Film Idea Take Two.
Who wants to be a superhero?
The short film will begin with the titles. These will be presented diegetically, by having the camera focussing upon the promotional poster for my film, it will then zoom out to reveal the setting and the rest of the sequence. I chose this as it goes against the stereotypes you find in most short films of plain white text presented over a black background entitling the film name.
When he opens the door ideally an over the shoulder shot will be used with a gradual zoom out to reveal more of the character. Another concept would be just to have one outfit to add a bit of comedy to the scene. A costume idea will have to be created or an outfit could be rented or bought, the outfit I’d probably choose would be a Spiderman suit or a pair of Y fronts with an added logo. The Spiderman costume would be preferable as it would provide an inter textual reference. From feedback I’m most probably going down the Spiderman costume root as the audience will instantly recognise the character, as well as this it will help to draw in fans of the Spiderman movies. And producing a superhero concept and outfit would take time that is very limited thoughout the project. After this the protagonist will turn around after putting on a mask with a close up emphasizing this. I was going to use a long shot using an ellipse effect (time lapse), to show him trying on combinations of outfits however I feel this would cut too much into the main narrative, and relates back to why I chose to use only one costume.
Another media convention that will be created due to the costume in the wardrobe will be narrative enigma, as the audience will hopefully ask the question who is that character? Why don’t we see his face and why does he only own one super hero outfit? After getting dressed the character then looks into the mirror, using a first person shot (to give the impression the character is looking at themselves) to reveal another character in the bed. The two characters will then undergo some brief dialogue and then the scene ends and cuts to another setting, perhaps using a spiders web effect as an editing style to fit in with the inter textual reference to Spiderman etc. This effect is still in speculation, as I have not yet experimented fully with final cut express, but I have posted some links on my blog to tutorial videos.
This brief sequence unfolds the rest of the narrative, which is that a young teen male wakes up and believes that he is a super hero. With this vision in mind he attempts to solve crime however in his random acts of kindness gets denied as he get the wrong impression of the crimes. Character will be a male, aged around 17-18 years of age, who will be Caucasian, able bodied and with either brown or blonde hair. He may also be called Peter to create an inter textual reference to Spiderman. As well as this the character could be linked into Superman/ Clark Kent also. As I have stated, the costume that the character selects will be a Spiderman one, as it will link into certain editing effects that I have in mind.
For the setting in the morning scenario a male teenagers bedroom would be used, preferably in a mature colour scheme. But with posters on the walls of cartoon characters and superhero’s, which will help to signify the characters obsession. Filming of this particular section can be under gone at either my house or a fellow peer or group members. Audience is a key factor I will need to take into account with my ideas. The theme of superhero characters and inter textual references will help draw in fans of this area. Also if the character in the bed was to be a female it would portray a heterosexual stereotype, where as if the character was also to be male it may aid to draw in the pink pound. This would be an issue that I would take into account later down the line.
Moving on from this preparation sequence the setting cuts to outside, either to a built up urban area such as certain parts of Burley-In-Wharfedale, Ilkley or Leeds. A city location would be priority however; it seems to be the least achievable. As no filming would be able to be under gone during lesson times, so a lot of lesson time would be wasted and out of schoolwork would need to be put in. The actors involved in the short film may not feel comfortable performing in this circumstance. To get around these issues I am going to use a point of view shot around the city, which will create a sense of what the character experiences in terms of looks as people will be looking at the camera, and won’t require the actor to do anything as the rest of the scene can be filmed elsewhere.
An idea for this third of the sequence is that the protagonist attempts to stage random acts of kindness (wanting to rein act his favourite superhero’s), which results in him getting rejected. Or perhaps having a crime for him to solve which instead of being rewarded for solving is blamed for. An example of some of the crimes could be someone running with a bag, the male protagonist senses that this is the opportunity to pounce. The character is then denied as he finds that the bag was being given to someone else. Using final cut express I may be able to create an affect similar to Spiderman’s spider sense which would create another inter textual reference. This would be incorporated into the point of view shot when the protagonist appears to be patrolling the streets. Another less ambitious option that I will most probably follow is that the protagonist spots a pair of suspicious youths exchanging a bottle shaped package/bag. Our leading character presumes that this is an illegal exchange either of drugs or alcohol. He goes over to one of the teens who is walking away with the package, confronts him about the issue and then finds out that he was in the wrong as it would be something such as a soft drink or chewing gum. To conclude both of these scenarios the character gets into a fight and this results in him becoming knocked out. An interesting style to use for this confrontation would be pop art style, with speech bubbles and action words. From feedback I think I will continue this style throughout the entire short film. I will also include boxes in the corners to explain what is going on during the scene and will opt to use a washed out colour scheme instead of the pop art aesthetic. I’d prefer the washed out effect as it would create a graphic novel effect, which makes the narrative seem more mature and the pop art style may appear distorted and difficult to depict with moving images.
After producing an animatic and showing it to the class I gained some feedback, which will influence the crime situation. Overall the mugging concept appears to be more popular, as it will produce more action-based sequence typical of superhero movies. Also the use of the illegal substance concept may be unclear to the audience and may look suspicious when acting it out in public. Also one very useful point that was pointed out was the inclusion of extras. Initially I didn’t plan to include them, as there will be pedestrians around during filming. However it was suggested that some extras could wear superhero costumes so this appears to be the social norm. I personally think this a very interesting concept, and typical of a short film. Taking one aspect of life and tweaking it slightly. So this is where handmade costumes would come into play as not everyone owns their own costume.
To complete the narrative, after the character is unconscious the screen will white out, an un-tuned television effect or an episode of the Spiderman animated cartoon. The genre then shows aspects of binary opposition switching from a lighthearted comedy/drama to a mysterious thriller. As the character then awakes to find himself in a corridor, setting this in a mental hospital which will be denoted by the use of signs that I will make. He will switch from wearing a costume to a hospital robe, however still wearing the mask to retain his identity to keep the narrative enigma. I will use an extreme close up to show the characters facial outline expression through the mask. He then runs though a set of doors to find him self in the same corridor, the character then panics, removes his mask and the production cuts there. So basically the narrative is based around self-delusion and how people can be easily led on.
As this is an ongoing blog, I will add any additions I make between now and when film is underway.
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