Animatic

Illogic Storyboard

A Critical analysis of the Animatic Process of my group’s Film Trailer

An animatic is created to test dramatic timing. At its simplest, an Animatic is a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence. More commonly, a rough dialogue or sound track is added to the sequence of still images (usually taken from a storyboard) to test whether the sound and images are working well together.
                       The process of the animatic consisted of two main stages; the camera shoots and the editing process. To complete our animatic it took us a total of 22 hours over a period of three months due to other commitments. The camera shots took a total of 12 hours, as a group we took time to plan the shooting process; we listed the locations, and the shots needed in this setting and the took note of the actor/actress’ and props we may also need to include in this setting. We then listed the days where we all had free time, and scheduled to meet at the locations for the particular shots in the time we believe needed, this saved us time.
            Creating and editing the animatic took 10 hours to complete, this included decisions on what shots to use, once uploaded onto the computer, we also rearranged the shots into a particular order following our storyboard, and decided upon the sound track, the order of our titles and the audio. The Animatic gave us overall view on whether or not the film trailer would work,  it highlighted certain camera angles and transitions we should use, it showed us what was missing for its audience and what points we could improve on.

During the process of the animatic we used our storyboards to organize our schedule, listing locations, characters needed, props and costume. Altogether we had a range of 8 locations and a total of 30 shots to capture, which took us 9 shoots to complete, one for each location and one for anything we missed, added or believed was not good enough quality and therefore needed to be re-taken.

Our aim is to create a film trailer that captured the audience making them empathise with our main character (Nicole) we also needed to create the sense of her being trapped therefore our props are essential, such as the mobile phone which creates the low lighting onto the paniced face of the victim suggesting she is trapped the iconic image of the key also suggests this leaving the audience questioning who is the protagonist? Nicole is to be portrayed as a ‘girl who has everything’, therefore key props to suggest this are the car (mini cooper), her phone, jewellery, nice clothing etc. We also used the props of the clock and the monitors to show that Nicole is rapidly running out of time.

The actors were chosen amougst and within’ the group as we found this conveinient, as it is easier to create a schedule knowing we could rely on one another, having an actor/actress outside the group proved difficult as their commitments were their priority.

During each shoot we made decisions such as camera angles and lighting as we had to make our victim look vulnerable. We used shots from high angles looking down, point of view, over the shoulder – creating a sense of being followed. The low lighting also suggested fear. There were no shots we found we were unable to do, however some were much more difficult that others, especially the shot which included the photographs falling from the vent, this was extremely hard to capture as it was an unreliable shot of which patience was a necessity. 

Changes and creative improvements were made throughout the animatic, as we realized the order needed to be changed slightly as the flash backs appeared all together they needed to be more distorted. Titles were also slightly changed such as the word ‘has’ to ‘had’ which created a past tense causing a deeper sense of fear for the audience in the title ‘A girl who had everything…’.  We had to change some of our chosen shots as we found the difficult to carry out, we wanted to have a birds eye shot of Nicole being trapped in the quadrangle however we found this difficult and due to safety issues had to take the shot from a high angle looking down.

During the editing process we constructed the animatic by firstly rearranging the shots into order following the storyboards, however slight changes were made such as the titles which were re-arranged to tell the story along with the images, such as the title “A girl who had everything”, shows Nicole with her parents being given a car for her birthday. We added our choice of sound tracks which indicated the length of shots and transitions as we cut the shots to compliment the timing and beat of the music. Finally we put in the audio on top, the heavy breathing we decided should be continuous over the changing shots to create a sense of constant panic and fear for the audience, however the dialogue we created matched up with the shots, for example “Help, Help, let me out!!” we edited over the shot of Nicole banging on the door, we did this appose to putting a voice over of the dialogue throughout.

The choice of titles are supposed to reveal a little information about the main character and give a basic narrative of what the film without revealing too much. The titles also form an intellectual puzzle leaving questions such as where is she? Who’s done this to her? Why have they done this to her? The titles end on a cliff hanger to leave the audience intruged, making them want to find out what happens to her. We chose for the titles to be on a blank, black background, therefore the audience would not be distracted by other images on the screen and have to concentrate on the words they are reading.  The font is bold and distinctive so that it is easy to read, also as we are creating a psychological thriller we wanted to keep the lettering simple and not misleading as the trailer could be persued as a Horror if we focused too much on making the lettering disfigured and creepy. The colour’s black and white together are very bold, simplistic and clear to read, although perhaps not viewed as horrific, or thriller related like red, we believed the colours chosen are dreary and leaves more to the imagination. Our audio and soundtrack create a sense of horror as the music starts slow and increases causing intensity, it is also jumpy and perhaps misleads the audience making the trailer scary for them. We purposely spilt the titles among the clips as they tell a story alongside the shots as the animatic plays.

Our choice of soundtrack music, consists of three different tracks of which we edited and fit together to compliment the pace of editing. The music does not start until after the first title, the audience have already established the disruption in the trailer by this point, the music starts slow pace and quietly creating a sense of misbalance as the trailer returns to ‘Nicole’s’ normal ‘perfect’ life. The music then deepens as the pace picks up getting faster and louder as the trailer intensifies creating a sense of disruption and fear. The track dramatically ends with the shot of the hand under the door reaching for the key trying to escape, leaving the audience on a cliff-hanger.

I believe our film trailer appeals to a target audience of mainly females aged 18-30. Due to the lack of other charcters such as a male ‘hero’ or a protagonist which we need to create fear amongst the audience so that they do not just empathise with the victim, this is how we can improve the narrative, the male character will also create a sense of rearrsurrance and protection as I think our trailer has no appeal to men as yet, therefore this is definatley an improvement we need to make in our moving image trailer. Other improvements would be the length of the titles as the audience easily become bored, they are much too long and only need to be around 2 seconds and are currently 6 seconds. Our shots and transitions also need to be at a quick pace to create disruption, catering to the audience, emotional pleasures and visceral pleasures; scaring the audience, making them jump, heart racing effect, making them feel for the character. Locations of the mise-en-scene need to be darker in places with darker lighting forming fear of the unknown, giving the audience a sense of abandonment. The music choice needs to be improved so that it flows better.

The five key images/shots I have chosen to analyse are;

 The opening close up shot of Nicole’s face lit up by the mobile phone- the close up of Nicole’s face shows fear and despair which straight away indicates to the audience that this young girl is vulnerable and a victim therefore they empathise with her creating emotional pleasures. The darkness of the surroundings creates fear as everything is unknown and this creates an intellectual puzzle and raises questions such and where is she? Is she alone? And how did she get there? The mobile phone, which is a iphone gives the audience a sense of time and date as it is a new technology therefore the film is based around the 21^st century. The mobile phone suggest that the ‘victim’ is calling for help, or looking for comfort of some kind. It also shows Nicole likes the latest, ‘coolest’ thing and can afford it. This is an iconic image as the genre is obvious to its audience immediately.

The medium long shot of the flash back of Nicole next to her car (mini) shows that Nicole is from a wealthy background, and has expensive luxuries. The location of the large, country based house in the background also leads the audience to assume it is her parents who are wealthy therefore she is clearly spoilt. This creates the sense of the “Girl who had everything…”, the audience may assume jealousy is a key factor to what has happened to this young girl.

The high angled central shot looking down onto the teacher handing Nicole her A* essay in disbelief creates the sense of a protagonist as the relationship between Nicole and the teacher is portrayed to be not good as the teacher seems to dislike Nicole showing generic types. This shot creates a sense of vulnerability clearly highlighting that Nicole is a victim. The location set in a class room is reassuring as Nicole appears to be in a safe place but the facial expression of the teacher leads the audience to question is she?

The close up of the clock clearly suggests that Nicole is running out of time. This puts the audience on edge creating suspence to whether or not the victim will escape in time. It also gives the audience a sense of time of day and how long Nicole and leaves them questioning how long has she been trapped? The setting around the clock has been black out leaving yet again the location unknown creating fear and disbelief for the character.

The final image viewed by the audience on the animatic is a close up of a hand under a door struggling to reach for a key. The hand is presumed to be Nicole as you can see a silver ring on her third finger, this suggest she is a victim and is close to escaping which comforts the audience however leaves them in suspence as they are unsure to whether or not she reaches the key. This attract the audience making them want to go and see the film. The location is yet again unknown making the audience weary, however the setting with the daylight gives the audience an idea of time of day. The red ribbon creates a sense of fear and danger and the iconic colour relates to blood, terror and disruption. The old key is an iconic prop as it is shown throughout the film it puts the audience in suspence as it the unkown is on the other side of the door it opens. The shot is a central iconic image as it as it creates the sense of the films genre, Nicole (victim) trying to escape, but it still causes a intellectual puzzle as we don’t know where she is trying to escape from, why? Or who?    

During this process each of us have had a contributing role to play; Mitchell is very creative with deciding on camera angles and lighting of the shots as is Sean. Mitchell has also excelled at the technical side such as the editing of the shots, audio and soundtrack. Sean has excelled at the camera shots taking most of the images and looking at the mise-en-scene and how to create the shot. I have excelled with the organization of the shots and editing, I have made note constantly of improvements and missing components of the overall animatic. Technology is not my forte as I struggled with the editing and transitions however I am learning new skills constantly and improving with the technology. I will contribute to the moving image trailer by using my strengths in organization making sure we meet on the correct days in the correct locations with all the props and costume needed, I will also contribute my acting skills as I am the main character, and I will continue to learn new skills with the technologies. I have thouroghly enjoyed the process of our film trailer so far and I am looking forward to creating the final product.

Shutter Island Poster

Genre and Audience:-The Movie Poster Shutter Island

The film ‘Shutter Island’ is a Psychological thriller. The title suggests the storyline is set in an obscure location, which the outside world is ignorant to, and leads the audience to assume that anyone who lives, or goes there shall not return due to the play on word ‘Shut’.

            The Title block utilises a blunt lettering style which is used across all advertising and promotional materials, therefore making it recognisable. The title draws in the readers attention due to the use of colour, the shocking red on the mainly black and white image causes a sense of misbalance as black and white together create harmony therefore there is clearly a disruption. The colour Red and the rippling effect could also be associated with blood, therefore Horror, suggesting fear for the audience.

            The layout and composition of the poster is multi-layered and consists of two main images that have been merged together, to identify the genre as either a Horror or a Psychological Thriller due to the remote location and close-up on a lead character. The poster suggests a central enigma, as the tag-line states ‘Someone is missing’, therefore an audience would assume that there is a mystery or unanswered question. This creates an Intellectual puzzle, leaving the audience questioning Who is missing and why? Where is this island? Who is the Character and why is he there?

The poster suggests the movie also offers a Visceral pleasure of fear of the unknown causing the audiences heart to race, or by making them jump with shock. It also offers an emotional pleasure as feelings of empathy for the character who is within’ the unknown. The film’s appeal is mainly the intellectual puzzle, but also perhaps the familiar actor.

            The central character is clearly Leonardo DiCaprio, a recognisable film star, however, not usually for this genre. His name is extremely prominent as it is situated above the title in a bold, white font this colour is suggesting the character’s purity.

            The two main images consist of a medium/long shot of an intimidating and unwelcoming island surrounded by the unsettled sea, placed just off centre of the middle of the page. This image conforms to the conventions of a horror film; showing an old, spooky building in the middle of nowhere alongside a light house which creates a sense of warning. The large close-up image above the island shows the lead male character’s face which creates a sense of his domination in the location. The character is positioned with only one side of his face illuminated by the flame of the match, the other is partly obscured by shadow, which seems conventional for this genre, hiding one side of his personality from the audience. His facial expression shows his suspicion and the character appears to be uneasy. The darkness makes the audience empathise with the character as he is shown to be vulnerable, therefore perhaps a victim, yet the positioning of the image suggests the character is dominant over the spooky island. The shadow is created by the iconic image of a burning flame from a hand held match, this prop could represent heat or destruction through fire, or light to guide the character to an answer. 

            The film poster appears to target an audience of 70% males and 30% females between the ages of 18 and 40 as the film consists of a dominant male character who’s portrayed to be in his late 30s. Females may be attracted due to previous knowledge of his characters in romantic genre films and males can identify with him and are more attracted to the psychological thriller genre.

            The poster conforms to conventions by have a billing block which contains names of the main cast members along with key crew such as the director, producer, and the writer. The billing has a distinct lettering size and style due to contractual obligations.

The films, director Martin Scorsese has produced over 40 films including, The Aviator, The Departed and Catch me if you can which he also worked successfully alongside Leonardo in the main role.

It also provides the information of the film’s release date, which is October therefore, creating the fearful tone of Halloween and all things supernatural.

Overall the film appears to have a unique genre as it reveals a combination of both horror and psychological thriller with an intellectual puzzle, whereas most film genre’s tend to be specific. Therefore it attracts a wider audience. The film also appears to have an individual, high concept as it seems the main character could appear to be both the victim or the suspect/’bad guy’. Leonardo DiCaprio is also a unique selling point, due to his success in this genre and his popularity. 

Group Plot Synopsis

The film will revolve around a young female (Nicole – 18) who is a student still in school. She is the main character with only a few scenes involving other characters making an appearance in flashbacks of the trailer. The film trailer begins with the girl trapped inside a closet; we don’t know how she got there, why she is in there, or how she is going to get out. The female character will show to be a popular student, with high grades- we will show this in the trailer by a flashback of her teacher throwing down her results paper on the desk with disbelief and a close up shot of her results paper with the highest grade on. In the film trailer using flashbacks we will also show she comes from a rich family, by a shot of her house and her parents giving her the keys to her brand new car. She is going to be represented as a young girl with a ‘perfect life’, which is why we want to know the secrets behind her being in this situation. She will also be someone who doesn’t care about anyone but herself, which is why we can see there are lots of people who could be a suspect/protagonist.

                Although we will not show where she is being held in the trailer, in the film this will be revealed as under the school, because at the start of the film, we would see some construction workers building this huge mental building underground, this building underground would have been a containment place for deadly murders, and there will be a date at the bottom saying October 1855. In t6he film the next scene would cut to present day, as it will show at the bottom of the screen and a shot of the school with everyone outside the building.

                Throughout the film trailer we will see that the only way for her to esc ape from the closet is to figure out the games and puzzles that lie in front of her on the door, objects could also be hung on the door, to help her with each puzzle/game. To make the film a more exciting thriller we will see that there is a clock on the wall with only a certain amount of time on it, and at the end of that time the words ‘end game’ appear, making the audience aware of the strain a pressure she is under. Each room will contain a puzzle with a limited amount of time to complete the game.  When she copletes the game she will be receive a key allowing her to pass into the next room. The key will also have a date attached to it linking to a flashback of something that happened on that particular day this will also lead the audience to assume a protagonist.

                 Nicole will figure out the puzzles rapidly showing she is a bright girl, however we soon realise the doors and puzzles are ongoing. We watch her struggle running out of time trying to solve the puzzles. In the film one of the puzzles will include a fierce decision for Nicole as she has to pick between the life of her mother and the life of her boyfriend. Only the puzzles, a sense of protagonist, and the information surrounding the main character will be given away in the trailer.

Preliminary Exercise – 500 word Synopsis

I have chosen to produce a film synopsis under the genre of Horror/Psychological thriller with a super natural feel.

Dr. Frank Hudson founded the Nashville Rehabilitation clinic in 1929 to support and cure disturbed adolescents with extreme phobias of aspects of everyday life. However all the teenagers that went into the clinic never came back out. It was believed that Dr. Hudson was a cruel, wicked man who kept each patient under lock and key making them suffer to their death as screams were often heard echoing from the mansion at the top of the small village. As young adolescents were found missing the institution that it had become was closed down and Dr. Hudson, found guilty of murder, was hung for his crimes.

                60 years on, a Dr Priestly saw a rising percentage of young teenage suicides and decided to re-open the clinic taking in a small group of young adolescents with mental illnesses and issues such as depression and severe phobias, to help the overcome there fears and cure then from their illnesses. His theory was that for 7 days and 7 nights these individuals would be tested and forced to confront their fears, which could lead to a possible cure.

                Dr. Priestly took a particular interest into 5 of the Nashville patients; Elizabeth who has a fascination with the feel of blood resulting in her constantly cutting herself. George who suffered from severe hallucinations which had been identified as Skitsorenia however Priestly was not convinced of the label that doctors had given him. Sarah had an obsessive Compulsive Disorder for cleanliness and struggled to touch life objects. Harry had severe anger issues and had received countless amounts of anger management help, yet he still struggled to control his violent temper, currently coming out of prison for GBH, and Jessica lived in a silent world showing no emotion due to her being subdued to her father brutally killing her mother at the young age of 10.

                As the Doctor pursued his work one by one the young adults start to disappear and the mansion was believed to be filled with evil, disturbed spirits from those who were murdered there once before. However one evening the night nurse on her way into work discovered drops of red blood in the snow, as she follows the trail of blood around the to the back of the spooky house she find Harry’s dead corps with vital organs such as the eyes, heart etc removed. The intellectual puzzle then deepens as the super natural is questioned by certain individuals. The young adolescent patients all turn against each other, as nobody knows who to trust.

                As a safety precaution security guards were brought in to protect and observe the remaining patients. With their introduction a new area of the old institution was discovered when a wall was knocked down during installation of surveillance cameras. This new wing was mainly at lower level than the rest of the institution and consisted of a maze of run down rooms and corridors. During the exploration of this new wing one room was found that could not be entered, and the door was in perfect condition compared to everything surrounding it.

                After this discovery that rate of attacks and murders doubles, terror was on the loose and fear ruled. Five patients including Elizabeth and Dr Priestly were found all brutally murdered with their organs yet again removed and the bodies left outside on the snow as if a warning was being given. Slowly but surely every patient, nurse and guard met their end at the hands of an unknown entity.

                As the film draws to a close, the only ones left alive are George, Sarah, Elizabeth, and a security guard all fighting for their lives one by one as George is attacked and murdered followed by Elizabeth. Finally the immaculate door swings slowly open and a figure emerges from the shadows. Jessica the silent, fragile, emotionless young women pretending to be completely mentally disturbed by the brutal death of her mother appears, as flash backs show her murdering and perfectly preserving her victims’ bodies, then cutting them open removing their vital organs and using the security guard to sell the organs to the black market.