Mind Map

Here is my mind map, I have tried to evolve my ideas and explore my influences on this map. I first had three ideas, which are shown on the right hand side, my main idea was a zombie/detective kind of film because I wanted to mix the genre of film noir, horror and thriller. My story has changed since my mind map I have changed my main idea a little, without a detective and changed the main idea of zombie but sticking with everything else, a zombie will appear, and all genres I stated will still be in place. I have included theories in my mind that link to my film which can be seen all over my mind map in different groups like representation, narrative, audience and genre. I will be using some techniques in other films that have influenced me like the shining where there use quick flash cuts, connoting that danger about to happen.

Ideas From Short Films

In researching my short films I came across some very interesting styles used and ideas in the story that my film could use. Like for instance in ‘The Life and Death of a Pumpkin’ the story was narrated describing the pumpkins slow death and I seeing this, it was a good idea to have the narration in the beginning of my film to describe Noah’s accident. It has a good effect because you get to know the character and feel more sympathy for him when there is an accident. Another idea I’m using is from ‘Lovefield’ where there is a massive red herring leading the audience of thinking the complete opposite of what is actually happening, and I want to do that with my film by at the end explaining that all this time Noah has ad been dead. This would, I believe will make the film more exciting by having twist and turns and give the audience no sense of security and feel not surprised but shocked at the end. In the short film ‘Snap’ has given me an idea of how to film someone who is running and I think that tracking from behind is the best way for the type of film I’m shooting, because I want everything to be mysterious. Last of all ‘Inside’ gave me the idea of having someone like a split personality to contact with Noah just to suggest to the audience that he is still and alive and to Noah himself.

Shooting Plan

I intend to plan all of my film in one go on the December 17th, at 3:00. I will be using the camera and a tripod and if I do not finish the whole of the filming on that day, I have planned a second filming session just in case on the 15th January at 3:00. I have also arranged my actors, which will be: -
Rob - Noah Gray
Matt - Jack Oswald
Chloe - Coral Gray
I have discussed their character and what costumes to wear and what their role is in the film.

Research of Short Films

‘The Life and Death of a Pumpkin’ (Aaron Yonda 2006)

This film tells the tale of a pumpkin being picked from its patch to being left on the floor at Halloween. It’s a mix genre between comedy and horror because it gives a description of what a pumpkin must feel like when Halloween does come, like for instance when the pumpkin is carved it describes the pain and has camera shots from the inside to make it seem more gruesome. Even though it is described like this it does seem funny because all the stages that the pumpkin goes through is actually true and they have developed it to make it into a horror to. The narration over the film compliments the film because it gives the pumpkin its own voice. The shots they use in this film are all ones with one object being it (the pumpkin and at one stage at child.) this connotes that the pumpkin is isolated and all alone and that the children are evil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-1aui-wluE

‘The Black Hole’ (Diamond Dugs 2009)

In this film it shows what would happen if a man a would be able to put any limb through any solid object, and in the end it turns out that he uses it for greed and is punished by being locked in the safe. In this film the camera shots and editing style changes after he has found this black hole. At the beginning the editing is slow and the camera shots are at a medium shot and are boring. But after the black hole is found the editing gets faster and different shots are formed to flow together and seems more exciting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5_Msrdg3Hk

‘Lovefield’ (Mathieu Ratthe 2008)

This film is a massive red herring building you up to thinking this man has killed someone, but it is quite the opposite, instead he has brought life into the world instead of taking it. The woman in labour was meant to be interpreted as her being killed. The shots used in this film make the story seem ambiguous like only showing the victims feet and keep cutting to the crow. Also the cuts are very fast to maybe connote the tension in the scene building it up for something big, also with the quick cuts from the crow to the protagonist seem to portray that someone is watching him. The cuts then slow and the shot seem to show more long short than before where they showed mostly close up and medium shots. The cuts slow to show that everything is ok and that nothing bad was actually happening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4meeZifCVro

‘Non-Fat’ (Oliver Manzi)

This is a very short film where a woman seems to be bringing up his weight in what she wants to order. I believe that this then cuts without anyone knowing to what the overweight man would like to do her, like a dream where he beats up for saying what she did. The effect they used in this film is like a CCTV shot where it is poised in the corner in room with a black and white shot. One of the things that gave away that it was a short film is that no one in the shop turned round or even moved. There is only one shot and no cuts used in this film which is quite strange.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svwPZzpe8vU

‘Snap’ (Manolo Celi 2006)

This film shows a man stealing camera but only for a short period of time where he uses all the film in the camera taking pictures of the person chasing him for their camera. The film does well as straight away as he steals the camera the cuts speed up instantly and the camera tracks with the person in the shot quite quickly. It also does well to keep both characters in the shot when the chase is happening. The film uses a freeze frame when the camera takes a photo to show what point the picture has been taken to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmxX2r-uD8I

‘Inside’ (Trevor Sands 2008)

This is my favourite film I have come across as it depicts a person with a multiple personality disorder and what is going on in their mind and having the camera through their point of view. They showed the multiple personality by adding more and more character behind the victim with all different looks and personality, and as they add more the camera shot begins to get longer with every shot and seem wider because there are more people in the shot. On the other side of the table is the person trying to help the guy with the disorder and she always has a medium shot to show that she is in control. But all along it seems that, that woman is actually part of his disorder because when she leaves a man was already sitting in her seat and she emerges from behind him as another disorder. The cuts get very quick when more characters are added as well to create more tension between the woman and the victim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjTOs1L3SBg

'Offside' (Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv 2005)

This short film by Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv in 2005 is very strange it shows that football can bring even enemies together, as 2 men are guarding a secure area until 2 men with guns come along, but instead of them shooting each other they stop and listen to the football at gun point so they can hear the final score. this may also show that men are prepared to listen to football than rather fight for their country. but at the end where they finally shoot, it seems that the person who first shot, shot by accident because of the expression on his face. throughout the scene the radio seems to explain the situation that the 4 men are in. when the shoot-up is finished they believe that their team has won but their is a twist as they lie dead on the floor, and that, that goal was offside. this film has inspired me to do something tense like this film as they are all at gun point which kept me on the edge of my seat, and i want that in my film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIxBRA5qjA

The comparisons that i found between all of these films that they all have surprising endings and try to be ambiguous at the the beginning and the middle of the story. Examples of this are in 'Lovefield' where you are lead up to believe that someone is being murdered, when it is the complete opposite, the man accused by the viewer for murder was actually bringing life into the world. Another example is in 'Snap', where the viewer is really confused when this guy is stealing camera and taking photos of the victim, but it the end, you find out its just for fun. i want to use this repertoire of red herrings, ambiguity and confusion in my film so that i can send the viewer into a sense of insecurity putting them in the film and making them feel like they know what is going on when they will not.
Another point i would like to put into my repertoire is from the short film 'The Life and Death of A Pumpkin' which uses narration of what a pumpkin feels like on halloween. I will use that idea at the beginning of the film, where he describes his life up to then giving the audience a relationship between the characters in the space of 10 seconds.

Synopsis

Title - Daedmi

Synopsis

A stressful Shrink has had to deal with the loss of his wife. Ever since the fatal accident Noah has never forgiven himself for his wife’s death. A year on and he is still grieving for his wife, he has given up smoking and has not spoken to anyone except his client for a year. Jack Oswald is his only client who is a schizophrenic and has become a client exactly a year ago.

Recently Noah has started to see flashes of his dead wife, which is making him feel ill and depressed. He keeps this illness a secret, which is a bad choice; his flashes have been becoming more like reality everyday. Until, it does …

He wakes up outside after falling asleep while considering whether to break his no smoking run. He wakes up after hearing a scream he recognised before. He runs to see what has happened, only to find his dead wife standing at the top of the road. He runs to her only to see her she falls down at the top at the road and Noah runs to save her, as he pulls her over he stares in sock to find out that its not his wife but himself. he runs as fast as he can not looking where he is going and enters bright light or into a car. the scene starts up again with him on the floor the camera zooms out to show his wife still alive and Noah dead on the floor from a car crash.

Props

• Make–Up (Zombish Look)
• Car
• Sun lounger
• Cigar or Cigarette
• Watch

Costumes

• Noah -Trousers, White Shirt, Trench Coat and Smart Shoes (Hat?)
• Jack - Tracksuit Bottoms (Or Jeans?), T-shirt and Trainers
• Coral - Jeans, T-Shirt, Trainers

How My Film Uses Theories of Narrative, Representation and Audience

The narrative theories that my film uses are first of all Roland Barthes who suggested that narrative works with five codes which makes the reader make sense of it. The ones that apply for my film are; The Enigma code, The Cultural code and The Symbolic code.
The Enigma code is where the film sets questions, and adds more during the film to keep the viewers interest, I will be using this theory because I do think it’s a useful idea to keep the viewer waiting with anticipation, and that the basis of my film is ambiguous and actually asks itself questions, with a ending leaving the audience thinking. The Cultural code refers to the knowledge of time, giving little symbols or messages that indicate where and when the film is set. I’m using this by identifying that even though it is a film noir genre which is usually set back in the day, that my film will be modern to and I will give off messages to show this. The last code is the Symbolic code, which is effectively Levi Strauss’s idea of Binary Oppositions, which show the opposites in a film to create a conflict not only in the film but also in the audience. I will do this by oppositions like sophisticated/ common, smart/dumb, good/ evil and many more.

I am also using Levi Strauss’s idea of Binary Oppositions but as I have already explained I will go on to the next theorist. I will use Todorov’s idea of the equilibrium, which he stated that all stories begin with what he called an equilibrium. This is disrupted by some event sitting in a train of series of events, to close with a different equilibrium. I will use this by having this equilibrium of a detective on a normal case that all policemen are one stating a normal positive setting. I will make the film suffer a disequilibrium where he has headaches and witnesses a murder. But instead of having a new equilibrium I will create a new type of equilibrium I call the inequilibrium where even though there has been a disturbance and all films it is usually solved, instead I create more confusion and may even suffer even more of a disequilibrium to some viewers and leave the end of a story on a question leaving the answer to the viewers interpretation.

The last narrative theorist I’m using is prop where he states that whatever the surface differences it was possible to group characters and actions into : Eight character roles which are :1. The hero 2.The villain. 3. The donor 4.The (magical) helper. 5&6.The princess and her father 7.The dispatcher 8. [False hero]. These are basically in every film and I will only use a few of these, are those will be; the helper, the false hero and the villain.

Character Profiles

Main Character – Noah Gray
Schizophrenic – Jack Oswald
Dead Wife – Coral Gray


Noah Gray

• Gender – Male

• Age – 39

• Costume - Shirt (white), Coat, and Trousers.

• About Him – Noah Gray is a determined man who has a passion for his job because it makes him feel like a superhero. Recently he has become quite ill and has started to see flashes of his dead wife, which makes him feel distraught and even more ill. He believes his recent illness is to do with the fact that he has stopped smoking making him frustrated and fidgety also.

• History – A few years ago Noah had a wife who was tragically killed in a car crash. The crash was seen as an accident but only Noah knew it was his fault. If there was just the crash she would of survived, but because Noah was smoking whilst driving The cigarette was dropped into a puddle of petrol leaking from the car which started of the fire and the explosion, killing his wife.

Jack Oswald

• Gender – Male

• Age – 21

• Costume – Jeans, T-Shirt, and a Coat.

• About Him – Jack is a client of Noah’s and has been for a year now, he is a schizophrenic who has no family, friends and hardly knows anyone. He never leaves his house, which was given to him by his dead parents and has trouble paying for the bills, and so lives in a house with no heating, electricity and gas. Noah does not bother with Jack any more, but goes round everyday for sympathy.

• History – N/A


Coral Gray

• Gender – Female

• Age – 35

• Costume – T-shirt, Jeans and Make-up (Zombie)

• About Her – She is seemed to be part of Noah’s dream as a zombie, but is it a dream? She does not talk, but she does scream, grunt and heavy breathe. The only emotion shown in this film is anger towards Noah. But it turns out that she is not dead, and she is grieving her loss of her husband.

• History – Coral dies in a car crash a couple of years ago that Noah feels was his fault. They meet 10 years ago and had been married for 6 years.