Task 11- Print Artefacts- Michael Cartledge

For our two print artefacts we made a game case and magazine advert. These were constructed using our own pictures and edited in an attempt to make believable products that, upon looking at them, audiences would think they were real.

Game Case

Finished

For the game case we wanted to create something a little different from the norm while still staying true to the codes and conventions of a game case. We did this by editing the pictures to make them look as though they were from a comic book strip while still having barcodes, BBFC ratings, game studio and console logos, licensing and copyright information that make up a real game case.

The foreground of the box art is a picture of the protagonist of the game, George Frost. He is holding a gun which shows people that the game will have action in it, and he also has a stern expression to show the character is a rather serious one. He wears dark clothing which represents his antihero persona, although he is the protagonist and in the game you strive to fulfil his goals, it does not necessarily mean that what he does is the right thing.

The background is the silhouette of a hand reaching towards Frost, this shows the danger that he is in while carrying out his task of taking down the mob, how at any point he could be grabbed and taken down. We also thought that it could represent his wife who was killed; she is behind him, in his past but Frost cannot let go. The whole background has a ice effect on it which relates to George Frost's name and how he is a very cold person.

The back of the case has a basic synopsis of the story to stick with conventions and continues the blue, icy background. There are also a selection of screenshots and quotes from game reviewers that we fabricated in an attempt to make the game case believable.

The spine simply states the name, rating and console that the game is on with the background again. All the information that is conventionally on the spine of a game case.

Other Ideas

The box art was always planned to have the mood and colour scheme that it did at completion, yet it was originally planned to be a close up of the protagonist George Frost's face, showing his anger, this idea was completed yet we felt that it did not show which genre the game was from first glance, which may confuse audiences as to what the game was about.

There were two slightly different ideas for this, one with Frost looking to the side of the camera in a contemplating manner and the other of him looking straight down the camera in an intimidating way.

Construction

Once we decided against these idea and chose the one we wanted, it was simply a case of putting all the pieces together to form the finished product.

The Ubisoft Logo

We wanted to use the logo of a well known gaming company to affiliate with our game and Ubisoft have an impressive roster of games, past and present, so we decided to use their's.

BBFC 18 Rating

The British Board of Film Classification also do games, we felt that our game would have been rated an 18 as it will be for adults only. There will be strong violent themes throughout the game and excessive strong language in places, as well as substance abuse.

We chose to use logos for BBFC over the PEGI classifications as we felt it was the more recognisable of the two.

(http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/18)

The Main Picture

The main picture was a real life image that we put filters on to using Adobe Photoshop. The picture was taken infront of a green screen, although a black background was needed as the vibrant green colour came through Michael's hair, making it hard to isolate the image.

After we had taken the picture we added a filter, isolated the part of the picture that we needed (Michael as George Frost) and then we had the image that we needed.

The Omega Gaming System Logo

We particularly like this logo as it has the symbol for the Greek letter 'Omega', which our fictitious company is named after in the middle with what looks like circuitry that you may find on a motherboard around it. This is good as it anchors to the fact that it is the logo for a console, which would use such things.

The Malevolence Logo

We wanted the font for the title of the game to look as though is was deteriorating away to symbolise how the crime that George Frost is fighting in the game is eating away at society. There are also silhouettes of buildings at the bottom of the font to show that it is a city, as well as the industrial feel of the font as a whole.

Seizure Warning

We noticed in our research that all games seemed to have a seizure warning on the back to prevent any people who suffer from conditions such as epilepsy from possibly injuring themselves. It is for this reason that we stuck to this convention and put it on our own work.

Magazine Advert

Finished

For the magazine advert we wanted to continue the comic book style of the game case to keep a level of consistency, we also kept the colour scheme. The codes and conventions including a; quote, website, BBFC rating, production company and game system logo were and copyright information.

The foreground is again George Frost as the story of the game is based around him and his revenge. Although the comic book effect obscures it, you can still see that he has his gun in hand, showing the action aspects of the game. We also continued to make the clothes dark colours to emphasise that he is an antihero.

The background is an alleyway, alleyways having connotations of illegal activity that Frost is here to stop. The puddles on the ground show that it is a dull, gritty world that Frost exists in, the pathetic fallacy of rain being sadness.

Other Ideas

The original idea for the magazine advert was very similar to the end product, although we did play around with other ideas, such as close ups, although these ideas did not make it past first drafts.

Construction

Again, once we had all the pieces, we were simply able to put it all together. As this was the second artefact we did, we already had some the logos required such as the 18 rating and the Ubisoft logo.

Alleyway Background

The alleyway was originally a real life picture, we used Adobe Photoshop to add the comic book filter and then placed the picture of George Frost on top of it in Adobe Fireworks.

The Main Picture

The picture of George Frost was originally a real life picture, we used Adobe Photoshop to add the comic book filter, isolated the part that we wanted and put it into the alleyway.

Task 8- Final Proposal- Michael Cartledge and Harrison Marlow

Working Title

Malevolence

Channel of Broadcast

MTV, after the watershed (9:00PM), this is due to the fact that the game we are proposing will be rated as an 18, and people over the age of 18 are more likely to be watching television after the watershed.

Target Audience

Adults 18-49, any gender or ethnicity. Although the main characters in the game will be Caucasian males, there would be a number of people within the game representing the different ethnic groups and genders. Age wise; according to demographics, most gamers are 18-49, which fits with or age rating. Also, the in depth story we plan to have may resonate better with a more mature audience.

(http://www.bizreport.com/2009/06/esa_releases_gaming_demographic_facts_and_figures.html)

Genre

Our game trailers will be live action to represent the gritty, real world we are trying to create in the game. In an attempt to not spoil the story of ‘Malevolence’, we have decided that it would be best to not show much of the story at all, but instead introduce you to George Frost, the protagonist of the game, and what he has fallen to. The game is an Action/Adventure game with role playing elements, the same genre as the game Destiny by Bungie

Style

The trailers will be narrative; trailer 1 will show a conversation that George is having with his friend Sam (a bartender who keeps his ear to the ground in an attempt to help George on his mission), the conversation will be Sam telling George about a man who has been in his bar that is a member of the mob family that George is hunting. This conversation will be edited with George going after the man that Sam is describing intercut with the conversation.

The second trailer will be a torture scene; we will see a man strapped to a chair, bloodied up, in pain, shouting for help. The camera will track around with many ambiguous shots of George. This will be intercut with images of Frost burying a body, flashing forward to the tortured man's fate.

The Pitch

We imagined that we were going to pitch our game idea to a company, here is the pitch that we would do:

When a man loses his family he has nothing to live for, and this is when he’s most dangerous, this is when a man will risk it all to get the payback he deserves, this is when a man becomes malevolent.

Malevolence is the story of George Frost, a man cast aside after being framed for the murder of his family. George was an average man, nothing out of the ordinary. A guy who lost his job and went to the wrong type of man for money, the type of man who you don’t get a second chances with, you miss a payment … you pay, you pay with something and Frost paid with his family and freedom.

After serving 7 years in the state penitentiary Frost used his cunning and his planning to finally break out, something that took him two years to successfully succeed in. When he is among the free in the outside world, there is only one thing he wants and that's the only drive he has, his only ambition is to take revenge on the man who had his family killed and cause him the same pain, by any means necessary.

 The game would be sandbox, meaning it is an open world of city and wilderness to explore, filled with random events and characters. Meeting these characters could trigger an event or mission, and even have a major effect on the story and even the overall outcome of the game and affect the game or even the play style of the character.

The main selling point of the game would be the choices the player makes, the game is all decision based and nothing is deliberate, the player has to make all of the choices from choosing what to wear to deciding whether someone deserves to die or not. Another key element to remember is the character George Frost was an ordinary man incarcerated for a crime that he didn't commit, making this a very unstable character both mentally and emotionally, he is haunted by the mistakes he made, he knows although he didn't kill them he knows that he is the reason that his family are dead.

George Frost wants to die, but he feels he doesn't feel he deserves the easy way out, he feels he has to seek revenge in the name of his family.

This is the story of George Frost and his … ‘Malevolence’.

Task 5/6/7/9/10- Planning- Michael Cartledge and Harrison Marlow

Idea

Genre: Action RPG

Title: Malevolence

The idea for my video game is the story of a man called George Frost, he is framed for killing his family by a mob family after he was unable to pay off a debt after he loses his job but didn't want his family to live on the streets. He is incarcerated and spends 7 years with the anger boiling up within him. He eventually escapes prison and goes after the mob family that kiled him.
Over the course of the game the protagonist will target and kill members of the mob family that killed his, leading up to the Godfather of the family who will have lost everything by the time he reaches him. The game will be a release title for a fictional console of our own creation called the 'Omega Gaming System'.

Concept Art- Protagonist

Task 5- Script

Trailer 1

Script Idea 1

In this script idea we imagined George Frost as a less mentally stable person, with an obsession with symmetry.

[George is seen walking down the street towards the camera, he is wearing a long black coat and his face is obscured by darkness, a voice over reads]

George Frost:

I’ve always been obsessed with symmetry, from a young age I hated things being out of place or unbalanced, if things are unbalanced, I am unbalanced.

[Cuts to guys on the ground begging.]

Bad Guy:

No! Please stop!

[Back to George in the street]

George Frost:

It’s been 21 years, and ever since it happened I’ve had this niggling, pain in the back of my head. Every… single... day.

It’s time to restore the balance… I need to restore the balance.

[Cut to George’s friend’s house where they appear to be mid argument.]

George’s Friend:

You can’t do this, George. He’s too powerful.

[Back to George on the street again.]

George Frost:

He killed my family, he framed me, he took everything from me, and now… well now I’m going to take it from him.

My name is George Frost, and I am malevolent.

Script Idea 2

[George Frost is sitting in a darkened bar, wallowing in his sorrows]

George Frost:

                       Same again, Sam.

Sam:

                       You know you can't keep coming in here in the middle of the day.

George Frost:
                       [Sighs] What have you got for me?

Sam:
                       There was a guy in here the other day talking about moving some pretty serious stuff.

George Frost:
                       How do I find him?

Sam:
                       He drives a Ford Fiesta.

George Frost:
                      What's he look like?

Sam:
                      Heavy set, browne hair...

Task 6- Storyboard

Idea 1

Storyboard- Idea 2

Storyboard- Idea 3

Game Cover Designs

Task 7/9- Role Allocation and Casting

Directors- Harrison Marlow and Michael Cartledge

Writers- Harrison Marlow and Michael Cartledge

Producers- Harrison Marlow and Michael Cartledge

Camera Person- Harrison Marlow

Music- Harrison Marlow

Editor- Michael Cartledge

George Frost- Michael Cartledge

George Frost is the protagonist of Malevolence, his family are killed by a mob family after he borrows money and is unable to pay them back. He is framed for the murders but after being released from prison he seeks revenge on those that took everything from him.
Once a family man, the emotional trauma that he has been through has made him cold and emotionless and willing to do anything.
He has no formal combat training causing his melee and gun combat to be sloppy at first, but as players play through the game he will become more and more skilled with weaponry.

Bad Guy- Steve Moore

The mobster that George Frost is seen attacking and killing in the first trailer. Not much is known about this character by Frost or the audience except that he has an affiliation with the mob and is responsible for smuggling drugs into the country.
He is targeted by Frost simply for his affiliation, Frost kills him as a message to the mob.

Tortured Bad Guy- Joseph Prendergast

The mobster that George Frost is shown torturing, killing and burying in the second trailer. It is presumed that this character is a high up member of the mob family as he has information that Frost wants.

Sam- Harrison Marlow

Sam is George Frost's best and only friend, he is also the owner of a bar and is highly adapt at keeping his ear to the ground in order to find information for Frost. When Frost is lost for leads he will go to Sam who will have most likely heard something about the mob's activity.

He does not agree with Frost's desire to chase down the mob as he cares about his friend's well being, but he understands the reason for it and that Frost feels that it is what he must do so reluctantly helps.

Production Schedule

Props and Costume

We bought some air-soft guns to fill the role of weapons in our trailers, when using them on set they were not loaded to ensure there were no injuries.

George Frost's costume is customisable in-game, we show this by changing the costume between trailers but keep the iconic long, dark coat to stay with the feeling of Frost being a caped, antihero figure.

The hedge trimmer we used in the torture trailer was used to show  how George Frost is willing to mutilate people in order to get revenge. When using it we ensured that we never got close to anyone else other than Michael, who held the trimmer and has plenty of practice with it as he has trimmed many a bush. Although this scene was eventually cut from the second trailer.

Licensing

In order to use a licensed piece of music in our A-Level Project we had to email the record company which leased the song 'Too Old To Die Young' by 'Brother Dege' from the 'Django Unchained Original Soundtrack' from the record company 'Republic Records'. In order to use the piece we emailed the company seeking permission to use the song;

Consent Forms

Task 4- Audience Research- Michael Cartledge and Harrison Marlow

Questionnaire Template

Analysis of Results

1. Are there any game trailers that you have found particularly memorable, if so which?

This question found that some of the main memorable trailers were quite dramatic heavy action trailers often leaving normally one of the protagonists in some sort of danger or peril such as ‘Uncharted 2 – Among Thieves’ where we see the protagonist ‘Nathan Drake’ waking from being unconscious in a train wreck with him losing a lot of blood from a wound to his stomach. Game companies use this as a drip feed effect for the audience and the fans of the series, leaving the fans wondering what happened to their favourite characters.  

2. Which gender would you expect the protagonist of a video game to be?

All of the results were for a male lead, this suggests to me that a large proportion of the gaming community prefer a male protagonist, this could be because when they play the game they feel like they are the guy who they're playing as.

3. What do you understand about the 'Action Role Playing Game' genre and it's conventions?

Out of all of the participants in the observation 8/10 knew what sort of game an RPG is and what they believed was important about an RPG is exploration and adult themes and violence with the most important element a leveling system, this is so the better a player gets and the more hours they put into the game the better and stronger their character gets, a great example of an RPG would be ‘Fallout New Vegas’. They also pointed out that more of the better RPG’s are set in apocalyptic world where you have to really push yourself to carry on and not die, they said that an important part of an RPG would be that it has to be difficult but fun.

4. What themes would you expect to find in an action game rated 18?

Everyone said they would expect there to be heavy violence, with a dark narrative and even immature, rude or vulgar jokes (GTA/ Saints Row). But most people want a heavy dark storyline making sure that the character is relatable and makes the player question what they might do if they were plummeted into a much darker world than they currently know.

5. What genre of game do you enjoy playing?

The participants had a multiple choice here, they could all choose as many as applicable to their personal preference, all 10 participants ticked Action Adventure letting us know that clearly that they all love action games where they are the hero, this could be because it opens up a world that would be improbable in real life and would be impossible to reach, the next choice with the top marks was Racing which means I at least need drivability in the game, like 'GTA' style open world where the player can race around in a car at stupid speeds doing stupid things, RPG was the next highest choice clearly showing that they like the ideas of exploration, from the choices given it is transparent that all of the applicants want a good free-roam RPG with driving, possible random encounters and challenges.

 6. Do you prefer a game to be Linear or Sandbox?

A majority of the people said they preferred a Sandbox game rather than a Linear purely because of the exploration, but some participants preferred Linear for the story, so it would be a good choice to take elements from both and incorporate both elements into one game.

7. What percentage of action to story do you prefer in a game? 

In total after some scientific calculations it turns out that 41% should be action and the other 59% should be story driven which personally I agree with, this means the game could have a great story and enough action to keep you into the game and feeling like a bad-ass in certain points also really connecting you to the characters in the game and making you care for them. 

8. What kind of protagonist are you drawn to?

The most checks went to a relatable everyday guy, that’s been forced into a world that he usually wouldn't know, a world that he doesn't understand but her still goes through it because he feels responsible for some reason or he’s doing it for some sort of cause (Lee Everett – The Walking Dead). The next top choice was for a cocky character, the ‘Nathan Drake’ of sorts, he knows the severity of the situation but he still makes jokes in order the intimidate his opponent or even just lighten the atmosphere for the company he travels with. The last most important element to a protagonist is that they are Heroic, if the player is given a choice between right and wrong they would feel obliged to go for the good because they want to feel like that character and feel accepted by the NPC’s in the game.   

9.What age do you like a protagonist of a game to be?  

The main choice of age of video game characters are middle aged, I suppose this is because it shows that they have lived a lot and have a lot of experience and even wisdom under their belt, and this is also an expected age of a Hollywood action hero to be. The next choice would be young adult where the character would likely have to learn the skills to become a stereotypical hero.

10. What is your favorite game of all time, and why?

The main genre of games chosen for favorite games were action adventure games such as ‘Uncharted – Drakes Fortune’ or the action RPG ‘Skyrim’ these two games alone sum up the answers as they both have the key elements that we are looking to put into a video game the action elements with the great story in both and the cockiness put forward by Nathan Drake with characters we get connected to in the same game Sully and Elena. And ‘Skyrim’ one of the largest games I’ve played with a crazy large map and the leveling up system where we slowly progress as a character and get stronger and stronger, and learning new skills to help you play through and finish the game. This is the proof of what sort of things we would have to put in out game, we’d have to make it open world with random encounters and optional quest lines or missions, with some hard choices to make which could in fact change the outcome of the game with characters that people need to make a connection with and even worry about or be upset if something happens to them.

Task 3- Ideas- Michael Cartledge and Harrison Marlow

Music Video Ideas

Song: Song of the Century/21^st Century Breakdown  – Green Day

Genre: Rock

The screen is black and we see the lights fade in to see a man in a suit walking on the podium and tap a microphone and starts to sing into the microphone as if he is giving a speech making the audience believe he is addressing many people allowing us to think he is someone of high power e.g. The President or Prime minister.

The screen dips into black (Playing the intro piano part from the song) the screen fades back in as we see the same man who gave the speech standing in the same place on stage without the podium instead there is an SM58 microphone holding a ‘Epiphone les Paul Junior’ we can also see a drummer and bassist on stage and a second guitarist walks on stage behind him. As soon as they are on stage the music kicks off with the first strikes of the song. The music video would show the main guy’s life as he meets the rest of the band, there would be transitions from a performance based video to a story as the camera would fade in and out of his life and the performance.

The main premises of the story would be the difficulties in growing up in a 21^st Century society that’s full of war and crime and the knowing that no matter how much you would like to change the world there’s no way it can be done, it is also blaming politicians for crime and war and saying that it could be a way for the government to profit off the lives of people they are ruining or even the lives they are letting go to waste by sending them off to war.

The video would go through all of the members of the band as they grew up showing how one thing one law set by the government can ruin all of their lives in the same way, it would show them meeting up at a relatively young age and how they in fact end up running for office so they can present their song to the people of the world.

The video could also focus on the performing aspect which wouldn’t all be on stage it would in fact be shot in different locations decollate and decrepit areas that look like they could be hit with financial struggle, wherever they all go they would all show clear examples of what is the 21^st Century Breakdown.

The song would end with them all onstage and as the camera dips to black with the piano outro the band would leave so at the end of the song a spotlight would focus on the lead man without the guitar wearing the suit back at the podium (which could be a twist he may not be important instead he could be in a court presenting his case to a judge if this is the case the last thing we would see in the music video would be the judges hammer hitting the table as the judge sends him away for however long.)

Song: Haley- Needtobreathe

Genre: Rock

A young boy and a girl (about 14/15) are shown happy at the start in the sun which then suddenly cuts to the boy breaking up with the girl in the rain (or so it seems), pathetic fallacy shows the mood. The boy is played by the lead singer, we see the girl breaking down and looking at pictures of him, flashbacks are shown with a sepia, old fashioned camera filter. Years are shown to pass with the girl getting older but not any happier and the boy going about his day to day life, he sees the girl in the middle of the time passing with a look of sadness on his face. We now see the boy and girl as young adults (about 19/20) and the girl is about to leave home to go to university, she sees the boy in a crowd and begins to walk towards him to clear things up before he leaves but the crowd conceal him and then he is gone.

We cut to the girl saying goodbye to her parents from the car which she drives away and then unpacking at university. As the girl is walking down a corridor she bumps into someone and they drop the books they were holding, as the girl crouches down to help them with their things there would be a close up of the books and then the camera would pan up to reveal that it is the boy she as been in love with for years.

Everything then goes back in reverse at high speed to the breaking up point but this time it is shown that the girl actually broke up with the boy and then short snippets of the boy going through everything that the girl did to reveal that they both regret ending it with each other up to the point where they are both crouched on the floor starring into each other's eyes, shocked. Fade to black with the song, implied happily ever after.

The whole video would be intercut with the band performing the song in the boys room and on a field.

Documentary Ideas

I.R.L

A Documentary about video game nerds and developers showing how video games are made and how people live who are considered stereotypical video game nerd and interviews with people in the street saying how they have no life and no friends although they live in a fantasy world with millions of other people all over the world all who literally have 1000's of lives, the documentary would also show how they live their everyday lives and how some people have made a career from playing video games becoming developers, professional players and even YouTube partners.

Short Film Ideas

Repetition

A phone rings we see someone answer it, we don't see his face, just his hand and cut to an over the shoulder shot of him talking to someone over the phone we hear him say "Alright it'll be done" and he hangs up, the camera pans round revealing the man from a medium shot we see his face. He then goes into another room where he opens a cupboard revealing a safe and through a few match on actions we see him take a hand gun out of the safe and a magazine, we then see him load and cock the gun. we see him leaving the house he's living in and we see him getting into a car and driving off. 

We see our man pull up somewhere and get out of his car, we see him looking at the target walking away, he shouts for the Hit to stop. Upon hearing this command the target bolts down a back alley where he is being pursued and lead to a dead end by our assassin, the assassin starts to walk rather than run knowing he has lead the Hit down to a dead end.   

We see him walking through some back allies and go to a crane shot as we see a man in the distance, he appears to just be staring at a wall almost knowing he is at a dead end, that he seems to be willing to give up and let his pursuer kill him. 

The assassin raises his gun and pulls down the hammer for effect and states to his target simply "It's Over" the target turns around revealing that it is in fact the assassin and upon closer inspection we can see they are even wearing the same clothes, stunned the assassin drops his guard down giving the target enough time to draw a weapon and fire a shot at the chest of the assassin. The assassin drops to the ground with blood clearly starting to flow from him, with a dazed and terrified face as he starts bleeding out and dying. The target walks over to the assassin and looks at him with a stern face and states "This has been the face of death for many, many people and now it's your turn to know the fear of seeing your face" the assassin lets out a single tear as he says "Who are you?" 

The Target simply replies with "Isn't it obvious I'm the same person as you, I'm the angel of death." we see the assassin lay there and let out a smile just before he passes away, We then see the target pull out the same phone as the assassin from his pocket call a number and says, "The service you required has been completed". Finally we'd go to a birds eye view shot of the target walking out of the alley and away from the body. 

Set Alight

My short film would not have any dialogue, it would show the story of a sad man who walks around with an unlit candle, at first it would not be clear as to why he is holding an unlit candle but he would see couples walking around holding lit candles, the flame representing that they are together. Men would hold the candle while women would hold a lit match. He would see people in restaurants having their candles lit.

He then begins a series of dates with women who attempt to light his candle but the candles just doesn't catch fire until he gives up, depressed. Until one day he is in a laundrette and a woman falls into him, after he catches her it zooms out and we realise that the woman has accidentally lit the man's candle, insinuating that they have found one another and will now be together.

Music will play to match the man's mood, slow music when he is sad, music in a major key when he is happy.

Inspiration for this came from:

The short film 'Struck' by TXL Films

The song 'All the Little Lights' by Passenger

Video Game Ideas

Malevolence 

Malevolence is a game about revenge. After his family are murdered by vicious Mafia Don, George Frost is framed for the murder and is put straight in jail where he is released after a long life changing 10 years (released for lack of evidence and good behaviour) although a peaceful average Joe kind of guy George Frost is forced to leave his simple and peaceful life behind as all he has thought about for 10 years was discovering his families lifeless bodies lying on  the ground, after all of this time there is only one thing Frost is looking for and that’s his Malevolence and his retribution for something that was taken from him.

Malevolence would combine elements of an action game (e.g. Max Payne) and a free roam RPG (Fallout) this is because Frost wouldn’t know where any of the mob family live so he has to find them, he has also never killed a man before this is a vital element of the game as you would play someone who struggles to take lives as he has never done it before, with each kill progressing as the game continues and develops a much more sinister story than expected.

Based off of the original dark revenge game ‘Max Payne’ and the movie ‘Law Abiding Citizen’ our main character lives in his own hell on Earth Possibly turning to alcohol and drugs, giving him abilities that he may not of been able to unlock before, such as Adrenalin the ability for Frost to slow time making his shots more accurate, although time would seem to be much slower its still in real time for anyone else.

The game would be a next generation release, for the PS4 making its graphics unsurpassed and beautiful creating real looking environments and character interaction, leaving the player able to make real life choices, how to complete a level, to sneak or go all guns blazing, what to wear, go in disguise etc.

Inspiration for this came from:

The game 'Max Payne' by Rockstar Games

The movie 'Law Abiding Citizen'

The comic book character 'The Punisher' by Marvel

Task 2.4- Short Film Research- Michael Cartledge and Harrison Marlow

 Todorov's theory of narrative states that there are five stages to all stories, these stages are;
1. A state of equilibrium- when everything is fine.
2. A distruption of order- an event that happens which distrupts things.
3. A recognition that the disorder has ocurred- characters react to the event.
4. An attempt to repair the damage- characters set out to find a solution to return to equilibrium.
5. A return or restoration of a new equilibrium- characters succeed and equilibrium is restored, the characters have grown after their story arch.

Films

Batman Dead End

Director: Sandy Collora

Heavy incidental music, the sound of an orchestra hit on an empty (black) screen with titles slowly appearing in the centre of the screen, a compilation of someone putting on the ‘Batman’ outfit that we know to be the Batman, still with incidental music and a voice over from what sounds like a police radio talking about “trouble in Gotham City” and “The Joker once again escaped from Arkham Asylum.” We never see the face of the actor playing Batman as he is getting ready by putting on the classic Batman gear all of the shots in the opening of the short film is medium close up shots so we never reveal his face leaving a layer of mystery over the opening.

Establishing shot of a building we can assume is ‘Wayne Enterprises’ to set the location of the short film (the shot was clearly archive footage possible taken from one of the Christopher Nolan Batman films) we see a few forward tracking shots following Batman and the Joker as they run through the alleys of Gotham City, there is a use of shots which transition into each other, a close up shot of Batman as he lands into a puddle so all of the water splashes around him leaving his cape laying around him on the floor, to an amazing crane shot showing him crouching on the floor and seeing his cape almost into the Batman symbol, with orchestral music playing as he slowly rises up bringing the cape up as he rises.

We see a lot of shot reverse shots between Batman and the Joker as they fight and speak to each other about the Joker’s face and calling the Batman “Daddy” because the Joker believes that the Batman created him because without Batman, Joker wouldn’t have anyone to fight so without each other their lives would be pointless.

Through a twist of events we see the Joker being snatched by a Xenomorph (Alien from the Alien’s Saga) we see an extreme close up of the Joker’s knuckle duster as it falls to the ground, we then see a Xenomorph  rise up from behind Batman from an over the shoulder shot from Batman’s front.  We then see an extreme close up of Batman fighting a Xenomorph as we see Batman struggling with the Xenomorph we see the three iconic dots of the Predator’s shoulder cannon, and we hear a blast noise as the camera swaps showing the Predator for the first time.

There is a fight between Batman and the Predator, this shows the conventions of a short film extremely clearly by having the equilibrium of Batman fighting the Joker and taking him back to Arkham something any Batman fan knows is the normal situation in Gotham, we then have the Twist where we see the Joker being killed by a Xenomorph something unknown to the Batman universe causing distress to the characters in the film, we continue with the un- equilibrium of the Predator being introduced into the mix and finally the equilibrium at the end when the Predator is defeated by a heavily beat up Batman, but then questioning the conventions there is another twist as more Predators appear from nowhere clearly turning off their cloaking device.  This is a good example of a short film as it mainly sticks to the conventions of a short film with all of the twists etc. It also doesn’t give us a back story on any of the characters but this could be because most people know the story surrounding Batman and the Joker but it keeps to the convention of short film by keeping the story short and full of action.

NA nananananana Batman!



Signs

Director: Patrick Hughes

Signs is a love story in which the two lead protagonists have no dialogue, the story is told through signs that they write to each other and the visual images.
The film starts with sad, slow incidental music, the ambient sound of an alarm can be heard as the main character, Jason, wakes us. The camera is looking down on him from directly above as he lies there, it emphasises how pathetic he feels. The film cuts between different shots of his morning routine, the music remains sad. He wears a suit, which is used to show how he blends in with everone else. On the way to work we see a point of view shot of Jason looking at a woman, this shows the reason he is not happy, he is alone.
When Jason reaches work we can hear ambient office sounds (phones ringing and general chatter). We then cut to Jason's lunch break where an over the shoulder shot shows Jason looking at another woman, as she approaches him we see him smile, but then he is disappointed she walks straight past, this emphasises the reason for Jason's sadness. We are also shown a meeting at work, where Jason looks very bored.
Jason then arrives home, we hear his mother leave an answering machine message where we find out his name and a little backstory of his life, as he gets into bed. The morning routine sequence is repeated to emphasise how mundane his life is. When Jason arrives at work he notices a woman in the building across from his, we are shown a point of view shot of him looking at her, and then a shot from the point of view of her room which shows how smitten he is. The woman then notices him looking and begins the sign writting, the camera flicks between their points of view as they converse through the medium of written word. We discover the woman's name is Stacey.
The incidental music becomes more happy, showing how Jason is happy something new is happening in his life, the morning routine is shown but with Jason in much higher spirits. We then see a montage of Jason and Stacey bonding, playing noughts and crosses with their signs, and drawing silly faces. We are also shown a meeting that Jason is in, Stacey is writing to him and he is having a good time in there, this narrative echo contrasts from the start and shows the effect the relationship has had on Jason, he is happy.
Jason is shown writing a sign, asking if Stacey wants to meet him, we are shown a close up of the sign, emphasising it's importance, as well the point of view from Stacey, showing how nervous he is. Stacey is then asked away for work while Jason is not looking and when he turns around she is gone.
We cut to Jason infront of a bathroom mirror, the camera is placed behind Jason so that we see his back and his reflection, the scene is a parody of the cliché in films when somebody talks to themselves in a mirror or practices a line. In this one he practices different ways to reveal the sign asking her to meet him. We are shown a medium close up of Jason's face, showing his nerves.
The next day the incidental music picks up even more, Jason barges past people in an attempt to get to work, a handheld camera is used in places to emphasise his rush. When he arrives at his desk and looks across, Stacey's belongings are gone and a new person is moving into her office, a reaction shot shows Jason's sadness.
The incidental music gets sad again as we see Jason return home and go to bed, followed by a repetition of the morning routine from the start, emphasising his sadness. As Jason sits at his desk as he did at the start, a sun glare hits his face, it is Stacey trying to get his attention, the light coming in may represent Stacey as the light in his life. It turns out that Stacey was only promoted, and Jason finally asks her to meet, she agrees and we see Jason rushing down to meet her, a handheld camera is again used. When they finally meet in the street Stacey hold a sign up saying "Hi" and we cut to the black, and the title card is shown.



The Black Hole

Director: Phil and Olly

The movie begins with a title card with the black screen is the background dispersing in a circular shape, which anchors with the word "hole" in the title. The camera tracks diagonally towards an office worker, we can tell he is an office worker as he is in a shirt and tie, standing in front of a copying machine. He looks tired, his rolled up sleaves and loose tie emphasise this. We see a close up of the worker pressing the on button of the copier and then a close up of him kicking it.
A medium close up of a piece of paper coming out with a perfectly round, pitch black circle in the middle is shown, followed by a reaction shot of the man, he is confused by the circle and how it printed when there was nothing in the copier. We hear ambient sounds of the copier working.
The man then takes a drink from a plastic cup and throws it down on the paper, the cup goes into the circle on the paper. The man then looks confused once more, a point of view shot from within the black hole shows the man looking into it.
The man then reaches into the black hole and we hear a strange sound as he puts his hand in and pulls the plastic cup back out. Discovering the power of the sheet of paper, the man quickly takes it over to the vending machine, the camera tracks forward as he approaches it. A close up is shown as the man reaches into the black hole (now put against the vending machine) and pulls out a chocolate bar.
A close up of the man's face shows him noticing a door that says keep out on it, he uses the black hole to open the door and then approaches a safe within the room and begins to take money from it using the black hole. The cutting speeds up as the man gets more and more excited by the money, he eventually climbs in to the safe completely and the black hole falls off the safe, trapping him in there. The safe is then shown head on as the camera jump cuts away, zooming out. The ambient sound of the copier can still be heard as the screen cuts to black.



Conventions of a Short Film

• Small amount of dialogue.

• Focused around one character.

• Twist or climax at the end.

• Only a few locations.

• Begins with "A *director's name* film"

• Ends with credits.

• Title cards used.

Magazine Adverts

Anna Karenina

Killer Joe

The Watch

Conventions of Magazine Adverts

• Name of movie is usually the largest font.

• A picture which hints at what the movie is about.

• When the film is out.

• Where you can see the movie.

• Copyright small print.

• The logo for the studio that made it.

• The cast.

Double Page Spreads

Ted

Brave

The Master

Conventions of Double Page Spreads

• The name of the movie.

• Information about the movie, eg. age certificate, plot, run time, cast, date of release.

• Picture from movie- along with a caption for the picture.

• An overall verdict.

• A website for the magazine.

• Page number.

• Issue number.

• Where you can watch it.

• Uses puns.

• Review text is around the pictures.