Research: Writing an opening

 For the project, I was assigned as the writer and screenwriter and I wanted to learn about how movies, especially those of the horror genre write their scripts. A lot of things needed to be in it while not overloading the audience with information. Scripts for opening scenes, especially horror movies aren't exactly heavy in dialogue.  

The opening sets up one or more of, the characters, settings, and themes, horror movies in particular usually set up the villains in the opening like in Friday the 13th and Halloween where the characters present are meant to be killed and establish the killer or in A nightmare on elm street where it establishes Freddy's personality. In this, I had to establish how the monster works as a duplicate which was a bit of a challenge. I also had to write stage directions for the actors/actresses which had to be rather specific. 

Research: Creature sound design

For the project, I decided to look into creature sound design to create a growl of our creature. At first, I expected sounds we associated with scary animals would work but after some testing, I realized that the sounds came out as more random, this is because we already associate them with particular animals. For example, if I used lion sounds for a zombie it would take the viewer out of the scene because something human shouldn't be making generic lion roars, it would have more unique sounds. 

With this in mind, I ended up testing other animals instead, specifically whales and birds, animals already associated with having weirder, more complex sounds. After testing out a couple of them I found birds to be very effective in terms of animals as they have the most diverse range of calls as well as many of them sounding unsettling on their own. This resulted in the prototype call.

That one used sounds from Kookaburras and Sperm Whales, it was rather effective but the sound of water in the Sperm Whale sound files was problematic. In the future, I'd probably try to make artificial clicking or find a replication of their sound to use instead, as well as using more sound clips from non-living things.

Storyboard

 

Trying out Storyboards

A cowboy waits for his enemy to draw his pistol in a duel

Shot and angles:

The first shot would be behind the hand of one of the cowboys but still has the other one in the frame. The second should be an extreme close-up, the third should be a long shot.

Camera Movement:

In the first shot, the camera should move to the right of the screen. It should remain still in the other two shots.

Character Notes:

Two people, both wearing southwestern clothing accurate to the time and place. Maybe make them different body types so they look more distinct from each other. Both would be doing the iconic gun drawing pose while staring at each other.

Dialogue:

No dialogue, as it would make little sense for a scene where two people are in a calm and collective state and to increase the intense atmosphere of the scene.

Sound/Music:

Wild western music at a slower pace intensifies the focus of the two cowboys on their opponent. The sound of the tumbleweed should be heard as it rolls by. The sound of wind should persist through the scene.

Todorov's Narrative Structure and Propp's Character Theory applied to Shrek 2

 This is an analysis of Shrek 2 based on the theories above.

Todorov’s Narrative structure

Equilibrium 

1. Shrek and Fiona are married, they and Donkey are then invited to Far Far Away to receive a blessing from Fiona’s father. Shrek goes along with this to make Fiona happy.

1. Far Far Away is established as a new location.

2. Shrek’s goal is established, and that is to make Fiona happy.

Disruption

2. Shrek meets Fiona’s father, John Cleese who does not like Shrek due to him being an Ogre and flights with him at dinner. Shrek begins to feel that he is not good enough for Fiona. Fairy Godmother and her son are also established as manipulators who use John Cleese for their personal gain. 

1. John Cleese is established as opposing Shrek’s vies, while Fairy Godmother and her son are established as the main villains of the film.

2. They drive the point home that Shrek is not good enough for her which leads Shrek to try changing himself.

Recognition of disruption

3. Shrek tries to change himself and finds a potion to turn himself handsome and Fiona back to her human form. Fairy Godmother attempts to stop this by convincing Shrek that even when handsome he’s still an ogre on the inside and that he should give up. 

1. Shrek tries to change himself to be good enough for Fiona.

2. Fairy Godmother tries to thwart Shrek’s attempts t stop her. 

Attempt to repair disruption

4. Shrek realizes Fairy Godmother’s plan and storms the castle to stop her, proving that he would do anything for his wife.

1. The stakes are the highest at this point if he fails to stop her, Fiona and Far Far away would fall under her control.

Restoration of equilibrium

5. Fairy Godmother is defeated, Fiona accepts Shrek as he is, the two turn back into Ogres and John Cleese gives Shrek his blessing. Then they all party. 

1. All the conflicts set up in the movie are resolved. 

Propp’s Character Roles

The Hero seeks something

1. Shrek

1. The main character of the movie, tries to become better for the person he loves most.

The Villain opposes the Hero

2. Fairy Godmother and her son.

1. Trying to take over the kingdom, as well as manipulating John Cleese and Shrek.

The Donor gives something useful to the Hero.

3. Puss in Boots

1. Helps Shrek after he spares his life, he’s the one to find and give the potion to Shrek.

The Dispatcher sends the Hero on a quest.

4. John Cleese

1. The one to start the idea that Shrek isn’t good enough for Fiona, which sends him on his quest to be good enough for Fiona. 

The False Hero seems to be good. 

5. John Cleese

1. Tricked Shrek into almost getting killed by Puss. 

The Helper supports the Hero.

6. Donkey and Puss in Boots

1. Both help Shrek on his quest.

The Princess/Reward is a reward for the Hero, often needing protection from the Villain.

7. Fiona

1. Fiona is the target of the villains as well as the person Shrek wants to be good enough for.

The Father/Mentor gives advice. 

8. Donkey

1. Often gives Shrek life advice or convinces him to keep going. 

The First Meeting: Brainstorming

 The First Meeting our group, ALT Productions had for the film opening project was on the 21st of September 2021. 

During this meeting, we discussed the themes we wanted for the project, while a couple others such as nature were thrown around, the ones that really caught our eyes were Psychological and Urban. One of our members had example photos of a train station at night that looked excellent visually and had a very dark, gloomy atmosphere and another made a quick storyboard from it which allowed us to see possible motions a character could take in a story, after some discussion, we settled on these as our themes. 

The genre was then decided, we wanted something that included elements of Psychological Thrillers and Horror as it would fit the mood discussed earlier, as well as having many potential storylines to sprout from, giving it a lot of potential as well as flexibility. 

4 Minute Clip : Friends on the other side (Mise-en-scène Analysis)

4 min clip analysis: Friend's on the Other Side

In this essay,  I’ll be analyzing Dr. Facilier’s signature villain song from the 2009 animated film, The Princess and the Frog. I choose this scene specifically because it’s one of the most important and visually impressive scenes out of all the 2000s Disney movies. 

As the scene starts, Prince Naveen and his servant Lawrance come across Dr. Facilier on the side of the road in New Orleans, at first, however, the shot is position on the ground under him so the most we see of him is his shadow which looms over the two other characters. The camera then tilts up to see the Voodoo doctor, he is shot from a low angle making him look tall and somewhat menacing and his movements at this point in the scene are more calm and proper. His design adds to this as well, he is given a lot of sharp, thin shapes which makes him look more menacing and cunning which coupled with the skull on his hat, which symbolizes death and his darker purplish colour scheme tells us that he is most likely a villain. The design of the other characters tell us a lot about them too, Naveen’s has more casual clothing, making him look like a carefree guy, on the other hand, Lawrance has a suit but one with muted colours which makes him look less friendly than you would usually expect from a butler character. The lighting so far is still warm and bright but this changes as the scene transitions into the Shadowman’s lair.

This setting is darker in tone and a long shot reveals more details such as dead trees, this contrasts the warm welcoming feel of outside the ally as a much more unsettling place, perfect for Dr. Facilier who’s actions began to shift, from being more proper to having more erratic movements and actions, almost as if he’s dancing as he is now in his element, a place where he has control over everything and can get away with anything, such as manipulating the other characters. Here the lighting and colour change significantly, everything is covered in a reddish or purplish hue which signifies mystery and danger which are colours also associated with Facilier. We also get a lot more mid and long shots from both high and low angles which allows us to see details of Facilier’s room such as his various voodoo items. As the song begins we also see a lot more close-up shots of the characters. This allows us to see their expressions and reactions better, the most important one being Lawrence’s malicious smile as the Facilier offers to give him his desire for wealth and status, as well as revealing his grudge against the Prince and the want to not only be as rich as him but for their positions to reverse. The close-ups were also used to tell the story of each character in cards, switching to reaction shots which tells us a lot about how each character perceives their lives, Naveen being apathetic about everything with his constant smile while Lawrence clearly was unhappy with his as he was pushed around for all of his life, this is seen is his constant frown. The music here is jazzy and fun at first then slows down for most of the scene where the music becomes loader a few times, specifically when Dr. Facilier talks about the wants of each character.

This then builds up to a much more bombastic end, the music swells up in a loader, a more dramatic and menacing rendition of the melody and tone, signifying that Naveen and Lawrance fell right into his trap. As they shake hands the scene shifts to a more abstract background, the colours become much more saturated, a sickening green is adding making the scene psychedelic and uncomfortable. This green colour then overtakes and entirely covers Naveen as he transforms, hinting that he has become a frog which was also hinted at by the lyrics of the song a few times. Close-ups and extreme close-ups were also added to make the scene feel more cramped so the audience would feel the same way as Naveen does as he is currently tied up. A final long shot of Facilier dancing as he takes total control, his plan has come to fruition, this is supported by the lack of the other two characters in the scene as he is now to one in charge, the one who holds the powerending this song on a high note for our villain.

Lion King final battle: Analysis of camera shots and movement

This is an analysis of the final battle scene from The Lion King, but not just one but both of them. The 1994 original and the 2019 remake. With my attachment to this franchise (yes, franchise, there were two sequels and a TV show), I was rather excited to do this.

Lion King final battle: Analysis

The 1994 Original

The final battle in the original used a lot of reaction shots as well as close-ups of the characters faces, this is so that we can clearly see and focus on the emotions of each character, especially Simba and Scar who are the primary focus of the scene but also those of the hyenas who were betrayed by Scar in the scene. This was very effective as it took advantage of one of the strengths of animation, the stylized designs of the characters which allowed for clear and expressive faces which emote ranges of emotions. For the action scenes, medium shots, medium-long shots and similar shots were used so that the audience could better see the fight between the two lions, this makes the actions of the characters more clear. Long shots allow us to better see and feel the space and environment of the duel. Some POV shots were used, like when Scar is looking down the cliff or for Simba when he was fighting Scar, coupled with the current environment it creates a cramped feeling. Scar was also shot at a slightly higher angle and with long shots, this makes him look small and weaker as by this time in the story he was meant to be old and weak, especially in his final moments where he was surrounded by hyenas as that is his lowest point. The animated version took full advantage of the fact that it was animated and as a result made a well-executed finale.

The 2019 Remake

On the other hand, the remake version attempts close-ups and reaction shots too, for the same reasons, to show the emotions on the character’s faces. Unfortunately, it was not nearly as effective for two reasons, first, the lighting was too dark so the emotions on their faces were not clear, and second, the little we could see did not emote much emotion anyways. There were also fewer mid shots and long shots, likely an attempt to make the audience feel closer to the action but as a result, the fight was a lot harder to follow and personally I couldn’t tell who was who after the fight started. It had a decent sense of space as long shots were used to pan out across the entire cliffside. However, the final scene where Scar was eaten by the hyenas was decent enough, incorporating the long shot at a higher angle to make Scar look small and weak like in the original. The bad character design, coupled with the attempts to replicate just the original shots and story made it rather clear, it tried replicating something it didn't quite understand fully and as a result was just a weaker version of it.

Final evaluation

Overall, I think the 1994 original had the superior scene, the shots and angles used were appropriate, the action was a lot easier to follow as well as the characters having much clearer facial expressions which makes their emotions much more clear. The live-action movie did a somewhat passable job, it had a decent sense of space with the long shots and ELS used for the cliffside and the final scene was decently well done and expressed Scar’s current emotions and situations well enough most of these things were also done well, if not better in the original. To end it, the animated movie took full advantage of its strengths and succeeded, the remake, while technically being animated as well did not take advantage of the strengths of animation. It tried to only copy the shots and narrative and as a result of not understanding its own medium, suffered as a result.