'The girl with the dragon tattoo'

Tittle sequence

The first thing you notice about the tittle sequences of “The girl with the dragon tattoo” is the fast pace, exciting music and the dark, minimal theme. The non-diegetic sound of the music in the background of a black empty frame, gives a sense of mystery to the viewer. This results into them being gripped and instantly immersed into what is about to happen. As the viewer watches the black screen and listens to the pulsating music, the tittles start to fade in and out of the frame, according the beats of the music. This rhythmic form of editing creates the tension needed to go along with the music.  

Then around 7 seconds into the opening, glimpses of what the film is about. The music is still playing and the edit is still set out in a rhythmic way. Shots and images are shown for less than a second but it is long enough for the viewer to roughly tell what it is. One of those shots is a deep black leather or scale material. This shows that it could be a dragon’s skin or that the darkness is a metaphor for something deeper in the movie. Then water or liquid, dripping down on the material, this tells the viewer that liquid has a big part in the film.

Then as the title sequence starts to pick up the pace, the sea of black liquid starts to consume and take over title sequence. Every shot has the liquid incorporated in it from 10 seconds in. You also see it dripping down from a blade, but the blame has a dragon design on the side of it, this then results in to the blade or sharp objects being a big part in this movie. This implies to the viewers that the film is going to be an action due to the knives. Then the tittle of the film gets covered in this black liquid that takes the viewers attention.

To conclude, this tittle sequences is a good tittle sequence because it gives the viewers hints of what the film is about, but never the full story. I think we could use ideas from this sequence, such as the minimal take on it, and incorporate it to our film. 

Elizabeth's wedding dress: the hidden meaning behind

For Elizabeths wedding dress we went for a classic style: in terms of embroidery and how much detailing we would initially want. Due to low funds for the production of the film we were unable to produce an actual wedding dress,therefore i used an old dress that I had previously bought.  This fitted the initial ideal image that would represent Elizabeths characters personality, body size and style. The floral embroidery is to signify Elizabeths 'down to earth' personality but to also represent her love for nature. Nature is a key convention within the film as it is to connote how as the earth re-generates and reproduces such natural beauty in times of chronic/acute disruption, the human body is also like it. Through the supposed 'loss' of Elizabeth, Edward is in a state of chronic pain, and results in taking up alcohol as a release for his stress but he some how manages to see the light.

Risk Assessment

This is the Risk Assessment required for the entire production of ''VIRAGO''

Risk Assessment

Possible risks

Risk assessment: 

Possible risks within the filming of Virago 

1)Environmental risks: 

One possible risk that has to be considered is the weather and how safe it will be to film. this is a key issue due to the fact we have numerous motorbike scenes that have to filmed outdoor. This therefore makes filming on certain days non accessible i.e heavy snow,raining  and heavy wind direction. This not only puts the biker in danger but us the whole team in danger as some of the shots of the motorbike require us to be up close and personal in order for us to get the shot we require. Another factor to take into consideration is again weather related. Due to the time of year we will be filming( early to late winter) the weather conditions will deteriorate vastly i.e. temperature. A numerous of shots require us to be outdoor, as for instance the scene were Edward and Elizabeth are out door in both their wedding attires ready to propose requires clothing that is reflects a wedding ceremony i.e. a wedding dress. To control this mitigating situation, it requires us to do weather research to see when the warmest day of i.e. that week will be to film. Due to the factor that the temperature is decreasing and being out door for too long can cause hypothermia but can also damage the camera. Another issue is ice. This mitigating factor again makes it impossible for our group to film due to as mentioned earlier that many of our shots and scene are featured outside. If we were to film when ice was present we would not put the whole team in danger of slipping or falling but also putting higher risk onto braking the camera. As for instance if we were to fall whilst handling the camera, theres a higher risk of pulling the camera down with you and loosing valuable footage. 

2) Props

2a) One of our props is a physical hammer. The scene is where a glass bottle will be seen falling off the table besides Edward. This is to signify that his alcoholic addiction is coming to a peak and the bottle smashing represents how he feels: trapped within himself. The fragmented prices on floor are their to represent how his next journey requires him to pick himself back up and re arrange the broken parts of him. However to save the bottle damaging the floor and accidentally cutting one of the members with the shattered pieces, we will be using a hammer to smash the bottle, essentially limiting possible risks that would occur. 

2b) The motorbike; could potentially have an accident i.e. fall off.  One of our members was filming from the boot of a car behind the motorbike to gain a variety of visually pleasing shots. He was securely strapped in to the back whilst the car boot was half open. However the risk is now considered far too high to re-film the scene again, due to possible fatal harm that could occur. Especially as the time of year we are filming, the weather is getting harsher but also the days are darker.However the footage we did acquire from that test shoot was of a high quality standard, which we were thankfully able to use instead of finding alternative  less impacting methods to subsidise. 

2c) Bath; risk or drowning in the water. One of the scenes is of Edward within the bath that will show his hand dangling over the edge of the bath. The chance of downing is highly un-possible  but it is still a risk that needs to be highly monitored at all times. The chance of camera coming close to the water is also a risk that could occur therefore to limit this risk as much as possible, we will be filming from a safe distance away,incase of if any water was to come close and damage the college owned camera. Which for one if the camera was water damaged we would loose our footage and secondly the cameras are of private property therefore if any internal or external damaged occurred the camera would have to be wrote off and fees would be charged. 

Storyboard Animatic

Poster idea for virago

One idea I had for the cover poster of Virago was similar to this Long-Shot we were able to catch in a experimental test shoot. The main idea Is of Edward stood hands and arms width apart, signifying his demeaning persona he believes he acquires, whilst in his right hand lightly holding his wife's wedding dress and his cross necklace that is featured round his neck throughout the film. The initial image will be in black and white with light shadowing, to capture the spiritual element to the film. The light shadowing is to also signify how Edwards faith has become part of who is and that he's trying to 'see' the light within the internally tragic situation. However by his rosary beads lightly dangling at his side, connote how his faith has come to a stand still within his life as though he is starting to question his religion through the loss of his beloved wife 'Elizabeth'. This contrast with the light and rosary beads is a key psychological features within the film as through him questioning his face, being able to see the 'light' becomes drastically harder for Edward and therefore turns to other factors i.e. drinking to stimulate his loss of his wife and also his religion. 

 The rosary beads we will be using are from a relative of mine who said they gave her faith in a time of utter grievance and loss. Both factors perfectly fitting in with the loss of Edwards wife and his current mental well being: both being tested to their emotional limits.

Tricky Shots

A list of tricky shots that we will be trying during production of VIRAGO and how we will try to achieve them. Some of these shots as well as others may be tested and posted later on the this blog. 

1. POV shot of Eddie's Sacrifice/Suicide:

We will be attempting to recreate this high angle POV shot from Wes Anderson's 2001 comedy-drama The Royal Tenenbaums, whereby blood begins to pour down somebodies arm. To make sure that we can achieve this shot, I will make some tests with my own camera prior to us shooting the film. If the test is unsuccessful, we will have to use a different shot that shows the same gore but from a simpler perspective. Perhaps just a simple close-up or infer what is happening through a long shot or even through the dialogue of the script paired with a shot of blood pouring into the bath.

 

This shot from The Royal Tenenbaums.

2. Birds Eye-view shot of Eddie Asleep at Table:

We will also be trying to achieve a ceiling-high Bird-Eye View shot of Eddie as he has a nightmare while sleeping at the kitchen table of his home. Imagine this iconic scene from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining where Jack Torrance is doing the same thing but the scene will be shot looking down at him as oppose to looking straight at him. Again, tests will be done to make sure that this is possible. Should it not be, for inter-textuality, we will shoot it the exact same as this scene from The Shining.

This scene from The Shining.

3.  Tracking shot of Whiskey Bottle Falling Off Table

Furthermore, we will attempt a shot that will track Eddie's movements as his arms strike out during his nightmare and hit his whiskey bottle off the table and onto the floor. Imagine this scene from Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker where a child causes the glasses on the table to move with her mind but with a faster, more violent movement of the character, bottle and the camera. Should this be impossible to do, we will have to block the scene in such a way that gives the impression of the bottle falling off and breaking than actually showing it. Test shots will be done for this also.

This scene from Stalker.



4. Close-up shot of Elizabeth's First Appearance

Lastly, we will also be testing this close-up shot. The difficulty here does not lie in the ability to film it but more in the tone the shot may connote. For example, this classic shot from Buster Keaton's 1922 sketch Cops (which we are trying to recreate with a zoom in/out of Elizabeth creeping through the bannister of the stairs) is used for comedy as oppose to the horror impression we are trying to create. If the tone of the shot does seem out of place for our horror/thriller film, we will have to film it in a different way. Perhaps an extreme close-up of the eyes coupled with a few medium shots that hide the face. Tests will not be done for this one because we will try out different shots in the actual production of the film, also making it time-effective.

This shot of Buster Keaton in Cops.
 

Difficulties and Casting Changes

Casting Changes:

Unfortunately, we have had to change the actor who is playing the role of Edward Virago due to complications with scheduling days that all of us are available for shooting. Continuing with this actor may have resulted in us being behind in our work and could even have caused us to not finish the production of the film. Therefore, as a solution, somebody in our filming group ''Iris Productions'' will now take the place of Edward's role in VIRAGO and the costumes and props provided by our previous actor will still be available and used in the final picture.

Difficult shots:

Due to the many risks it would take to dupicate the establishing bike shots we have already tested with my own camera, we have been forced to make the decision to not try re-shoot them. Doing so could result in not only the risk of breaking college equipment but also the risk of being seriously injured. We will therefore use the raw test footage we have already and edit those into the final film. Doing this will break continuity in terms of the costuming being changed as well as a possible change in weather between shots. The establishing shots may  also look drastically different to the rest of the film due to the camera used to film the test footage only shooting in 720p as oppose to the college cameras that shoot in 1080p. We hope that this will not ruin the immersion for you and our other audiences and will work hard on making thee shots seamless for the final cut of ''VIRAGO''.

Draft Poster Design for ''VIRAGO''

This poster design was inspired by various other real-film posters as well as fan-made alternative film posters. The one that my poster design resembles the most is Damien Chazelle's Whiplash poster. The similarities are found in each of the poster use of contrast, lighting, simplicity, the graphology of the text and the vintage-style of poster that I myself have always been a fan of. However, the shot used was actually inspired by a shot in Carol Reed's The Third Man. I used this shot as a reference because I liked the chiaroscuro lighting and noir-esque tone that the poster gives off.

References:

A shot from Carol Reed's The Third Man.

The poster for Damien Chazelle's Whiplash

Shotlist

This is the shotlist that we will be using as a basis when production of VIRAGO begins. Some shots may be different to the final film's shots because some may not work out or seem out of place in the film. Also, some shots might be add should the film be too short when finished.
 

MUST OPEN VIA GOOGLE DOCS DUE TO A TECHNICAL ISSUE.

Shotlist for VIRAGO

 

Utopian theory in relation to Virago

VIRAGO Script- Draft 2

Changes from feedback and alterations to the ending and characters names have been made. Awaiting further feedback should another draft need to be made.

VIRAGO Script- Draft 2

Marvel Opening Sequence

 

 

In every Marvel film, they have the same opening tittle sequence. This has become an iconic to the Marvel Universe and the few opening seconds makes the viewer instantly who produced the film.

 

 

 

The comic book theme reminds the viewer of the heritage of Marvel and how long they have been around. The Marvel universe has over 5000 characters and over the years has generated a large fan base which have grown up the tittle sequence. I think this opening sequence is very good as it reflects some of the history and how the production company started by creating comic books.

 

 

 

 

What I also like about this sequence is also the transition form the comic book style to the more modern logo. It is a smooth transition and makes the sequence more interesting to watch. The final finished tittle sequence is made up of over 70 years worth of comic book knowledge and high end graphic animation. I find the graphic animation great to watch as I appreciate the complexity of the animation and know how much time has gone into the sequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Costume ideas for Elizabeth virago

'I am the pretty thing that lives in the house'- influence

'I am the pretty little thing that lives in the house' is an American-Canadian horror film that is exclusive to Netflix. It was brought out in  2016 and was written and directed by Osgood Perkins. However the reception it brought was limited as it only received an average rating of 4.3/10 on Rotten tomatoes . Nigel M. Smith of The Guardian wrote, "Osgood Perkins layers on the dread in his haunted house thriller. But as it becomes clear that there's no worthwhile story, the scares dissipate fast and gave it an overall rating of 2/5 stars. 

                                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRP-4f_vyrY

However there were certain aspects of the film which got my attention in how the use of; voice overs and slow pace editing of continuous shots, gave an overtly eerier atmosphere and allowed the viewer to enhance their perception and imagination. These two aspects are key within the film 'Virago' due to the psychological themes that run throughout. Another factor to take into consideration is that  this therefore allows the viewer to conclude what may occur next and add their own little part to film, which is quite key as it allows the viewer to create a personal connection to the film in an unconventional way. Due to the unconventional psychological nature of the film using voice overs allows the film to become almost real and and though the viewer at home is there and therefore makes them engage with the film by asking themselves i.e. 'is she really dead' 'what would you do now'. It also enhances the likely chance of the viewer to watch the full film as it leaves you wondering whether the main protagonist is dead and is telling their story or you're following someone and are able to hear their thought process. Stereotypical within psychological thrillers this question is usually established 3/4 way through or at the beginning.  What i also greatly admired about this film is how it unconsciously makes you question the taboo topic of life and death and the house you live in. In the sense that your home is actually not your home due to the pass residents who have owned the house and in fact you're just in the chain of being in it, in others footsteps. Having an ongoing question after the film is what my team and i greatly aim for. The film additionally foreshows Lily's story whilst coinciding with the story of another character: the previous owner of the house 'ghost'. Within Virago both Edward and Elizabeth's story will be being shown to allow a greater picture to be established and to also allow continuity for the viewer to be able to piece together both sides of the story.

In addition 'I am the pretty thing that lives in the house' character of 'Lily', greatly influenced the character of 'Elizabeth Virago' in terms of dress, mannerism and overall integrity to finding out the truth. Elizabeth is too 28 years old when she dies in line with Lily, who is unable to make it to her 29th birthday.  In terms of dress, lily appears rather minimal, inline with her hospice job. However a key influence for Elizabeth is how well groomed and  how of a natural beauty lily in fact is. This will be portrayed within the chosen outfit for Elizabeth and minimalistic make up choices. One key theme for the film Virago is 'the image of beauty' in terms of how others see Elizabeth and how her husband 'Edward' sees her both alive and non-living. 

Alternate Online Questionnaire

Pre production poster draft

Costuming for Eddie- FINAL

film distributor

Film distributers from ksanchez9876

Further Analysis in the Horror/Thriller Genre- Cinematography

The Cinematography of Horror/Thrillers

Types of Shot:

Close-ups or Extreme Close-ups:

Horror/Thrillers often use close-ups in films to convey a characters emotion in a clear and intimate way or in some cases the show the gore of a particular object or person. From these shot reverse POV shots from Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs we can infer that each of the characters, Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling are on equal grounds but are fighting for power and authority over one another because each have separate motives they are trying to achieve. Clarice seems apprehensive of  whereas Hannibal's face is calm and collected, evoking fear and power; showing who currently has the upper hand in the scene. 

Long shots:

Horror/Thrillers also often use long shots in the film. This is so that the audience can get a prolonged look at the mise-en-scene of where a character is beset and focus on the characters body language and its relation to the surroundings and the story itself. This shot from Robert Eggers' 2016 historical period horror The Witch perfectly describes this. The protagonist, Thomasin, stands in the centre of the frame alongside Black Phillip, a satanic goat, as she stares up at a coven of witches as they rise up into the air. This shot is important because it conveys to the audience the reason as to why Thomasin follows Black Phillip into the woods naked; she is to become a witch herself. This shot, along with its low-key lighting and haunting non-diegetic music that support the horror/thriller genre conventions, is also important to the narrative because we see how Thomasin evolves and reaches her final persona. 

Medium Shots:

A trend I have noticed in horror/thrillers are that medium shots are commonly used to convey gore and violence that are common occurences in these types of films. They are used to show a characters emotion and what relation it has the the characters movements and actions. This shot from David Cronenberg's Scanners shows this use of gore and violence by portraying a news anchor's head exploding with very realistic effects. The blood and look of uneasiness on the characters face are made clear and create a very disturbing and 'gross-out' that subverted audiences expectations as for what was going to happen. Its also worth noting that this shot was only 8 minutes into the film which mean that Cronenberg wanted to shock the audience from the outset of the film and has continued this trend with his other work such as The Fly and Videodrome.

Angles:

Low Angle

This shot from Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 thriller Drive has been used to make the protagonist seem stereotypically masculine and superior to the audience and person he is interrogating who are percieved as inferior and weak. Notice the emphasis on the hammer he is grasping his fingers around being used as a warning to both the audienc and character on the ground alike.

High Angle:

 This shot from Paul Thomas Anderson's 2012 film The Master conveys perfectly what kind of character Freddie is and what the message of the film is about also. Freddie is shot in a fashion that not only hints at his lazy attitude to life what with his drunkenly sleeping but it also makes him look large, almost like a giant. Freddie believes himself to be a strong and important man  in this world and he fights anybody who challenges him on his masculinity or importance in the world, hence his giant appearance on the screen. His ignorance is further developed when you see the smaller people around him looking like ants, much weaker than Freddie. The film itself is about man and how we fight over power and dominance over each other and its this shot, in my opinion, that best conveys this message.

Movement

Steadicam/Handheld Shots:

In horror/thrillers, Steadicam Shots very often follow a characters movements when they are walking and all have an element of suspense to them because the audience do not know what they are going to see next and there is an almost inevitability to them; no way of escaping the character, immersion and movement. This Steadicam shot from Dennis Villeneuve's 2013 thriller Enemy follows Adam as he walks down the hallway of his home and looks face to face with a gigantic tarantula in his living room. This shot is a vital part of the entire film narratively-speaking as it reveals what the spiders (which have been appearing continuously through the film) represent; this being his fear of commitment in a relationship. A spider appears in the film whenever Adam has the urge to cheat on his wife and this shot here where the tarantula scurries in the corner shows his wife becoming the spider symbol and conveying her fear that she is being cheated on. This method is used very often in the genre but more often they are used for a 'jump-scare', as seen in the corridor shots of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. 

Tilt Shots:

Tilts are used to introduce a character in horror/thrillers, whether they are 'good' characters or 'bad' characters. This shot from John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing reveals the antagonist of the film, a parasitic extra-terrestrial life-form that assimilates other organisms and in turn imitates them, half way through its assimilation process. The camera moves upwards slowly so that the audience have time to look at all of the monster and take in the fear and dread which Kurt Russel's character feels when the beast is revealed.

Stationary:

Horror/Thrillers very often actually keep the camera barely moving or perfectly still so that the audience have time to take in the image and the fear an suspense the director is trying to create. This shot from Dario Argento's 1977 classic Suspiria stays completely stationary and focuses on the woman attempting to get help from a supernatural being attacking her as well as the bright pink architecture (reminiscent of Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel) that envelops her. This shot holds on her desperation and creates a large amount of space between her and the camera, making her seem weak and destined to die, which she inevitably does.

film certificate

Genre research

Genre research from ksanchez9876

BBFC classifications

British board of film classification from ksanchez9876

Research and Analysis of Title Sequences- A Clockwork Orange

Analysis of A Clockwork Orange Opening Titles

Treatment

Treatment

The name we gave our name Virago because the motor bike that is featured in the film that Edward rides is a Yamaha Virago. Due to the motor bike being a big part of the backstory of the film. Also the word Virago means a domineering, violent or bad-tempered woman. Which fits in with the story of Edward’s wife. Having this title linked in with story, the viewer may be intrigued to find out more about any unanswered questions they have when they watched the film.

When we were deciding the length of the film, we decided that it should last around the 5 minute mark. This leaves us enough time to explain the story and still retain the audience’s attention, without them loosing attention the film. Also due to the film being an assessment, we would not have enough time for planning, editing and scripting to create a longer film. Around the 5 minute mark we feel is just fine for a short film and long enough to captivate the audience’s film throughout the film.

For our film we aim to target a large demographic, not to be bound to one set range of potential audience. The film was aimed to be watchable to all genders, races and religions. This was to stop any feeling of decimation or prejudices a specific group of people. To combat against gender, we casted a male and female characters to be the main characters in the film.  

The only restriction we have to our film is the viewing age. The rating we gave to our film is and 18, this is because in the BBFC classification it states ‘where material or treatment appears to us to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society.’

In our film, there is a suicide scene where Edward is self-harming and it is a very graphic scene. We feel like viewers under the age of 18 are not suitable to watch the film, because the viewer may not have developed filters to know not to copy the scenes in the scene. This is why the film we have created is for a mature audiences who we feel have enough life experiences to develop and put up these filters to stop them from repeating the scenes in the film. 

When it comes to distributing our short film we have 3 main distributers to showcase our film. The first one is Warp films. We chose Warp because it is a UK based independent film distributer with a number of popular films they have helped to distribute. These films include Four Lions, 71, This Is England and many more. They have also helped showcase other short films created by Lynne Ramsey, Richard Ayoade and Chris Cunningham. We film that Warp Films would be a good distributer for our short film as they already have a large fan base who watch their material that they distribute.

Another way we could distribute our film is by using YouTube, YouTube is a good, free way of making our film seen by large amounts of people. Many large short film creators use YouTube to distribute their films due to the fact that almost everyone can access it etc.

The films synopsis is about a young man who has recently lost his wife but still gets haunted with her memories. He rides his motor bike every day, to the grave yard, to see her. The widower (Edward) sit calmly in the grave yard, praying for her to rest peacefully and hopes reunite with her in the afterlife. One day, he gets home and starts to drink. He wakes up, heads still spinning and he feels a dark feeling in his house. He sees a figure at the bottom of the stairs, it was her. She wants him to join her in the afterlife.

When we imagined our film, we wanted to carry out the dark story line throughout the film, that why we wanted to make the film black and white, apart from certain characteristics. This is affect really highlights important and symbolic parts of the film, bringing the film more depth and dimension.

 Another element of our film is that it follows quiet a linear story line. We follow what the main character does in the story and include flashbacks to what has happened in the past. Such as the wedding scene. Adding these flashbacks gives the viewer more insight and better understanding of the story line. This makes the story line a lot easier to get is happening in the short film.

When we were creating the film, we wanted to brainstorm certain characteristics from other films to gain inspiration. Films like American Pyscho was a good psychological thriller that we wanted to emulate and copy some characteristics from the film. For example by creating a mysterious character like Patrick Bateman. Having this mysterious create a depth and dimension to the film because it makes the viewer think about the character and questions them about what certain actions or mise-en-scene that they might have.

The script for the film is mainly stage directions and how the characters should be portrayed in the scene. This makes the scene more believable to the viewer because we can plan on how we want the characters to be making sure that they can create a sense of realness with the scene. The script was inspired and written similarly to other films of the same genre such as American Psycho's description of particular scenes action as well as its pacing. The scripted dialogue was inspired by a plethora of drama and thriller films. 

Elliptical journey shot list

Elliptical journey shot list
Shot	Type	Description
1	Mid shot (Tilt up)	Kurt is at desk with a book, with his phone placed next to him which then receives text. Text bubble saying “meet me in S1.10”
2	Hand held mid shot	Camera pointed towards kurt, follows him walking down hall, Kurt looks down at his phone (where the text conversation lays over screen)
3	Long shot	Kurt walking through door and past camera
4	Long shot (tilt down)	Kurt walks down stairs
5	Long shot	Kurt walks towards two doors
6	Close shots	Shots of door numbers to eyeline match with kurt
7	Mid shot	Kurt walks through door
8	Mid – long shot	Kurt walks towards Chris, sits down and exchanges words