Collage- a movie about the art of life.
So my movie opening is going to be kind of a stop motion animation, but not really. I'm going to make this a4 sketch book the opening, with me turning pages and each page will have different titles/ characters doing things and getting introduced and stuff. This means because most of my things are just photos, I just need to take the photos and stick them down, so it wont be too hard to source.
I don't really know what the plot of the movie would be but I imagine it would be like some guy who is some washed up artist who is sick of spending all his time in cafes and needs to find inspiration so he goes to all these art galleries around the world (maybe he wins the lotto for the cash flow problem) and craft fairs looking for a muse. I guess it could be classed as a quest movie but kind of indie because its about art and stuff?
Because it would be starting as an almost clinical blank page, and then exploding to all this colour and stuff I want it to be surprising. I also want it to show different eras of art, like minimalism and romanticism, pop art etc. These different art aspects would all represent one character, but I'm not going to think about that too much because I don't have to make the whole movie and otherwise I will spend too much time developing the story and not making the opening.
I want the audience to leave feeling like they have just seen something beautiful that has enriched their appreciation of art, and want to know where the characters lives is heading. I don't know how our class would receive this film, because I envisage it to be a movie with scenes that are just this guy looking at some amazing painting with eerie far away music playing and it slowly zooming in/out on the painting, so its not particularly action packed.
Because its just shots of a book, it could get boring so I will change shots and use closeups probably. Most of it will be in mid-shots. The change in pictures will also create interest, and ill change my nail-polish/rings/bracelets in random times to make little quirks.
I think it would be cool to make the book appear that it belonged to the main character, so on the black front cover I will personalise it according to his character development.
I could get film stills of various actors/actresses and make them my main characters (as long as they have been in enough movies to get the right actions to screen-cap) or if that is too much work just take photos of my friends/family to use instead.
I know I want to end it by having a picture in the book and then that picture becoming the establishing shot of the first scene with real people interacting and moving. Like they go into the book blues clues style.
I still need to think of a soundtrack/song, which I should do first because thats the most important thing.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Friday, 24 June 2011
Analyse
The convention of isolated houses was used successfully in both movies, helping create the right atmosphere and social context for the film.
The houses in Scream are rather extravagant and large, showing the town of Woodsboro's wealth. How this wealth is accumulated is not stated, but you can assume it is some natural resource/ town enterprise as all the houses viewed are rather similar in size/wealth. This relates to the social climate at the time as in the late ninties most of America was affluent, so it makes the environment relatable to those seeing the movie in cinemas. This relatablility makes the movie more scary, because that means anyone could be a target. This helped the movie become a success, as if people can relate to something, they are going to talk about it. And example conversation could go like this "Did you see Scream yet? Stu's house looks just like Molly's!"
"Oh really? That's creepy. When's the next showing?"
That conversation may seem rather false and un-realistic, but it must have some truths, because the movie was very successful.
Sequels of this film also play with the idea of isolation, with Sidney becoming almost Agoraphobic in Scream 3. This makes her isolated in her own home, as she is too scared of the outside world and its dangers to leave. Although the wide open spaces where anything can lurk can be frightening, being unsafe in your own home can be equally scary.
The convention would've bought the publics' attention to the fact that any where could be a possible location for a gory murder. This could've made people feel uneasy about their community and their surroundings. Parents who were all ready rather paranoid about their teenagers hi-jinx may have become extra paranoid about leaving their children alone when they leave for the weekend, like Sidney's dad did.
Although the 'Norman Bates murder house' is a similar style to the houses in Scream, you can tell from its interior, and the state the motel is in, that Norman is rather poor. This also enhances the scary-ness, as places with creaky floorboards, and dripping taps due to no maintenance are see to be stereotypically scary. The isolation of the location keeps the same location as the novel the movie was loosely based on, which was based on a real murder case (Ed Gein murders). That case also influenced other horrors like Silence Of The Lambs and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This movie continued the popularity of the isolated setting convention, as Hitchcock had, and still has a lot of influence on other movie writers and directors. Lots of the movies we studied, either being before or after Psycho, used either literal isolation in a location or a less obvious social isolation. Psycho used this convention very successfully, because the isolation of the location and therefore the killer makes the murders harder to solve and draws out the story, making for a good movie. It helped the movie's success because high-way hotels were a usual thing in the 60's so it was an interesting setting, which hadn't been used much before, if at all. It helped the movie remain popular to this day because there is always isolated areas in every town. The slight cliche around the idea in more modern times also help this movie sucesfully use this convention, because it is used so much better than other roadside motel horrors around (like Vacancy).
The houses in Scream are rather extravagant and large, showing the town of Woodsboro's wealth. How this wealth is accumulated is not stated, but you can assume it is some natural resource/ town enterprise as all the houses viewed are rather similar in size/wealth. This relates to the social climate at the time as in the late ninties most of America was affluent, so it makes the environment relatable to those seeing the movie in cinemas. This relatablility makes the movie more scary, because that means anyone could be a target. This helped the movie become a success, as if people can relate to something, they are going to talk about it. And example conversation could go like this "Did you see Scream yet? Stu's house looks just like Molly's!"
"Oh really? That's creepy. When's the next showing?"
That conversation may seem rather false and un-realistic, but it must have some truths, because the movie was very successful.
Sequels of this film also play with the idea of isolation, with Sidney becoming almost Agoraphobic in Scream 3. This makes her isolated in her own home, as she is too scared of the outside world and its dangers to leave. Although the wide open spaces where anything can lurk can be frightening, being unsafe in your own home can be equally scary.
The convention would've bought the publics' attention to the fact that any where could be a possible location for a gory murder. This could've made people feel uneasy about their community and their surroundings. Parents who were all ready rather paranoid about their teenagers hi-jinx may have become extra paranoid about leaving their children alone when they leave for the weekend, like Sidney's dad did.
Although the 'Norman Bates murder house' is a similar style to the houses in Scream, you can tell from its interior, and the state the motel is in, that Norman is rather poor. This also enhances the scary-ness, as places with creaky floorboards, and dripping taps due to no maintenance are see to be stereotypically scary. The isolation of the location keeps the same location as the novel the movie was loosely based on, which was based on a real murder case (Ed Gein murders). That case also influenced other horrors like Silence Of The Lambs and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This movie continued the popularity of the isolated setting convention, as Hitchcock had, and still has a lot of influence on other movie writers and directors. Lots of the movies we studied, either being before or after Psycho, used either literal isolation in a location or a less obvious social isolation. Psycho used this convention very successfully, because the isolation of the location and therefore the killer makes the murders harder to solve and draws out the story, making for a good movie. It helped the movie's success because high-way hotels were a usual thing in the 60's so it was an interesting setting, which hadn't been used much before, if at all. It helped the movie remain popular to this day because there is always isolated areas in every town. The slight cliche around the idea in more modern times also help this movie sucesfully use this convention, because it is used so much better than other roadside motel horrors around (like Vacancy).
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Explain
The convention of isolated settings in Psycho and Scream was used to make the movie more suspense filled and scary, which helps the film as a whole because these two things are nessecary to have a good horror film.
One of the tag lines for Phsyco was "The master of suspense moves his cameras into the icy blackness of the unexplored!" This idea of the unexplored, icy blackness is portrayed using the convention of an isolated setting. It's isolation from the main road and closest town makes it practically unexplored. The first murder happens at night time, so this is where the icy blackness is included. The darkness creates a more scary feel to an unknown location, because if it is dark and the viewer cannot see much in the unfamiliar setting. This makes the cinema patrons less likely to predict what is going to happen next, not that being predictable was a problem of Hitchcock's. Phsyco's use of an isolated setting help establish this conventions usefullness, maybe even help make it become a convention (even if isolated settings had been used way back in Nosferatu).
The isolated settings in Scream continue the refrencing of other movies, but it was mainly used to make it harder for people for people to die, so the twist ending is more effective. Because everyone is so seperated, it makes more sense that there is a tag team type murder happening, otherwise movie watchers would get very suspicious as how one guy can move around so quick, and make so many costume changes. There is more than one isolated setting in Scream, which like in Psycho makes the viewers uneasy and unsure of where the next attack will happen, as there are many possibilities when everything is far away and no one will hear the screams. The use of this convention in this film definitley conforms to tradition, as it refrences many other traditions. The fact they chose such an American looking house also conforms to tradition, as similar houses were used in Night of The Living Dead and Psycho.
One of the tag lines for Phsyco was "The master of suspense moves his cameras into the icy blackness of the unexplored!" This idea of the unexplored, icy blackness is portrayed using the convention of an isolated setting. It's isolation from the main road and closest town makes it practically unexplored. The first murder happens at night time, so this is where the icy blackness is included. The darkness creates a more scary feel to an unknown location, because if it is dark and the viewer cannot see much in the unfamiliar setting. This makes the cinema patrons less likely to predict what is going to happen next, not that being predictable was a problem of Hitchcock's. Phsyco's use of an isolated setting help establish this conventions usefullness, maybe even help make it become a convention (even if isolated settings had been used way back in Nosferatu).
The isolated settings in Scream continue the refrencing of other movies, but it was mainly used to make it harder for people for people to die, so the twist ending is more effective. Because everyone is so seperated, it makes more sense that there is a tag team type murder happening, otherwise movie watchers would get very suspicious as how one guy can move around so quick, and make so many costume changes. There is more than one isolated setting in Scream, which like in Psycho makes the viewers uneasy and unsure of where the next attack will happen, as there are many possibilities when everything is far away and no one will hear the screams. The use of this convention in this film definitley conforms to tradition, as it refrences many other traditions. The fact they chose such an American looking house also conforms to tradition, as similar houses were used in Night of The Living Dead and Psycho.
Describe
Isolation in Psycho and Scream.
Isolation is used in Psycho and Scream in very similar ways, as the place where most of the murders happens in a very isolated place, but there is secondary locations which are also isolated.
Stu's house is the final location in Scream, where there is a party happening. This location is isolated as the whole movie is set in a small town, so most of the houses are far apart. It is a stately home and the isolation makes it feel more creepy, as it is harder to get help when everyone else is so far away. The establishing shot above shows this isolation. This helplessness is taken advantage of with the first killing in the movie, where Casey is having a conversation with the killer on her phone.Casey states "Look, I am two seconds away from calling the police!" but the killer responds with "They'll never make it in time." This, and the fact that Casey is isolated herself (she is home alone), clearly show isolation.
There two principal locations in Psycho are both isolated from the closest city. The Bates hotel is so isolated as the highway was moved away from it years ago. When Marion asks if there are any vacancies, Norman states there are "12 rooms and 12 vacancies." This quote shows that because the highway was moved there has been much less traffic passing the hotel, meaning less people staying there. The other location, the 'family' home, although close to the hotel, is rather isolated as it is situated on top of a hill. This positioning makes it seem agressivley placed, much like a high angle shot (see below picture).
Isolation is used in Psycho and Scream in very similar ways, as the place where most of the murders happens in a very isolated place, but there is secondary locations which are also isolated.
There two principal locations in Psycho are both isolated from the closest city. The Bates hotel is so isolated as the highway was moved away from it years ago. When Marion asks if there are any vacancies, Norman states there are "12 rooms and 12 vacancies." This quote shows that because the highway was moved there has been much less traffic passing the hotel, meaning less people staying there. The other location, the 'family' home, although close to the hotel, is rather isolated as it is situated on top of a hill. This positioning makes it seem agressivley placed, much like a high angle shot (see below picture).
Both the houses in the film are very large and have similar architecture, with wooden exteriors and windows in the roof. These similarities suggest the houses were built around the same time, even though there is a 40 year difference in the movies production. The movie Scream refrenced many horror movies and typical conventions, and the similar style of house and location may be another refrence taken from Phsyco (use of a knife, and falling down stairs are others.)
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