this movie, but at the same time, intrigued. The sounds are odd and because they are in minor keys, they add that eerie effect. The plotline seems exceptionally interesting and just from watching that one clip, it left me wanting to keep watching, as the story is to unfold.
What do you think about that?
I think that it is exactly what the film was achieving in that first clip. Keep the viewer interested. Although, it is in a weird way that makes the film stand out and be unique.
What does it make you wonder?
How the story would be to end. What happens next, and how they describe it. Also it makes me think about the characters and who they are in more of a relation to each other.

Ingredients for previous Horror Film method

Ingredients:
4x Teenagers
1x Teenager with a special power (werewolf)
1x Location out of reach
1x Killer
2x Cameras
1x Rainy Night
1x Old House
1x Family
1x Small Little Girl
1x Bonfire
1x Cliff edge
1x Barb wire
1x Forestry
1x Dagger
1x Lightening
1x "Dead Guy" Returning

Mise-en-scene Storyboard

Storyboard in my documents, waiting to be attached.

Genre Identification

Genre

Action Films
guns, violence, explosions, car chases, protagonist, police
Adventure Films
suspense, searching, outlaws
Comedy Films
humour, slapstick, cheerful, laughter
Crime and Gangster Films
criminals, police, guns, corruption, secrecy
Drama Films
impact, intense, tragedy, strong emotion
Epic Historical Films
large scale battles, old styled clothing, grey and brown hues
Horror Films
mystery, murder, violence, blood, killer
Musical Dance Films
song, choreography, emotion and story telling through music
Science Fiction Films
aliens, imaginative, un-realistic
War (Anti-War) Films
large scale battles, old styled clothing, grey and brown hues
Westerns
cowboys, lassoing, farmland, western styled music

Protagonists and Antagonists

Protagonists Antagonists
Peter Pan Captain Hook
Harry Potter Voldemort
Luke Skywalker Darth Vadar
Stephanie Robbie Rotton
Batman The Joker
Spiderman Doctor OC
Alice The Queen of Hearts

Implementing the 'monomyth'

In a romantic comedy, we could use different stages of the 'monomyth' to create an interesting and layered story. An urge or lustiness could be shown as a type of 'call' in a romantic comedy and then the refusal by the character due to their social status, emotional state, relationship status or other social pressures. In a romantic comedy, supernatural aid is not required. In a romantic comedy, crossing the first threshold is usually done by one of the two characters, making an effort to develop an established romantic connection between the two. The 'belly' could be interpreted as the characters sacrifices for one and other, what they give up as a result of being with the other person. Following on, a series of tests and obstacles in which the couple must overcome. The 'ultimate boon' is the final obstacle for the couple, the achievement of finallu coming together in an expressive and powerful manner. From here the characters in the film live together, happily ever after in freedom.

The Stages of Monomyth

The Sixteen Stages

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.

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.


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.

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.

Essay Mistake

My essay is slightly off because I re-counted the different shots rather than presenting an overview, I understand what I need to do to write it up better next time.

Scene Analysis - "The Aviator"

"The Aviator" Cinematography

The film “The Aviator” is from the historical genre. This film tells the story of a man who spends his time designing new planes, setting air speed records, flying around the world, and risking his life testing various aircrafts. In this analysis we are looking at a particular scene where the main character ‘Howard Hughes’ time trials one of the planes he has designed and invested in.

There is a clever use of cinematography in this film “The Aviator”, especially in this particular scene. The intro to this scene shows a wide camera shot, panning over the land, showing the location that the action in this story is taking place. There are mid shots showing the main object within the scene, the plane. Still on the mid shot, the character climbs up and into the plane. A shot is then shown from a viewpoint within the plane front of the plane, it is a low angle shot, showing focus on the characters first impressions of entering the plane. They use a bird’s eye view and several mid shots to show the plane being prepared for takeoff. Then there are a few more close ups on the character before changing to a close up on his hand (which is in focus) switching and turning on dials in the plane (which are out of focus). The next shot is very interesting, it begins on a low angle from inside the plane looking up at the actor, the gearstick in the centre is in focus and the actual person is not. As the actor slowly grips his fingers around the gearstick, the audience can gather a feel for the importance and power he would feel just by clasping it in his hands. With some more close ups on dials and buttons he presses and a mid-shot of the sparking plane. We are ready for lift-off.

There is then shown an extreme long shot of the land with the plane appearing, it then comes to a halt as we see a close up of the expression on the characters face. A variety of different angle shots of the plane are then shown one-after the other. We then see another low angle shot from inside the plane, looking up on the actor, this gives them a sense of power and importance; to show us they are bold and courageous with what they are doing. There is a shot beginning with a close up on the wheels, which moves to a mid shot and then a long shot as the plane accelerates. As the plane takes off we see a shot from directly in front of the plane. The plane flies up and over the camera, which then twists and shows a shot that is upside down before straightening back up. When the character is up in the air we are shown a long series of close ups on the characters face with the moving ‘landscape’ in the background. While this is going on we see close ups on different parts of the plane rattling, like they are old and timid. We can conclude by watching this that the plane is not totally safe and it could break at any moment.

There is a shot from the ‘position’ of the front of the plane as it flies back around to the take off runway. Then an extreme long shot of the men all standing in a large cluster as the plane flies above and past them. Next is an interesting shot where the camera films the men standing and watching the plane. It passes on a sort of rounded angle and then zooms out, quickly moving away. Then there is more footage of the plane in the air, more close-ups on the character and objects. In the midst of this is a long shot of the plane in the air. The camera starts straight and then begins to tilt anti-clockwise. Footage is also shown of the plane (at an extreme long shot) doing circles in the air. When the plane comes back down onto the runway the camera zooms in on the timer in one of the men’s hands, at which point he stops it. The plane flies on and at one-point shows a birds-eye view shot of the plane flying, with the blurred landscapes underneath. This shows how quickly the plane is moving and points out how difficult it must be to get it to stop. Next, through a series of close-ups on determined facial expressions, mid shots on the plane, and close-ups on objects and dials within the plane, we see the character trying to slow the plane so it can land on the ground. In one swift motion, the camera captures the plane flying back over the runway and straight into where the camera is situated. It then zooms in rather quickly the runway where the plane is trying to land. The fast pace that these shots are thrown to the audience at, give a feel of high intensity and excitement, as well as danger. Suddenly, we see close-ups of the fuel tanks empty and on a low angle shot looking upwards we see the plane plummet towards the ground. The camera then looks down toward the ground as it zooms in, giving the idea that the plane will be hitting the ground with a high amount of impact. We see a mid shot of the landed plane cutting quickly through the grass and because the camera is moving with the plane is seen as moving at an extremely high speed. When the cars arrive they use a long shot and zoom it in to a mid shot as the conversation between the two characters begin.

By watching this scene we can conclude that using a variety of different angles and camera movement we can create a very interesting and exciting scene that is visually pleasing to the eye. The range of different camera action in this scene makes it enjoyable and entertaining, as well as correctly conveying the right scenario, themes and genre of the story.

Editing Analysis

Star Wars vs. Star Wars: Episode Three

Star Wars
Rate: 1/10
I thought this film trailer was not well presented for the people of "today".
The progress made in the film was slow, it took ages to communicate information and it was a poor job of keeping people interested.
The music had little impact on the trailer because it didn't build or soften. It was very simple, slow music. The sound recording of the narrator was low and in a monotone, it was not interesting or intriguing.
This trailer did not leave me wanting to watch the whole movie. It was painful enough sitting through the boring trailer, in my opinion.

Star Wars: Episode 3 Rate: 8/10
This film was presented a lot better than the first film trailer.
They used quick shots and made the transition between shots smooth keeping them somehow connected and exciting.
There was very theatrical and dramatic music that accented these shots.
The music was building as more exciting events were shown.
They used the characters dialogue within scenes to explain the basis of the storyline instead of just a narrator. They could constantly and quickly feed information to the audience with impressive visuals backing this up.
The parts of film that were shown in this trailer were visually pleasing for the audience, which made them easier to watch. This also made it easier to follow along the storyline.
I found this trailer interesting and intriguing, i would go and see it. Just watching the trailer I can conclude that it looks like a good film to see, in my opinion.

Recipe for a Horror Film: Method (A Story)

It is the night of a full moon. Begin with 5 teenagers, drop them off out in the middle of nowhere onto an open field surrounded by forestry. Give two of them camera’s to ‘document’ their travels. Then have it rain, allow the 5 children to run and hide for shelter. They come across an old house. Inside are a family of four: Mum, Dad, a teenage boy and his three-year-old sister. They are allowed to stay the night.

Later into the night, amidst the rain, there is tapping on the window from outside. Lightning strikes and for that brief second a shadowed figure visible only a few meters from the house, in his right hand, the teens can see a silver dagger, glistening in the moonlight. Tapping heard again, lightning strikes, figure has moved closer. While this is happening, have the three-year old hide in one of the teenager’s backpacks. The teens grab their stuff and run, out the door and back onto the field. Use torchlight to guide them. One of the teenagers, at the sight of the outdoor full moon, turns into a werewolf. Have another teenager trip on low lying barb wire and cut her leg open on a fallen stick in the dark. At the smell of the blood, the werewolf chomps off her arm and takes her body off into the forest surrounding them.

With three teenagers remaining, there is another flash of lighting. The figure is standing before them; they scream and run in the other direction. For miles, they run in the dark, using only torchlight to guide them. As they pass a nearby cliff on the edge of the forest, one of the teenagers slips. He grabs the closest branch and after the other two teens try their best to save him, the branch breaks and he falls.

The other two keep moving onward. There is then another flash of lightning and the rain pours down even more heavily. The figure is further away, though still, he is following. The two remaining teenagers pick up their pace. As the rain dies down to a soft drizzle, off in the distance they can see a bonfire. They decide to move in closer to it. As they approach the bonfire, they can make out that it was not what they thought it was. It is a pile of dead bodies all burning and flaming. The skin is melting off each persons face so they are no longer recognizable. Behind them their friend who turned werewolf appears, he bites one of the two, and leaves an open wound. She manages to escape into the woods.

The werewolf turns on the other teenager, growling at him. He moved backwards and trips on a root in the ground and falls headfirst into the flames. Hitting his head he falls unconscious and he is burning, melting away in the fire.

The shadowed figure appears. There is another strike of lightning and the gruesome gashes on his face are visible. His skin is all mashed up and sewn together. He digs the dagger into the werewolf and throws it onto the pile of bodies. The scar-faced man is victorious, until the teenager who fell off the cliff edge (who landed on a ledge and climbed back up) appears behind him and chokes him to death with a string of barbwire. He is then the last man standing.
The sound of a gun is then heard and our hero falls dead to the ground. The little girl appears out of his backpack, clapping her hands, she giggles. Close up on her smiling face. Screen to Black.

COMPLETE.

Just finished CM storyboard for our horror genre activity :D
editing was not too hard to do because I did photography last year..
i just used basic functions of adjusting the exposure and the brightness/contrast to give a darker, more eerie effect.
it looks good. presenting it tomorrow.
AND we worked out that if we re-arrange some of the photos, we can create a totally different story, with different themes and characters. yep.
That's all for now.

Romantic Comedies

Romantic Comedies

- Sub-genre of comedy films as well as romance films
- Light-hearted humerous, dramatic stories
- Centered around romantic ideas such as "true love" or "the perfect couple"

Basic Plot-line
- Two people meet and part ways due to fixed obstacles, then ultimatley re-unite
- Initially these two people do not romantically involve themselves because they think they don't like each other (one might have a partner or other social pressures)
- The screenwriters leave clues that suggest the characters are attracted to each other, or that they would be a good love match
- When they are separated they realize how much they were "perfect for each other"
- One then makes a spectacular effort to find the other person
- Or... due to coincidental error the two meet again
- They declare their love for each other and the film ends happily

- This is the basic plot-line but there are many different variations
- The attraction between the lead characters must be established quickly
- Scriptwriters often create a humerous sense of awkwardness between the two potential partners
- Depicting initial clashes of personalities or beliefs, embarrassing situations, or by common misunderstanding

Mise-en-scene and Cinematography Excercise

Group Members: Rebecca, Jamie, Miranda
Genre: Horror
Scene Plot Outline:
A young girl arrives back at school to find her best friend dead on the floor of the locker corridor. She is scared and nervous, worried about what has happened. She hears footsteps and begins to turn around.
 

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