1st Rough cut+evaluation

After filming the first scenes, I produced a rough draft on Premier

Here are some of the comments from my peers and teacher:

What went well:

-CINEMATOGRAPHY

-180 degree line

-Reaction shots 

-The scene where the detective clicks his fingers and the lights turn on

-Character costumes

-Film Settings 

What could be improved: 

-The Printing scene at the beginning was abit too long, the time could be used on more significant things.

-The Audio (there are very loud air conditioner noises as well as other people speaking.)

-Lack of Music: Some music could be added

-the Dialogue could be removed to create a sense of curiosity for the audience

-Colour Correcting

-The film's pace: people suggested that the pace could change from slow to fast in order to create more tension.

- Characters: I played "Dennis Lee", a 19 year old man but my appearance didn't live up to that role. 

The scenes with  the police report will be re filmed and Mr. Harrison suggested having a female murderer for more diverse representation.
-Handcuff Scene: Further emphasis could be added by using a trackshot and making the sound of the handcuffs echo.

29/01/2016 - Filming session #1 and prop making.

 Today I met up with my friend/the main actor, Gun (yes that's his name). We were very productive today, finishing the props (police documents) and also filming 2/3 sections of the opening's plot. (another one couldn't be filmed as the other actors weren't available and we had time limits)

The filming sessions were divided into two with a dinner break in between.

Here is the list of equipment used for today's session:
-Metal handcuffs
-Fingerless gloves
-Black Trench coat
-Police documents
-Black folder
-Camera Tripod
-Lamp
-Pocket flashlight+knife
-Pizza.

1. Prop making

Character Design

Prior to filming, I took several photos of my friend (the actor) to make it reminiscent to that of a film's promotional poster. This was also done to compare the concepts I planned and the final products of character costumes.

1.The Protagonist

I intentionally chose this area as the background as it resembled Prison cells and the idea of being trapped. Even though he acts as a beacon of justice, the detective is metaphorically imprisoned in a scenario where he must pick between "justice" and the family he loves.  

2. The Antagonist

The light basking on the antagonist's face conveys the idea of her being self-righteous. This can be seen when she justifies her actions (murder) for the sake of protecting her family.

Filming Processes 

The Interrogation

Comtrolling the lights in this room was in fact pretty hard since it's a facility room and there were no light switches. We had to dial the office in order to turn it on/off. The darkness alone was not a suitable atmosphere for filming. As you can see below, even with a little bit of lightning the footage is quite (help me Mr Harrison)

The lighting in this scene is very dramatic, using the "chiaroscuro" technique. This was derived from 20th century German expressionist films influencing Hollywood Horror and Thriller. The intention is to make the suspect's face stand out from the darkness and enable the audience to see her hostile facial expression. Criminals in popular films/series often have spotlights pointed at their faces to signify that they have been identified/discovered by the authorities and are now at risk.

Lupin III , spotted by the police
(1971)

Abel is caught by the authorities!
Bridge of spies (2015)

To create this shot, there was a person holding a lamp at my/the actress' face as it was being filmed.

The Light scene: After the detective clicks his fingers, the lights turn on. This was done by adjusting the camera's tripod to zoom into one of the lights in my room. I then recorded myself turning it on and off, then reversed the speed so that the footage went backwards. It was added to show the power status of the two main characters . In the beginning, The detective seems to have the upper hand, being able to control/manipulate his environment. The light symbolizes justice and being entitled the role of a detective he must carry this "light" of justice and shine it upon the suspect.
To do this, I adjusted my tripod at an upright angle, zoomed closely to the lights in my room and started filming as I went and turned it off.  Below the picture is the final product!

After we finished filming, me and Gun took some parody photos and on the way back we almost lost the handcuff keys! (meaning that we'd be stuck like this)

have you seen the new friendship bracelet designs????

Alone Script draft #1 (without credit insertion)

Key:
-Stage directions
-Camera directions
-Actor directions
-Dialogue

SCENE #1 

Setting: The detectives' office

Newspaper being printed off
Detective: Picks up Newspaper and puts it on the Desk
Panning shots + zooms of each document
Detective: picks up documents and puts them in a file
                 takes his coat off the rack and wears it
                 long shot+zoom of the trench coat being worn
 Pan on the detective's desk and see a picture of his family
 Detective: Picks up handcuffs + Props and flings them in a cool manner
                   Picks up folder
                   Close up of opening the door

SCENE #2
Setting: Interrogation Room
-No lightning
Opens with a close up of the SUSPECT
Suspect: Taps her fingers
Detective walks in + Long shot
Detective: Sits and clicks his fingers
Zoom of lights turning on
Detective: takes documents out of folder (with an overhead shot)
                  Does a hand gesture
POV shot towards suspect whilst holding police report
Detective: Pushes Murder picture towards the suspect
                 "You did that didn't you?"
Suspect: Picks up picture + POV shot
Looks at it
Detective: stands up
"Should I take that a confession?"
Low Angle shot of suspect
Suspect: Close-up of hands smashing the table
Track shot+Echo
2 shot: detective moves back, suspect comes forth
Close up of suspect
Mid shot
"I had to do it"
"I had to do it for my family"
Detective: Holding up picture
 "Well, you're not the only one with a family"
180 Degree Line
Suspect: "If it were your family you'd do it too"
Detective: has a flashback of his wife
FLASHBACK: Blur lessens as wife smiles and hands over a rose
Close up of DETECTIVE'S eye Squinting
Detective: Puts sheets back into file in a messy, unorganized manner
"We're done for today" 
Shouting: "Guards!"
DETECTIVE walks out.
Suspect: SMIRKS SLOWLY.

SCENE #3 
setting: Office

Detective: *puts down folder in a slacking manner*

Phone rings 

(Text notification from the detective's wife saying "I've cooked steak for dinner!")

*TRANSITION TO NEXT SCENE*

SCENE #4

Road-Detectives house

Wife: *holds up phone with detective's replies*

close up of wife smiling

Wife: Tenderises steak

Close up of detective in a car

*shift to wife cooking steak*

close up of the wife seasoning the steak

*Shift back to detective in the car*

Wife: tilts pan with oil in it and prepares to put steak in
LIGHTS TURN OFF
SCREEN BLACKS OUT
(1-2 seconds silence)
Pan drops onto the floor

Final story board

*note that many of the shots in this referrence are likely to be cut out due to timing and other reasons (I.e lack of meaning/signifiance)

Amendments made from previous story board

-more focus added  on the interrogation scene

-Thriller conventions taken into further considerations> close ups, shadow, tension, 

-Subtle narrations (instead of revealing the whole family, there is a picture of them on the detective's desk

-More focus on the detective's journey home in order to create tension from the audience (what's gonna happen to the detective's wife?)

23/01/2017-Photoshop edits #1

Today in class, I made a photoshop edit for a news article which will be used as one of the mise-en-scene(props) in my film.

Here is the process:

1. I took a photo of my classmate Richy, playing dead and spilling pieces of paper to imply a murder in a work place setting.                        

                        2. I then searched for pictures of blood in PNG format since PNGs have transparent backgrounds and are more easy to photoshop and edit.

        








3.I uploaded the files onto photoshop and started editing.
-In order to make the photo more "newspaper-like" I used the "Halftone pattern" filter.
-Newspapers also tend to use censorship on pictures with gore which I achieved by using the pixelate filter.
4. The saturation was adjusted to make it more realistic looking .

FEDORA VS TRILBY

Earlier today , I went to Chatuchak market,  a highly famous spot for both tourists and locals in Bangkok.
I went with intentions to buy a fedora, a prop which I intended for the film's protagonist to wear so he could resemble the hard boiled detectives of the 40s era. By the time I had passed another hat shop later I realized "wait... this isn't a Fedora....it's a Trilby". Here is a comic I made

In the end, I didn't even use the hat(s) as it did not  fit in to the film (2000s Thailand). There are also many characters who are recognized for their trench coats in popular series that do not wear fedoras
eg:

-Sherlock (played by Benedict Cumberbatch)

-Commissioner Gordon

Exploring Opening fonts

In todays calss, I did some research on what kinds of fonts I wanted to use for my opening.

Inspiration

Zodiac (2007)
I found this opening sequence quite interesting as it informs the audience of the context whilst hiding cast and production names within a newspaper

Se7en

Whilst it's plot revolves around catching aserial killer, the font used in the opening of se7en is quite childish. The animation of these credits can be described as unstable, reflecting the nature of the serial killer.

The " Plaern wan" logo

Plearn wan is a famous market located in the South of Thailand. It is made to replicate the 60s-70s era when Western ideals and films set root in the country.As "trench coat detectives" are seen as a western idea debuting in films such as The Maltese Falcon (1941) The font clearly resonates with the idea of integrating Western and Eastern cultures.



Apart from these I also found fonts online on dafont.com

I aimed for typewriter-esque fonts because they connotate heavily with the theme of crime investigation, often being used in police procedures.  It also looks quite worn out, just like the meaning of the word "righteousness" in our society

-1942 Typewriter

This font bears a fairly rusty appearance  and almost ressembles the blood marks that has been left after a murder has occurred. The plot of my film revolves around a series of murders and this font can be used to foreshadow upcoming events.

-Veteran Typewriter

Veteran Type writer is quite bold yet very type writer-like with it's mildly worn out appearance. This can be effectively used as a credit heading eg: "Directed By"

-Mom's Typewriter

Unlike the other fonts that I have selected, "moms typewriter" has a more concentrated and saturated texture as if it was made by an actual typewriter. This gives the credit a more exquisite feeling.

-Old Newspaper types

This font resembles ones used in newspaper headlines (one appears in my opening reporting the murder of an oligarch.) If used, it can also act as a reference to an opening to the movie Zodiac (2007).

-Traveling Typewriter

I like this font because it has a very unique yet unequal texture. Whilst some letters are bold, the others are very thin. It is also easy to read for the audience.

-Another Typewriter

The appearance of this font is quite normal, making the film more relatable to the audience, rather than being perceived as a 40s style fictional crime thriller. Negatively, this may make the film seem less thrilling/exciting.

Taking influence from Se7en I wanted to animate my credit texts as the opening progresses. I want to use this to portray the psychological state of the protagonist after he realizes he can sympathize with his suspect but cannot do anything about it.

In the end, I used a combination of the Veteran Typewriter  and 1942 Report.

18/1/2017-Prop Hunt

In this lesson, I made a list summarizing the props I needed for filming

-Trench coat
-Hand cuffs (preferably realistic)
-Beige Fedora/trilby
-Handkerchief
-Pocket Knife
-Watch

-A piece of meat
-Chopping board
-Knife
-Salt and Pepper
-2 Phones

-Red roses/other flowers
-Fake blood



DIY (to be made myself)
-News papers
-Police reports and documents
-family photos
-A folder to put in police documents
-family painting

Paper work

Location finalizations

After drawing up a brief sketch in this post regarding the filming locations, I went and found the actual locations. Here are some photos and comparisons with the concept sketches

1. The office
Shoot location: Mom's working room

This room is quite conventional to the genre of thrillers as it's colour palette is very restricted, remaining with colors of more lifeless hues such as dark brown and green. The room's furnishing also gives off a professional impression that can show the audience that the protagonist is a middle class and high ranking Detective.

2.interrogation room
Shoot location: Multipurpose room at a Condo

I think this room is quite interesting because the way it is decorated is differing in both corners. It can be used to show the personality and power of each characters during the interrogation scene.
On the other hand, it did not fully follow the original room I had in my storyboard and the decorations made it look unconventional, especially because of the painting at the back. Positively, if the painting is positioned on the detective's side of the interrogation, it can foreshow his inner fragility and his idealistic perception of society to the audience

3. The detective's house/kitchen
shoot location: a room at my condo

The dining area (the kitchen where we will film is on the left!)

The kitchen area

Where the cooking takes place. The Spice rack may act as a good establishing sot for the film. 

I deliberately chose to use the condo unit as a house setting because it creates meaning and also allows the film to become more relatable to the audience (Particularly in countries where condo's and apartments are rising in popularity). This is because in today's Thai society, the idea of living in a Condominium has become more endorsed due to things such as property costs, living space and the changes in people's ways of life.
Furthermore, these high rise rooms show the idea of isolation and helplessness. In the film, the Detective arrives at the condo to find both his wife and son murdered and feels guilty as he wasn't able to protect them.

The fish tank mentioned .

Bonus picture: one of the fish tank inhabitants!!

In the original opening, a fish tank was to be included in order to convey the idea of creating your own miniature world according to your needs. Within a fish tank, the environment is more easily controlled and manipulated, unlike the real world where there will always be things that remain uncontrollable, such as injustice. It reflect's on the protagonist's strong desire of restoring justice and righteousness onto society, but is stopped as he can't control everything.

4. The "flashback scene" pool+balcony 

*this picture was taken in the evening to ensure that most of the settings can be seen, the real footage will be filmed at night.

The view will give the flashback scene a high amount of significance as it emphasises the Detective's love for his wife and family.  Instead of observing the Skyscraper-esque city views below him, he accepts his future wife's confession of love, showing that she means more than the world to him.