Monday, 28 March 2016
Monday, 21 March 2016
Construction Post 5
On Thursday 3rd March again at Jack's house during lesson time at periods 1 and 2. In this filming session we filmed a few new shots for the dream sequence. We returned to school for period 3 in which we viewed our new shots and decided which ones we wanted to use. The ones we decided to use can be viewed below.
We used shots of children's toys and a stove, in order to give further hints to the audience of the protagonists age at the time of the fire and to keep the theme of fire running throughout.
We used shots of children's toys and a stove, in order to give further hints to the audience of the protagonists age at the time of the fire and to keep the theme of fire running throughout.
Construction Post 4
On Tuesday we edited all of the shots into the correct order
and cut them to the lengths we wanted. This process took us all of lesson time,
along with research into more complex editing techniques that we wanted to use.
We also added some titles to the beginning of the sequence and a temporary
title at the end showing the name 'Forsaken'. This was our first draft
complete.
By doing this, we identified a few shots that could be
improved and saw opportunities for new shots to be added in certain points such
as in the dream sequence to further the atmosphere we wanted to create. Due to this, we scheduled to film again on Thursday the 3rd of March.
Construction Post 3
We then filmed again on Saturday 6th February at Jack's
house to finish all the shots we needed in order for us to have a first draft
of the majority of the shots and be able to view and edit them on Tuesday to
assess where were at in the construction process. We included a range of different camera shots and angles, such as close-ups and pans in order to have variety in our opening sequence. At the time we were happy with how the filming went and felt that we had all the shots we needed and were content with the costumes of the characters and mise-en-scene.
Construction Post 2
Following the successful filming of the first shot, we filmed on Friday the 5th
of February throughout and after media lessons at Jack's house in which we
managed to capture the majority of the desired shots. These shots were in the location of the living room and kitchen. When filming these shots we used a tripod to ensure that the shots were steady and to ensure it would be smooth and easy to watch. For these shots, we wanted to create a dull and dark atmosphere in Billy's house. To do this, we drew the curtains and dimmed the lights.
Thursday, 17 March 2016
Evaluation 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
How our media product represented the social group of a young working class male:
Our opening sequence to the thriller film 'Forsaken' represents the young, working class male as having poor punctuality, being messy and disorganised. However, the character is not portrayed in a particularly bad light, and Billy's behaviour is relatable and typical of a young male his age.
Through the use of this shot, we start to construct the representation of a young, working class male as being somewhat uncontrollable and sporadic. This is because he is shown sleeping on the couch, even though by the appearance of the house, it would be expected for him to have a bed. He is also shown holding alcohol in this shot, suggesting that he passed out, possibly late at night, after drinking. This, along with the close-up of the pills, adds to the construction of Billy having various problems in his life.
Another representation constructed of white, working class males is that they are lazy and procrastinate. This can be seen in this shot as there are many dirty dishes visible that Billy seems to have neglected and not taken any interest in washing up.
Another representation constructed of white, working class males is that they are routine and live normal or average lives. To develop this idea that our character is average and doesn't live a special or privileged life, the morning routine is shown of our character getting ready. He does this in a normal manner and his clothes are not over extravagant. This helps with the aspect of the audience being able to relate to the character, and how he is just a seemingly ordinary person, but these events still occur.
Our opening sequence conforms to most of the conventions and societal norms depicted of young working class males. This is because the ideas of them being slightly messy, disorganised, uncontrollable and lazy reinforce the idea of our main character, Billy, living a fairly normal lifestyle. This adds to the shock when what happens/has happened in this characters life is revealed and the audience could wonder if this situation could apply to them and what they would do if faced with these situations.
How young working class male's are represented in other thrillers
An example of a young working class man in a thriller movie would be Patrick Bateman in the film American Psycho, the reason this film relates to the stereotypical young working class men is because the main character is a sophisticated man who has a well paid job in New York during the day but in the night he turns into a serial killer who murders random people that anger him either at work or during the day, this reflects the frustration that high end jobs create for people and as you are lead to believe that he is a normal man due to the suit and appearance of him however the film takes an alternative view which makes the thriller more shocking.
Mental Illness Within Society:
In our thriller opening sequence
When framing our main protagonists ‘Billy’ it is immediately apparent that he is someone who suffers from mental illness when the framing is paired with the prop of the tablets skewed across the coffee table. This may highlight Billy’s over use of drugs and cosmetics that he feels will lift him from the state. The isolation of the tablets within this shot creates a representation on how people who grieve from mental illness are seen as abnormal in comparison to regular society norms that everyone follows. Harmonising this shot with aspects of low-key lighting allows the audience to depict the character as weak and vulnerable in his state, making him unable to sight the fear and danger of the mysterious figure lurking within his home. At the same time, the essence of mental illness or ‘abnormality of mental health’ can be seen in the brothers driven ambition to receive revenge for past events. Using the costume specifically hiding the face of ‘Steven’ allows the mystery of the character to evolve over the time of the sequence. It allows the audience to believe that something may have happened to him in order to cause him to go on this psychotic path of revenge.
In other thriller movies
The representation of mental illness in thriller movies is typically a negative one, often being used to explain away the reasons behind the antagonist's killings by depicting them to be 'crazy' or 'deranged', in order to create a villain that acts in ways that are not typical human behaviours and therefore make the audience uneasy. Mental illness is often used to be a source of apprehension in thrillers, as characters who suffer from it are displayed as unpredictable and dangerous. One of the most iconic examples of this is the Joker in the Batman series as, though it is never explicitly said that he is mentally ill, it is clear from both his behaviour, costume and the reoccurring mention of his childhood trauma ("You wanna' know how I got these scars?") that he is not mentally stable. The Joker is a character which kills ruthlessly, and often laughs whilst doing it, presenting him to be a cold-blooded killer and, consequently, presenting mentally ill people to be the same.
However, the Joker is not the only character that is a representation of mental illness in thriller movies. There are also several other films which feature mentally ill characters in the role of the villain - such as 'John Doe' in Se7en, who goes on a mass murder spree that follows the seven deadly sins. This is another common trope of mentally ill characters, as they are often presented to be obsessive, often over niche things or topics. For example, John Doe with the seven sins, or the Joker with his scars. These strange obsessions are used to cause the audience to feel uneasy, as they are often strange obsessions that many people do not have, and therefore contribute to the character's strange behaviour. Although having an obsession alone is not necessarily dangerous behaviours, thrillers often turn these obsessions into it -- an example being, once again, John Doe. In addition to these examples, another common issue with the presentation of mentally ill characters is that they are often very two-dimensional when it concerns their mental illness. It is rarely explained what they have, how it was caused, or anything that could be used to allow the audience to understand the character's motives. Whilst understanding the character's motives would not necessarily make them a sympathetic character, and they should not be one, this absence of explanation translates badly on the representation of mentally ill people, as it causes them to be seen in a similar two-dimensional light. They are often defined by their illness, and many people are uneasy around those with mental illness because of the violent mentally ill characters found in movies. However, one example that challenges this in some ways is Kevin Katchadourian from We Need To Talk About Kevin, which closely follows his childhood and relationship with his mother and therefore what caused his issues later in life. However, this challenging of conventions does not extend throughout the whole film as, at the end, he commits a mass murder at his school.
Finally, one last example of the representation of mental illness is Vincent Grey in The Sixth Sense, who is a past patient of Dr. Malcolm Crowe. Unlike the Joker, John Doe and Kevin Katchadourian, Vincent Grey is presented in a less stoic, cold-blooded way, instead being presented as both mentally and emotionally unstable. This therefore presents him in a more sympathetic light, due to the fact he is sobbing and apologising, but it does not change the stereotypical representation of him in the fact that he shoots Crowe. Much like the other characters, Grey is also a dangerous mentally ill person and, regardless of whether he is reluctantly dangerous or not, he still remains an antagonist of the movie. This therefore contributes to the ongoing theme in the presentation of mentally ill people, especially due to the fact that although he is not stoic or cold-blooded he still behaves in an unusual manner -- such as the fact he is not wearing clothes, and that he broke into Crowe's house.
In conclusion, thriller movies predominately present mentally ill characters to be dangerous, unstable people who are often placed into the roles of antagonists and villains. They are used as plot devices to cause the audience to feel uneasy, and often to provide an unpredictability to scenes, all whilst not properly explaining what is wrong with them or what caused them to be that way. Our opening sequence is, as a result, challenging of this convention -- as the protagonist of our film is mentally ill and is not presented to be violent or unpredictable.
Our opening sequence to the thriller film 'Forsaken' represents the young, working class male as having poor punctuality, being messy and disorganised. However, the character is not portrayed in a particularly bad light, and Billy's behaviour is relatable and typical of a young male his age.
Through the use of this shot, we start to construct the representation of a young, working class male as being somewhat uncontrollable and sporadic. This is because he is shown sleeping on the couch, even though by the appearance of the house, it would be expected for him to have a bed. He is also shown holding alcohol in this shot, suggesting that he passed out, possibly late at night, after drinking. This, along with the close-up of the pills, adds to the construction of Billy having various problems in his life. 
Another representation constructed of white, working class males is that they are routine and live normal or average lives. To develop this idea that our character is average and doesn't live a special or privileged life, the morning routine is shown of our character getting ready. He does this in a normal manner and his clothes are not over extravagant. This helps with the aspect of the audience being able to relate to the character, and how he is just a seemingly ordinary person, but these events still occur.
Our opening sequence conforms to most of the conventions and societal norms depicted of young working class males. This is because the ideas of them being slightly messy, disorganised, uncontrollable and lazy reinforce the idea of our main character, Billy, living a fairly normal lifestyle. This adds to the shock when what happens/has happened in this characters life is revealed and the audience could wonder if this situation could apply to them and what they would do if faced with these situations.
How young working class male's are represented in other thrillers
Young working class men are typical represented in thrillers as following a usual routine which they stick to doing throughout the movie scenes. these types of people are usually social towards work colleagues or friends who are around them, they would be social with work colleagues at bars or clubs after work or during a work break. These people are seen to be busy and have not much time to themselves which in thriller genres will usually leave the character becoming distressed leading them into depression since thriller films have conventions which include a charter who is abnormal compared to other characters in the film to give the movie an edge to it.
An example of a young working class man in a thriller movie would be Patrick Bateman in the film American Psycho, the reason this film relates to the stereotypical young working class men is because the main character is a sophisticated man who has a well paid job in New York during the day but in the night he turns into a serial killer who murders random people that anger him either at work or during the day, this reflects the frustration that high end jobs create for people and as you are lead to believe that he is a normal man due to the suit and appearance of him however the film takes an alternative view which makes the thriller more shocking.
In our thriller opening sequence
When framing our main protagonists ‘Billy’ it is immediately apparent that he is someone who suffers from mental illness when the framing is paired with the prop of the tablets skewed across the coffee table. This may highlight Billy’s over use of drugs and cosmetics that he feels will lift him from the state. The isolation of the tablets within this shot creates a representation on how people who grieve from mental illness are seen as abnormal in comparison to regular society norms that everyone follows. Harmonising this shot with aspects of low-key lighting allows the audience to depict the character as weak and vulnerable in his state, making him unable to sight the fear and danger of the mysterious figure lurking within his home. At the same time, the essence of mental illness or ‘abnormality of mental health’ can be seen in the brothers driven ambition to receive revenge for past events. Using the costume specifically hiding the face of ‘Steven’ allows the mystery of the character to evolve over the time of the sequence. It allows the audience to believe that something may have happened to him in order to cause him to go on this psychotic path of revenge.
In other thriller movies
The representation of mental illness in thriller movies is typically a negative one, often being used to explain away the reasons behind the antagonist's killings by depicting them to be 'crazy' or 'deranged', in order to create a villain that acts in ways that are not typical human behaviours and therefore make the audience uneasy. Mental illness is often used to be a source of apprehension in thrillers, as characters who suffer from it are displayed as unpredictable and dangerous. One of the most iconic examples of this is the Joker in the Batman series as, though it is never explicitly said that he is mentally ill, it is clear from both his behaviour, costume and the reoccurring mention of his childhood trauma ("You wanna' know how I got these scars?") that he is not mentally stable. The Joker is a character which kills ruthlessly, and often laughs whilst doing it, presenting him to be a cold-blooded killer and, consequently, presenting mentally ill people to be the same.
However, the Joker is not the only character that is a representation of mental illness in thriller movies. There are also several other films which feature mentally ill characters in the role of the villain - such as 'John Doe' in Se7en, who goes on a mass murder spree that follows the seven deadly sins. This is another common trope of mentally ill characters, as they are often presented to be obsessive, often over niche things or topics. For example, John Doe with the seven sins, or the Joker with his scars. These strange obsessions are used to cause the audience to feel uneasy, as they are often strange obsessions that many people do not have, and therefore contribute to the character's strange behaviour. Although having an obsession alone is not necessarily dangerous behaviours, thrillers often turn these obsessions into it -- an example being, once again, John Doe. In addition to these examples, another common issue with the presentation of mentally ill characters is that they are often very two-dimensional when it concerns their mental illness. It is rarely explained what they have, how it was caused, or anything that could be used to allow the audience to understand the character's motives. Whilst understanding the character's motives would not necessarily make them a sympathetic character, and they should not be one, this absence of explanation translates badly on the representation of mentally ill people, as it causes them to be seen in a similar two-dimensional light. They are often defined by their illness, and many people are uneasy around those with mental illness because of the violent mentally ill characters found in movies. However, one example that challenges this in some ways is Kevin Katchadourian from We Need To Talk About Kevin, which closely follows his childhood and relationship with his mother and therefore what caused his issues later in life. However, this challenging of conventions does not extend throughout the whole film as, at the end, he commits a mass murder at his school.
Finally, one last example of the representation of mental illness is Vincent Grey in The Sixth Sense, who is a past patient of Dr. Malcolm Crowe. Unlike the Joker, John Doe and Kevin Katchadourian, Vincent Grey is presented in a less stoic, cold-blooded way, instead being presented as both mentally and emotionally unstable. This therefore presents him in a more sympathetic light, due to the fact he is sobbing and apologising, but it does not change the stereotypical representation of him in the fact that he shoots Crowe. Much like the other characters, Grey is also a dangerous mentally ill person and, regardless of whether he is reluctantly dangerous or not, he still remains an antagonist of the movie. This therefore contributes to the ongoing theme in the presentation of mentally ill people, especially due to the fact that although he is not stoic or cold-blooded he still behaves in an unusual manner -- such as the fact he is not wearing clothes, and that he broke into Crowe's house.
Monday, 7 March 2016
Construction Post 1
To begin the process of starting the construction of our thriller opening sequence 'Forsaken', we had our first scheduled filming session on Tuesday the 2nd of February in which we filmed a shot in DH2 which was of Stephen and would be used for the dream sequence. The shot was short and used low key lighting to shadow the face of the character to leave his identity unknown and therefore create mystery and suspense. The filming of the shot was successful after a few takes, and after reviewing the footage to confirm this, we planned filming times for the rest of the shots.
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