Widows creek- Script

Widows Creek

 

Starring:

Jamie Cartwright as the nameless victim

Connor Hanlon as the killer

Harry Kelly as disembodied voice

(Special note to Joe Hinton as director)

 

The tale begins with a slow establishing pan of a forest, beginning with the sky and tree tops and then progressively receding to the forests floor at a reasonably slow pace. The shot will then cut to another establishing shot of the forest floor, revealing in the distance a lone individual sat solemnly on a tree stump, dressed in what appears from a distance to be a casual yet slightly scruffy attire.

 

A close up shot will then proceed of the individuals face, revealing his appearance. His eyes are closed, and he seems calm as calm as though he’s meditating, yet something still feels unnatural. The shot progresses forward, and as it does the ambient noises surrounding him become more intense, and a rather inaudible begins to emerge. As the sound becomes more apparent, the individual’s eyes shut tighter, and a thrown begins to emerge on his face, until the loud screech of a raven knocks him out of his trance. The sound suddenly recedes back to calm ambience as the individual struggles for breath for a moment, clearly startled by what just transpired. Shaken, he stands and attempts to collect himself. The shot then cuts to a mid-range tracking shot of him strolling deeper into the forest. A P.O.V shot, aided with the shaky camera technique, will then allow for the next shot to appear through the individual’s eyes, as he continues to stray further into woodlands. In the distance a body will be visible on the floor. A cut will then be made to a mid-shot of the corpse, and then an extreme close up of the body’s visibly cold and lifeless face. The camera will pan out, revealing the individual from before standing over the corpse, staring at his blood soaked hands.

 

An extreme close up will transpire of the individuals eyes as he stares at his hands, slathered in the blood of his victim, and from there a flash back sequence will transpire.

 

The sound is warped, the video quality distorted, and a bright contrasting filter is added to the entire scene. The victim that laid dead earlier now stands, perfectly alive but svisibly startled as he wades his way through the forest, occasionally shouting out and turning back to deter his pursuer.

 

The victim: (out of breath, erratically turning to face behind him whilst hastily pushing himself through thick woodlands) “PL-PLEASE (he stops to catch his breath) PLEASE! (A pause as he wades over some vegetation) Enough! That’s enough! (Once again, he stops to exhale) Just please stop!

 

The killer (the individual from before) responds with nothing. He simply bounds towards his victim, with seemingly no remorse.

 

The shot cuts to a close up of the killers face as he charges towards his victim. The victim begins to close his eyes and he does so he once again fades into another trance. Disembodied voices begin to appear once again, only this time they are understandable, despite them sounding warped

 

Voices: “(giggling) Oh? You think I like that do you?

 

(giggling) Is that… Is… Oh my… Oh My God! Yes! (giggling) Yes of course! (giggling/sobbing)

 

We need to just settle down! It’s been 3 years, You’d think you were a child with the way you act sometimes!

 

Do you want a child growing up to never see his father’s face in the flesh…

 

I can’t let you do this peter! Peter please no! (screaming) No! You can’t! Peter! (screaming)

 

She’s gone Peter; you need to stop this… She’s gone…

 

Gah! NO! NO! (Screaming) Stop! NO! (Screaming that becomes more and more agonising, to which it fades away.)

 

As this sequence progresses, the killers eyes begin to tighten, and as it reaches its climax, they coil open in horror, to which they refocus themselves, this time with a determined fire burning inside of them.

 

The camera cuts back to the victim. Still struggling to out-manoeuvre the killer, he trips. Clambering backwards, he cannot muster the strength to lift himself, and the killer comes within his vicinity.

 

Victim: Please! Ple-hease! (More pathetic then before) You don’t have to do this! (Struggling for breath) You- can’t- You can’t do this!

 

The killer: She isn’t listening…

 

The killer throws himself on the victim, bludgeoning him with his bare fists. The camera cuts to a long shot of the forest, and all that can be heard are the victim’s blood curdling screams.

 

A cut will then be made back to the killer’s eyes, and back into reality. A low angle shot will then transpire of the killer reaching into his pocket and removing a large black bag that he then continues to cover the camera with, ending the sequence.

 

Written by Harry Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feedback - Miss Spencer

First Cut Feedback

There are some fantastic elements to this film, the pace is excellent, giving a feeling of a slow start with a build up towards the end of the opening. There is a variety of camera shots, angles and movement and your narrative is starting to become clearer.

In order to help with progress think about the following:

• Sort out the sound glitches and differences in volume.
• Think about adding some more ambient sound to the opening
• the music makes it feel too much like a trailer - think about losing this entirely and replacing with interesting sound effects
• build up your flashback scene, using an after effects zoom into the eye. This will help the narrative flow better. Ensure that this part has a clear colour differentiation so it is clear this is a flashback.

Widows Creek-First cut

Story board

Horror-Genre research

The history of horror
Horror movies first began to arrive in the 1920's as silent movies designed to evoke fear into their audiences. These silent movies could not afford to let out on visuals, as they were the only means to for-fill the objective of terrifying their viewers, due to a total lack of sound in all forms. Whilst visuals were a key focus in the movies, visual affects were almost none existent at the time, and technologies available today that could be used in order to adjust lighting in an area and give off shadow affects simply had not been invented yet. As a result of this, most horrors of the time would have had to have been filmed in broad daylight, having the potential to greatly reduce the fear factor of these films for modern day movie goers. Despite the limitations of these films, early, silent film, horrors placed down the foundations and the conventions of the horrors that we see today. For example, the grizzly beasts that we see in today's horror flick spawned from their use within early horrors. An example of an early 20's horror film would be the cabinet of doctor Caligari.

 The film had more of an eerie feel as opposed to one of absolute horror, giving a tale of exploration through the mind of a man stricken with insanity. This film is a good example of how visuals were used to a great extent at the time in order to give off both the narrative of the movie, and to install a necessary sense of fear into the viewer, due to sound not being present at the time. Lighting and shadows were used to great extents to allow for characterization to be constructed, with the binary opposites of dark and light working together to show the narratives of the different characters present. However, it is never truly clear which character is indeed the "hero" and which the "villain".

Carrying on into the 1930's horror movies changed dramatically with the addition of sound and with more realistic imagery. Sound added a vast new dimension to the horror genre, now with music able to greatly increase suspense in certain scenes, and dialogue which could give the film more representation, allowing for movies to have understandably less cryptic visuals designed to show characterization among other things. Costume was also put into greater emphasis during the 1930's period of horror, with actors often having exaggerated make up and outfits, despite the addition of dialogue which could have given less dramatic characterization. Like the 20's horror counterparts, color was still not prevalent within the films, meaning that the binary opposites of light and dark were still used heavily. A classic example of a horror from the 30's is Dracula.

Conventions of horror

Sub-genres of horror

Feedback - Miss Spencer

This is a better analysis Harry, you have embedded the film, used images to illustrate your points (but you still need many more!) and thought about the audience reaction at times.

However you are still being too descriptive of the narrative. Try to avoid this and make sure you are using much more media language and talking about:
Sound Mise-en Scene, Editing and Camera movement/Angles etc
See me if you are unsure about these elements.

The Lord of the Rings analysis

Though not inherently a movie of the thriller genre, the lord of the rings has the ability to very often at times dispense feelings of intensity and even dread into its viewer. The story itself is also extremely villain driven, with the tales antagonist constantly bombarding the protagonists with obstacles to triumph over, also giving it lots of ties and similarities with the thriller genre.

The first 58 seconds of the film are simply a jet black background, overlaid by a woman’s notably dreary voice, and intense, almost whiny orchestral piece. The voice speaks of a seemingly impending danger, describing subtle differences in the world around her that just aren't right, such as an odd feeling in the water, and an unfamiliar taste in the air. A voice, quieter and more menacing than the woman’s, can be heard whispering an ancient language, and it is unknown to the listener exactly what the voice is chanting. This darkness of the pitch black background is used to paint an image of utter despair within the viewer’s mind, craftily giving them an idea of the movies disparity without actually showing them anything solid to go by yet. The woman’s weary voice, and the woeful music also work to engage the viewer with the frightfulness of the world that they are yet to see, with both the voice and music working hand in hand to create an image of changed world, devoid of prosperity, and simply filled with darkness and despair. The subtle whispering is an excellent device to install a sense of great fear within the viewer; however it also causes a psychological effect on the viewer, as they are forced to question the voice. What could it be saying? What is its purpose? This ties in perfectly with the thriller genre, as it is causing the audience to put things into consideration, whilst also lavishing a veil of mystery on top. Is the voice a plot point? Something important for the tale to come? Only time can tell. After 58 seconds, a title “the lord of the rings” emerges on the screen in gold lettering, and just as it does, violins screech a higher pitched segment of the original song playing in the background. This is particularly chilling, as the title fades in slowly and the sudden raise in pitch of the violins sounds particularly menacing, and is unexpected. 

After that, a close up shot can be seen of a tool dragging molten metal from what appears to be a furnace. A cut is then made to another shot of the same tool pouring molten metal into a mould. The voice of the woman from earlier proceeds to give context of how “it began with the crafting of the great rings”, to which the shot cuts one again, this time to an extreme close up of three laid out hands, each wearing a different spectacular ring. The use of close-ups for the period of these scenes create a tense feel, taking the viewers out of their comfort zones whilst still surrounding the situation in an air of mystery and confusion. This confusion is encouraged further by the line, “it began with the crafting of the great rings”, which does not give an entire depiction of the situation, intentionally leaving out context for the viewer to be thrown into a sense of wonder.

Similar shots occur until the 1 minute 36 mark, all taking advantage of the use of close ups and extreme close ups in order to discomfort the viewer. The woman’s voice continues to give more and more context however, as rings are gifted to the other races of middle earth, slowly painting a greater picture of what truly going on for the audience. The entire time, brownish tint overlays each shot. This tint is used to give a clear understanding that each shot is in fact a flashback of a time before. This makes sense in consideration of the context being given simultaneously to the tinted shots.

After explaining who each ring was granted to, a panning shot then goes on of a map of middle earth (the land in which lotr is set) being scoured, 

until the camera reaches Mordor, a kingdom within the universe. The woman’s voice states how the holders of the rings were all “deceived”, to which the music takes a sudden change, becoming much more menacing and dramatic. This sudden contrast installs a sense of excitement within the viewer as well as an uneasy feeling of dread due to them not knowing what’s coming next. The camera then goes to an establishing shot of the barren landscape of Mordor, with a giant volcano spewing molten rock in the distance, a black sky choked with ash and soot, and grey sheet of intimidating rocks and crags covering the ground below. This shot gives the audience a sheer feel of how monstrous the land is, and the absolute scale of its terror.

The disembodied voice speaks of how the dark lord Sauron (the antagonist of the story) crafted a ring in secret, and as it does, the camera cuts to a shot of the lord himself. There is a red/orange filter covering the shot, enforcing the sense of dread from the music in the background and the fiery imagery surrounding the dark lord. The camera begins to rapidly zoom on his face to which flames burst force on the screen, where the shot then cuts to an extreme close up of his hand bearing his ring. The woman then speaks the films slogan aloud, “One ring to rule them all”.

50 First Dates Analysis- Rom/Com

The Evil Dead Analysis-Horror

Feedback - Miss Spencer

This is a hugely detailed analysis, you have taken great care to discuss the detail.
You have also noticed elements like colour and camera movement.
At the moment this work is at a level 2/3 border. In order to improve you could:

• Use more media language (Diegetic sound, long shot, zoom, iconography etc)
• Avoid descxribing what happens from shot to shot, try to analyse details without worrying exactly where they are in the sequence
• comment more on the effect on the sudience. Why did the director choose this shot/edit etc?
• Break up the text with images from the film to illustrate yourt points.

Mission Impossible Analysis - Thriller

Mission Impossible Analysis

The film begins with a 9 second, constant extreme long shot of a vast, baron, red tinted mountainous region, appearing to be the Grand Canyon in America, with the sun scorching the rocks from above. This is used to capture the vastness of the regions terrain, as well as its treachery and inhospitality for the viewer. Throughout the nine seconds, the camera progressively closes in to one position on the cliff range, going from an extreme long shot, to eventually slowing down at 6 seconds, and at 17 seconds closing in on the particular point of the rock it was tracking, changing to a mid-shot where we see the hero of the story, straggling to the side the rock with what appears to be very little strain, despite him not having hold of a harness or anything of the sort. This is used to display the protagonist’s action hero persona, with him almost laughingly holding on to the side of a sheer drop of several hundred feet, and not at all appearing to be in any bad condition. This is complimented by the extreme long shot from before that paints the landscape as a perilous ragged terrain, which in return makes the protagonist look more intimidating by his ability to handle his surroundings so easily. Another feature spurring the protagonist’s strength, is the use of non-diegetic sound in the background. Up until the 6 second mark, the only audible sound is the whistling of the wind through the rocks and crags of the grand canyon, helping to give the landscape an isolated feel, but at the 6 second mark (roughly were the protagonist comes into view) a progressively loudening drum rhythm begins to play, which over time becomes more and more complimented by a rather funky guitar riff. Eventually at the 17 second mark, where the guitar and drums go in full swing, the protagonist becomes the centre of the shot. This gives off the impression of the music presenting the main character, as the funky and just down right cool sound of the guitar and drums undermines the whistling of the canyon. This effectively represents the protagonist’s ability to climb his perilous surroundings without putting himself in a situation that he can’t handle. The shot cuts at the 17 seconds mark to a long, panning shot of the protagonist from another angle, up until 30 seconds in. Then to 35 seconds, the shot is cut again, this time from the same distance but once again at a different angle. The non-diegetic noises also alter over the period of 18 seconds, with the guitar seeming to fade away and more ambient noises such as birds squawking can be heard. It’s also worth noting that a particular diegetic noise is but in place during the time period, in the form of the protagonist panting. This period seems to be put in place in order to once again drill in the vastness and severity of the landscape. The longer range of the shot has a particular effect on this. Showing more of the cliff side than before, making it appear larger and more intimidating. The dyeing down of the instrumental noise, and the addition of more ambient noises appears to be placed to once again give a feel of the isolation of the area, as well as also giving a sense of struggle from the protagonist, contradicting, the young, unstoppable, action man characterisation that was prevented before. This is further supported by the diegetic sound of him panting, however the contradiction is not there to remove his characterisation, but in fact exaggerate the harshness of the terrain he is trying to conquer. This is almost as if to say, “Well if that guys struggling to get around this, then this place must be brutal”. Earlier there was mention of the sound of a bird squawking, as one of the ambient noises. This noise may perhaps not be referring to the land harshness, but in fact its beauty, and the protagonists drive to explore it. The bird heard in the clip was in fact the usual stock sound of a bald eagle, giving connotations of America; and with the connotations freedom, beauty and a drive for new things to be discovered. From the 35 second mark to the 1 minute 8 seconds mark, a series of similar shots from varying lengths occur, all giving off the same connotations of struggle in such wild environment. Differences that occur are few, however there are several notable ones’. For one, 2 cuts occur, in which for a short period you see an extreme close up of the protagonists hand tightly gripping on to a slight ledge upon the cliff, and another of his feet struggling to find a wide enough ledge to perch upon. These, whilst still showing the characters struggle to overcome his environment, also show a great deal of determination with him going against the odds to clamber on to whatever he can find to prevent himself from falling. This supports the determined, youthful, action hero characterisation placed upon him. A few shots later, after climbing to a shaded position where he can take rest (1 minute 24 seconds) the protagonist makes a split second decision to jump down to a ledge below, where he can continue with his climb. The camera looks down on him from a bird’s eye view as he jumps, to which a special effect is added in which the jump plays out in slow-motion. This sort of effect is used regularly in action/thriller movies, to add further suspense to a suspenseful shot (i.e. someone making a risky jump) giving time for the audience to contemplate the outcome of the characters choice. Should the character succeed, he looks more heroic than he would had the shot gone normally without the addition of the slow-motion special effect, as the effect implies that a particular stunt is more difficult than other. Of course the protagonist succeeds in this circumstance, however upon making the jump, a cut to a close up shot of him tripping and falling down the ledge occurs. As he falls a cut is made to a long shot of him falling, and then another shot takes place (this time a close up shot) of him just about managing to grab on to the tip of the ledge, leaving his body dangling over the crags below. He switches to hold on with one arm, and as he does the camera pans out and the bald eagle stock sound can be heard again. This gives connotations of the protagonist’s strength and bravado, with him dangling over a sheer cliff face with only one arm as he looks into the distance, as though to say he came to conquer this environment, and that’s just what he’ll do. The sound of the eagle does well to support the imagery of his bravery and sense of wonder. After that a cut is made to a close up shot of the protagonist turning himself around and grabbing on to the rock with his other arm. Another cut occurs, this time to another close up appears to have to character in the form of a crucifix, giving religious connotations, and even going as far as to compare the protagonist inhuman abilities to that of Christ himself. The shot begins to be pan closer in to the protagonists face, where his expression suddenly turns from seemingly weak and feeble to a cocky smile full of determination. The shot then goes to another. This time a mid-range shot of the protagonist using an arsenal of clever and seemingly impossible tricks that he did not display earlier to very quickly scale the Cliffside. This gives further light to the religious connotations from before. Where Christ died and was reborn, the protagonist also seems to be reborn, stronger and more capable before, able to pull off even greater feats. The music at this point has changed from the mixture of ambient noises and drum rhythms, to all out Caribbean style party music, giving the idea that at this point, conquering the environment is nothing but a fun holiday. The protagonist reaches the top of the Grand Canyon, to which a series of long range orbiting and panning shot occur, focusing around him, seaming quite relived. The music at this point is at the absolute height of its enthusiasm, drilling in the protagonists victory, and how this was merely a vacation to him. The non-diegetic sound of the music begins to be drowned out by the sound of a helicopter propeller, to which a cut is made to a mid-shot looking up towards a black helicopter. Another cut is then made to close-up of the side of the helicopter, where a man in a black suit appears to fire a rocket in the ground near the protagonist (the camera travels with the rocket and remains at a close-up with it for a few seconds) to which the helicopter suddenly flies away. A shot then occurs of the protagonist crewing the end off of the rocket revealing a pair of sunglasses. There is then a cut to a close-up of his face, where he gives a cheeky smile then dons the sunglasses, all whilst the non-diegetic sound of the movies theme begins to play in the background. The theme is an adrenaline pumping electric guitar riff, which fills the audience with anticipation for the action soon to unravel. The camera goes to a point of view shot of the protagonist wearing the glasses, which are revealed to be a gadget informing the character of a mission he has been selected for. From time to time, the camera cuts to a close up orbiting shot of the protagonists face, but it mainly focuses on the point of view shot. A voice explains the mission he has been selected for, to which an automated voice declares that “this message will self-destruct in 5 seconds”, a typical convention in spy movies. The protagonist removes the glasses, throwing them away as they explode (also muttering a one liner), and through the explosion the title of the movie begins to construct itself, as the heavy electric guitar riff continues to play. The sound of the theme, combined with the aw formed by the C.G.I special effects of the movie’s title work excellently hand in hand to get people adrenaline flowing, ready for the movie to get started.

Feedback 1 - Miss Spencer

I am struggling to assess your work Harry as there is nothing here to look at!
We need to meet and talk through what we are going to to in order to get you going on your coursework.

Preliminary Task