Web link to our music video on YouTube;
Initial Synopsis of Music Video
The locations that our project will be filmed in includes Bristol city centre, the Grange school 6th form common room, a couple of parks, and our houses.
Some ideas that we have thought about are;
22 second intro multiple shots of mise en scene fast forwarded
You would not believe your eyes eyes, dream, sleeping
If ten million fireflies dandelion, field
Lit up the world as I fell asleep town lights, eyes
‘Cause they’d fill the open air skyline
And leave teardrops everywhere close up someone crying
You’d think me rude people generally walking
But I would just stand and stare through town
I’d like to make myself believe circling person standing in town
That planet Earth turns slowly close-up globe turning slowly
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay two frames; tilting sights of Cabot
Awake when I’m asleep circus and someone’s eyes closed
‘Cause everything is never as it seems filming a couple
‘Cause I’d get a thousand hugs people hugging in town
From ten thousand lightning bugs close-up of bugs/nature
As they tried to teach me how to dance couple dancing in town oblivious
A foxtrot above my head footage of foxes
A sock hop beneath my bed someone’s foot hanging out of bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread sat on bed with huge disco ball
I’d like to make myself believe someone stood in town
That planet Earth turns slowly couple holding hands
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay someone sat on a bench alone
Awake when I’m asleep eyes closing
‘Cause everything is never as it seems lights
When I fall asleep fade me out fade couple in asleep
Leave my door open just a crack me closing door
(Please take me away from here) led on field sunny weather
‘Cause I feel like such an insomniac not being able to sleep
(Please take me away from here) led on field
Why do I tired of counting sheep me standing in field holding sheep
(Please take me away from here) led on field
When I’m far too tired to fall asleep me sat in bed
To ten million fireflies dandelions
I’m weird ’cause I hate goodbyes people saying goodbye
I got misty eyes as they said farewell misty eyes
But I’ll know where several are pour Smarties
If my dreams get real bizarre fridge shot – bug jar
‘Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar bugs in a jar
I’d like to make myself believe flashing lights in town
That planet Earth turns slowly snail on globe
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay asleep on bench,
Awake when I’m asleep couple walk by
‘Cause everything is never as it seems people walking by
When I fall asleep screen goes white
I’d like to make myself believe me dancing in the rain
That planet Earth turns slowly inflatable globe
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay couples in
Awake when I’m asleep common room
‘Cause everything is never as it seems cabot tower – me looking down hill
When I fall asleep closed eyes fade in
I’d like to make myself believe staring out of window
That planet Earth turns slowly me putting globe down
It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay shots of room
Awake when I’m asleep cat asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams slumped on bed, smile
This synopsis was the initial plan for our music video but due to further inspiration during development our progression lead to our story changing to the main female character missing her current boyfriend who has moved away abroad. Throughout the music video she reminisces all of the good times she has had with him. At the end she feels positive that the long distance relationship will work as she texts him that she misses him.
Evaluation
Standard conventions incorporated in to a music video usually include a story being told, symbolism, references to the lyrics, band members playing instruments as well as visual text such as the band’s name and song title at the beginning of the video introducing the song. Relating to the story convention, we decided to produce a piece of media targeted at multiple audiences to in theory, create a bigger market opportunity for purchasing. Our song choice ‘Fireflies’ by Owl City was chosen as it is a very recent promoted song aimed at the younger generation. The ‘synth pop’ genre which this band is, is regularly liked by our target audience; teenagers and young adults. Knowing this gave us an advantage to be able to produce a plot that included a couple where we see the girl enjoying time with her boyfriend and misses him when she’s not with him. Another quality we worked with was the generally ‘feel good’ mood created for its viewers to experience, as all of the frames where based on positive aspects of life. Throughout the video there are various examples of symbolism as well as references to the songs lyrics. Only certain words in the lyrics are illustrated e.g. ‘believe your eyes’ = frame of an eye, due to limitations as well as predictability. If every frame was the basic lyric then a tedious nature would emerge leaving our target audience unhappy and not enjoying the music video which is our videos purpose. Limitations arose as some of the lyrics could only be portrayed by more out-of-reach images, for example difficulties were presented when we attempted to obtain footage of a fox. ‘When’ and ‘where’ were the main restraints to gaining images such as this one.
The decision to not incorporate footage of our band members playing instruments or singing was due to the fact that we didn’t want to depreciate the purpose of our music video which was mainly to present an effective range of images that would make them have a constructive outlook on life. A convention that we did follow was the presentation over the first frame to introduce the band and the name of the song. As this is a typical convention applied within a music video we felt that it was essential to include as it’s so recognisable to our target audience, they will also be able to relate to previous music videos they have viewed. An additional convention that we incorporated into our film was based around Todorov’s idea. His theory is based around the stages of the ‘normal’ equilibrium becoming affected by a disruptive force, then being resolved by a restorative force, concluding with the newly created equilibrium. We applied this to our music video with the usual equilibrium; the happy couple, being interrupted by the disruptive force; the boyfriend having to move away abroad. Thirdly the problem is resolved by an agreement to stay together and have a long distance relationship as the couple cannot handle breaking up. Finally the new equilibrium is produced; the girlfriend remembers all of the good times she has spent with her boyfriend and still keeps in contact with him.
Technologies that I have been exposed to whilst working on this project have been mostly on Apple Mac computers. I have been able to further familiarise myself with PhotoShop and iMovie as they have been the most crucial software we needed to produce our music video, CD covers, promoting posters and magazine articles. When writing up the analysis of music videos and related work I used Pages and occasionally Word Processor. All of these technologies have been accessible fro outside school which is useful as I have been able to update my logbook and work from home.
Our story boards were produced on paper for easy reference when editing our music video. Labelling what shots we would use with the camera for each frame illustrated our desired ending result referring to status and power.
Audience Feedback
I asked a group 20 people, 10 female and 10 male. This was the response I received after having the participants watch the music video.
Verbal feedback received;
“The music video was enjoyable as it had a narrative structure telling a story. The use of effects and speed manipulation kept the video interesting.”
“I did not understand the story behind the music video but it was worth watching as the footage related to the lyrics of the song.”
“It was a really fun video, I would definitely buy this single and/or album.”
If I did this project again I would make my story line more clear cut so that my target audience would enjoy it more and less confusion would arise.
However I’m very pleased that there was some positive feedback and that the video related to my target audiences’ preferences and fulfilled my brief.
To aid the promotion of the bands success, I created a poster to illustrating the bands album and their up coming tour.
Here is the CD albums front cover.
12/6/09
Today we started to plan what we would include in our project. We decided to create a music promo video based around a sound track from the film ‘Hairspray’ called ‘You Can’t Stop The beat.’ We also considered a ‘Police’ song ‘Every Breath You Take’ as a back-up project just in case we find a difficulty in producing our first choice. The plot of the video consists with the story’s characters having a dance off. There is a clear similarity to the original footage in relation to the song. Our ideas comprise of having two males play ‘The Tracys.’ We’ll also have the character ‘Link’ the Presenter and Ida Stubbs. We will incorporate props which fit in with the ‘mise en scene’ including costumes. Our chosen location is on the beach in Bridport as well as additional arbitrary footage.
16/6/09
Today I have begun to create a CD for our bands song. We made a mind map of possible band names and finally came to a decision combining the nick names of the three band members.
10/7/09
I have almost finished my CD cover, I only need to incorporate two photos of two of the band members to complete it. I have also created the back of the CD cover with track information included, we also comprised ‘extra’ songs otherwise the CD could be classed as a single whereas we wanted to create a playlist.
15/9/09
We have decided as a group of four to disperse and work in pairs instead, as numerous problems occurred. Me and Steph are now working together and our project is based around the song ‘Fireflies’ by Owl City. Producing a music video is our choice of project.We have started to plan out the synopsis of the music video as well as discussing the setting and props we will need.
6/10/09
Today I have begun to write up a review on Katy Perry’s ‘Hot N Cold’ music video including content, the producers and ideas. This will educate me to what is considered when producers design a music video creation.
9/10/09
I further analysed the music video ‘Hot N Cold’ by print screening specific shots that I intend to include in our finished music video as well as explaining why. I am doing this to explore the techniques used and needed when making a music video. Researching these will help with my development of planning the footage we will take in the future.
13/10/09
Continued to research and analyse other artist’s music videos.
16/10/09 - 30/10/09
Continuing film and music video analysis’ to aid our inspiration for our own product.
3/11/09
Today in our lesson we watched the British film ‘A Matter of Life and Death.’ Using the IMDB website I researched the production of the film as well as how the director portrays gender within the synopsis. This was good practise for our upcoming on Media an Collective Identity as I have focused around the idea of ‘Identity’ an how this can be represented.
6/11/09
10/11/09
In today’s lesson we watched ‘Trainspotting’ to illustrate how culture and background can be identified. I also considered which roles were given to the two genders throughout the film andif these were typical stereotypes. To gain better knowledge of British Cinema I researched the films production on the IMDB website.
13/11/09 - 20/11/09
We were shown ‘The Last King of Scotland’ in today’s lesson which is based on Idi Amin’s rule of Uganda and the events that occurred.
We have had class discussions based on narrative theories that we can apply to our own work. We also explored the conventions of different media types.
24/11/09
I’ve written up a review of “The Last King of Scotland.”
27/11/09 - 4/12/09
A lesson blend of researching British film, continuing to plan for the production of our music video and watching other A2 music videos on YouTube for inspiration.
15/12/09
Today we watched “Life of Brian” by Monty Python as it is a British film which consists of the conventions surrounding gender, status, identity, disability, representation of a nation or region as well as social repercussions.
12/1/10
In today’s lesson we gathered our AS folders checking that my folder was up to date for re-entering. Me and Steph decided our band name by using a random band name generator on Google.
15/1/10
This lesson we have been watching other schools A level music videos posted on youtube to gain inspiration. We also re-watched the original music video to our song choice ‘Fireflies’ and decided to produce a contrasting version for our project.
19/1/10
Me and Steph have used this lesson productively, planning out what our music video will consist of relating to the songs lyrics. We have also arranged a date to film; 30/1/10.
22/1/10
Today we have started our story boards which will help us refer to our desired frames in the music video.
29/1/10
We have finished our story boards and planning.
January – Mid February
We have dedicated numerous weekends and week afternoons to filming for our music video, this involved taking a camera and tripod to Broadmead filming various scenes of town.
Mid February – March
We have spent this month and a half editing and completing our music video.
Social grouping
We have chosen a younger generation for our social group represented in our film, focusing on how they deal with jealousy, secrecy and bereavement. During our 2 minute introduction to the film, a girl kills one of her ‘best friends.’ As horrifying as this scenario is, she shows no emotion or compassion for what she has done, her general nature is nonchalant. This is not how a typical teenager would react to a serious dilemma. We decided to incorporate this into our film to give an insight in to the teenage minorities life choices. The character of the girl is the complete opposite to how a ‘normal’ teen would act as well as having different mannerisms. This shows how the minority of teenagers would act in these situations, I believe this can attract our target audience and it is something unusual to them which would intrigue them to watch the story unfold. I feel this is a key feature needed in order to entertain an audience. The clothes and representation of the two actors during our 2 minute film is based around relevant and stereotypical clothing of a teenager. This decision was made so that the representation would be believable as well as making it easier for the younger generation to follow and relate to. With this we reached our objective to deliver to our target audience successfully.
Narrative Theories
Within our film we have included an example of binary opposition which is introduced with calm music contrasting with the anxious nature of the tracking. Additional binary opposition occurs when the girl rips up the picture in anger but then grins in a odd, quirky fashion. Aristotle has an influence on our work as well as Levi Strauss as our two minute film takes place in the same location, is in real time and travels towards a logical conclusion.
Normal Conventions
The stereotypical way to film a thriller is to keep the audience guessing and asking questions throughout. I decided to incorporate this technique by creating a typical ‘who dun-it’ plot for a murder scene. A conventional way to present this is to show two different suspects performing the same actions in two different scenes for example; murdering the victim. This identifies the multiple suspects where only one is guilty, another option we could have taken is to imply that the main character is schizophrenic adding to the thriller genre. We chose the title ‘Compassionate’ as it is influenced by Levi Strauss’ theory of ‘binary opposition.’ The content of the film with the non-empathetic female heartlessly murdering her ‘friend.’ This opposes the title which suggests a merciful, caring nature within the film however this quality is not found.
Representation
Representation considers social values as unwritten laws which relates to a persons culture. In a media text the content must support conventional ethics for its target audience to accept and enjoy. These standards may comprise of traditional, subcultural, opposition and dominant values which can be used to challenge or support the morals of present day so the production can be a success. Dominant social values are crafted cleverly within in a film to create familiarity or fantasy for the audience to emerge themselves in.
Developed Conventions
We chose to subvert this convention by showing the two possible candidates for murder in parallel within the same scene, using fast jump cuts to place each at the scene of the crime. The ‘mise en scene’, in this case the costumes would be contrasting to emphasise the change of character. I feel using this method is more effective as all the possibilities are shown at a quick pace, maintaining the audiences curiosity as they have to keep asking questions of who the actual killer is. I believe this is a much more exciting way of presenting a typical thriller set-up as it is original and not often used, adding to the suspense of what is going to happen.
Another developed convention we included was our title choice. It purposely doesn’t relate to the synopsis of the film as not many characters actually show any compassion throughout the scenarios. We deliberately used binary opposition within the title as we wanted to incorporate a distribution of irony. This is another form of catching the audience off guard as they immediately believe that the film will somewhere consist of a merciful, sympathetic nature, after this assumption they are mistaken causing an even greater interest of the viewer.
Channel and Audience
If our film was to be broadcasted, we have chosen Channel 4 to be our choice, as this channel targets and entertains our target audiences; teenagers and young adults. We also decided that our film would be shown at 9 p.m. or a similar time as our ideal viewers have free time and regularly watch TV around this time. In addition, Channel 4 usually show films which are directed at a young audience which include a variety of factors such as chick-flicks, comedies, horrors and thrillers. Further more with the watershed, it gives us a chance to freely include content which might need to be censored otherwise. This aids us in our goal to advertise effectively and beneficially as we can broadcast adverts on the channel as well as show the film to develop interest and enthusiasm about the film when it would eventually be brought out on a DVD/Blue Ray format. This enables our film to become well ingrained in the public eye as it is constantly marketed throughout the broadcasting period. I believe this would increase the demand for viewing from our target audience as the film would be shown on Channel 4 once, then be sold on DVD/Blue Ray not long after. This would then be the only way to view the film until the possibility of a repeat on E4 at a later date as the two channels have a connection with broadcasting similar/the same programmes and films, the film could also be advertised on E4 as well, increasing the chance of a bigger and wider audience which would be beneficial to the production of the film.
Questionnaire
To succeed in the reliable assessment of our film appealing to our target audience, we constructed a questionnaire for selected viewers to complete. The questions related to the opinions and preferences of film genres as well as what T.V. channels they regularly watch and at what times. We chose twenty people in total, some from our own age group (15-18 year olds) as well as some adults.
Preferred Genre of Film
The results from this graph show that males are more likely to watch thriller films than females. Because of this we decided our film would consist of the perspective and opinions of teenage girls throughout the synopsis. This includes numerous main characters being female as well as the synopsis including emotional scenarios which females are more prone to connect with, for example; a teenage girls relationship with a teenage boy. We wanted our film to attract both genders so we could experiment with a range of possible features within the film. To keep the male audience interested in the synopsis, the main character is a teenage boy. Because of this they can have a character to relate to as the character ‘Tom’ goes through different situations. The film also consists of a murder which is prone to attract a male audience as this feature usually interests them with it’s abnormality to everyday life. As females commonly dislike the event of a murder in a film, we incorporated the sentimental story line of the character ‘Alex’ and her Dad passing away when she was at a young age. I have evidence from my questionnaires that males are more likely to watch a thriller film than females are to back this theory up.
All of the people who completed the questionnaire commented that the film fitted the desired genre as throughout, it makes the audience ask questions as there is little information given. We were also given feedback on what we could improve for example the modulation of some of the sound effects. Illustrations of this happening in our film include the falling down the stairs of the characters body and the ripping of the picture. This helped me understand the nature of thrillers as the key is be subtle, even with sound as the genre is based around the unknown but it always concludes with the answers.
If our film was to be broadcasted on television we would use Channel 4 due to its prior broadcasts. The target audience is the same as ours therefore the included conventions would be the same. We investigated to see how many people would watch our thriller film by asking numerous teenagers this question;
If a thriller film was broadcasted on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. would you be inclined to watch it?
These results prove that although females may watch thrillers from time to time males are more prone to view this genre of film. I believe that the stereotypical interests of males are more action/murder based due to their like of liveliness and heart racing enjoyment from a film.
Preliminary Task and Technology
Before the shooting of our film commenced, I had to efficiently learn how to use the video cameras available as well as the movie making software on the computers i.e. iMovie. To do this I practised filming with the camera while completing our task to shoot a person entering and walking across a room, then sitting opposite someone else and have a short conversation. As I was doing this I was able to grasp the concept of filming steadily as well as experimenting with different angles and shots such as; static shots, over the shoulder shots, top shots, mid shots, wide shots and close ups. Additionally we acquired knowledge about the 180° where you must avoid crossing the line when filming to keep the actors eye-line correct. I was also able to understand the purposes of other filming techniques e.g. panning, tracking, craning etc. This helped me a lot when filming the actual film as I could determine what kind of shot would be best to highlight the scenario/character. With the different types of software I learnt how to edit correctly for example; I found that the best way for a transition to take place between shots when someone is going to clear frame keeping the focused person just in the frame before cutting to the next shot. A beneficial feature I also practised was how to add sound tracks, sound effects and credits to a film. Additionally I found that the best way to film without the camera shaking due from being hand held, is to use a counter weight, which is a heavy pole to balanced out the camera, this was a useful and efficient aid to filming our film and gave a similar effect to a steady-cam. My skill in using Photoshop also increased as I decided to make a poster using this software to add to my portfolio. I found it difficult at first to grasp how to use every available tool but with practice I was able to successfully complete my poster.
Successes and Improvements
I believe that a strength in our film is our choice of music to accompany the action in the shot. We successfully included music that had an effective impact on the audience which aided them in immediately feeling the desired emotion based on what was happening in the film. Because of the music we enabled the viewers to cut corners by connecting with the films content and maintaining their interest. An unplanned success which we achieved was the synchronous sound effect of the washing machine in the kitchen. As we were filming the tracking shot from the living room through the dining room to the kitchen we picked up the sound of the washing machine. We were able to use this ‘accident’ to our advantage as the pitch of the sound elevates as the camera moves to the spilt cup of tea, increasing the suspense as there is assistance in representing it’s importance to the plot. I also feel we succeeded in creating realistic post-synch sound effects. For example the sound of someone falling down the stairs was created by us recording the sound of multiple objects falling down them. In the editing process we were able to create the perfect sound to illustrate a real life body falling down the stairs. Finally I feel that we accomplished the goal of creating a realistic thriller as we engaged with the components of successful examples such as ‘Memento’ and ‘The Shining.’ We did this by using subtle suggestions to the plot within the 2 minutes of film, we purposely didn’t reveal the murderer of the scene as we felt that because of this the audience would not be able to predict what happens next. This is a factor we hoped to maintain as this component is crucial to making a thriller film as the plot should be unknown until the very end. I believe that we have succeeded in encouraging our target audience to ask questions. I also feel the camera angles used are examples of typical ones used in other popular thrillers, such as over the shoulder shots to create suspense of the unpredictable.
Improvements which we could make include the transitions from one shot to another. As the camera tracks through the kitchen the frame cuts from the window to panning across the kitchen. Unfortunately the transition is not as smooth as we would like because we didn’t have enough sufficient film to pick up the speed of the scene. A problem we had when editing is that at the beginning when the camera tracks around the house the perception of the frame looks like it’s someone actually walking around. Our aim was to track around the rooms to build tension with the help from the music choice. Because of this problem we decided to re-shoot this part of the film with a counter weighted steady-cam to aid us in ending up with a steady shot, to lessen the impression of a character observing the house. This was an inconvenience to our production but I’m glad that we did as it make a difference to the effect on the audience.
This is the poster I made with photoshop to advertise our film if it was broadcasted.
Shooting Script
Scene 1. (Sunday)
Set in a house. The camera starts in the kitchen of the house. The camera tracks around the room as if it was a person. In the screen there is a spilt cup of tea on the counter. The camera continues into the dining room, on the dining table there is a non spilt cup of tea. Eerie music is playing throughout. The camera proceeds past the staircase. There are two an ominous figures at the top, arguing. Scene continues into the living room. The camera track around the room slowly. Suddenly there is a thud. The camera swiftly goes to the bottom of the staircase where a male body lies. The face is not shown. Camera proceeds up the stairs slowly, arriving at a pair of feet. Camera then shoots to behind the figure standing. Silence. The lifeless body is in viewpoint. The female figure walks down the stairs. The girl sits down at the dining table and drinks from her cup. She gradually takes a picture from her back pocket. The camera looks on the picture but the girls hand is covering half of the picture. The pic is of a couple. She rips up the picture. The half with the unknown person on; she puts back in her pocket. The half with the male she places on the table. She takes a further sip of tea and stands up from her seat. As she walks away the half of the picture falls to the ground. The camera follows it as it lands in front of the dead body. The pic focuses. Then the face of the body focuses. It is the same man. The girl carries on into the kitchen. End scene.
Scene 2. (Friday)
The next morning. The girl prepares a sandwich and gets ready for college. She walks over the body and and walks out of house. The girls stands outside, then an off camera sound of a camera clicking goes off.
The screen goes to someone looking through a camera with the main character (Tom) having a picture taken with different girls, some are blonde some are not. The surroundings suggest it is someone’s birthday. People continue to give Tom presents etc. The scene is set at a college common room.
Alex is sat in the corner of the common room, glaring at Tom with the other girls. A friend of hers called Chantel goes over to her.
C: “G‘Morning.”
Alex is fixated and ignores her. Tom goes walks over to Alex and hugs her. Chantel leaves them scornfully. Camera pans away from the couple.
End scene.
Scene 3. (Friday)
An off-screen sound of a folder hitting desk echoes, the scene changes to a classroom.
A normal lesson begins, friends chatting, teacher writing on board. The teacher asks a maths question, a blonde girl called Sam spends time working it out. She answers and gets the question wrong.
A friend of Toms shouts out in the class.
Nathan: “She got it wrong!”
Tom: “Are you surprised? She always gets it wrong! (Laughs).”
Sam scowls and puts her head down. Tom corrects her mistake and the lesson continues.
Screen goes black. Returns to the end of the lesson.
The class start to leave the classroom, Tom stops Sam.
T: “You know I was only joking Sam.”
S: “I’m used to it by now. It’s not the first time.” She walks away.
End scene.
Scene 4. (Friday – End of school)
Tom spots Alex in the school driveway; he runs up to her.
T: “Alex. I need to say something.”
A: “Go ahead.”
T: “I’m… I’m sorry. So sorry for what I did. Will I see you tomorrow? I want to make it up to you.”
A: “I know you are. But as I said, you knew how much it meant to me.”
T: “I-I wasn’t thinking straight. I was in trouble! I told you.”
A: “It still doesn’t make it right.”
T: “So you’d rather have me dead?”
A: “… Of course not.”
The two converse and make up. Chantel watches from a distance. As Tom leaves she goes up to Alex.
C: “So, you’ve forgiven him?”
A: “Yeah.”
C: “After what he did?”
A: “(Sighs) Chantel, don’t get involved.” Alex storms off.
Chantel talks to herself: “But I’m already involved…”
End scene.
Scene 5. (Friday – Sam’s house)
Sam walks through her front door, her mum shouts from the top of the stairs
“Samantha Karen Lawrence! What are you doing home so late!?”
Sam looks at her watch; “I’m only five minutes late Mother.”
“That doesn’t matter! You know the rules!”
Her mum storms down the stairs.
“I’m sick of this!”
S: “Of what?”
“Of what? Of what?! Is that how you speak to your Mother now?!”
Sam stares at her mum.
“Well?!”
Sam calmly leaves. She stands still outside her front door. She starts walking down the path, out the gate, starts running, crying, down the street.
End scene.
Scene 6. (Friday – Park)
A blonde girl sits on a swing with her head down, her hair is over her face. Tom is walking home, he passes the park, sees the girl. He slowly walks over to the swings.
T: “Hi again Alex.”
Chantel looks up.
T: “Oh I’m sorry Chantel, I thought you were/”
C: “/I guessed that.”
T: “Sorry.”
He sits on the swing next to her.
T: “So how’s it going? Good day?”
C: “Terrible.”
T: “How come?”
C: “Because.”
T: “Because…?”
C: “Alex.”
T: “Alex? What’s she done?”
C: “Everything.”
Chantel walks away. Tom is left alone. He stays on the swing looking down at his feet. As he starts to walk away from the park he sees Sam walking by.
She is sobbing.
T: “Oh my god – Sam what’s wrong?”
She stays silent.
T: “Problems with your mum again?”
S: “It has nothing to do with you!”
T: “I’m sorry, just trying to help.”
S: “Like you were this morning?”
T: “I was just trying to get a smile out of you.”
S: “Well sorry I’m not like all the other girls who are always smiling and all over you. I’m different.”
T: “Well that’s for sure.”
S: “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not exactly perfect.”
T: “Sam I’m/”
S: “/Sorry? You’re pathetic and you’re gonna get what’s coming to you Tom. I promise that.”
Sam runs away. Tom stands still.
“Shit.”
He walks the opposite way listening to music.
End scene.
Scene 7. (Friday – Outside Alex’s house)
He rings the doorbell. She comes to the door.
T: “I need to talk to you.” He closes the front door.
The camera cuts to Alex’s bedroom. They’re sat on her bed.
He explains what happened with Sam.
T: “I think she hates me.”
Alex acts really aloof.
T: “As if that’s not bad enough; I’ve also fallen out with Chantel.”
A: “I’m not surprised. She’s been acting strange recently. This morning she had a bitch at me because I forgave you.”
T: “She’s so strange.”
Alex smiles.
She looks at the time and panics. “Oh no! You’d better go, my dad will be home soon.”
T: “Alex… what’re you talking about?”
A: “Come on, come on! You know how he gets mad at the slightest thing!”
Alex grabs his arm and starts dragging Tom out of her bedroom.
T: “B-but Alex!”
Alex continues dragging him. At the top of the stairs;
T: “Alex; your dad’s dead.”
Alex stops dead. “
A: “I… I know. I was only joking.”
Tom stares at her.
A: “Just … just go Tom.”
Alex runs back into her room. She sits down crying, the sound of the front door slams. She wipes her eyes and reaches under her bed, pulls out a medicine bottle and spills some pills on the floor. She puts a number of them in her mouth, chews, and swallows.
End scene.
Scene 8. (Friday – Toms house)
Tom walks in through his front door. His eyes are bloodshot. His family is an ordinary family; mum is cooking, dad is reading the paper and his little brother is playing computer games.
“Oh hi love, how was your day?”
T: “Y-yeah it was good.” Tom starts to walk upstairs.
“Your tea will be ready in five minutes Hun!”
T: “Ok mum.”
Tom walks into his bedroom and chucks his bag on the desk. He falls onto the bed and closes his eyes. The camera shoots to outside where a figure is standing, watching.
The camera looks from behind the blonde figure, a distinctive red scarf blows in the wind. The face is not seen.
Toms eyes stay closed, his mum shouts out; “Tea’s ready!”
He rises from his bed and leaves the room.
End scene.
Scene 9. (Saturday morning – Toms bedroom)
An off screen sound of an alarm clock goes off. The time is around 10 o’ clock AM.
Tom hits the alarm. He starts to get dressed.
The scene goes to Tom eating his breakfast. The doorbell rings.
Toms mum answers it; “Tom! Alex is here!”
A: “Hello Mrs Nicket.”
Alex walks into the kitchen.
Tom smiles. “How’s you?”
A: “Better thank you.”
T: “I’ll just finish this and we’ll go Ok?”
Alex smiles and nods.
Tom eats one more bite and the two leave. They walk outside the house. “Bye Mum!”
End scene.
Scene 10. (Saturday midday – Town)
The two walk around shopping etc. As they do this they are followed by a mysterious person wearing a red billowing scarf. (Chantel)
The two have lunch outside a cafe.
A: “Right I have to go to the ladies!”
She leaves and Tom sits alone. Suddenly five tall, butch males walk over to Tom.
“We need a word.”
T: “Excuse me?”
Sam appears from behind.
T: “Sam! – What you doing here?” (Panicky voice)
S: “It’s time.”
T: “Time for what?”
S: “For me to keep my promise. Remember?”
T: “B-but I gave them the money! I even pawned the/”
Brother: “/That’s not good enough. Not after what you did to my little sister.”
T: “What more do you want?! It’s not my fault she’s such a freak! No wonder she gets bullied!”
Brother: “You – YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!”
A voice overcomes the thugs.
A: “What’s going on?”
S: “Oh, nothing Alex. Just saying ‘ello.”
Sam’s brother stares at Tom.
Brother: “This isn’t over.”
The brothers and Sam walk away.
End scene.
Scene 11. (Saturday afternoon – Bus)
Alex and Tom are sat down. It starts to rain outside.
A: “Tom?”
Tom doesn’t respond.
A: “It’ll be Ok you know.”
T: “No it wont, you heard what they said. This is far from over.”
The bus stops.
A: “Well, this is my stop. I’ll see you Monday Tom.”
Tom doesn’t really acknowledge her.
Screen goes black.
Scene cuts to Tom walking to the park.
A figure is already on the swings in a red scarf.
Tom sits on the other swing.
T: “Hey Chantel.”
She swiftly looks up in relief. “Are you Ok?”
T: “Yeah ‘cause I look fine.”
C: “Sorry. I’m a bit blonde.”
Tom smiles. “So you’re talking to me now?”
C: “Guess so. Actually; I was looking for you.”
T: “Really? What for?”
C: “It’s about Alex.”
T: “What, again? Do you have it in for her or something?”
C: “You don’t know what she’s like Tom. She’s not as innocent as she looks…”
T: “What are you talking/”
/Toms phone rings. He answers.
T: “Alex.”
C: “(Hey, don’t trust her.)”
Tom listens to Alex.
T: “Ok.”
He puts the phone down.
T: “I got to go.”
C: “You’re not going to see her are you?”
T: “I have to go Chantel.”
C: “No! You can’t trust her! You don’t realise/”
T: “/Listen Chantel, I know you like me, but this is getting ridiculous.”
C: “That’s not it! I don’t want to see you get hurt!”
T: “What are you talking about? Alex would never hurt me.”
C: “You don’t understand Tom! She’s not/”
T: “/Good-bye Chantel.”
Tom starts to walk away.
Tears swell up in Chantel’s eyes.
C: “Tom…”
End scene.
Scene 12. (Saturday late afternoon – Alex’s bedroom)
Alex sits alone in her room, ripped up pictures lay spread across her floor. One of them is a picture of Chantel and Tom ripped up but placed close together. There’s an empty medicine bottle on her bed.
She rocks backwards and forwards. She puts the picture in her pocket, she grabs her mobile and rings Tom.
“Hi Tom, I need to speak to you, can you come over now?”
The screen goes black.
The sound of knocking echoes off screen.
Tom knocks on Alex’s door. She opens it and lets him in. They both stand in the kitchen with cups of tea. Alex stays calm, Tom is anxious.
A: “Have you been talking to Chantel?”
T: “H-how did you/”
A: “/I thought I heard her voice on the phone.”
T: “She was just pestering me about the locket thing…”
A: “Can you blame her?”
T: “She’s obsessed.”
A: “With you? I don’t think so.”
T: “What do you mean?”
A:“After what you did, how could anyone like you.”
T: “How can you still be mad at me for that? I thought you forgave me!”
They argue. He slams the cup on the side, it spills.
He storms through the dining room into the hallway. Alex calmly walks into the dining room, places her tea on the table. She walks up to him and stares.
He carries on talking.
T: “You know. You know what would have happened. What would’ve happened to me! Why
are you doing this?!”
A: “Sorry.”
T: “They’re going to kill me Alex! Doesn’t that mean anything to you? You saw how they
were yesterday!”
A: “I’m sorry Tom… This wont bother you anymore.”
Alex goes up the stairs blankly, Tom follows anxiously but still hysterical. They reach the top of the stairs. Alex doesn’t talk.
Tom; “I’m sorry Alex. Really I am!… Alex? Why aren’t you talking? Alex. Alex, look at me!”
She darts her eyes at his.
Alex: “Fine.”
Silence. The screen goes black.
End Scene.
Scene 13. (Monday afternoon).
Off-screen sound of key turning in the lock; Alex opens the front door. It scrapes along Toms head; he still lies there. She doesn’t acknowledge him. She accidently drops her keys next to him, as she bends down, she sees a little red box poking out of Toms pocket. She picks it up and opens it slowly. She sees a locket identical to her pawned one laid out in the box.
A small picture of her dad is inside the locket. Tears start to stream down her face.
Underneath the locket is a piece of paper. She unfolds it.
Flashback; Tom: “I want to make it up to you.”
The camera looks on to the letter, Toms voice reads the first sentence. The voice continues as the screen goes black. As the letter is being read, the ripped up picture of Tom and Alex appears.
It reads;
“My Dear Alex,
We’ve been friends for such a long time, and I’ve always been grateful for your friendship.
But you haven’t been the same since that day five years ago.
You were so full of life, but now…
I know replacing it doesn’t make up for what I did, but somehow I thought you could forgive me.
I was wrong.
I knew you wouldn’t.
Did you think I hadn’t noticed Alex?
That since that day, you’ve lost your…
Your compassion.”
Credits come up and end film.
Synopsis
The film is based around a 6th form student called Tom and his peers Alex, Nathan, Sam, Chantel. Throughout the film Tom is conscious of being watched by someone, the identity of the character is unknown, the only clues are a red scarf and the watcher having blonde hair. There are many possible culprits. At the beginning, the timeline is altered by showing the murder scene of Tom, which happens on the Sunday. Toms birthday is the day after. The killer is anonymous but the fact that she is blonde is made purposely obvious to create suspense and ask the question ‘which girl did it?’. After, the scene switches back to the Friday morning at school. Tom is shown with his friends in the common room, his closest friend Alex is portrayed with abnormal behaviour. Controversy that has happened in the past with Tom and Alex as well as with other friends is revealed. The suggestion of Alex’s mental health is questioned throughout the plot, it worsens. The relationship between Tom and Sam is illustrated as sensitive, there is a history of him and Nathan bullying her. On the Saturday when Alex and Tom are down town, Sam brings her brother and his friends to ‘teach him a lesson.’ Towards the end of the film Alex’s friend Chantel finds it hard to hide her feelings for Tom and warns him of Alex’s condition. The climax reveals Alex’s unstable mental health as she still bears a grudge for Tom stealing and pawning a necklace her deceased Father gave her, to pay off the thugs that have been threatening him. She completely loses control and pushes Tom down the stairs leaving him for dead. The timeline then repeats our very first scene. The final scene is Alex returning home from school Monday afternoon (Tom’s birthday.) Her behaviour is completely nonchalant, Tom’s dead body still lies at the bottom of the stairs. She accidently drops her keys near him, as she bends down to pick them up she spots a red box poking out of his pocket. It contains an identical locket of the one Tom pawned, a picture of Alex’s Dad and a note. As she reads and realises what she’s become, she cries. Credits come up.
Link for the film on YouTube;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd4yKXUFt4I
Questionnaire
(Circle answer/s where appropriate)
Name:
Age:
Gender: Male Female
Occupation:
Preferred Genre of Film: Romantic Thriller Horror Action Comedy Sci-fi
1. Overall did you enjoy the film?
2. What was your initial response/first thought about the film?
3. What particularly stood out for you in a good way?
Sound Acting Movement (camera) Plot Effects Editing
4. If you saw this on the TV would it make you watch the entire film?
5. Do you think this film fits the criteria for thriller? E.g. makes you ask questions.
6. How likely are you to watch a thriller on Channel 4 at 9 p.m.?
Definitely Very Likely Maybe Unlikely Never
7. How often do you watch films on the TV?
Always Often Sometimes Not Often Never
8. What channel do you usually watch on TV?
9. In your opinion; was the film believable? If so, why?
10. Do you think there is anything that can be improved in our film? If so, please explain.
Ideas and Planning
We have decided to set the film at one of our houses, as the surroundings and props available were suitable for our film. The beginning starts off in the living room, the camera pans from right to left whilst Titles begin to appear on the screen. The camera then tracks through the doors to the kitchen, titles continue to fade onto the screen. The camera carries on tracking through the kitchen as the washing machine sound crescendos. As the screen lands on the spilt cup of tea the washing machine sound changes dynamically to a high pitched scream. A sudden crash is heard, the camera rapidly spins round to see Toms body lying at the bottom of the stairs lifeless. The camera steadily tracks back through the dining room to the bottom of the stairs avoiding the body. Then the screen pans up the stairs to a pair of feet, instead of continuing to the face the camera switches to behind the girl and the view carries on to Tom at the bottom. This then switches behind two blonde girls, one with a pink striped top and one with a black top, the flick happens twice to the other anonymous girl. After the shot follows the girls feet casually walking down the stairs as if nothing has happened. The sound of a clicking clock starts. An over shoulder shot of the girl comes on screen, she sits down and stares at a photo of someone with Tom, covering the other persons face with her thumb. The camera shoots to a close up of the picture then to a view of Tom draped across the floor.
She then rips the picture down the middle and sips a cup of tea placed on the dining table. The camera appears on a close up of her sipping the tea, then the shot switches to a different girl drinking from a different coloured cup with a fuzz noise echoing off screen, the shot then goes back to the original as she lowers the cup. The image then coverts into slow motion of the girl grinning as the title ‘Compassionate’appears on screen. The shot then suddenly turns and ends on white.
Music
At the start the music will be quiet and slow. We have decided to use ‘Shawshank Redemption’; “An Inch of His life.” This music carries on throughout the tracking of downstairs, as the camera reaches the kitchen the sound of a washing machine plays over the music.
After the sound of the falling/thud at the bottom of the stairs, the music completely ends while the raging washing machine continues until the shot tracks to the bottom of the stairs. As the camera pans to the top of the stairs we will play a music piece from ‘Alien Autopsy’ this continues as she walks down.
When the girl reaches the bottom of the stairs the sound of a ticking clock begins.
The music stops just before she sits down, whereas the ticking carries on playing. As she gets out the picture the final piece of music begins. For this we chose ‘Sherlock Holmes’; “The Gamecock.” The sound of ripping the picture stands out over the music and ticking. Both the music and ticking perseveres until the end, we will let the ticking clock slightly play on after the music stops.
Actors
- We have chosen Tom Whiltshire to play the character ‘Tom.’
- We have chosen Tilly Davis to play the character ‘Alex.’
Titles
- At the beginning, when the camera is panning the living room, our Production name appears after 5 seconds.
- After 18:23 seconds the Directors names appear as the camera moves towards
- When tracking in the kitchen at 30:23 seconds, the Producers name appears
- The Editors name appears whilst still in the kitchen at 38:20 seconds
- We made the actor and actresses names appear in order of their appearance, e.g. when you first see the character Tom led on the floor at 57:18 seconds. At 1 minute 09 seconds, the actresses name appears on screen as she strolls down the stairs.
- “Compassionate” appears on screen at the very end of the film when Alex smirks, 1 minute 46 seconds
Props
- Cups of tea, one in a white cup and one in a black & white cup.
- Pictures of Alex and Tom (Tilly and Tom).
- All the furniture in Tilly’s house.
Opening Credits;
A Loiro Production
Directed by Charlotte Harrison and Tilly Davis
Produced by Charlotte Harrison
Edited by Tilly Davis
Starring:
Tom Whiltshire
Tilly Davis
Our Chosen title is:
“Compassionate”
How many people being asked for questionnaire;
Five 17 year olds,
Five teachers,
Three children.
