Film Logos: Final Versions

The first logo for our opening title sequence is the 'Nevermore Productions' logo featuring a Raven. The inspiration for the name came from my Xbox Live Gamertag, which is actually 'Nevxrmore'- notice the x? We felt that this would be fitting for our film as the definition of nevermore is; never again or never again in the future. This relates perfectly to our film opening which has a dead body as one of its main focus points. The inspiration comes from the American author and founder of the Gothic Romanticist movement of literature, Edgar Allen Poe, who is often associated with a Raven. The design of the logo is relatively simple, effectively utilising contrasting colours (black on white and vice versa) to make the image clear and interesting. The use of red for the word 'Production' is to add more colour to the logo and make it look more eye-catching and sinister. The genre of the film which is a mystery, thriller, crime, drama accompanies the graphology and overall theme of the logo.

The 'Musketeer Entertainment' logo is a reference to the nickname of our production team which includes Cam Grant, Joe Howse and myself.  This one is even more simpler than the previous one, but the intent is to just create a simple but effective logo that will fit the tone of the beginning of the film. Red text helps to be bold and add some colour to the hand drawn images of the swords, but not being to overpowering that it completely detracts from anything else in the logo.

When the logos will be added into the opening sequence they will be accompanied by sound effects. The 'Nevermore Productions' logo will have a roll of thunder and then a loud lightning crack over the top, whilst the 'Musketeer Entertainment' logo will be supported by the sliding, scratch over swords.

AS Media Opening Rough Cut

The Script: The Art of Evil

SCRIPT

THE ART OF EVIL

WRITTEN BY PHIL CULLEN, JOE HOWSE, CAM GRANT.

                    ACT 1, SCENE 1: THE GARAGE

THE OPENING SCENE OPENS UP WITH A BLURRY IMAGE OF A WHITE BACKGROUND. GRADUALLY FOCUSING INTO VIEW, THE CAMERA WILL TRACK TO THE LEFT AND EVENTUALLY, THE FOOT OF A DEAD BODY WILL COME INTO SHOT. THE CAMERA WILL BE CONSTANTLY CLOSE UP TO OBJECTS AND CHARACTERS, SO AS NOT TO REVEAL TOO MUCH OF THE SETTING AND OF THE CHARACTERS WITHIN THE SCENE. WHEN THE SHOT OF THE FOOT IS FINISHED AND THE CAMERA NEARS THE SHIN AND KNEEE AREAS, INSTEAD OF CONTINUING UP TO THE REST OF THE BODY, THE FILM WILL INSTEAD CUT TO THE KILLER OF OUR STORY STEPPING INTO A PUDDLE OF BLOOD ON THE FLOOR NEAR THE BODY. AFTER THIS, THE CAMERA WILL CONTINUE TO PAN UP THE BODY, REVEALING BLOOD STAINED CLOTHING AND PATCHES OF BLOOD DRIPPING FROM THE BODY. WHEN THE HANDS OF THE BODY ARE IN SHOT, THE MURDERER WILL PLACE HAS HANDS INTO THE PUDDLE OF BLOOD, CUPPING A HANDFUL OF IT UP AND THE PRECEEDING TO SMEAR AND SCRATCH HIS BLODDIED HANDS ALONG A WALL. THE CAMERA WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE FURTHER UP THE BODY AND AGAIN A CUT WILL BE MADE FROM THE CHEST OF THE BODY TO THE KILLER, WHO IS NOW DRESSING HIMSELF IN A SUIT AND TIE. THE KILLER IS ALSO WEARING A MASK, WHICH INITIALLY IS NOT WHOLLY SHOWN. THE SHOULDERS OF THE VICTIM WILL BE SHOWN AND THEN THE KILLER SWINGING A JACKET ON AND TILTING HIS HEAD TOWARDS THE CAMERA. BY THIS TIME THE CAMERA WILL HAVE REACHED THE TOP OF THE BODY AND IN THIS SHOT, THE CAMERA WILL PULL BACKWARDS, WITH AN EYE OF THE VICTIM CENTRE TO THE SHOT. THIS WILL BE A RELATIVELY LENGTHY SHOT IN ORDER TO CREATE A SINISTER ATMOSPHERE. A  MID SHOT OF THE KILLER FULLY DRESSED AND WITH THE MASK IN FULL VIEW WILL HAVE HIS HEAD TILTED DOWN AT THE CAMERA AND THEN RAISE IT UP TO LOOK DIRECTLY AHEAD AT THE CAMERA. THE FINAL SHOT WILL BE OF THE KILLER STIRIING A JAR OF BLOOD WITH A PAINT BRUSH. THE TITLE OF THE FILM WILL APPEAR OVER THIS BEFORE THE FILM FADES OR CUTS STARIGHT TO BLACK.

The Production Team

The production team consists of all of the roles that a team of people will undertake when making a film. Discussed in further depth in a previous post these occupations include director, cinematographer, editor etc. This post will make clear who within the group will conduct what role:

Director: Joe
Producers: Cam, Joe and Phil
Cinematographer: Joe
Screenplay: Cam, Joe, Phil
Editors: Phil (Main), Cam (Secondary)
Soundtrack/Composer: Phil
Starring: Phil, (The body), Cam (Killer)

Meet the team: Joe Howse (Left), Phil Cullen (Centre), and Cam Grant (Right).

Shooting Schedule

Filming will commence the weekend of 15/16th February, in Joe's Garage.  The set will have some modifications done to it prior to filming, specifically the floor being painted white.  The reason for the painting of the floor is so it can help to make the colours red and black standout more, and white is a central part of our colour scheme for our opening sequence. This location will be great as it is inside meaning that environmental sound shouldn't be an issue. It is also a great set to create a dark suspenseful atmosphere.

Cam, Joe and I will all be present to film on those dates with Cam and I doing the acting pieces and Joe behind the camera shooting the film. We hope to film in one day specifically between 11:00am and 5:00pm.  The clock is ticking...

Dexter and Hannibal opening title

I have chosen to analyze these two title opening sequences from Dexter and Hannibal as I have taken inspiration from both pieces.

Firstly Hannibal is the main inspiration for the use of the colours White and Red. The colour white is the main background for the titles creating a vast, open atmosphere which is the setting for the swirling formation of Hannibal's head which is aptly made out of blood. It creates a dark, moody atmosphere that focuses on our twisted villian. The titles appear around the mass of morphing blood, clearly and are easily visible against the white background.

Dexter is used in a similar fashion also with a heavy focus on the colour red. The whole of the opening credits in Dexter are filmed with extreme close-ups and close-ups, showing the detail on Dexter's 'Morning Routine'. Blood is a large element of the titles and the show itself which is why it relates heavily to our own project, which involves a long and lengthy pan of a dead body in a constant close-up. The idea of filming it in this way is so that the audience is drawn into the sequence to see the bloody detail in all its gruesome glory.

The Cast

A Victim/Dead Body: Played by me! Yeah I get the part of the dead guy which I have to say is pretty cool. There won't be much acting involved but hey that suits me as I'm definitely not an actor. There won't be any backstory to the death; the audience won't get to see it happen nor will a name be revealed. This should hope to add a strong mystery to the opening sequence and create a tense atmosphere. The position of the body will be laying directly on the floor facing up towards the ceiling. The body of the victim will be shown very clearly throughout with the camera doing a slow track up the body showing the feet, knees, waist, chest, hands, neck and then finally finish with an extreme-close up of the eye with which the camera will then rotate to create a swirling action, which will in turn dissolve and cause a match-on-action into the image of the jar of blood being mixed around. The victim will be dressed in either a white top or a shirt and either black trousers or jeans. Blood smears will be mainly on the white shirt/top to make it standout more.

The Killer/Murderer: Played by Cam Grant! The character played by Cam will not be given an identity. His face will never be shown, again to give mystery to the story and make his character quite intimidating. The killer will be shown kneeling in a pool of blood and placing his hands down into it which will then be smeared onto a wall in a lengthy and gruesome manner. As the camera tracks the body the killer will be dressing himself. When the camera reaches the point of the neck for instance the killer will be shown to tighten up a tie and put on a jacket etc. The only real feature of the killer that will be suggested as to why he is committing these murders is because he sees killing as an art form, much like the psychos in the Following which our own character is moderately based off. A strong piece of mise-en-scene to show this will be a jar/paint pot of blood which the killer will swirl around menacingly and then possibly apply to the dead body.

Storyboard

The Following TV Series

The Following is an American Crime/Drama that's follows the character of Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) an FBI agent who must track down and find a brilliant but psychotic serial killer named Joe Carroll Killer (James Purefoy).



A creepy but fascinating aspect of the serial killer Joe Carroll is his obsession with Edgar Allen Poe, an American author, poet and literary critic who is considered to be a part of the American Romantic Movement. His stories also include the themes of mystery and the macabre with the latter proving to be too big an inspiration for Joe Carroll who developed a cult based on the idea that death was somehow beautiful. This weird obsession with death and Carroll's 'followers' infatuation with his own failed novel The Gothic Sea lead to a string of frightening and bloody murders with the killers often wearing face masks of Edgar Allen Poe or even Carroll himself. The victims are often posed by their killers, often with the purpose of conveying a personal message or as a sign or tribute to Poe's work.

The posing of the bodies and the killers wearing masks is a key piece of mise-en-scene that will likely be incorporated into our own opening sequence. A current idea for our opening sequence is the killer placing a mask over his victim after having posed the body into a piece of art.

The Following is currently my favourite show on television however there are other Crime/Dramas which I like such as Hannibal and Dexter, which each have gruesome and weird murders occurring and deeply complex, mentally unstable or stable characters. I will also be doing a future post on inspiration I have taken from Hannibal.

Taken

Summary

Taken is a 2008 action thriller directed by Pierre Morel and starring Liam Neeson.  Neeson plays a retired CIA agent who travels across Europe and relies on his old skills and work colleagues to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.

Analysis of Narrative Structure

Taken is different to the other films I have previously looked at as this is the first one that is not a psychological thriller. Whilst Memento may not quite be a psychological thriller it still has main protagonist who faces a mental challenge. Taken is in fact an action thriller so its narrative structure may differ from the previous films I have talked about. Liam Neeson's character Bryan Mills faces the possible death of his daughter and so takes it upon himself to crusade around Europe in an explosive effort to find her. The people who have kidnapped Mills daughter could be seen as being stronger forces than Mills and whilst they initially have the upper hand of being able to threaten him with his daughters death, they are unaware that he is CIA trained which makes him a considerably more powerful threat to his daughters kidnappers. The main storyline is very much a character that Mills cannot and will not give up on. The mystery in this film is simply Mills daughters location and who her kidnapper are although the action in the film overshadows this and dispels the idea of the film being a 'mystery thriller'. The story is dominated from Mills point of view however their are parts when we see it from the daughters situation. Justice is a key theme although I feel that innocence is not really developed and perhaps can be applied by individual viewers. There is a mental battle between the protagonist and the antagonist, they each try to get inside each others heads to scare them off however most of the battle is between Mills and the antagonists various henchman and bad guys.

Character Study: Bryan Mills

Bryan Mills is a retired badass and simply a man on a mission to protect what he holds dear to him. He is portrayed at the start of the film as being perhaps overly protective of his daughter but the crusade he mounts to find her is just a show of his love for his daughter. He is quietly menacing throughout the film, except when he's beating up bad guys. He could be compared to John McClane from the Die Hard series, fighting to save his wife in the first film and his son in the fifth.

Memento

Summary

Memento is a mystery thriller directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Guy Pearce and Carrie-Ann Moss. Guy Pearce plays leonard a man suffering from short-term memory loss who uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife. The film was released on the 20th October 2000.

Analysis of Narrative Structure

At the start of the film our main protagonist has faced the death of his wife or rather the murder of his wife. The audience does not see the death but we know that it has happened recently in Leonard's past. The basis for the plot involves Leonard trying to find out who actually murdered his wife.  This is very similar to the character of Teddy Daniels from Shutter Island who has also suffered from the death of his wife and is trying to solve her murder. Both of these characters are very strong individuals that share this vulnerable and emotional trait. There is an antagonist at the start of the film who Leonard strongly believes is his wife's murderer however Carrie-Ann Moss's character has a surprising twist that may cause the audience to have second thoughts. These two antagonists are initially stronger and cleverer than our protagonist. Leonard's quest involves him tracking down his wife's killer which is definitely a mystery and is all focused from his point of view. There is a strong element of justice in Memento as Leonard wants to avenge his wife's killer and there is a moral sense between some of the characters he meets and the person he believes to be the killer. The whole film is a complete mental challenge, as Leonard has severe short term memory loss which could potentially hinder his progress had he not have found a formula to document his case.

Character Study: Leonard

Leonard is a determined character who is set on his mission to get revenge and closure on the murder of his wife. The fact that he forgets things in a mere 5 to 15 minutes makes the story a tough one to keep up with from the audiences perspective, not to mention how stressful it must be for Leonard having to tattoo and write down all of the information he discovers and then piece it all together when he cant even remember where or when he procured it. It is exciting to watch as bit by bit Leonard does manage to get closer and closer to the truth, but the twists and turns keep the audience and Leonard himself one step behind the final answer.