Monday 9 December 2013

23. Shooting Script

We don't have any large chunks of dialogue and we have decided to allow the actions, images and sounds to build an atmosphere and build the relationships between the characters.

However, we do want to include the odd phrase here or there:
  • When they are playing with the Frisbee, phrases like "Daddy! Over here! Pass it to me!"
  • During the playful scenes, joyful squeals and giggles.
  • At the end, in the birthday party scene, we want people saying "Happy Birthday Isla!" and then singing Happy Birthday too.

23. Shotlist

Here is a shot list for our opening sequence. We wan to film most of our shots at the Duffus Park so we will have to chose the day carefully so that the weather co-operates!

22. 'Missing' Animatic

We took the images from our storyboard and put them together in an animatic with a very simple version of what our sound effects will be.

21. Sound For Our Film

We found our music on freeplaymusic.com and chose the track called Gentle Caress. We chose this track because it fits with our desired atmosphere and it isn't to eccentric and busy. We didn't want to have music that took the focus away from the scenes.

We then went onto freesound.org to find Foley sounds to build the atmosphere. We chose a track with a light wind and bird calls because our opening is set in a park and we needed to have natural background sounds. We also chose the sound of children laughing to put in, again because of the park setting. In our opening we have a girl splashing in a puddle, so we chose a splash effect too and also a man breathing heavily to invoke fear when there are the shots from the point of view of the kidnapper watching the girls. There are flashes of a girl making a 'Missing' poster so we chose a sound effect of the scratch of a pen that we want to have subtly playing in the background during that shot. We think that these effects will make the scenes more realistic and creepy but still subtle and simple.


20. Storyboard

Here is our storyboard, it is a rough play-by-play of what happens in our opening title sequence. Some of the shots have changed order but the correct order is shown in the animatic.



Tuesday 3 December 2013

19. Narrative Theorists

Vladmir Propp
Analysed over 100 Russsian fairytales in 1920's.
He proposed that it was possible to classify the characters and their actions into clearly defines roles and their function in the story.

Propps Character Roles:
  • The Hero (usually seeking something)
  • The Villain (Opposes the hero)
  • The Donor (Helps the hero)
  • The Dispatcher (Sends the hero on his way)
  • The False hero (Falsely assumes the role of hero)
  • The Helper
  • The Princess
  • Her Father

Tzvetan Todorov

Suggesed that most narratives start with a normal state of equilibrium where the protagonist is happy. Then the state of normality is disrupted by an outside force which has to be fought against in order to return to the state of equilibrium.
Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - New Equilibrium


Roland Barthes

His theory suggests that narrative works with five different codes that activate the reader and allow them to make sense of the story.

Barthes' Codes:
  • Action- a narrative device by which a resolution is produced: E.g. a shoot-out.
  • Enigma- a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved. Works to delay the story ending.
  • Symbolic- Connotation.
  • Semic- Denotation.
  • Cultural- a narrative devuce which the audience can recognise as being part of a culture.

Claude Levi- Strauss

Studies myths and tribals cultures. He examined how stories unconcsiously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture.
These are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions.

Binary Oppositions:
  • Rich/Poor
  • North/ South
  • Black/White
  • Light/Dark
  • Man/ Machine
  • Male/ Female

Monday 2 December 2013

18. Storyline For the Whole Film- "Missing"

  1. Family at the park- only father and two daughters, no mother-->dead
  2. flashes of a missing child poster--> foreshadows later events
  3. family photo--> go back to when family photo was taken--> younger daughter's birthday
  4. older daughter gets the feeling that someone is watching them
  5. family go to the park--> older daughter still feels paranoid and uneasy
  6. POV keeps switching to someone hiding behind things in the park (heavy breathing)
  7. younger girl goes missing--> search party is sent out
  8. older sister is determined to find her sister--> doesn't trust the police because of the way they handled their mother's death (mother was killed in a hit and run)
  9. with the help of her friend/love interest--> she tries to find her sister
  10. they keep finding clues but they are actually bait to draw them in
  11. they get captured too-->find out that he kidnapped younger sister because of reason that are related to their mother--> you don't find out why
  12. they try to think of an escape plan
  13. love interest/friend decides to create a distraction to give the sisters time to escape
  14. he gets shot in the leg and can't escape with them
  15. sisters are on the run and end up hiding in a forest for the night
  16. they're lost and can't find their way out and back home
  17. they pass out from exhaustion and wake up in a hospital
  18. their father is there and explains that they were found by a park ranger who identified them as the missing girls and contacted the police
  19. love interest/friend is also there, his leg is bandaged and he is on crutches
  20. he explains how he escaped with flashbacks and voice-over
  21. kidnapper is still on the loose
  22. older sister receives a bunch of flowers with a get well card--> inside is a note from the kidnapper saying that he will find her and silence her for good
  23. film is left on a cliff-hanger that hints at a sequel.
The film is set in North America and has four main characters and roughly 3 sub-main characters. The four main characters are:

  1. Older Sister- Sophie Campbell
  2. Love Interest/Friend- Michael Hamilton (Mikey)
  3. Younger Sister- Isla Campbell
  4. Kidnapper- no-name
The three other sub-main characters are:

  1. The Father- Joseph Campbell
  2. Policeman 1- Detective Jones
  3. Policeman 2- Detective Roberts