Who is needed when making a film?

Apart from the actors, there is a team of people needed to make a film a success. This website describes all the roles: http://saturn.vfx.com/loup/glossary.html

However, it doesn't mention hair & make-up, which I'm sure is a vital part of the production...

Stages of filmmaking
-Development. The script is written and drafted into a workable blueprint for a film.
-Pre-production. Preparations are made for the shoot, in which cast and crew are hired, locations are selected, and sets are built.
-Production. The raw elements for the finished film are recorded.
-Post-Production. The film is edited; music tracks (and songs) are composed, performed and recorded; sound effects are designed and recorded; and any other computer-graphic 'visual' effects are digitally added, and the film is fully completed.
-Sales and distribution. The film is screened for potential buyers (distributors), is picked up by a distributor and reaches its theater and/or home media audience.

The Coen Brothers

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are four-time Academy Award winning American filmmakers. The brothers write, direct and produce their films jointly, although until recently Joel received sole credit for directing and Ethan for producing. They often alternate top billing for their screenplays while sharing film credits for editor under the alias "Roderick Jaynes". They are known in the film business as "the two-headed director", as they share a similar vision of their films. Actors can approach either brother with a question and get the same answer.

The reason I chose to research the Coen Brothers is that they differ from all other film makers in that they are two people who work as one. They have produced films of different genres, such as "screwball comedies" (The Hudsucker Proxy), film noir (No Country For Old Men) and genre hybrids (The Big Lebowski).

No Country For Old Men received rave reviews in Cannes, and the film review site http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ said "not only does No Country deliver another excellent Coen Brothers film, it also delves thematically deeper than your average crime thriller with its sprawling saga of a drug deal gone wrong, a bag of cash, a hunter on the run (Josh Brolin), and the philosophizing psychopath on his trail (Javier Bardem)."

Scripts

Scripts are the integral part of movies, and there are specific rules that writers should follow when writing a screen-play.

I found this website really useful with tips on screen-writing as it gives a detailed guide on the do's and don't's.

http://www.screenwriting.info/

It looks quite hard! And it's different to TV because the story is more involved as the duration is longer. For GCSE media, as part of my exam on Sitcom, I wrote part of a script for my Sitcom (which I had to exclude from my final exam due to time) but I was quite happy with it. It seemed to capture the essence of Sitcom and show the characters in the way I intended.

This website http://www.script-o-rama.com/ has LOADS of free movie transcripts, however they have no character names, so I thought I'd take an extract from Mean Girls and add the character names to see if that extract could help me when writing my script.

Cady has just sat down with The Plastics.

Cady

I'm new. I just moved here from Africa.

Regina

What?

Cady

I used to be home-schooled.

Regina

Wait. What?

Cady

My mom taught me at home...

Regina

No, no.I know what home-school is.I'm not retarded.So you've actually never beento a real school before?Shut up. Shut up.

Cady

I didn't say anything.

Regina

Home-schooled. That's really interesting.

Cady

Thanks.

Regina

But you're, like, really pretty.

Cady

Thank you.

Regina

So you agree.

Cady

What?

Regina

You think you're really pretty.

Cady

Oh, I don't know...

This writing is clever because it introduces both characters at the same time. Cady gives the audience more information about her home-schooling, and the audience learn what a "mean girl" Regina is.

The Scene Heading, sometimes called Slugline, tells the reader of the script where the scene takes place. Are we indoors (INT.) or outdoors (EXT.)? Next name the location: BEDROOM, LIVING ROOM, at the BASEBALL FIELD, inside a CAR? And lastly it might include the time of day - NIGHT, DAY, DUSK, DAWN... information to "set the scene" in the reader's mind.
The Slugline can also include production information like CONTINUOUS ACTION, or ESTABLISHING SHOT or STOCK SHOT. Here are examples of Scene Headings:

INT. BEDROOM - MORNING
EXT. LAS VEGAS STRIP - SUNSET
INT. OFFICE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS ACTION
EXT. KEY WEST MARINA - DAWN - ESTABLISHING
EXT. PASADENA - ROSE PARADE - STOCK FOOTAGE

On this website, there are lots of tips for writing and using software. For example;
The Scene Headings are aligned flush left (which we learned is about 1.5" from the edge of the paper) and are rarely long enough to reach the page margin.
The Scene Heading is written in ALL CAPS. Use a full stop after the INT. or EXT., a hyphen between the other elements of the Slugline.

I found out something interesting about dual dialogue. I had always wondered how they wrote it on a script when two charcters were speaking at once to each other. When two of your characters speak simultaneously, that's called dual dialogue or side by side dialogue. For example, if Frankie and Julie are in a heated argument.
............FRANKIE ................................JULIE
Get out of my life! I can't ......Don't you yell at me! I'll leave
stand the sight of you any ....when I'm when I'm good and
more!! .................................ready! Tough!!

(obviously the dots wouldn't be there, but blogger wouldn't let me space it out)

The character names are always centered and in capitals, and the dialogue aligned left. The font is always the same; Courier New 12pt in black. Here is a useful video on font tips for script-writing.

For part of my work experience, I went to the set of the film Chemical Wedding as I know the Producer, and I read the script. It was really thick but easy to read. The stage directions were detailed enough to create a mental picture, but not rambling. The font and spacing made it easy to read and understand.

When making the opening to my film I will take these things into account to make the best film I can.

Pan's Labyrinth

Looking through my dad's dvd collection yesterday, I discovered that we had Pan's Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo Del Toro in 2006, (El Laberinto del Fauno in Spanish). Considering I had researched it for part of my research on foreign films, I decided to watch it, so I thought I'd summarise what my thoughts on it are.

I loved it! It was very tense, and in places, quite gruesome, but the story was intriguing, the graphics were incredible, and the language meant that I was totally absorbed in its' world. The film is quite dark, about death and the underworld and a ruthless captain who kills people for no reason. Despite this, there is a sweet message the whole way through, and it ends happily, with Ofelia ruling the underworld with peace and a kind heart.

I was impressed, because the genre "fantasy" can come with some bad connotations of being unbelievable and child-like, but this was definitely an adult's film. It had believable characters, and the performance from Ofelia (a young girl played by Ivana Baquero) was outstanding. I was thoroughly impressed.

Film idea pitch

We were asked to come up with a film pitch, so here is mine.

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• The story is about a woman in her mid-twenties who is very wealthy.

• Instead of spending money and sitting around all day, she works in a charity shop from 9-5 and attends fund raisers and does all the charity fun-runs. Basically, she is a wonderful person who helps people because she wants to. She enjoys having money, but wants to feel normal, so she gets the tube to work every day.

• She gets the tube at the same time every morning and every evening. This is observed by her train driver.

• He is a disturbed man in his 40s with an unhappy wife and an illegitimate 8 year old son who the man ignores. The train driver watches the woman every day, and paints a picture of what he imagines her life to be like. He becomes so intrigued that he puts cameras in the carriage that she always gets into, and puts a microphone by the seat she always sits in. He finds out everything about her life through listening to her phone calls, seeing her talk to people, and looking through the cameras at her diary to see where she'll be.

• He stalks her, finds out where she lives, and steals small, personal things from her, such as underwear, one sock, or a mascara. His favourite item is one stud earring.

• One day he sees her get on the train with a man, who she kisses as she gets off the train. This makes the train driver go mad with jealousy (because in his fantasy, he and the woman are together), and he decides to fulfil her wish of being normal.

• Murderers go after "normal" people.

• He waits until a day when she is alone in her carriage. At the next station, he tells everyone to get off the train, but doesn't open the doors to her carriage. He takes her to the end of the line, where he ties her to the train track. He attaches a note to her body - "bad things happen to good people, so why be good?" He leaves, and when the next train comes into that station, she is crushed.

• You then see him get back into his driving pod and put the single stud earring on his dashboard. The camera pans to show rows and rows of other single stud earrings sticking out of sponges. Each one is different, and symbolises a woman he has stalked and killed.

• The next day the train driver notices another nice woman and his obsession continues.......

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Thought of this while waiting for the tube...

Mrs T homework on casting

We were each asked to write a pitch for a film plot and in class we tried to cast famous actors in them. I have selected the two that grabbed me the most.

PLOT FOUR

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Working title: "This Train Terminates Here"

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I chose this as the title because the film is about trains and death, and the word "terminate" has connotations with both of these central themes. It is slightly tongue-in-cheek, but that is common of horror films, such as "I Drink Your Blood" (1970) and "Let's Scare Jessica To Death" (1971).

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Tagline: "Bad things happen to good people"

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I chose this because it tells the audience that something bad is going to happen to someone good, but creates an enigma because the audience don't know who the characters are or what the situation is before they watch the film.
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I made up this plot (which is on my blog in full) and I had to come up with a working title, tagline, character names and who to cast (out of a limited choice of celebrities).

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"Rachel"

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I chose Nicole Kidman for the part of "Rachel" because she looks elegant enough to be believable as wealthy, yet she gives off a nice enough vibe that she could be believable as being a really nice person. She is also very beautiful, so it is plausible that someone would stalk her/fall in love with her. I chose this picture of her because she has blonde hair and looks quite innocent, which are some of the qualities needed in her character. Nicole Kidman is an incredibly good actress with an impressive repertoire and would bring in huge audiences. She played "Joanna Eberhart" in "The Stepford Wives", who was trying to keep up with the "perfect" wives in Stepford. She is a nice woman, but finds out that they are robots. It is a fantasy/comedy/thriller, and my film is a horror/thriller, so I think she would do it well. She would bring in male and female audiences because she is such a good actress and is very attractive.

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I chose the name "Rachel" for her character because it is a fairly normal name, and normality is a big theme in this story. It also has connotations of friendliness and I can't think of an evil character called Rachel. The name had to suit the character and the actress, and I think Nicole Kidman could easily be a "Rachel".

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"Mark"
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I chose Tom Hanks for the part of "Mark" (the train driver who stalks and eventually murders "Rachel") because his face looks as though he can play the part of a creepy, disturbed man. He is also a fantastic actor and his name would also bring in big audiences. One of the other reasons I chose Tom Hanks is that he has dark hair, which contrasts the blonde hair of Nicole Kidman, and makes him seem evil as black connotes that. For this role, Tom Hanks needs to be menacing, and that is something I believe he can do. He played "Forrest Gump" in "Forrest Gump" who was a strange individual, much like "Mark", so I think he would play my character well.

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I chose the name "Mark" because it is fairly common, yet quite boring, much like the character. I can imagine it having bad connotations, (for one thing, "mark" rhymes with "dark") and characters called "Mark" are generally the quite ones, sometimes with something to hide. It fits the character and the actor, therefore it is the perfect name for this role.

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I also think that the two actors will work well together and I can see it in my head as a real film.

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PLOT FIVE

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Working title: "Premonition"

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I chose this because the film is about a cynical woman who meets a gypsy and she somehow gets the gift of second sight. She has premonitions about bad things and eventually one about someone's death, who she later finds out is hers. It tells the audience what to expect in terms of psychic content and leads the audience to expect a bad premonition, creating enigma.

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Tagline: "Some gifts are a blessing, others are a curse"

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I chose this tagline because it tells the audience about her gift without them realising what the gift is, so they will want to watch the film to find out. It is quite a snappy tagline and I think it works well because the psychic woman curses the younger woman, but unknowingly passes on her gift to her.

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"Claire"
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I chose Halle Berry for this part because she is beautiful and young-looking, and I can imagine her being cynical about psychic powers and gypsies. She could pass for a "woman in her twenties who is studying at University" (as mentionned in the film pitch) and her acting skills from her previous work have proved her as a serious actress. She has been in films to do with supernatural things before, such as "Gothika" , so I think she fits the character very well. Halle Berry is beautiful, and would bring in male and female audiences.

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I chose the name "Claire" because it is quiet a "straight" name and most characters called "Claire" are very proper and cynical. The name suits Halle Berry and the character, so it works for me!

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"Martha"

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I chose Sigourney Weaver for this role because she is one of the oldest actresses that we were given a choice of, and I believe she can play a bitter psychic gypsy. Her face looks as though she can put on a very serious expression and be believable as someone who would curse someone else. Sigourney Weaver is a very accomplished actress, and would bring in audiences. She played "Warden Walker" in "Holes" who was a stern character, and so she would fit this one nicely.

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I chose the name "Martha" because it is an older name and reminds me of creepiness. It suits her and the character and is the perfect name for this role in my opinion.

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)

So, I FINALLY watched Psycho. What did I think? Well, I know Alfred Hitchcock is a great director, and I know this film was an absolute triumph in it's day, but personally, I didn't love it.

Good points

Bernard Herrmann's music score was extremely good. It was dramatic, tense, and completely set the tone of a horror film. In one scene where Marion was driving away from work down a high way, the camera just showed a front view of her driving in her car, but the music made me feel anxious that something bad was going to happen.

The story was also very good. I truly believed that Norman's mother was sitting upstairs in the creepy house, and the various twists were clever and surprising. What scared me the most in this film was the story, not how it was shown. I find it very scary that someone would put on their dead mother's voice and act like her, without the other part of them knowing it. Norman really believed his mother was alive, he even kept her corpse (another thing that freaked me out a bit). The most frightening thing about "Psycho" is that the story is believable. It is possible, and actually based on real murders (as mentionned in the "trivia" section).

The acting was superb, especially from Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates) who played a schizophrenic man who's dead mother's personality occupied half of his mind. His innocence in his first appearance was endearing, and I really thought he was a nice guy. And then in the end when he was in the jail cell, his facial expression was very frightening (the photo is below). The scene where you could hear him arguing with his mother was believable, and it was only later (once I'd found out he was schizophrenic) that I realised he was acting out both parts of the argument. This was very clever and one of my favourite things about this film.

Not so good points

Something I wasn't too impressed with was the actual murders. I understand that they were limited with technology at the time, but I suppose due to modern technology I have become a bit of a murder snob. I found them not very believable and not very scary. For example when Milton Arbogast was stabbed and fell down the stairs. I think it is due to the advances in technology and the new realms of scariness in modern horror films, that when I watched it, everyone laughed at the once "scary" parts. At the time it was "terrifying" but now I think it is a bit outdated.

I was disappointed at the slow pace of the film, which I suppose was meant to create suspense and tension, but it was too slow and not enough happened to make this successful. For example, when the music was building to a climax when Marion was driving, and then nothing happened.

I think the most important expectation I have when I watch a horror film is to have that satisfying feeling of fear in my stomach, however I didn't get that at all in this film. There was one point where I slightly jumped, when Marion's sister Lila was looking around Mrs Bates' room, and she turned and gasped. I would have wanted more of that.

William Friedkin's reaction to "Psycho" (director of "The Exorcist" - the scariest film ever)

''Psycho was the first film that really scared me, that made me think, Oh my God, this is possible. Hitchcock based it on a novel by Robert Bloch, which was based on actual murders committed by a guy living in a shack in Wisconsin named Ed Gein. I grew up and lived in Chicago, a stone's throw away....When I made The Exorcist, I understood what Hitchcock had done with Psycho. The build-up to those horrific scenes was more terrifying than the scenes themselves, as unforgettably disturbing as they were. Any work of art that can produce an emotional response is powerful. Hitchcock is able to scare you, almost any time he cares to.''

I think since Friedkin saw this closer to the time it was made than I did, his reaction was very different. I highly value his opinion, and I know Psycho is loved (and feared) by many people.

Some interesting things you probably didn't know about Psycho

This poster reads; "Hitchcock, the dour and impenetrable showboat, hid himself - and, at times, his art - behind the guise of the jovial master entertainer. The canvas chair of "Mrs. Bates" was kept prominently placed and displayed on the set throughout shooting". Now THAT is creepy..

Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance 4 minutes in wearing a cowboy hat outside Janet Leigh's office.

Here is some more interesting trivia

• The film only cost $800,000 to make yet has earned more than $40,000,000. Hitchcock used the crew from his TV series to save time and money. In 1962 exchanged the rights to the film and his TV-series for a huge block of MCA's stock (he became their third largest stockholder).

• Robert Bloch's original novel was inspired by the notorious serial killer Ed Gein who was also one of the inspirations for the character of Hannibal Lector (The Silence of the Lambs/Manhunter).

• Hitchcock bought the rights to the novel anonymously from Robert Bloch for just $9,000. He then bought up as many copies of the novel as he could to keep the ending a secret.

• The blood in the shower scene is actually chocolate sauce.

• The shot of Janet Leigh flushing the toilet is believed to be the first such shot in American cinema history.

• The MPAA refused to pass this film because they claimed to be able to see Janet Leigh's nipple during the shower scene. Hitchcock didn't edit it out, but merely sent it back, (correctly, it seems) assuming that they either wouldn't bother to watch it, or miss it the second time.

• Hitchcock insisted that audiences should only be allowed to see the film from the start so as not to ruin the surprise. This was unheard of back then as people were used to just coming in at any point during a movie.

• After the film's release Hitchcock received an angry letter from the father of a girl who refused to have a bath after seeing Diabolique and now refused to shower after seeing Psycho. Hitch sent a note back simply saying "Send her to the dry cleaners".

Even though "Psycho" is not one of my favourite films, I can easily see why it was so successful at the time.