Tuesday 28 September 2010

Filming Timetable

Friday
Characters: Danny and Stitch
Props:Medal, trophy, gun
Location: Drama Studio

Monday
Characters: Danny and Little Johnny
Location: Friend's house

Tuesday
Characters: Danny and Kitty
Props: Mobile
Location: Drama Studio

Thursday
Characters: Kitty
Props: Glasses, book
Location: House

Friday
Characters: Young Danny and Kitty
Props: Cluedo
Location: Drama Studio

Monday
Characters:Danny
Props:Newspapers, scissors, glue, books, lined paper, photographs, can of coke
Location: Drama Studio

My Short Film's Script

Scene one
INT. Night. Dark office with sheets scattered around on a desk.
Danny is studying, researching and noting information to figure out crimes

Scene two

EXT. Day. An award ceremony taken place outside a school
Danny is being congratulated for a crime he has solved. He is awarded a certificate and trophy.

Scene three

INT. Night. Dark room
A younger version of Danny is playing the board game Cluedo and wins the game.

Scene four
INT. Night office
Danny puts a bunch of keys on the desk, looks away and looks back to see the keys are missing.

Scene five
INT. Night. Dark office with sheets scattered around on a desk.
Danny is studying, researching and noting information to figure out crimes
Danny: So, who done it?

Scene six
EXT. Day. A busy street
Danny is walking down the street and gets a phone call.

Scene seven
INT. Night. Office
Danny questions seductress if she stole the keys
Danny: Was it you?
Seductress: I don’t know what your talking about
Danny: Where were you at approximately 10:43pm
Seductress: Well...

Scene eight
INT. Night. Bedroom in house
Seductress is reading a book, then goes to sleep

Scene nine
INT. Night. Dark office with sheets scattered around on a desk.
Danny is studying, researching and noting information to figure out crimes
Danny: Little Johnny!

Scene twelve
INT.Day. House. Danny visits the local cat. They discuss the cats whereabouts. The cat gives Danny a photograph.
Danny: Little Johnny…was it you?
Danny: So who was it then?
Danny: Fine, do you know anything? Ohh really?

Scene thirteen
INT. Night. Office. Danny visits Stitch and questions his whereabouts. He presents Stitch the photo. Danny shoots Stitch.
Danny: Was it you?
Stitch: I don’t know what your talking about…
Danny: Little johnny told me everything...
Stitch: Fine, it was me, i stole the keys, and I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for you and that meddling cat!
Danny: Goodbye Stitch
Stitch: What? (Danny shoots Stitch)

Scene fourteen
EXT. Night. Kitty is smoking and swinging the key in her hands

Film Idea and Development

My short film follows a character who takes his detective job very seriously. But when something of his is stolen, (his keys!) his "professionsal gloves" are taken off, and he will do anything to avenge this evil deed.

Locations

Bedroom
A street
Drama studio(As offices)

Props

Mobile
Photograph
Trophy/certificate/medal
Bunch of Keys
Cludeo
A Novel
Newspapers/scissors/glue/books/lined paper/photographs/can of coke

Proppian character roles

Protagonist/Hero: Mr Danny Winner(played by Fuad Jama)
Little version of Mr Danny Winner (Played by Mohammed )
Little girl (played by Rabia Zakria)
Femme Fatale/Villain: Catherine "Kitty" Jones (played by Anaam Zakria)
Con man/Villain: Falcon (played by Joel Robinson)
Cat/Helper: Little Johnny (played by Eggnose the cat)

Friday 24 September 2010

Genre and Conventions

I have decided to pay homage to the film noir era.

These are the conventions of the genre:

Low key lighting
Femme fatatle character
Non linear narrative e.g. Flashbacks
Black and white edit
Anti hero male protagonist- A hero who makes mistakes
Mystery, crime or thriller genre

These are the conventions I hope to pay homage to in the short film

Friday 17 September 2010

Postmodernism

http://www.fadedrequiem.com/zoetrope/?p=573

I have looked at the idea of postmodernism as it is when a text refers to a past period that was apart of the pop culture.

In terms of Hot fuzz, it refers to popular Action films from the 80's and 90's such as Point Break (1987), Dirty Harry (1971), Super Cop (1992), Point Break (1991) and Bad Boys II (2003).

There are 3 postmodern elements used in this film:

Bricolage is a mixture of different element, in this this film the mix is of genere (comedy, action and thriller)

The film is nostalgic as it almost dwells on the past of this popular film genere

self-referential means the characters have broken the fourth wall, to remind the audience this isn't a real event, its almost a film reminding the audience it's paying homage.

Friday 10 September 2010

The History of British Horror and Comedy

Horror

In David Pirie's book Heritage of Horror, he explains British film could only claim 1970's Gothic genre as its own with films like Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Devil Rides Out. However at the end of this decade, British Horror lost its popularity and place in British Film. More recent Zombie Horrors have been influenced by American and European Horrors


Comedy

British comdy closely links to British culture, it's as if only British audiences understand the humor e.g. Catherine Tate and Little Britain. Recent Rom Coms do have American actresses to appeal to an audience wider than just the Brits.



A key scene in Shaun of the dead where the main characters bump into characters that look almost identical. This is a part of the outsiders joke to international audiences. However there is an inner joke for British audiences as they might recognise characters such as Lucas Williams from Little Britian. This suggests the film has a primanry audience of British people and a secondary audience of US and Eurpopean audiences.

Shaun of the Dead background

I have been given some notes from a University Lecturer about Shaun of the Dead and where the idea of the film came from.

The directors of the film pitched the idea as "Richard Curtis Shot in the Head by George Romero".

Richard Curtis was a Rom Com film and TV director of Blackadder, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Boat That Rocked.

George Romeo was American Horror film director famous for his Zombie movies such as Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead.

This shows how the Rom Zom Com genre came about by combining the inspirations of these two directors.

This also suggests the film's influences are a mix of Britsh and American film. However the film itself has a very British feel to it with the actors in cult british TV series, such as Spaced, and the London setting.

According to Simon Pegg:

"If the zombies are a metaphor for anything, it’s London living. It’s about being swallowed up by city life. London is a great city, but we as citizens are quite closed and will not notice anything around us. We will literally step over people with their hands in the air asking for money. In the film, Shaun mistakes a zombie for a homeless drunk."