Creative Project Coursework Piece ( Main Idea)

Idea Four DEFECTED (Main Idea)

We were inspired by this story from various Gangster thriller films such as 'The Godfather' or 'Good fellas'. As they can portray the right amount of raw violence in a subtle way. A horror is more gore and violent deaths such as people being butchered throughout the whole film. Where as a thriller has more subtle deaths with less gore. Such as gunshots or a stabbing.

The main idea is set in the city or Birmingham. There are two rival gangs that have been each others competition for decades. Over the years the hatred has never been higher. Leader of the Gangs a Miss Jackie Swanson an ice queen with an addiction to authority. Falls in love with a man called Kevin however the twist of this narrative is. Kevin is the leader of the other gang. After keeping the relationship a secret from their gangs for over 6 months. Jackie then decides she wants to be with Kevin, so they decide to come up with a plan that will ensure they're relationship will last. Manipulated by Kevin , Jackie decided she will kill her entire gang in order to defect to the other gang.

The killings start to spread through Jackie's gang, taken care of by John, a Hit man from Kevin's gang hired by Jackie. John is a famous in the underbelly of crime and is renowned for never leaving a witness to a hit. However when a low grade worker for Jackie. Tariq is on his way back from a delivery witnesses John taking care of a target luckily he is able to hide and survive. But he when see's Jackie talking on the phone to John he starts to unravel something that is way over his head. A secret that is clearly too big for a amateur gangster like himself to handle.


Tariq then sets out to unravel the conspiracy within his ranks. When Jackie and Kevin begin to realise someone is killing people in Kevin's gang , they soon find out it is Tariq is behind the killings as he feels he has been betrayed by Jackie and his gang. However as faith in John has been lost as he has left a witness. Jackie and Kevin decide to take care of Tariq themselves. However John takes this as a personal offense and makes it a private matter to deal with.Tariq well on his way of killing both gangs soon is confronted by Jackie herself. Unarmed she can do nothing but try and negociate with Tariq, he starts to be sucked into it until she says the fatal words which are coincidentally her last. " You don't know what your doing" Tariq does not hesitate about shooting her in the head. Effort from John soon fail when he is then killed by Kevin as he sub-conciously still put his trust in him to keep Jackie safe.

Kevin now alone without Jackie soon sends out his entire gang to find Tariq. With a price . £500,000 dead. Or £1,000,000 alive. But the question unanswered in the film until the very end is who gets to who first in time to pull the trigger? Tariq or Kevin?

Production Piece Of Coursework ( Three Alternative Ideas)

Idea One (SIBLING RIVALRY)

Brother One (Daniel) witnesses Brother 2 (Steve) killing a teenage girl. Steve manages to convince Daniel to keep quiet and not go to the police. As the weeks go by Daniel notices that that Steve is very happy and excited about everything so he decides to follow his brother again. And sees him hiding another body. When Daniel tells him he's going to the police Steve seems calm and collected about this. Little does Daniel know that he is being framed for the murders. Daniel is then arrested when he takes the police to the site of the burial. When he is released on bail he realises he has been framed, he goes to Steve's room and see pictures on his brothers wall of his past and present victims in a certain order. So it is a race against time for Daniel to clear his name and save the next victim. End climax - that Steve ends up being killed by Daniel and Daniel is arrested for the murder. This is good convention for a thriller as it is a twist that the 'good' guy does not win.

Idea Two (ELECTION)

Two gangs have been rivals for years. Just simple rivalry nothing too graphic, just intimidation such as people getting beat up or robbed. But when Gan One leader decides to run for election to have more control of the area where the rival gang lives.Gang 2 leader hears about this and decide to run against him. No one except the two gangs know of their rivalry. Behind closed doors murders start to occur in the town as the rival gangs start to kill each other. Until James a photographer witnesses Gang two member killing a member of Gang one. He takes a picture and escapes. However Gang two then Focus on killing James before he shows the evidence to the police.

Idea Three (NEGLECTED)

A Younger brother (Neil). Born into a family of Gangsters. His father (Tony) the leader.His Brother (Bobbie) his older brother who is three years older than him. Bobbie gets all the attention and Neil begins to get Jealous and sick of being bullied by his family. So he decided to take action and begins to kill everyone in his dads gang working from the bottom upwards , until he finally reaches the person a level below his brother. Bobbie and Tony soon realise he is the killer and plan to leave town until Niel plans to kill them at home when they go to get their things. Neil's mum Sarah then alerts her Husband and Son of what is going to happen. So Neil frames his brother and his father for the murders of their own gang.

Character Analysis

Jackie Swanson – Played By Beth Slinn

Jackie – A twenty four year old woman brought up in the city of London. Born into a family of gangsters, to everyone she was viewed as normal but everyone knew not to cross her or her family. Used to being spoiled since she was born up to three weeks ago, when her father was brutally murdered. However only caring about what is important to her; Jackie did not turn up to her father’s funeral and decided to run the family ‘business’. Jackie is very egotistical and wants it all, money, power, and a big feared empire. Jackie believes that anything is within her reach as she is strong and independent. This is until she falls in love with the leader of her rival gang. At the beginning she is unaware of her lovers identity as she is too naive to pay attention to her father’s business until it is her business. Soon enough she loses sight of what is important for the wellbeing of her gang and her father’s legacy and is consumed by desire and greed.


Tariq - Played By Tariq Azzomi
Tariq - A twenty six year old man who is still low in the ‘food chain’ of the gang. He was adopted by Gang 2 when he was 5 years old as his mother was killed during a mid gang feud on her way home from picking up Tariq when gunfire broke out in the street. Gang 2 thought it would be best to take him and make him part of the gang as he could only benefit them in the future. Tariq himself does not want to be in the gang or follow their way of life. However as they have brought him up he knows nothing else. After 11 years of loyalty to gang 2 he find his boss and his father figure are corrupt, this causes a mental break down and major confusion to Tariq. This cause Tariq to lose sense of reality so he focuses all his pain, mistrust and anger onto his boss and seeks revenge and power, his goal now is to pay the appropriate comeuppance and make himself the leader of gang 2 as he sees it as his rightful place.


Mike Played by Tom Bull – A twenty two year old man who was brought up by the gang after an agreement tied him to the gang lifestyle forever. After accidentally killing someone during a pub brawl only at 16; the leader of gang two approached him and agreed to keep the police of his back in return for favours. At the beginning it was nothing but simple give and receives errands; however these days it has came to the level or brutal murders. He is nothing now but a hit man. He knows nothing else but the gang way of life. He feels no remorse or regret for what he has done. He is the gang’s best weapon; he is untraceable, quick sharp and ruthless. He then has a psychological break down when he lies to boss stating the job has been done to satisfactory standards when the truth is that he leaves a witness. Hiding this from his boss he is under huge stress to make sure him or the gang are not suspects of anything.

Continuity Piece

When it came to do my continuity piece. I found that planning ahead was very helpful and useful. The storyboard gave us great idea and lengthened time. So we knew what we had to do the minute we received the camera.

We it came to recording. We were not given time for editing as the exercise was only for experience with a camera alone.Therefore we tried to avoid making any mistakes in the video by rehearsing the scene or clip three times then recording on the fourth. When we started recording we had two main problems. We had to record twice dude to a malfunction with the camera we were given.

The second problem was to be sure not to break the 180° rule. This was found to be a underestimated take due to the location what we chosen the room was particularly small. So it was hard to place the equipment in the appropriate place.



The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/180_degree_rule.svg/678px-180_degree_rule.svg.png

Textual Analysis For Thriller

Carlito’s Way

Carlito’s way is about a former gangster who is newly let out of prison a new man who is adamant that he are retired from the gangster lifestyle of dealing drugs and going straight to a dream to work for a car rental dealership in Miami, with just one catch. He needs $75,000 to put towards the business. How ever his past soon becomes part of who he presently is as old connections come back. This results in a much worse outcome than he expected.

The first opening scene of the film shows a established shot of the courtroom, this shows a shot of the judge jourey and the criminal , Carlito. This camera angle is used to show where the whole story began and how it changes the events in his life , as this is the critical stage where is let out of prison.

De Palma uses a variety of techniques to capture the best and crucial moments of the film at it’s best. Examples of these are;

An aerial shot - this is used at the prison scene when it shows Kleinfield going to a prison that is based on a barge out at sea. It shows from a high angle to show the importance of the character , however it begins rather close while following him down the straight path , then how ever zooms out to a very far established shot very quickly , to set the scene to show where he is going. This aerial show was done with the work of a helicopter as a crane could not perform this action so quickly.
Dutch tilts - From what I could see this technique was used twice. Once when Carlito was speaking to his friend in the wheelchair only to find out he had been betrayed and his ‘friend’ was wearing a wire device used to record him , in a rage Carlito grabs the man by his hair and gets closer to his face , the tilt is used to create an intensity between the two characters and to emphasize the disabled man’s wrong doing. The slightly lower angle also shows the authority of Carlito as in he may have been gone a long time but he still demands respect. The second time this camera shot was used was in the hospital scene when Kleinfield is killed in is bed, he reacts to a fake policeman and gets shot in the head , as his dead body is flailing to the one side the camera angle lowers and tilts slightly. I believe De Palma used this technique to portray how this was Kleinfield comeuppance once and for all after all his doing as the camera angle follows his dying corpse.
360 degree pans - This is used to try an show great importance in a particular scene by showing all its surroundings and aspects of the scene. In this case , De Palma uses this in the scene when an old acquaintance of Carlito’s joined by his four friends. They all sit at a round table , and the 360 pan goes round the whole table from a low angle to signify the importance of the characters at the table , this technique is used to show how many the characters at the table with Carlito were going to affect the situation of the film , I believe it is shown from a lower angle to also to give the sense to the audience that they are right there in the center of all of the chaos and they can feel the tension .
Crane shots - this is a good angle to use if you want to show what is going on in a room , in this case Carlito is taking some money out of a safe , the angle of the camera is at a high , this is used by cranes , this gives the audience a sense that they are there watching over Carlito as he tried to make his escape.
Dissolves - these are a good way to change from to scene to scene or create an effective ‘flashback’ scenario. In this case it is used when Carlito is walking through his club as he is on his was to meet an old friend. Remembering this friend it shows a flashback and it changes scene from a normal speed then dissolves the picture to the next scene and shows the flashback in slow motion , this to give the audience more time to absorb information from such a small clip.

Thought out the whole film Carlito uses narration at certain points where the film takes a bizarre turn or a crucial moment has occurred. I believe this is to show his thoughts and feelings about every situation , and give the audience sense that he is nothing special just a normal man with the wrong past .#

Textual Analysis Of Opening Scene of Seven (thriller)

The film seven is based on a story to find a killer obsessed with killing one person who relates most to each deadly sin. Obviously there are seven deadly sins. Two detectives are sent to uncover the mystery of the killer , Detective summerset who had worked homicide for over 20 years and thought he had seen it all. Where as detective mills is a rookie to the game has done 5 years of homicide but never in a place like this, and is overly confident. The two get off to a rough start but then put aside differences to find a common ground to ensure the capture of the mad murderer.


The scene opens with detective Somerset getting ready for work. Getting dressed looking at himself with no emotion in the mirror. Using a medium close up shot this could suggest that he is strictly fed up of the job. It then shows an extreme closer up of his possessions in perfect order of what he needs at his job. This could imply that he likes to be in complete control of how his day is going to go , step by step.

The next clips starts with a long shot of a dead body surrounded by a pool of blood. This is establishing the murder scene, it them goes to Detective Somerset looking at every detail around the house to five him a clue. Detective Somerset then asks a colleague. “ did the kid see it?” this makes the audience think why it is relevant that a child saw a murder. Then incomes detective Mills , then starts a conversation that even though he thinks he is ready Detective Somerset reminds detective mills it is different down here than other places, Then begins opening credits.

Task 2: Research into Existing Productions ( Horror)

Horror Films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality.


Sources - http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html