Treatment - Forest Chase Scene Research And Inspiration

We have looked at some forest chase scenes that feature in other films to use as inspiration for when we film our own chase scene.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - The Snatchers Chase Scene

This scene in Harry Potter relates to our scene in several ways as the protagonists are being tracked down by henchmen, and being chased through a forest.

There are a number of techniques in this clip that we plan to use in our own sequence; for example, tracking the characters as they run through the trees. We also plan to use the the techniques of following the characters from behind with handheld camera movement, and close ups of different body parts, such as feet running. We hope to replicate the fast paced editing in our own sequence.

Sherlock Holmes - A Game Of Shadows

In this scene, there is a variety of shots used. For example, there are low angle mid shots of the characters running away from camera. We hope to incorporate this technique into our project, as well as other aspects of this scene, again, such as tracking the characters as they run through the trees, and following behind them using handheld camera movement.

We would have liked to use slow motion, which is heavily used in this clip, but due to the equipment and software we have, this wouldn't be possible to the standard we would want.



Research - Institutions

As our film is a British studio production, we thought it was more appropriate to have a British production company actually produce the film, and be funded by a Hollywood studio (Warner Bros.). An example of this is the Harry Potter franchise, which was presented by Warner Bros., and produced by British companies (HeyDay and Moving Picture Company), or About Time, which was produced by Working Title Films (GB) and Translux (US).

Moving Picture Company

Special Effects Company

Produced: Man Of Steel (action, fantasy), World War Z (action),
X-Men: First Class (action, sci-fi)

HeyDay Films
Production Company
Produced: I am Legend (sci-fi), Gravity (sci-fi)

Working Title Films
Production and Distribution Company
Produced: About Time (fantasy), The World's End (action, sci-fi), Shaun Of The Dead (fantasy)

We thought it was best to be produced by HeyDay Films and Moving Picture Company, as they have worked on films of a similar genre, as well as with stunning special effects, which we want to achieve in our film.

Proposal - Our Presentation Handout

This is our handout for our second pitch, which was about the details of our opening. We again had to show actual film references and research that we had done in order to come to informed decisions. We again received feedback, which we again used to help improve our ideas.

After the pitch, we changed a number of things about our opening sequence idea:

• We decided our location - Location 2 (Epping Forest)
• We've changed our actor, due to Adam not featuring in the sequence
• We also changed the plot of our sequence - instead of having Leora bump into Adam, we decided to have Leora being chased by the Henchman, then having a confrontation, before jumping to 2014

Treatment - Storyboard And Script

We drew the shots on different coloured post-its, which made it easier to move around shots, and differentiate between shot types. Below are examples of some of the shots we drew on the storyboard:

This is an example of a long shot that we planned, with arrows and annotations explaining what we planned in the shot.

This is an example of a mid shot that is over the shoulder, showing Leora's reaction to the Henchman lifting his mask. We wrote explanations for each shot under each drawing. 

This is an example of a close up, showing what emotion we wanted the actors to show.

(posted by Juliette)

Treatment - Locations

UPDATE
After the pitch, we decided to use Location 2 as it meant we were able to get the long shots of the London skyline, which helped us to convey that the film was set in London.

(posted by Juliette)

Treatment - Introducing Characters/Themes/Settings

In the opening, we introduce:

• the protagonist - Leora
• the villain - the Henchman - the audience know he is the villain as he is seen to be chasing Leora, and looks frightening due to his mask, which makes him appear faceless and cold.
• Adam is also shown at the end of the opening.

The setting is introduced through master shots, such as the forest and the backstreets of London

The theme of time travel is also conveyed by the characters appearing in the forest - their costumes make them seem out of place, suggesting to the audience that they are not from 2014, but the future (for example Leora's metallic makeup)

(posted by Juliette)

Treatment - Actors

We decided to use actors from our and group, and from our school, as it was easier to organise them, and they know the importance of our project, so they will be reliable, such as arriving on time for shoots.

(posted by Juliette)

Treatment - Researching Film Titles

The World's End
No titles apart from film title. This was integrated into the shot and was stationary. The font style is that of most beer labels, blocky and bold with a gold trim and black lettering.

About Time
Titles for production company and film name appear white in a thick blocky font, all in capitals and on black background in the centre of the frame. Actor/Actress names are positioned in the bottom left or right of frame and are a mixture of cases in white thin sans-serif font.

Attack the Block
Blocky all capitals stylised sans-serif font. White colour for important parts of title, less striking and contrasting orange for other relevant titles all on black background. Titles appear periodically between shots of film.

Skyfall

All titles very simplistic. No integration whatsoever and are stationary in the centre of the shot throughout title sequence. Font style is a simple thin sans-serif font all in capital letters. The white colour stands out against darkened background. Shot and moving images are visible in background.

Quantum of Solace
Titles are simplistic yet stylised. The titles are placed specifically as not to interfere with contents of shot. Blocky sans-serif font in all capitals in a white colour. Gradient on shot allows titles to be seen clearly. Shot and moving images are visible in background.

Casino Royale

Titles are a simplistic sans-serif thin white font which remain stationary in the centre of the frame for the duration of the title sequence. The writing is all in capitals. Shot and moving images are visible in background.

ZombielandThe titles are integrated into the action, and the characters can interact with them.

Treatment - Visual Style

Gritty, with high contrast between highlights and shadows, with blue-green tones, as blue and green are commonly associated with the sci-fi genre, and gritty visuals are associated with action films.

12 Monkeys (sci-fi, action) - very dim lighting, with high contrast between light and dark, as well as the time machine lit completely in blue, which helps to connote the sci-fi genre.

Star Trek (sci-fi) - once again, prominent blue tones, especially within the spaceship itself. However, it has lots of high key lighting, which isn’t a common feature of gritty action films.

Alien (sci-fi) - high contrast between shadows and highlights, as well as blue being a dominant colour

Blade Runner (sci-fi, thriller) - high contrast between shadows and highlights, as well as blue being a dominant colour

(posted by Juliette)

Pre-production - Title Inspiration

We plan to have interactive titles, as these were a convention of the action genre. We have drawn inspiration from the Zombieland opening credits, where characters destroy titles as they run past. Due to time constraints, and lack of experience, we decided to have our characters merely run past or over our titles.

UPDATE (after we have finished our final edit)

Shown above are the Zombieland opening titles, and below are our titles.

There are however differences between ours and those of Zombieland. In Zombieland the titles are more implemented into the background and scenes within the opening sequence, for example they appear as though they are part of the ground or a building. However we were unable to add this effect so our titles appear to be floating in the air but still, by passing behind trees, for example, appear as though they are built in as an integral part of the scene.

Treatment - Planning Our Opening Sequence Titles

From the research on font styles from similar titles of the same genre and nationality as our film (British Sci-fi), the general theme was that they used white, simple, bold or thin sans-serif fonts, featured on a black or dark background. They were all stationary however, and our group have decided that we want to have the titles integrated into the opening sequence. Here is a collection of possible font styles that are a similar match of the ones I have researched.

Altera

This font is quite nice and and clean. 

The simplistic thin lines look good but it's not very symmetrical or measured.

Bebas Neue

I think this font works well as it's thick enough to destroy without being unable to read, and is also measured (the thickness of the lettering is consistent and it's easy on the eye). 

Droidiga

This font complies with all the conventions of fonts used in sic-fi titles and it is a nice font, however there are problems. The letters 'L' and 'S' look a bit odd bit this can be fixed. The spacing between the lettering may also need to be fixed. 

Franchise

This font isn't too bad and is reasonably thick but I don't like the way the letter 'M' is really pointed at the bottom. Otherwise the spacing and width is consistent and looks okay.

 Neou

This font is really nice, and is not overly thin that you can't read it. The spacing of the lettering may need to be sorted out and also how consistent the width of the lettering is. This is a nice font and a strong contender if these things are sorted out. 

Roadway

This font is my favourite of all of the ones I have found so far. However, lowercase letters appear above the line for some reason, which can arguably look nice but most likely won't. Also the thickness of some of the letters is inconsistent, but it it a nice font nonetheless. 

Treatment - Soundtrack - Darkness Falls

For our opening, we decided to use this soundtrack, as it fits the genre - action and sci-fi. The beginning of the audio clip is tense, building suspense, before the drums begins, which quickens the pace of our running shots. The metallic noises connote sci-fi, as they are associated with technology. With the audio, we tried to time certain actions with the claps, and the time jump at the end with the noise at 0:58.
Due to practicality issues and the fact that the clip is only 01:09 minutes long we would have to edit the audio clip in order to fit with our opening sequence which is over 30 seconds longer than our sound clip. This would make our editing process more difficult, since this sound clip was most suited to our opening sequence we thought it was worth the extra effort.

Below we have posted some clips of chase sequences in action/sci-fi films that have soundtracks that have inspired our own chase sequence.

The music in this scene of Inception starts off very quietly whilst the two characters are talking and then as the action begins and the chase commences, the music becomes a lot louder and the beat comes in. The difference between this scene and our own was that this scene includes much more fighting and dialogue than our own. The music in our opening sequence has a much more of a sci-fi feel to it, and creates a much tenser ambience.



This clip is a chase scene from The Bourne Identity; the music in this clip didn't heavily influence the ambience and mood of our music but there are some points of this soundtrack which we really tried to capture in our own music. The heavy, fast beats in this scene are something that we really wanted to include in our scene.

Treatment - Conventions

HENCHMAN
the chrome mask is futuristic, as the metallic colour connotes sci-fi, and the mask is like nothing we usually see today, connoting the future

LEORA
Gold makeup, again connoting the future with the metallic colours, and how it is not typical of today's society.







TITLES
white, blocky font which is similar to films of the same genre, for example Attack The Block

Titles from Attack The Block

SOUNDTRACK
fast paced and techno-sounding, connoting sci-fi and action

THEMES
time travel, which connotes sci-fi, and good vs. evil, which is typical of action films

(posted by Juliette)

Treatment - The Opening Sequence Planned Camera Techniques

For our opening sequence, the majority of the clip will be a chase scene. The chase will be on foot and will feature two of the characters from the film. Here are a few examples of chase scenes that we used as reference when designing the chase.

POINT BREAK

 

Features 

• Lots of mid shots from a fixed point of chase, both characters present follow pan of one character then quick pan back to other character following both their movements
• Close up shots, handheld of each character showing their emotion
• Hand held mid shots from in front and behind characters, which add to atmosphere
• Low angle handheld long shots tracking the character's movements
• Match on action jumping ahead of characters through walls/fences etc
• point of view shots from character's perspective

CASINO ROYALE

Features

• Long shots when stunts performed then usually quick cut to close up of character's face
• mid/mid close shots when character is doing something
• Point of view shots feature regularly
• Every now and then extreme long shot of two characters to allow audience to see the relationship of the space between them
• Close up shots then cuts to specific things used to show characters thought process
• Low angle handheld follow shots add a lot of character to shots 

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

Features

• Cutting between close up to mid to long shots when character is performing athletic stunts
• Match on action every time character goes through door or jumps of something
• Levels of surroundings are taken into account, so stationary camera match on action from where character jumps from to where they land. 
• Close up shot every now and then to show character's emotion 
• Half second clips when action is happening all from different angles

Proposal - Inspiration From Similar Films

We also decided to research this film, as it is also a British sci-fi film, like our own film opening. Whilst this features robots rather than time-travel, we drew inspiration from the visual style of the film, planning to grade our film similarly to this; mostly blue with high contrast.

Title: The World's End

Year It Was Made: 2013
Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Synopsis: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.
Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Working Title Films

Distribution Companies: Universal

This film inspired our idea for having the Henchman as almost robotic, because the robots in this film are unstoppable, and frightening due to their lack of faces when they are attacking. This film also inspired our grading choices as it is also predominantly blue when the aliens are in shots, for example:

Looper is another film we used as inspiration for our own film and opening sequence. We referenced the idea of characters from the future disappearing and reappearing in the present day. The idea of them appearing in a more baron, unfamiliar setting was something else we took an idea from. Below is the scene from the film where the character appears.

Proposal - Our Presentation Handout

This handout was for our first pitch to our teachers about our film opening idea, demonstrating what research we had done, as well as explaining our initial ideas. From the pitch we received feedback, which we then used to change and improve our ideas.

• After the pitch, we thought it would be better to simplify the plot of both the opening and the film itself.
  - the opening will instead decided that Leora would be caught by the Henchman, they would have a confrontation, from which Leora would escape and jump back in time to 2014.
  - the film plot itself will also be different - Leora escapes to 2014 after getting away from the Henchman. Synergy uses an incomplete duplicate of her device to send the Henchman after her. Leora in the mean time has lost the device, only to find it with Adam. However, the Henchman tracks her down, and brings back up, resulting in a battle between Synergy and Leora and Adam; Adam manages to help save London, destroying all the devices used except one replica. Leora then has to make the decision whether to go back to her time, or stay with Adam.
  
• We also changed the institutions, deciding instead to have a production company that is associated with Moving Picture Company, and distributed by Warner Bros.
• In terms of theories, we referenced Todorov's theory of having an equilibrium - disruption - hero's journey - new equilibrium. However, we decided to change this slightly, and start with a disruption - Leora being chased by the Henchman/Synergy.
• We also referenced Propp's theory of the 8 character roles (villan, hero, donor, helper, princess, father, dispatcher, flase hero). In our film, we incorporated some of Propp's character roles; the villain(s) - Synergy and the Henchman, the hero - Leora, the princess - Adam
• Another theory that we used was Levi-Strauss' theory of narrative structure in terms of binary opposites. In our film we have the contrast between good and evil (Leora and Synergy), past and present (2014 and 2071), known and unknown (Leora's present and when she jumps back)

Proposal - Inspiration From Similar Films

We chose to research this film as it has similar genres to our opening idea, particularly sci-fi. The opening also inspired our idea for having enigmatic elements of our opening, as this film also opens with enigmas, leaving the audience confused and curious.

Title: Inception

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Production Company: Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, Syncopy

Synopsis: Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.

Genre: A combination of science fiction, heist film and film noir.

How it fits the genre: The character of Mal is the film's main antagonist and is "the essence of femme fatale" which is the key noir reference in the film. Nolan began with the structure of a heist movie, since exposition is an essential element of that genre, though adapted it to have a greater emotional narrative suited to the world of dreams and subconscious

Target Audience: Predominantly young men between the ages of 16-37. However, the plot caters for both genders.

The first minute of the opening is relevant for our idea, as the audience have no idea who the character on the beach is, where he has come from, or who he is. The character is enigmatic, much like we intend for our characters to be, as our opening begins with the character Leora appearing in a foreign environment with no explanation.

Proposal - Research For Distribution Companies

This research is to help us decide which production company we want our film to be produced and/or distributed by. As we want to make a sci-fi film, we have decided that it would be better to be produced and distributed by a well-known studio as it is conventional for sci-fi and action films to have large budgets, which independent studios could not provide.

20th Century Fox UK

Most recently distributed films 2013

• Black Nativity (2013) - Drama/Musical
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) - Adventure/Comedy/Drama
• The Internship (2013) - Comedy
• Trance (2013) - Crime/Drama/Mystery
• Murder 3 (2013) - Thriller

Films distributed related to our genre Action/Adventure/Sci-fi/Comedy 

• A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) - Action/Crime/Thriller
• Taken 2 (2012) - Action/Crime/Thriller
• Prometheus (2012) - Adventure/Mystery/Sci-fi
• Chronicle (2012) - Drama/Sci-fi/Thriller
• X-Men: First Class (2011) - Action/Adventure/Sci-fi

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment US

Most recently distributed films 2013

• Carrie (2013) - Drama/Horror
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) - Adventure/Comedy/Drama
• The Ultimate Life (2013) - Drama
• 12 Years a Slave (2013) - Biography/Drama/History
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) - Adventure/Family/Fantasy

Films distributed related to our genre Action/Adventure/Sci-fi/Comedy 

• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) - Adventure/Family/Fantasy
• The Wolverine (2013) - Action/Adventure/Fantasy
• The Heat (2013) - Action/Comedy/Crime
• A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) - Action/Crime/Thriller
• Chronicle (2012) - Drama/Sci-fi/Thriller

Warner Bros. US

Most recently distributed films 2013

• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) - Adventure/Fantasy
• Her (2013) - Comedy/Drama/Romance
• Prisoners (2013) - Crime/Drama/Thriller
• Gravity (2013) - Drama/Sci-fi/Thriller
• Getaway (2013) - Action/Crime

Films distributed related to our genre Action/Adventure/Sci-fi/Comedy 

• Her (2013) - Comedy/Drama/Romance
• Gravity (2013) - Drama/Sci-fi/Thriller
• Cloud Atlas (2012) - Adventure/Drama/Sci-fi
• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) - Action/Adventure/Comedy
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) - Action/Adventure/Crime

Universal US

Most recently distributed films 2013

• 47 Ronin (2013) - Action/Adventure/Fantasy
• Riddick (2013) - Action/Sci-fi/Thriller
• Rush (2013) - Action/Biography/Drama
• Kick-Ass 2 (2013) - Action/Comedy/Crime
• 2 Guns (2013) - Action/Comedy/Crime

Films distributed relate to our genre Action/Adventure/Sci-fi/Comedy 

• 47 Ronin (2013) - Action/Adventure/Fantasy
• Riddick (2013) - Action/Sci-fi/Thriller
• Kick-Ass 2 (2013) - Action/Comedy/Crime
• 2 Guns (2013) - Action/Comedy/Crime
• R.I.P.D. (2013) - Action/Comedy/Crime

Proposal - Inspiration From Similar Films

We chose to research this film as it has the same sci-fi theme as ours - time travel. It inspired our idea to have our opening introduce the concept of time travel, like Looper does. We also wanted our opening to end on an enigma, much like this film opening, as it ends with a character appearing and being killed with no explanation, and we plan to also portray time travel, but not fully explain it.

Title - Looper (2012)

Production Companies - Endgame Entertainment, DMG Entertainment, FilmDistrict, Ram Bergman

Distributer - Entertainment One (UK)

Synopsis - Time travel is invented by the year 2074 and, though outlawed, is used by criminal organisations to send those they want killed into the past to be killed by 'loopers', assassins paid with silver bars strapped to their targets. Joe, a looper, encounters his older self sent back to be killed, closing his loop. However, his older self escapes, determined to kill the Rainmaker.

Genre - Action/Crime/Sci-Fi

This film fits to the action genre as it includes chase scenes, as well as violence. It also fits the crime genre as it involves gang culture, as well as protagonists becoming fugitives. It fits sci-fi, as the plot revolves around time travel and telekenisis which are common features of sci-fi films.