Prezi presentation of Film opening Lawrence of Arabia

War film presentation from Patryk-W

Attack on the Block analysis

How are youths represented in the movie and media?
Attack on the Block

This movie represents the youth in a stereotypical way for the setting of the film. As the film is set in South London England it represents the youth in the stereotypical way they are seen in that area. In that area the youth are usually seen as delinquents and overall trouble makers.

This is seen through out the film as the youths are seen to be involved in many illegal and or mischievous things. The film is set in the council areas of London where it is common to see young people involved in illegal activities such as theft, drug use and many other smaller things, a lot of these are shown to be done by the youths in the film. 

One of the ways that the youths are represented are by the way they rob a women in the first couple of minutes in the film. This is something that media portrays youths to very often do in under developed areas of large cities like London. Ann Gould's theory on youth stereotypes outlines some of the ways that the youths are represented in the media and this film. The stereotypes included in Ann Gould's theory are that youths are rebellious, sexual, nihilistic, self-destructive, artificial tribe and violent. The main stereotypes that are shown in the film are violence and rebelliousness. The youths in the film first portray themselves as violent when they tell the audience that they robbed a women in the streets for her wallet. This is a characteristic that the media often portrays youths with as they know that any punishment they receive will be very light due to them being under aged and protected by the law differently than an adult, and therefore the media always picks at this as they know that young people take advantage of that protection and they see it as a ignorance of youths breaking laws and allowing them to continue with the knowledge that as long as they are under age they have nothing to worry about if  they commit crimes.

A persistent representation of youths in the film is that they use drugs. The youths are constantly seen using drugs through out the film which is a very common thing that the media portrays youths to be very accepting of drug use even though its illegal and that they're doing it at such a young age. Gerbner's cultivation theory reflects on the media's perspective of youth drug use as he talks about how because people watch so much TV and crime shows they are exposed to many cases of young people using drugs and from that knowledge they themselves see all youths as the same as what they saw on TV.       

Film opening- initial ideas

Initial  ideas

Horror-Forrest chase (panicking traveller and axe wielding killer)

Action- Russian hacker (hacker tries to gain access into FBI but gets captured by police)

Sci-fi- Alien invasion (aliens attack a school and have to be captured by the alien busters)

*Autobiography- Old war story (veteran speaks about his past war experiences)

(Callum) Noir- Following a detective as he reflects on his personal and work life

The beginning of the short film will start with the main character (Fritz Christen) Fritz will start with introducing himself and explaining what kind of stories he'll be talking about from his past (with a German accent). He'll welcome the audience as if they're in front of him and asking them to take a seat with him. The camera will slowly pan around him showing the man in full. He'll start to slowly speak (due to his old age) about his first engagement into war. 

After he begins one of his stories a short flashback will start going along with what he's saying. The first story will be about how he was drafted into war and taken from his home and wife (which the flash back will illustrate). The second story will be about his first battle engagement where he was stuck in the trenches and unable to get up. 

The story will be ended with Fritz telling about how at the end of the war he received medals for his bravery during the war. The flash back will appear showing him and a general pinning medals to his jacket and then saluting. He will then tell the audience to leave him as he's tired and wants to sleep, the camera will slowly move backwards away from him as the scene darkens and finally turns black and a quiet voice is heard saying "The battle may have ended, but the war goes on" and then the credits role showing the name of the film and a photograph of Fritz.

Comments:
Hard to film flash backs
Character for the veteran
Filming trench scene
Unique story
Large cast needed
Time scale difficulties

Evaluation

From the comments I decided to change the reading character from being Fritz to being Fritz's grandson as it would've been difficult to find someone that looks to be that age. I changed to end of the film to the grandson reading that his grandfather was awarded medals for war crimes and decides to burn the book at the end. The scenes after the medal awarding flash back will show the room empty with a breeze and then the book will be shown being burnt.

In the end we chose to go with the biography short film about the WW2 soldier story. We chose this idea as we thought that it could be fleshed out the most. The film idea uses a lot of different editing and filming techniques when it comes to the flash back scenes as they would have to be interchanged smoothly from the present to the far past.


Callum's idea

The idea I have created is a horror, the idea is very generic however it is simple and effective. the film will begin with establishing shots of the scene, it will combine a  range of shots which would include wide and close up shots of the scene. the main character will enter the frame wondering aimlessly, it is possible that he/she is looking for someone however, they have got lost looking for something. the character is unaware but they are being watched by someone, their identity will remain ambiguous  until the end. the audience won't get a clear view of the watcher until later in the film 

as the story progresses, the main character will still be wondering around looking for something. the areas in which this will be shot will be abandoned, therefore the character will be alone for most of the film. the character will receive a call from the person they are looking for, this lost character will tell them to go to an isolated area because that's where the are waiting

upon arrival, the main character is confused-the area is secluded and their friend is not there. the character attempts to leave but the watcher prevents them from going anywhere. the watcher is masked and carrying a weapon. the watcher attacks them and the main character and the realise that the watcher is their friend- the friend has led them into a trap

Synopsis 

The story takes place in a modern era but uses flashbacks to tell the main story of the war character being talked about by the young male character. Flashbacks show the story as the narrator tells the audience what he's reading from the book. The book tells the story of Fritz who was the grandfather of the reader. The grandson finds out what his grandfather really did during the war and experiences a fierce breakdown. 


Ending scene: Slow motion rage scene. Breaking glass and ripping book. Character runs into the field as camera goes into low angle, screen fades and title appears



Title ideas:
The Edge of Weeping
The First End
The Hollow Fable







Script

[Camera goes into room]
Joe- Welcome to my humble abode. My name is Joe Fritz, I hear you're interested in the history of my family. Come in and listen to my voice, relax and have a seat.
[Camera moves the the right of the room]
[Joe presents the book in his hands]
Joe- This book holds the secrets of my grandfathers legacy. 
[Joe opens book as the camera moves back to the middle of the room]
Flash back begins with Fritz's mother reading his letter Joe- His first words say "Mother, I have been drafted for out countries service. I must fight for our land, goodbye and farewell". 
Joe- The war brought many things with it, anger, sadness, fear but my grandfather knew that his duty was to give his life for his country.
[Camera pans in onto expression of Joe, Joe has one tear falling]
[Flash back of trench warfare, narration over the scene as camera zooms in]
Joe- Young men being taken by dictators to be slain, humanity was a term forgotten by the world
[3 Second pause]
Joe- Wait, these don't seem to be the same as what he told me.
[Joe's expression changes to a frown, Joe closes the book violently]
Joe- Have these lies been passed down this long?
[Flash back of soldier execution, the screen turns black and the time is shown approaching NOON. The camera pans from in front of the two towards their backs and cuts off as the shot is fired]
Joe- (whispers) how could he...
[Grips chair violently]  Joe- How can evil be praised for heroism!
[Joe stands up and searches for the book, rips the book]
[Joe throws his glass at the ground, slow motion]
[Joe runs outside, the scene changes to the field]
[After title screen comes up, short pause, screen comes back up to a small fire with the book burning inside]
SOUND- Heavy orchestra  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWTZcZRwQSo



Patryk   Brief synopsis      

Callum   Treatment (colour treatment, editing)    

Patryk   Sample script    

Callum    Story board 
Patryk    Location scouting sheet

Patryk    Site plans 

Patryk    Risk assessments
Callum     Planning for shoots ---- requirements for ---hair and
make-up, costumes, props and locate
Callum   Shoot plan – to cover make-up, costume lighting   
shot types and influential imagery

  Callum    Talent release forms

  Patryk    Location release form

  Patryk     Call sheets                                                    

  Callum    Shoot list
  Callum     Resultant footage
  Patryk    Edit decision list
  Patryk      Production schedule

Editing Quiz

Q 1) What is the 180 degree rule?

A 1) The 180 degree rule is used to establish a set to the audience where the camera view is established on one side so the placement of objects and people is kept the same.

1 point

Q 2) What is match on action?

A 2) 

Q 3) What is a jump cut?

A 3) A jump cut is a fast cut from one scene to another usually used in action scenes where a lot is happening in a short time. 1 point

Q 4) What is shot reverse shot? 

A 4) A shot reverse shot is when one scene is shown, then changes to a different shot and comes back to the original shot. Shot A-Shot B- Shot A- Shot B 1 point

Q 5) What is a continuity error?

A 5) A continuity error is when something already established in a previous shot is changed when it's seen in another shot. This would happen if the scenes where filmed on different occasions where clothes or placement of objects could change. 1 point

Q 6) What is eye line match?

A 6) Eye line match is done by filming at eye level of the person being filmed. This could be used in nuetral scenes like if the person if thinking about something or in interviews where both people are talking to each other and the eye line match establishes neutral power. No point

Q 7) What is cross-cutting?

A 7) Cross-cutting is used when multiple different scenes are being used in quick shot changes like action scenes where many different actions are happening and have to be shown. No point

Q 8) Why is pace important in video editing?

A 8) Pace is important in editing as it's needed to establish to the audience what is happening in the scenes. In senses where important plot lines are being explained have to be slower paced so the audience can understand whats happening where as in action scenes the pace will increase to show all the different things happening. 3 points

Q 9) Transitions- what is a wipe and fade in?

A 9) Transitions are used to change from one scene to another. A wipe scene is used to change to another scene by wiping the scene from a side to show a different shot. A fade in is used to darken the shot to establish that it is ending and another scene is following it. 2 points

Q 10) List 3 types of editing special effects.

A 10) Background sounds like clapping or laughing. Pitch or sound increases.  2 points