Feedback from a focus group and improvements made

Our feedback made it clear to us that we needed to refine some of our previous ideas to make sure that the piece was as effective as it possibly could be with regards to the codes and conventions of the genre. Firstly, we had to ask people about the flashbacks, these were hard to integrate without it being unclear that they were flashbacks. At first we only had transitions of a few of them and the flashes weren't used at that stage. Feedback suggested that the flashes would be useful as they enabled people to understand that she was thinking back to previous events that had happened (e.g.: her eye makeup reminds her of the make up of the darker personality, as seen in the gif created below).
The toilet scene was used after we realised that our previous bathroom scene was ineffective in showing the narrative. Miriam suggested to us that 'it may be useful to present her using a more public toilet, to show her desperation and her vulnerability as she has to take refuge in a place where most people wouldn't consider'. As a result we then made the Danson Park toilet scene more prominent in the sequence.
Originally our actress was only seen running down the underpass, but again this didn't make the narrative clear on its own. Seen running down the park pathway we were able to show a continuous running pace that made the narrative clearer. Ria thought that, "by showing the running both in the underpass scene and now the park scene, it shows that despite her only running from what she thinks of in a mirror, the narrative is clearer".

Juliet told us that 'by having the scene where she rubs her smudged makeup off in the mirror, the sequence becomes similar to Black Swan, which helps to clear up the narrative'.

Black Swan inspiration

We decided due to the nature of it being a psychological thriller, and the use of a schizophrenic multiple personality main character to take and gather inspiration from Black Swan with the use of mis en scene and camera angles/ framing. 

Dance of the White Swan

The high key, key and fill light used here accompanied by the top lighting, within an eye level close up shot, emphasises her innocence and naivety but also accentuates the pure sadness and distraught facial expression. We used a similar shot within the bedroom by the innocent persona, using torches to highlight her expression, but lacked any back light to demonstrate the immense darkness she experiences as a result of her mental health issues.  

We additionally, use light as a medium of disorientation or confusion of the innocent persona, as a means to demonstrate the distinct difference between her dark and light personality traits. This is generally a key light, such as the spotlight in Black Swan which is instead a light in the tunnel within our chase scene. 

 

Here the makeup reflects the face of our character within the contrasting bath scene, the eye level close up shot with the shoulders included is parallel to the character within the bath tub. The pale face to highlight her cheekbones, determines her as thin and ill whilst colour on the lip here being red the alternative in ours being black connotes tension and suppressed anxiety.

We use a similar close up eye level shot of our character crying, as a means to demonstrate the depth of sorrow and anxiety they are feeling, in both there is a greater use of back light to contrast the character to the great darkness surrounding them.

Similarly, the use of the pastel colours and lighter colour scheme within her dressing room we imitate further in our bathroom with the stereotypical beige and wood inner decor to contrast greatly to the flashback images of the alter ego. 

  Odile Appears

These two close ups of the alter ego "Odile"'s eyes demonstrates the inner battle between her sanity and her sanctity, yet here we finally see her relinquish to this demonic part of her mental state, evident in the close up and more extreme close up of her face with focus on her eyes. We took inspiration from this by having a number of close ups of her face within the mirror(s), in the bath tub, and further in her flashbacks, with the flashbacks having white contacts as a contrast.

Despite the dramatic makeup being used in Black Swan being used as stage makeup, we used a similar concept as a means of contrasting with the two aspects of her personality. The extremely dark and more manic eye makeup is used on the darker aspects of her personality, as a visual representation of her alternative personas. Even with the more passive and innocent character, we use shots where she attempts to rub off this enhanced eye makeup, to reveal and free herself from this part of her soul.

 The Bedroom

The most iconic part of this scene is the use of mirrors as a symbol of duality within a person to demonstrate the two distinctive alternative personalities found in one body. We thus used this in the more intense and industrial toilet setting, but again also in the more domesticated bathroom in her house. The two bathrooms also providing a clear contrast from each other, being an extended metaphor of her two personalities within the surrounding setting. The cold, lifeless public toilet in contrast to the cosy, homely bathroom.

The extreme close ups of the scratches and injuries as an outward representation of her transforming schizophrenic state, we use visually with dramatic makeup the focus on her eyes as this visual representation with her confusion and extreme rubbing of them demonstrating her intense fear and desperation to be separated from this alternative persona.

The red contacts here imitate the white and black contacts we use in her alternative personalities, these are clear to distinctly identify along with the costumes which persona is dominating the main character at that point in the sequence. 

Continued ideas for setting and location

To decide on a location, we had to come up with the plot for our film opening. Once we had the plot in place we built the setting and location around this idea and we have come up with the places that we want to film. Along the way we found that one location would not be as suitable due to it being a public walkway and busy throughout most of the day; alongside the aspect of it being crowded for most of the day, there was also a complicated process of getting permission to film there and insurance would have had to have been settled in order for us to go there. To combat this we found another area wherein the tunnel scene of our opening could happen, this area has turned out to be more suitable as there is already lighting there and there is a more close atmosphere to what we wanted from it.

As our opening comes from three scenes, put together by a series of quick cuts, we needed three available locations. these are a bath, a girls plain room and a tunnel. 

We have chosen to film in a house where the walls are plain without decoration, this will reflect the idea of the girls 'lost' nature and allow the audience to focus on the only two things in the scene that we want them to: the girl and her 'reflection'.

For the bath scene we will just use the bathroom of the house, we will likely have to use a waterproof camera and film above the actress to see her slip down under the water for the drowning scene.

Lastly, the tunnel we originally planned to use the tunnel in Greenwich that goes underneath the Thames. This ended up being more trouble than it was worth as we would only need it for a quick series of cuts to create a montage and one longer shot used in a running scene. We instead used an underpass located near Danson park, our other chosen location that we were able to film in during the day without much disruption from members of the public.

Mise en scene

Straightaway as a group we decided that the overall genre that we would cover would be horror. Whilst we were developing our knowledge on the genre to find out what sub-genre we would choose, we learnt about the different aspects of cinematography that make up an effective horror film.
Mise-en scene is a highly important aspect of making a good horror film,

Costume, Hair and Make-Up:
This makes up an important part of the characters overall display to the audience, through the use of these three areas a characters personality can be shown without them even having to open their mouths. It can also explain the idea behind the story, for example in American Psycho when Patrick Bateman kills Paul Allen, the make up after he takes off the rain coat depicts him as a split personality character.
In this shot of Bateman, the blood and his messy hair on the right side of his face shows his killer side of his personality. In this way, the idea of the movie is reflected as the film never concludes whether he in fact committed the crimes or he just believes that he did. The make up and hair used here is effective in achieving Bateman's crazed and psychotic look, whilst still allowing the audience to see that there is a split chance that this is in his mind.



Settings and Props:
Different props and settings can be used for specific genres e.g.: an axe murderer in an abandoned shack in the country side makes for a perfect slasher horror. Furthering on with the theme of American Psycho, there is a scene where the different men in the office are showing off their new business cards. The business cards are analysed each time and the intensity that the men compare and compete for the best business card helps to present the characters in the film with regards to their personalities.

Facial Expressions and Body Language:
The characters facial expressions and the way they use their body language heavily impacts the tone of their appearance and can allow the audience to connect/understand the true personality of the character, or sometimes e.g.: in a horror, the idea may be the lack of facial expressions and body language which can also tell us about a character.

Facial expressions can convey a range of emotions better than most over techniques. In this .gif from Quarantine, the character shows fear and desperation as she is dragged away, through the scrunched up and screaming facial expression and her arms reaching out for something to grab to hold onto.

Bateman's dancing before killing Paul Allen displays his madness and erratic behaviour. The body language here is used to contrast against the act of murder about to occur, which is horrific and bloody as this little dance makes it almost seem humorous.This further conveys the point that Bateman is a psycho and not of sound mind.




Lighting and colour:

Lighting and colour can be used to express a certain atmosphere and create tension and suspense in the horror genre.
In Resident Evil, the RedQueen is displayed in red light in front of a dark and blurred background. This is to make her more profound in the shot and to create the tension between her and the characters she is speaking to (project Alice).
Lighting provides the means to make a character stand out more or to seem more insignificant, it allows the characters to further present their personalities e.g.: a killer or a criminal in a film may have the fill light dimmed out more to show half of their faces in darkness to reflect the inner characters personality.
Colour allows us to explore a range of presentations of a character. In the .gif out of Resident Evil, the RedQueen, being red can reflect overtones of evil and deceit, allowing us to have our view of her before she needs to say or do anything else. Contrastingly, a character may be presented in all bright colours and be shown to be an image of purity. Angelic figures within films are often presented with bright white lights behind them and a strong tri-light on themselves, they also have bright white clothing on to reflect the innocence and purity of the character.




Galadriel from Lord of The Rings is shown to be this innocent, angelic figure dressed all in white with a bright shiny crown. Her clothing reflects the personality that we are supposed to see of her and then the lighting further expresses this as it shines from behind and onto her to keep her as the bright character in the shot.




Position of Characters/Objects Within the Scene:

The positioning of characters in the scene allows us to engage and evaluate the characters. In the opening scene from The Ring, the two girls are on/by the bed and are planning on watching a film. By being around the bed we view these girls as innocent, with the greatest aura of innocence coming from the girl who is lying on the bed swinging her legs behind her. This innocence can be contrasted with the idea of what film they are talking about and indeed with what happens to the people who have watched it.