String Along

Monday 13 December 2010

Quietsch



This film from future shorts shares similar concepts and ideas i've considered in my treatment. The beginning with the ring leader resembles my vision of the woman in her abstract world, a black empty space where she is the focus. The use of spilt screens is also something i've considered, and the way the childrens movements become synced in parts is how i imagined my date screen to be, with the different men all doing similar actions with the woman. This has been a good reference to help me understand how i can create and organise my vision for the film.

Shooting Schedule



Chinese concept ~ The Red String of Fate

The Red String of Fate is a popular myth in both Chinese and Japanese culture.

Its the idea that theres an invisible 'Red String' which is tyed to our little fingers or ankles, which connect us to our soulmates.

The Folklore for the Chienese concept, where it is most likely to have originated is...

'The story involves a young boy. Walking home one night, a young boy sees an old man standing beneath the moonlight. The man explains to the boy that he is attached to his destined wife by a red thread. He shows the boy the young girl who is destined to be his wife. Being young and having no interest in having a wife, the young boy picks up a rock and throws it at the girl, running away. Many years later, when the boy has grown into a young man, his parents arrange a wedding for him. On the night of his wedding, his wife waits for him in their bedroom, with the traditional veil covering her face. Raising it, the man is delighted to find that his wife is one of the great beauties of his village. However, she wears an adornment on her eyebrow. He asks her why she wears it and she responds that when she was a young girl, a boy threw a rock at her that struck her, leaving a scar on her eyebrow. She self consciously wears the adornment to cover it up. The woman is, in fact, the same young girl connected to the man by the red thread shown to him by the old man back in his childhood'.

'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_string_of_fate'

This idea has been re-represented in many ways through both Chinese and Japanese media, along with popular culture all over the world.

Red String of Fate

For the idea of my first Treatment which i presented to the group, I've looked further into my idea of the red strings of fate to show the woman's connection the the men she's cheating on.

This video uses the idea of how the string works, and plays heavily on the 'fate' idea, as he saves the girl from the truck. This could be in interesting concept to include in my story, as we can use the idea of foreboding that the strings show her fate, rather than connection.




This video is another representation to the red string of fate, and how two people follow theirs together, but when they reach the end they're not fated to each other, but decide they would rather ignore the string, and stay together. I liked this take on the idea as it showed that the strings arent set, and dont have to be followed. Perhaps sometimes a perfect relationship isnt a relationship at all, and i'd like the maybe experiment with this idea by showing how the men choose to ignore the strings to the woman.Leaving her.











I had more inspiration from an episode of animated series i watched called XXX Holic, in this episode a woman with many boyfriends begins to feel ill from the lies she tells. By making a pinky promise and lying she slowly becomes so tangled in the strings of fate she cant move her little finger.This idea has had the most impact on my story, it's where my idea sprouted from, as i remebered the story from watching it some time ago.





Black Swan



The Black swan has been released at various film festivals over the world and had great success. By Director Darren Aronofsky it's a close idea to what we want in our film. It has thriller elements to the story through the fantasy visions.
It uses themes of rivalry, romance, ambition and psychological thriller. Because of our abstract world it would be interesting to analyse this to understand what we can achieve. There are scenes in the film, which involves the manipulation of mirrors and gives my the sense of an always hidden agenda, hidden side to her personality. Similar themes to our film.

Note on a Scandal



Notes on a Scandal was released in 2007, by Director Richard Eyre. Its the story of an affair between a young art teacher, and her 15 year old student. Which is discovered by an older teacher who has befriended her. The scandal is then used to for the older teacher to control and have power over the younger. Again these show similar themes of betrayal, drama and thriller aspects. An ominous feeling we want to give our audience when watching Delilahs fall.

Unfaithful



Directed by Adrian Lyne, the drama is a key aspect to this film. Its very strong throughout the film and where the film lacks a moral teaching, the drama keeps it fast paced and enthralling. This idea of the fast paced, quick cut story appeals to our story because of the themes. We see her play between the two men, and although her motives are different we see how she slowly becomes discovered.

The Cheating Woman




When researching to develop a better understanding of Delilah's motives for cheating, i came across some interesting perspectives and ideas from peoples experiences. It can be a delicate subject and there are many stories behind a cheater. From this i hope to understand what Delilah wants from cheating.

'Forbidden fruit seems so much sweeter'.

This statement really stood out to me, to consider a motive as just the temptation to do what were not supposed to? Which lets be honest is a very human urge.

(http://www.helium.com/items/642382-why-women-cheat-on-their-partners)

This article talks about two different women who have cheated, both stories express there ideas why they cheated. However the ideas of neglect and a breaking down relationship just dont fit to Delilah, and her confident personality. However the first line stood out to me.

"Why I Cheated" — Women Fess Up

http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/articlematch.aspx?cp-documentid=8424972

In this article, women give there personal reasons and ideas as to why they cheat. It suggests some interesting concepts from lack of passion, long distance to lack of things in common, While these are all realistic reasons for a cheating woman, i personally feel its just not Delilah.

Even from my better understand of personal cheating experiences i still feel Delilah's main motive for cheating is her pure need for attention and power. As a believable person she craves male attention, and enjoys her power over men. Which she then uses to her full advantage. I think its nescessary to show this sinister side of her to fit with our idea of the Abstract world. Also i feel by doing this we'll have a bigger impact on our audience when she's left alone. We can understand her sadness more because she's lost the attention she feeds on.

Call Sheet



A contact sheet for our crew and actors while filming, this way we can ensure easy communication between each other.

Saturday 11 December 2010

Ancillary Poster 3



For my last poster in the campaign I've used a poster more suitable for a magazine advert. The layout was based on the 500 Days of Summer poster i researched. I felt for a magazine addition i needed a more contemporary layout, as it would be mostly viewed by our female target audience. There is a matching house style to the others, however it differs as a less vintage inspired poster. The font is all white as i felt the red was too strong on the pink banners. This poster also uses a clearer image in relation to the storyline, as i felt that more mainstream audiences will need a clearer understanding of the films story, as with Delilah in the mirror and the two photo's next to it, it suggests a story of a woman's romance between to men. I also used an image of the fortune as opposed to having the tag line in text. I felt this complimented the post well as it does in the 500 Days poster, with the banners in place using a text tag line would have been to plain.

Ancillary Poster 2



For my second poster this is aimed at a billboard or cinema poster layout. It's inspired by a fusion of 500 Days of Summer and The Cat on the Tin Roof. The image i used is from a photo shot of Delilahs character, with a similar pose to that of Elizabeth Taylor and Zooey Deschanel on the other posters, to portray her as the strong, sensual woman. It uses a tag line from the fortune in the film, to still represent the strings of fate, and uses the house style font from before, with an alteration of full bold font. Which i decided to do based on visibility on a billboard.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Ancillary Poster 1



As my first poster in the campaign, I've used a image from the abstract world. After looking at poster such as Clockwork Orange, Vaduva Neagra and The Great Gatsby I've attempted to create a mix of there styles to create a poster that both film enthusiasts and women will be attracted to. Although this poster leans toward a more artist one from the use of the image with the red string.However the arrangement and layout was heavily influenced by The Great Gatsby, i felt this way it was more inviting to a female audience as well. I added elements such as the reviews and ratings to further appeal to a film knowledgeable audience, and the tag line is from a draft of our fortunes we created. To further link to the Chinese theme of fate.
I choose the colour scheme based on the prominent colours of our film, and based on the vintage schemes. This give the poster a sense of the drama and romance genres and not creating to much of a dark and mysterious impression.

Thursday 2 December 2010

Ancillary Reviews ~ Film Magazine Process

These screenshots are the process of creating my review, and how i adapted the layout to resemble Empire magazines reviews, it wasn't difficult recreating Empires house style, although i experimented at first.




We haven't decided on an official name for our film yet, so as a group we've been experimenting with different titles to see what fits to our film. So you may see variations for names throughout my drafts.

Ancillary Reviews ~ Final Film Magazine




Ancillary Reviews ~ Research

Empire Reviews

Empire Magazine is a media magazine that reviews and presents articles about film, games, music, dvds etc.





From looking at Empires review pages, I've analysed a house style and layout which I can recreate for my own film reviews appearance in Empire magazine.

The set and layout involves the 'main feature' which is usually a blockbuster status film, with 3 or 4 smaller film reviews below. With an image for each for easy relation for readers.
The review itself is in-depth, referring to common film knowledge and lingo, while making comparisons to similar films or stories. The language is clearly targeted at film enthusiasts and those with interest in the industry, which is what I'll aim to do in my own review, perhaps by using film terms and expressing an understanding myself through the review.


This type of reviewing style I feel suits our film better, with it being a more visual and representing independent film. Empire review these based on themes, most reviews with the main feature at the top, and the others below are linked by the same or similar genres and themes.