Exploring Ideas - Main Task

As a class we also looked at the conventions of a film opening and decided whether we were going to risk it and defy conventions and attempt to create a film opening or just stick to them, we pretty much tried to stick to the conventions of a film opening. Hopefully, our film conforms to the conventions of a film opening by establishing character, setting, time and creates enigma.

 

This is my (attempt at a) sketch of how I envisage the bedroom of the protagonist/main character, Peter. Perhaps a darker view on the room is drawn from the socks under the bed which are later used by Peter *spoilers* to commit suicide, I thought it would be a nice reference to the end of the novel as well as just displaying the character as the typical messy teenager. Also, within the book there is references to the band 'Death Wish' which I think perfectly sums up Peter's character traits. Similarly, the Superman lunchbox is a reference to Peter's childhood whereby he had his lunchbox stolen while being bullied. This also references to Peter's consistent struggle with bullying throughout his life.

Exploring Concepts - Main Task

Initially, our group was deciding between even completing a period piece from the children's author Michael Morpurgo since personally, he was one of the writers who affected me as a child and have stuck with me. However, we came to the conclusion of adapting the novel 'Nineteen Minutes' by Jodi Picoult since we thought that it would perhaps translate better on screen, more so than a specific period piece which would require a lot more things to require such as the dilemma of where to get costumes from. As a result, 'Nineteen Minutes' was a lot easier in this way to adapt into a screenplay and on-screen since it perhaps easier to adapt a more present-day piece. What also made us fall for this novel was the letter which begins the first chapter since we thought that this could be translated onto the screen in a creative way. The fact that the main character was also a teenager made it more relatable and perhaps more personal than it would have to truly understand an older character.

 

 

 

Main Task: Brief

For our main task we were given the brief:

Research a range of possible pieces of literature that could form the basis of an adaptation you plan to make into a piece of moving image. The text must not, in anyway, have been adapted, in any form, previously.

MAIN TASK:

The titles and opening to a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. All video and audio must be students own work. Audio may be obtained from a copyright free source.
 

Firstly, finding a piece of literature that was not already adapted in any format was difficult. 

However, we soon came to the conclusion of doing Jodi Picoult's novel Nineteen Minutes.

Synopsis:

Sterling is a small town in New Hampshire, and the home of Lacy Houghton, whose job as a midwife is to bring new life in to the world. But on March 6^th, her son Peter did the complete opposite, when he walked into his high school with a gun instead of books, shooting down 10 people. The book travels between the time before and after the shooting occurred, showing the knock on effect that the shooting has on everyone around Peter. As the narrative continues, we begin to realise that despite Lacy’s every efforts, she barely knew her son at all, and we follow the turmoil as Lacy wonders if there was something she could have done to stop Peter. The novel creates many questions in our head, especially, is the victim ever allowed to strike back?

We all agreed that 'Nineteen Minutes' was the right choice for our group when we saw the beginning chapter of the novel which began with a letter. Instantly, we were all thinking of how we could transfer this onto the screen. Could we have a narrator reading this out with a montage? Could we have the main character directly speaking the letter to the camera? A suicide tape? We knew that there was so much we could do with this piece of literature. What also helped was the fact that our group member's (Andrea's) mum was a big fan of Jodi Picoult and so we thought that people may recognise the author.

Director Analysis - Baz Luhrmann

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter and producer best known his romantic comedy film Strictly Ballroom, the romantic drama Romeo + Juliet, and the pastiche-jukebox musical Moulin Rouge, Australia is an epic historical romantic drama and The Great Gatsby.

His set are rather grand, bombastic and lavish, many of his films have a great influence of theatre, this may be a reflection of his theatre background, since he directed productions before heading into film. Dance is also prominent in many of his films due to his parents doing ballroom dancing competitions. Despite his first three films being dubbed 'the Red Curtain Trilogy', he changed his direction in film-making to perhaps more historical themes.

Director Analysis - Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson is an American film director and screenwriter. His films are known for their distinctive visual and narrative style.

Anderson is perhaps one of my favourite directors since his films are so visually pleasing and have perhaps become a genre in themselves. His films are so distinctive in their symmetry, yellow typeface, and narrative style through both narrators, but also written through letter and the concept of it actually being a book. Each shot is perfectly planned and placed, with every aspect considered thoroughly. Notable aspects of his film-making include: 

Tracking shots -

Colour Palettes -

Symmetry -

In terms of using Wes Anderson's style as inspiration for our film opening, we though about if his stylistic features and whether they would be 'doable' to conduct with limited equipment. In this way, we thought it would be 'doable' to complete his symmetry, font, use of notes and narrative, as well as a colour palette of which would remain a similar colour throughout.

Film Opening Deconstruction - Drama - 'Detachment'

The film opens with 'paper street films' logo which then fades to black. After a few seconds this black fades to a close up of a man who says 'Let's, urrm, let's not have people come in, I'd like to do this without anyone here' there is indistinct mumbling as people who we do not see but we presume are in the room, leave. We can presume at this point that the film has a documentary/self-made feel to it since the camera does not seem to be on a tripod and feels quite realistic. The man then says 'and close the door' initially this creates enigma about the film as we wonder what he is doing and why he does not want people in the room. At 0:28 piano music begins and there is a straight cut to a chalk drawing of a tree which then has all it's leaves fall off. There is the sound of the leaves falling and then the sound of pages in a book as it is drawn out, out of the remains of the tree. 

At 0:37 there is a close-up of the corner of the chalk-drawn book as the leaves from the tree form the words 'AND NEVER HAVE I FELT'. At 0:39 the is a straight cut back to the book drawn out as a whole as it continues to write'...SO DEEPLY AT ONE' which then goes to a close-up of the words 'AND THE', returning to the whole book as 'SAME TIME' is written. Then on the other side of the book 'SO' and then an extreme-close-up of the word 'DETACHED'. This then goes back to the whole book, 'FROM MYSELF AND SO PRESENT IN THE WORLD -Albert Camus', in this way the audience realises that this is a quote, relating to the title of the film 'DETACHMENT'.

At 0:55 there is a straight cut to the blackboard at 'Paper Street Films Presents' is written in chalk in the bottom right-hand corner. There is then a close-up at 0:58 of someone taking a cassette tape and writing something on it. At 1:06 there is another straight cut to the blackboard with 'in association with Kingsgate Films' is written again in chalk on a blackboard, perhaps implying that this film is set in a school environment. At 1:09 there is an extreme close-up of a girl, at this point the music also seems to appear more romantic and dreamlike, indicating that these cuts are perhaps memories. At 1:10 we return to the close-up of the cassette tape which has 'For Henry <3' written on it. There is then another straight cut to the blackboard with 'and Appian Way' written in chalk. This then transitions to a close-up of the girl, who we assume must have perhaps some romantic relations to one of the character in the film thus, creating enigma about who she is? And why she has made a mix-tape? 

There is another straight cut at 1:19 of a drawing of a megaphone, drawn in chalk and 'A Tony Kaye talkie' appears on screen, again written in chalk. At 1:23 there is a black and white picture of a school, confirming our ideas of this being set in and around a school environment. There is a narrator at this point of a woman who says 'I wasn't good in school'. At 1:24 'Adrien Brody' appears with a drawing of what we presume is our protagonist and the man we saw at the beginning, the drawing consists of a teacher, looking distressed at a desk' The narrator continues as this is displayed '...I didn't care for school. It was nice socially, in my own experience', the lady appears on screen at this point in black and white, in a similar documentary-type feel as at the beginning, '...but I kinda just went along'. At 1:31 'Marcia Gay Harden' appears written on a blackboard in chalk, with a drawing of a teacher's desk. At 1:35 another speaker says 'I started off as a music major, I was gonna be a rock and roll star...but that didn't quite work out', there is a close-up of the speaker, a man, in black and white. Similarly, at 1:39 'Christina Henricks' is written on a blackboard along with a drawing of the outside of a school, with an American flag. Also at this point there is another narrator who says 'In 1985, during the hurricane, Hurricane Gloria, I was taking a train into the city'. 

There is a straight cut to 'EXIT' sign drawn out on the blackboard and 'William Peterson' written in chalk. At 1:48 this transitions to 'Bryan Crauston' written in chalk on the blackboard next to a drawing of a calculator, ruler, pencil and rubber. At the same time the narrator continues '..to work, I got into work and I was on the phone to my brother-in-law, who had' at this point there is a straight cut to the man speaking in the same style at the others, a man speaking in black and white, '..just started teaching and he said that he was off school'. At this point there is a cut to the blackboard with a school-chair drawing and 'Tim Blake Nelson' written in chalk, as the speaker continues '..and I'm like, wait a second, you're off school for a hurricane and I'm going into the city to work in an office building? That's a pretty good kick right?'. It is apparent to the audience that the film consists of the experience of the teachers as well as their life outside of school, as well as dealing with students who struggle just as much as them. Thus, this film opening meets the conventions of a normal film opening, introducing character, setting and creating enigma. 

Film Opening Deconstruction - Drama - 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'

The film opens with the 'Summit Entertainment a lionsgate company' logo with the sound which would usually accompany it. This fades to black and the 'summit entertainment presents' appears on screen in a typewriter font, there is then the noise of a typewriter as 'a mr. mudd production' appears on screen. The fact that these titles appear in a typewriter typeface could imply something about the protagonist perhaps being an aspiring writer. There is then the noise of a typewriter as 'logan lerman' is written in the same font as before, following this there are the names 'emma watson' 'ezra miller' on separate black screens  in the same typeface, with the noise of a typewriter between them, at around 0:15. There is then the 'ding' of a typewriter as 'the perks of being a wallflower' appears on screen along with the music which stars as this appears, the music appears to be quite upbeat with guitar being the main instrument - perhaps implying that this is the start of something. This main title then fades to black and fades back into what appears to be the lights of the inside of some tunnel. 'mae whitman' then appears on screen in the similar typewriter font, this repeats itself for the names 'kate walsh', 'dylan mcdemmott','melanie lynskey', 'nina dobrev', 'jonny simmons', there is the a singer who begins in the music at this point.

The montage of tunnel lights and scenes continues as 'with joan cusack' appears in  screen in the same typewriter typeface. 'and paul rudd' then appears on screen' and then 'nicholas brawn/reece thompson' both appear on screen. 'casting by maryy vernien, csa/and/venus kanani, csa' then appear and then 'music by michael brook'. The camera appears to also be point of view as there is a cut to looking up at the roof of the tunnel, observing each light in the tunnel as it passes, it seems as if it could be point of view since the camera is constantly moving and does not appear to be on any tripod since it it is not steady. Thus, implying that this is someone sat in a car observing what is around them. 'music supervisor/alexandra patsavas' then appears on screen followed by 'costume designer/ david c. robinson'. There is a straight cut to a medium close-up of the lights in the tunnel as 'editor mary jo markey, a.c.e.' appears on screen and then 'production designer/inbal weinberg'. This shot then moves from the one set of lights in the tunnel to the other as 'director of photography andrew dunn, bsc' appears. There is then a straight cut to looking back at the tunnel as they drives away, pulling out from the tunnel. 

'executive producers/james powers/stephen chbosky' the appears in the same typewriter font followed by 'produced by lianne halfon/russell smith/john malkovich'. There is then a straight cut to lights on the road and street signs, confirming that this is set in America. At 2:00 'screenplay by stephen chbosky/based on his book' appears on screen, there is another straight cut at this point to lampposts on the road as 'directed by stephen chbosky' appears on screen. This then fades to black along with the music and cuts to the reflection in the window of a boy writing a letter on his desk, as he writes there is a narrator 'Dear friend, I am writing to you because she said you'd listen and understand...' *

* Charlie's character was quite influential in creating Peter's character since they shared many of the same character traits and thus, helped with our costume research as well as helping us with prop ideas.

Film Opening Deconstruction - Drama - 'Into the Wild'

The film opens with 'Paramount Vantage' with the sound of a typewriter which accompanies the logo. This then goes to black, when ominous music and a sound of a car which accompanies 'River Road entertainment' logo. This, similarly, goes to black which remains for a few seconds until the black fades to the quote 'There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;/There is a rapture on the lonely shore;/There is society, where none intrudes,/By the deep sea, and music in its roar:/I love not man the less, but Nature more... - Lord Byron'. This then goes to black and there is non-diegetic sound of 'mum...mum..help me', this transitions to, what we assume, is the mother waking up gasping, in a panic. The husband next to her in bed exclaims 'Whats is it?', she then replies  'I wasn't dreaming, I didn't imagine it. I heard him...I heard him, I heard him, I heard Chris...I heard him. No, I wasn't imagining it. He's [screams] I hate him'. We can assume from this that Chris is  her son, who she is missing and has not seen in a long time, this leaves the audience questioning where he is and why he is not coming back to see his mum and thus, creating enigma. 

This cuts to black and happy guitar music begins, this fades to a shot in a train at 1:18. At 1:24 there is a straight cut to the outside of the train and then another straight cut to from the inside of the train, looking out, there is also 'Alexander' written in chalk on the train carriage, there is humming also with the music at this point.  At 1:37 there is a close-up of 'Alexander Supertramp April 1992' written in chalk, establishing our main protagonist, hinting at what he is like, perhaps living on the road, as well as establishing the time in which it is roughly set 'April 1992'. At 1:40 there is a straight cut to the outside of the train, where we can see snow as well as tree, implying that this is deep into the 'middle of nowhere', there is also an icy river. There is an extreme close-up of the '1992' reinforcing our ideas of the time, there is then another shot of looking outside the train as it goes through a tunnel.  At 1:44 there is a wide shot of a sunset on an industrial train termination spot and over this scene there is handwriting in yellow 'WAYNE,'. This cuts to a scene with an ice sculpture and the letter continues 'GREETINGS FROM FAIRBANKS!' thus, establishing setting. Also during this point there is a straight cut to a wide shot on an icy river and the yellow writing fades.

At 1:57 there is a cut to a shot of some shots as the writing continues 'ARRIVED HERE TWO DAYS AGO' during this there is straight cuts to a factory and another cuts to a 'Masonic Temple'. At 2:04 there is a close-up of a man holding out his hand for hitchhiking. There is another straight cut to a man walking in the snow next to the road, in this way we assume that this is our protagonist and the letter that is being written is him writing. At this point the writing continues, 'IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO CATCH RIDES IN THE YUKON TERRITORY', there is a straight cut of a large lorry driving down a mountainous road. At 2:16 there is a close-up of the back of the man with his large bag full of equipment on his back, we can assume that this man has been on the road for sometime and enjoys it. There is then a cut to a snowy road and at 2:21 it appears to be a shot from within a car, since the camera moves in sync with the driving, the writing continues 'BUT I FINALLY GOT HERE.'. There is another straight cut of the inside of a bookstore as the writing continues 'PICKED UP A NEW BOOK ON THE LOCAL FLORA AND FAUNA' , this then transitions to a wide shot of a snowy landscape as the writing appears 'I'M PREPARED AND HAVE STOCKED ALL NECESSARY COMFORTS TO LIVE OFF THE LAND FOR A FEW MONTHS.'. There are cuts to a dairy farm as well as a grocery store, guns store and engineering store as the writing says 'MIGHT BE A VERY LONG TIME BEFORE I RETURN SOUTH.', in this way it conveys how he has had to gain supplies in order to stay alive for the next few months.

At 2:47 the shot returns to within the car, with the snowy landscape in front of them, the writing continues 'JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, YOU'RE A GREAT MAN'. At 2:58 there is a medium close-up shot of a road sign which says 'Stampede Rd', this shot is overlay-ed with another medium close-up of a sign which says 'Closed for Winter'. This transitions to a wide shot of a large snowy landscape, the music begins to slow at this point, 'Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment present', written in green, implying that this is a film set in the 'wild' as the title suggests. At 3:23 'a square one C. I. H/Linson Film Production' appears as the music fades out and there is the diegetic sound of a truck driving as the camera tilts down to reveal it. The man in the car says 'That's about as far as I can get ya', another voice then says 'Alright, thank you', this man then steps out of the car and grabs his bag, it become apparent that this is Chris, our protagonist, 'Thanks again'. At 4:59 the writing continues 'I NOW WALK' this then fades and 'INTO THE WILD' appears on screen firstly in yellow, then turning green and the text gets bigger and changes font to take up most of the screen, signifying that this is the title.

Film Opening Deconstruction - Drama - 'Submarine'

 

The film opens with the Film 4 logo with the music which would usually accompany it. It then fades to black and then 'Awarding funds from The National Lottery' appears at the bottom of the screen, with the 'UK FILM | COUNCIL' logo in the centre of the shot. At 0:21 

appears with the sound of the wind in the background, signifying already that this is set in the countryside. The blue background of the text could be a representation of the title 'submarine' as well as the sea and the depressed tone that is portrayed through Oliver Tate's character. The fact that the letters are spread out also is a stylistic feature of the signature 'Submarine'  typeface. At 0:24 there is a tracking shot of what we assume is a boy's bedroom since there is a blue bed, posters and drawings on the walls. At 0:30 'In association with the Wales creative IP fund and the film agency Wales' in the same style as the other titles. Similarly at 0:34 'in association with the optimum releasing and protagonist pictures' appears on screen, at this point also to accompany the wind, there are seagulls, reinforcing our idea of this being set near the sea and in the countryside. At 0:39 it returns to the tracking shot revealing a wall completely covered in pictures, posters, prints and drawings suggesting that this character is quite creative and enjoys the arts. As this continues, a desk with notebooks a typewriter and books is displayed suggesting that this character perhaps likes writing and reading, alongside his drawing. At 0:43 'in association with red hour films' appears on screen, with the seagulls in the background being louder on the titles. 

At 0:47 'A warps films production' appears on screen in the same typeface, with the seagulls, again, in the background. This then transitions to the tracking shot*, this time in another position revealing a different part of the room with a skeleton, telescope and a solar system, in this way it signifies how Oliver may have a interest in the world around him. At 0:54 there is a non-diegetic narrator which we assume is Oliver since the camera arrives on him, 'Most people think of themselves as individuals' as the tracking shot continues down to a boy who is sat, hugging his legs, sat in the corner and staring out the window. He continues, '..that there's no one on the planet like them. This thought motivates them to get out of bed, eat food and walk around like nothings wrong', he then confirms his identity 'My name is Oliver Tate'. In this way, it is apparent that this is our protagonist since it has been only focused on him so far. At 1:05 the shot of Oliver cuts to a medium close-up, to a close-up, between these cuts there is a strum in the music, there is another strum as he moves his eyes to the camera at 1:06.

This scene transitions to a rather picturesque establishing shot of a typical North Wales town in the valley, presumably by the sea, due to the seagulls. At 0:13 there is a straight cut to a wide shot of a sunset or sunrise of hills and the countryside.  There is another cut of the sea and another at 1:24 of the sea and the horizon. This is followed by another wide shot of the sea. Finally there is a wide-angle shot of the sunset over the sea when the title of the film appears, with letters spread out in the same style, 'SUB MAR INE'. At 1:44 There is a shot of Oliver Tate with his silhouette, looking out to sea. There is then a close-up shot of his silhouette, of his head at 1:48.

*We used this as an influence for the tracking shot in our film opening.

Film Opening Deconstruction - 'Atonement'

The film opens with the 'universal' logo accompanied with the usual sound that would usually apply to 'universal'. It then cuts to black and at around 0:29 the 'Working Title' logo also appears, with no sound. At 0:33 'UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS' in a typewriter typeface, perhaps signifying that this is a film set in the past, already conveying the time in which the film is set; there is also the sound of birds tweeting in the background which could imply the film being in the countryside. There is the sound of a typewriter being rewound as this text fades and 'IN ASSOCIATION WITH STUDIOCANAL AND RELATIVITY MEDIA' appears on screen at 0:39, with the birds still tweeting. Similarly there is the sound of a typewriter being rewound as this text fade and transitions to 'A WORKING TITLE PRODUCTION', along with the continued birds twittering. There is the noise of the typewriter as it transitions to the main title 'ATONEMENT' at 0:47, this text is underlined and there is the sound of the typewriter as it is being typed out, as it appears on screen. 

This then transitions to a doll's house with the continued sound of typing and birds tweeting in the background at 0:53.  This then pulls out and starts to reveal more of what we find out to be a girl's bedroom, due to the placement of play animals, floral wallpaper, carpet and bed-sheets and we can already assume that this place is owned by rich, upper class people due to the extravagant doll's house and the amount of toys; we can also assume that this is set in the past since there is no technology, other than a typewriter. There is then flowing pan up shot to a girl sat typing at her desk at around 1:23. Something that also becomes apparent is the girl must be quite intelligent despite her age since she has many, heavy books upon her desk. This shot then transitions, within the same sequence to a circular around the side of her face. There is then a straight cut to a extreme close-up of the girls eyes, as she it typing. 

There is then a high-angle shot of the girl's hands on the keys as the camera tilts up from the hands on the typewriter to the paper of which she had been writing on, with the words 'THE END'. Slow, gentle piano music then begins as she takes the paper from the typewriter, this then transitions to her placing the document in a folder, which has the title of her work, 'THE TRIALS OF ARABELLA by Briony Tallic' with handwritten drafts beneath it in her 'flowy' handwriting - at around 1:41. At 1:46 there is a pull-out shot as the girl picks up her document and walks out of her bedroom. As this shot pulls out, it reveals her desk and typewriter. There is also the steady beat of a typewriter in the background along with the quite dramatic and inquisitive music. At 1:49 there is a pan as the girl walks over to the wooden landing, at which point the typewriter becomes blended with the music and increases in pace at 1:54 as the music becomes louder. As she runs down the hall there is a cut to a maid making a bed, reiterating our expectations of the girl being from a rich family. There is a straight cut to the girls as she runs down the stairs and through the corridor, into the kitchen where she says 'I've finished my play.', with one of the staff replying 'Well done.' the girls then asks if they 'had seen mummy', the staff replies 'She'll be in the drawing room I expect' another then says 'I hope you're not going to be getting under our feet today Briony, we've got a dinner for ten to prepare'. She then walks through another hallway, when she stops someone outside, at the front of her house.