From Script to Screen : Forming a story (PostOGR)

After the feedback I received from my OGR I have taken into consideration my tutor's advice and I believe that my environment has indeed fallen away from the 'Joke shop' theme. The scare at the end I think will help round off the experience but I think this jokeshop should have once resided in a space, that is now occupied by living space or storage of some kind.

My tutor advised to introduce a character into a property situated in a terrace of houses and from their drop in strange happenings like novelty items appearing or laughter in the dead of night. Then reveal through the use of a old cine-cinema 8mm camera the truth of the matter. I wish to incorporate these ideas and my own to establish a new story.

So I brainstormed a few ideas of my own and they are as follows..

1. A theater owner opens a new highly anticipated film that is based on a mad clown that is supposedly possessed by a demon. He puts it to play and sits in the auditorium. We are put into one of the scenes of the film where we see the clown scare a woman to death in a joke shop enclosed nightmare and we cut back to the theater with the clown seated behind the owner.
2. An estate agent is tasked with shifting an old derelict property and she takes photos of the exterior and notices a figure in the downstairs window of one of the photos taken. She enters the property and examines the room for the intruder and she is welcomed by the burned out joke shop ruin and she hears laughter from upstairs. She goes up the stairs and the figure follows her silently up the stairs, tele-porting around the property and she is trapped by the reflection of her seeing the ghost in a mirror knowing her haunter is right behind her.
3. A father and wife are on a sofa mourning the loss of their child and they view old pictures through a camera output to TV and they cry over the joy of seeing their child once more. His 5th birthday party at a joke emporium was the last birthday he would have. Slowly a figure appears in an image and seems to be stalking their child, almost ghost like until finally the figure is right behind the child. The parents look at each other in shock and we the audience see the ghosts of the Clown and son standing behind the sofa.

These kind of ideas are the general direction I want to take my idea. 

Feedback welcome! What do you prefer? What should be added or taken away :)

Soundscape OGR

Soundscape OGR

Soundscape : Original Fx

Soundscape Storyboard

Crane Shot : Pre vis

Dolly Rig Shot Cam : Pre vis

For some reason it wont render the full 7 second file -_-

Pitch Shot Cam : Pre-vis

Soundscape 'Circus' idea notes

Fergie and I produced some notes for my own consideration for planning ahead for my soundscape project, he helped me understand some of the key components needed to produce successful sound design;

• Timbre- the character or the quality of a musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity.
• Volume- the amount of space that a object occupies or that is enclosed within a container. 
• Foley-sound effects after shooting a scene, i.e. the raw character sounds

Soundscape 'Circus' Idea

In preparations to diving into sound design I had a chat with Fergie in regards to who this scene is actually about? In previous projects I have focused on the story aspects strongly but with this project the sound plays a vital role to its strength. For example the clown in the foreground with the open hands could have very light clothing with a high frequency of sound in his movements, so a soft timbre would be made to compensate for this.

So the story could be about a small child that climbs onto the stage to retrieve a object. Because we have chosen a child we can set the tone for what kind of volumes of sound could be produced. Are the sounds meant to scare the child or to invite him into the environment. The Circus itself could have multiple layers for the environment, tent, people and animals.

I think the child would be invited in the environment, so a soft tone would be created to show this. Also if we observe the actual colour palette it seems quite joyful but it does include almost every colour, so perhaps some of my characters could be happy e.g. the woman and horse and some be miserable like the horse on the podium and the dancing man.

I would like the resolve of the animatic to be the child's participation in the act and it could help bring forth the original key frame within the scene. From an audiences point of view we can tell that the characters are moving in unison and the act fits together. Also the actual placement of the scene is vital to some of the sounds. For example high up above in the tent could have a very high frequency of sound and falling down could be showing the height, like piano keys going up in notes when running upstairs.

  
From here I wish to create a more reformed story and think about some of the sounds I will need and create a road map of my journey from start to finish for this project.

Like for like Storyboard : Man Of Steel

From Script to Screen OGR

From Script to Screen OGR

From Script to Screen : *New Story

Polaroid camera flashes as another victim meets their demise in a string of related murders all involving entertainers. A circus clown battered to death with his skull caved in and it would be unrecognizable it wasn't for his height. The detective pins it to the wall and marks off an X on his profile list, the only lead he has is a picture taken of all the victims at the fairground. Someone is killing them off but who? The belongings were taken from the evidence locker and littered the crime lab. Comical items, gag toys it's literally a joke. Cold leads and the tension has grown high in the department but then it hits. The murder weapon. Where is it? The detective looks at the board and focuses on the one thing he hadn't accounted for. The mallet held relaxed above a characters shoulders. Rushes out of the scene grabbing his keys.

Door hinges go flying as the detective and his police detail crash through the door to reveal the culprit passed out from alcohol with the bloody mallet placed at his feet leaning against his chair. Hand cuffs come from the detectives pocket.

Detective returns to the crime lab and begins taking down the images and pauses on the unfolded image.. His face fills with terror as he notices he overlooked one thing, the smallest clown looking up menacingly at the mallet. The light flickers as the clown appears behind him and a cut to complete black.   

From Script to Screen : Changing idea

Reviewing my idea with my tutor has highlighted many creative errors and I think the main being that there isn't a sense of conflict in the story. The whole experience is reminiscent of a music video maybe good cinematography but the story itself is lost.

Also we overlooked the three words and I admitted that I tend to become generic when I look at 'Joke Shop' so now I am prying it apart and warping its components so you can see the references faintly.

From Script To Screen : Logline #1

An aspiring professional photographer has received an invitation to the 'Pranksters Mansion' to attend the evening festivities, what will she discover in this fantasy world of madness and can she take the best picture of the event for her blog?

From Script to Screen : Naming my characters #1

The Photographer

• Maria 
• Anna
• Giuseppina
• Rosa
• Lucia
• Caterina
• Francesca
• Anna Marie
• Antonietta
• Elena
• Claudia

The Prankster (Host)

• Aldo - Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the elementald "old", and possibly also with adal "noble".
• Alonzo
• Benvenuto - Means "welcome" in Italian. A famous bearer was the Renaissance sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini.
• Durante - Italian form of the Late Latin name Durans which meant "enduring".
• Gioia - Means 'joy' in Italian.
• Sebastiano

The Hellequins

• Ebony and Ivory - Ebony is a heavy blackish timber from a tropical tree and Ivory is a hard cream white composing the main part of a tusk. 
• Nox and Lucifer - Nox is the Italian goddess of night and Lucifer the god of sun and light.

*Current favorites of mine.

Please comment if you can name any references that may aid my quest for names :p 

From Script to Screen : Researching Harlequin

I am trying to name some of my characters and instead of giving them any random name I thought I would research behind the term 'Harlequin'. I chose this because there is not any dialogue in my script and the term is defined as 'a mute character in traditional pantomime, typically masked and dressed in a diamond-patterned costume'. Relating to a clown in the dress code also I thought it could be a good starting point to look into and uncover its beginnings and country of origin.

So I took the search further and looked into Herlequin and I came across a demon horseman captioned 'La Mesnie Herlequin Ame'rique'. It was a logo for the demon horsemen and I thought perhaps this could prop up somewhere subliminally in the story? Perhaps like on a flag/item or just a passing character. 

Finally the term hints at a Italian heritage with the introduction made in the 1580's with the signature checkered costume so perhaps a checkered theme can be constant throughout the piece? Also my names can be derived from a mix of post and pre-modern names for my characters. 

From Script to Screen : Forming a story - Refinement

An aspiring photographer is working silently in her basement that has been converted into a darkroom. Her mother calls and reveals that she has won an invitation to the Pranksters mansion to attend his evening event held in the south garden. Checking the time and noticing she maybe late, she very briefly prepares herself and takes her old antique camera and races out the door and into the night. Walking up the path the light grows more intense over the hill until finally a full view of the mansion is visible and clasping her invite in one hand and camera in the other, skips toward the exterior gate. She shows the bouncers her invitation but she is denied entrance because she isn't wearing a mask. Feeling sorry the bouncer gives the girl his mask and permits her to enter the mansion grounds. 

Here is a world of amusement and bewilderment, massive clown faces, balloons, surreal structures and shapes all looking to distort the minds of those who visit. Utilizing the garden maze, the shots veer left and right highlighting the designs of the amusements and massive gags. abstracts of the designs collaging the scene and creating chaos. The girl taking snaps, documenting the event for her blog, Close up shots of the guests he has invited, all wearing masks and clown-like attired suits. The pace quickens between all of these components before presenting us with the Prankster and his two female harlequins unveiling themselves on the upper balcony to the paparazzi with a zoom pan highlighting the Prankster's importance and profile with the camera flashes going crazy. The girl has fought to the front of the crowd and takes a final shot and as the flash goes off our story comes to an end cutting to black.  

Rolling Shot Cam : Pre-vis

From Script to Screen - Forming a story #1

Incorporating my three words; Clown, Joke-Shop and Camera I came up with the idea that the audience could be welcomed to the world of the "Prankster's Funhouse".

Here is a world of amusement and bewilderment, massive clown faces, ballons, surreal structures and shapes all looking to distort the minds of those who visit. It Could be a straight path leading upto a gigantic mansion where the Prankster is throwing a night-time Garden party. The shots veer left and right highlighting the designs of the amusements and massive gags. The camera could be constantly moving forward panning but with abstracts of the designs collaging the scene and creating chaos. Close ups of the guests he has invited, all wearing masks and clown-like attired suits.. Like a Masquerade party. then the pace could quicken between all of these components before presenting us with the Prankster and his two female harlequins unvieling themselves to the papparazi with a zoom pan highlighting the Prankster's importance and profile with the camera flashes going crazy.

I like the idea and I want to reform it with some helpful guidance from some feedback so any is welcome :p What works and what doesnt?



Above are some images that may help you understand the general feel for this idea :)

Adobe Sketchbook Pro Test

The initial test of Abobe Sketchbook was to understand some of the basic commands that can create simple designs. It seemed like a mix between Photoshop and Paint and here is a very quick sketch of one of the drawings I did.

Panning Shot Start : Pre-vis

For some reason after I playblasted the file I cannot seem to get the whole shot to play out? I have the file but it wont allow me to upload :s Any help is appreciated :)

From Script to Screen : Influence Maps

Some of the influence maps I have created to further my ideas to development toward a scripting idea for my project. I have a clear idea of what I wish to accomplish with the shopkeeper clerk being portrayed as a Clown. I also considered that there could be numerous store colleagues sporting the same dress code. They could be either happy or sad clowns and at the same time they don't have to be male, so perhaps create designs for both genders. The Joke Shop itself is a world and I thought it would be vast and intricate and even infinite space could be established, I thought of infinite warehouse spaces and maybe a pan up could be made to show the enormity and endless wonder. Finally the camera, the prop can be an item brought into the store perhaps for a customer service inquiry for a fault or like a class photo in front of a camera. 

From Script to Screen : Three Words

Clown - Joke Shop - Camera

My design components were picked straight from the random blue box to decide the direction and theme of this project. Crafting a script and designing the surrounding world will be quite interesting, The elements of Clown and Joke shop connect well together and I feel there are vast resources available to dissect elements and incorporate my own designs. Camera is of course the prop and I think could set the direction for the piece, perhaps a child visits the joke shop with an intent on purchasing a comic product and walking around the store with the clerk dressed like a clown. Finishing with the child becoming attached to a gag Camera. 

I wish to review similar modern resources in contrast to my words and adapting the story to become more relevant to the target audience and to develop the impact. 

Soundscape - Key Frame - Marc Chagall

My keyframe is a painting by a Russian born painter, lithographer, etcher and designer called Marc Chagall. Born in 1887 Chagall had his work published around the globe and was very successful in deploying vibrant colours to convey emotion in his art. Above is titled 'Chagall's Circus where every colour of the palette has been explored within the image. For my soundscape project I may decide to take a turn from these colourful happy characters to a much more Gothic unusual feel, exploring strange anatomy's and darker colours maybe from happy and joyful to a ambiance of fear of the unknown. As it is day one of the project I expect this to change but I shall be documenting my development throughout.

Adobe Premiere Tutorial - Golfer

The introduction to Premiere and Audition was quite enjoyable and enlightening to a subject not yet covered on the course, the application of sound is so crucial to delivering an impact to the audience. After receiving a file from our new 'sound tutor' we began cutting and pasting together a scene from a golfer, where a man decides to hit a golf ball inside his home shattering a window to his wife's surprise. Very short clip but it is there for us to understand the levels of sound used in the production as well as the fundamental basics of these programmes.